Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

[Hankson]

We have touched on this problem on the "welds cracking" thread but I need to get more feed back on this dangerous wandering problem. The wandering occurs worst at speeds over 30mph. The boat will dart about and I have to maintain very tight control of the helm. I have owned every kind of boat made except sailboats and I have never had this problem. Their is no relaxing for the helmsman on my boat. What is happening is the tubes are up on a plain raising the boat up approx. 6 to 8 inches. A wake-wave will hit one side of my toon and it will drop off plain causing the boat to turn in the direction of the wave. I mean turn emphaticly 20 to 30 degrees if I don't counter steer with much force. My 5 year old grandaughter was almost tossed out. I now limit my speed to under 30mph which is too slow for my older grandkids who like to salumn. This is why we maxed out with the 200hp for our kids. Sylvan dealer denies knowing about this problem but his wife who works with him told me it happened to her when her brother was driving their 8525 last summer. She said it scared them to death.

Folks, this is a real problem and a very dangerous one. What is needed is more reports of this occurence so it can be submitted to Sylvan. They are still promoteing the RPT toons like nothing is wrong. I find it hard to believe. O, being from Charleston SC, most of my 50 plus years of boating was on the offshore reefs and Gulf stream so I know about rought water and the consiquences. I don't think they did their R&D adaquatly before putting these pontoons in production. This is going to take a concerted effort on our part to resolve. HELP

Henry

 

[lakegeorge]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

We have touched on this problem on the "welds cracking" thread but I need to get more feed back on this dangerous wandering problem. The wandering occurs worst at speeds over 30mph. The boat will dart about and I have to maintain very tight control of the helm. I have owned every kind of boat made except sailboats and I have never had this problem. Their is no relaxing for the helmsman on my boat. What is happening is the tubes are up on a plain raising the boat up approx. 6 to 8 inches. A wake-wave will hit one side of my toon and it will drop off plain causing the boat to turn in the direction of the wave. I mean turn emphaticly 20 to 30 degrees if I don't counter steer with much force. My 5 year old grandaughter was almost tossed out. I now limit my speed to under 30mph which is too slow for my older grandkids who like to salumn. This is why we maxed out with the 200hp for our kids. Sylvan dealer denies knowing about this problem but his wife who works with him told me it happened to her when her brother was driving their 8525 last summer. She said it scared them to death.

Folks, this is a real problem and a very dangerous one. What is needed is more reports of this occurence so it can be submitted to Sylvan. They are still promoteing the RPT toons like nothing is wrong. I find it hard to believe. O, being from Charleston SC, most of my 50 plus years of boating was on the offshore reefs and Gulf stream so I know about rought water and the consiquences. I don't think they did their R&D adaquatly before putting these pontoons in production. This is going to take a concerted effort on our part to resolve. HELP

Henry

Henry, I would go to all the pontoon forum sites on the internet and print your story and see if other boaters are havint the same problem. You will usually get a little twisting action from good size waves, but nothing like your talking about.
How big are the waves that do this?
I would also see if you know anyone else with this boat and go for a ride on theirs and see how it reacts.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

I would take a video of the boat in action and send it to Sylvan and see if that perks them up..

 

[WaterDR]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

How about taking a vid so we can see it?

 

[steelespike]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

Watching the RPT pontoon on plane it reminds me of the look of a boat with a hook.Running very flat with the nose likely to "steer" the boat as sometimes happens when running a runabout when trimmed down too much.
Also reminds me of the speed boats in the early 1900s and before. They thought they should be long and thin to cut through the water. This produced boats that leaned way over from prop torque,produced huge amounts of spray and handled strangely.
These also required huge amounts of power for moderate speeds.Sound familiar?When they discovered planing hulls they made the same speeds with 30 or 40 hp. in a little light boat.
Its obvious the pontoon design is limited to slower speeds and the RPT is best below 30.
Perhaps they could introduce a little rocker into the tubes to help get the nose up.
Maybe a bow shape more like a jon boat.

 

[BatDaddy1887]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

....meanwhile maybe some ballast will help....maybe put a spare battery under each seat way up front....just a thought till you get it straightened out with the dealer. Also, I'm guessing your boat is rated for a 200hp.....overpowering would be an issue.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

....meanwhile maybe some ballast will help....maybe put a spare battery under each seat way up front....just a thought till you get it straightened out with the dealer. Also, I'm guessing your boat is rated for a 200hp.....overpowering would be an issue.

imo They need to lighten the bow ,the boat lays down too flat.Add weight to the stern. Don't know if a bow lifting prop will work on a toon??You can't trim much with a toon but maybe just a touch of up trim would help.
A pontoon has two hulls that are perfect for efficient displacement speeds, 6 mph, and Manufacturers are setting them up for speeds over 30. I don't see much good there.

 

[craigmack]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

I'm not experiencing this issue. Could the toons be misaligned?

 

[steelespike]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

He's running a 200 hp He says if he stays below 30 its ok.
Are you able to run over 30.
I reread his post it seems that the when one side hits a wave it drops off plane, as a single hull might do when dealing with a wake.
Seems it wakes perhaps turn more into the wave unlike recommended for a regular hull.

 

[craigmack]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

I can run about 38. I can't help wonder if it's just the way he's riding over the wave/wake. I try to cut them at a 45 angle but I can see if you cut at a very small angle how one toon would slide down before the other has come onto the wave (and with the wave always moving) give you that feeling. My boat is out for the season but I'll have to experiment with that a bit next year.

 

[craigmack]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

Hankson, you had mentioned purging the hydraulic line to see if that helps... did you get a chance to do that and did it help?

 

[WaterDR]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

I can run about 38. I can't help wonder if it's just the way he's riding over the wave/wake. I try to cut them at a 45 angle but I can see if you cut at a very small angle how one toon would slide down before the other has come onto the wave (and with the wave always moving) give you that feeling. My boat is out for the season but I'll have to experiment with that a bit next year.

At 38 you are running 10 mph faster than me....same boat as mine....except mine is a few feet longer and I have a 115hp. The concensus is that the extra few feet is costing me about 3 to 4 mph. Frankly, I wish I had powered up to a 150. I definately will on my next boat. And now issues with crazy steering on mine, but as you can see, I don't get north of 30 unless I am going over a water fall

 

[Hankson]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

Guys I am having problems sending posts. I know it is OE. For now, I am just keeping the speed down to 30mph and the problem with steering is better. 43 is too fast for a pontoon, but a guy on Utube is running 3-300hp motors at 105mph!Right now i'm rigging the boat for stripper fishing cause they are jumping in the boats here at Columbia. I will post results when I purge system. Thanks for all the comments.X

At 38 you are running 10 mph faster than me....same boat as mine....except mine is a few feet longer and I have a 115hp. The concensus is that the extra few feet is costing me about 3 to 4 mph. Frankly, I wish I had powered up to a 150. I definately will on my next boat. And now issues with crazy steering on mine, but as you can see, I don't get north of 30 unless I am going over a water fall

 

[TheKs]

Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

That pontoon on YouTube is also a tri-toon, and I believe that makes a helluva difference. Also, how is it that you get strippers jumping in the boat!?

 

[Hankson]

I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild bronc

I know this sounds like a fish story but it actually happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I got a 29 - 30 incher up to the boat. I'm on my knees with the net. Just as I move the net to his rear he got spooked and jumps forward hitting the side of the door-hook came loose and he made it back in the lake.. DR, so sorry to hear you have leaks too. I have a feeling Sylvan is going to do the right thing about the leaks and the handling.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

Don't you hate it when company's experiment on your money

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

IMHO, a 38+MPH pontoon is kind of defeating the whole purpose behind a pontoon-RELAX.

Pontoons were never designed to go that fast. They are displacement hulls.

My toon' (Starcraft) can get a little "squirrelly" too at my top speed of 26 MPH. Especially if I have too much weight forward. Hit a wave and HOLD ON you don't know which way it will dart or veer.

Just my opinion but it seems a deck boat would be a better choice.

 

[craigmack]

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

Nowadays pontoons are more of a jack of all trades type of boat. We use ours for scenic cruising, getting to the other end of the lake which is 27 miles away and water sports such as tubing/skiing. Having a toon that runs 40 MPH meets all my requirements. I can cruise at 20 MPH (keeping it around 3500 RPM for best fuel economy) or open it up to pull tubers at 30+ MPH for fun... fuel economy not so much

I looked at deck boats but they din't have that pontoon deck feel. There is at least one brand that has a traditional pontoon deck on top of a deck boat hull but it looked ugly to me.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

Nowadays pontoons are more of a jack of all trades type of boat. We use ours for scenic cruising, getting to the other end of the lake which is 27 miles away and water sports such as tubing/skiing. Having a toon that runs 40 MPH meets all my requirements. I can cruise at 20 MPH (keeping it around 3500 RPM for best fuel economy) or open it up to pull tubers at 30+ MPH for fun... fuel economy not so much

I looked at deck boats but they din't have that pontoon deck feel. There is at least one brand that has a traditional pontoon deck on top of a deck boat hull but it looked ugly to me.

Understood. However, one cannot always succesfully defeat physics. Those speeds are pushing the design parameters of that type of hull. I love the old quote from the designer of the F-16. I'm paraphrasing; "with enough power you can make a brick fly".

Sure, strakes and other tricks can be added to try and get lift out of the hull. But, no matter how you look at it, it's still a long tube. Not much different, in hull design, than a canoe.

As an example. I have a 19' Grumman Sport Canoe. It is rated for 8 HP. With very little weight difference, I have clamped on a 9.9 or 15 (2-Stroke). All the extra power does nothing but push the bow down, regardless of trim. Talk about "Squirelly". It's a handful with that power. I use as intended. Slow but sure.

Every hull design is a compromise of some sort. Flat bottoms have their qualities and faults. The same for deep V's, tunnels and tri's.

 

[Old Screwball]

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

Re: I know this Re: Sylvan RPT pontoons cause my 8525 pontoon to wander like a wild b

Sure wish my 'toon would go 30!!!