|
Motor Question
I've got kind of a complicated question...any help would be great.I have a 18ft pontoon boat with a 1990 9.9 Mariner Outboard. Ok, I know
what you're thinking, and no, it doesn't go very fast. The boat was
moored on a lake with a Horsepower restriction. So, I want a bigger
motor. I would like to purchase the 25HP Mercury that Academy Sports &
Outdoors sells
[http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=catalog&target=marine&pgNum=2],
but I don't know if it will work (i.e. rigging, shaft length, etc).
Any Ideas? |
pglitsch
Aug 7
2006
|
| One good thing about a pontoon is you don't need to do much more than
get the cavitation plate under water, particularly if you are not
"getting up". That lets you run pretty shallow. I am running a 20"
60HP 4" above the stock mounting height. Dead in the water the
cavitation plate is about 3" deep. Up on the step it runs great and I
can really get back in the skinny water.
25 may not buy you a whole lot tho. It will probably get you climbing
the bow wave but never let you get up on it. Pontoons don't really
plane but they do get up. That is small enough a motor that you could
borrow one and try it. |
gfretwell
Aug 7
|
| I wouldn't put another 2 stroke on my pontoon. They are not
performance boats and a slow cruise is nice. Losing all the smoke and
noise along with a smooth power curve from 700- 2500 RPM is nice.
You can chug around the lake all day on one can of gas. I bought a 60
so I can crank up and go if I want to (23MPH or so) but most of the
time a guy on the lake doesn't really have anywhere he needs to be at
that fast. He already said he is restricted so I am guessing 25 is the top. A lot
of lakes are 10, hence the 9.9 engines. The little 2 stroke like that
will be running 2000-3000 RPM so he won't be having those 2 stroke
problems you have with bigger motors going slow. My buddy on a lake north of Tampa has a 20' bass buggy pontoon with
the extra furniture. A (tired) 2 stroke Evinrude 35 doesn't get him on
the step. Another friend with a stripped 20' Crest pontoon fishing
boat, no furniture, gets up OK with a 40 Evinrude/Suzuki 4 stroke , My
60 Merc big foot pops me right out 20' Harris no furniture. On a 25HP lake I would buy a 25HP 4 stroke big foot merc. You would
probably burn about a third to half gallon an hour running at hull
speed and it would get you going. Whether the bigger prop on the big
foot would actually get you up on top is the question. Top down, trim
the boat, it might work. |
gfretwell
Aug 7
|
| He didn't say he was restricted. R.I.F. -W |
Clams
Aug 8
|
| You are right, sorry for any confusion. |
gfretwell
Aug 8
|
| I'm not sure how the 9.9 rigs for "convetional" boats. All the ones I saw
used a tiller handle. That said... so long as your barge uses standard through the "tilt-tube"
steering it outta be pretty easy. If your going brand new the 50hp 2-stroke triple is a good bargain. Even 25
is way too small for a pontoon, the 50 is even small, but the 50 can at
least power it. -W <pglitsch@gmail.com> wrote in message |
Clams
Aug 7
|
|
|
Disclaimer: This is a computer-generated and formatted feed of current postings to a public
Internet forum. We do not control the information delivered, nor do we endorse or monitor its
content. Internet forums may carry offensive, harmful, inaccurate, and otherwise inappropriate material.
|
|
