Pontoon Boat Engine Size 

What size and hp do you run on your pontoon? What performance do you get?

Almost 20 years ago when Honda Marine updated their small engine group, I was given the task of generating some publicity for the new BF9.9 high thrust outboard. It was a new model and probably ideal for a small pontoon operating on one of the horsepower limited bodies of water. One of our working relationships was with Premier Pontoons so they provided a 20 foot triple tube weighing about 3,000 lbs. Their recommended minimum power was a 150 HP engine. This was a high performance pontoon with lifting strakes. We chose to put one of the new BF9.9 Hondas on it and prove it's reliability and efficiency under severe loads. I planned a trip with it running from Ft. Myers, FL. to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. across the Caloosahatchee River and around Lake Okeechobee and out the Port Mayaka Canal into the St.Lucie River where we rounded Stuart into the Intercoastal Waterway, then heading south to Ft. Lauerdale. I asked a couple of boating magazine editors if they'd like to come along for the journey and a couple of them agreed. Jim Barron of Trailer Boats Magazine suggested that I think of a unique "hook" to get readers attention should they decide to write about it. The Premier Pontoon had a stock 40 gallon tank so I suggested that we make the entire trip without once stopping for gas. Jim thought that was a great idea and we set off on a very unusual adventure. The little Honda ran at wide open throttle for 8 to 9 hours a day for 4 days pushing the 3000 lb pontoon at a blistering 7 mph. There were 4 people on board the Premier. Several others enjoyed the journey in my Hurricane Deckboat used as a camera/support boat for the Honda documentation. Under full load like that the little Honda burned roughly 1 to 1.1 gph and we pulled into the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show with 2 gallons to spare. Jim Barron wrote an awesome article for Trailer Boats Magazine chronicling the journey called "Long Playing Toon" :-) A trip I will never forget.

Hello Len's Cove Love watching and learning from your video's. We run a 2012 75hp etech on our 20' avalon. We also run a VK-3 VaraFoil kit which includes a VaraPlate. This application took us from 21 mph max WOT ( Wide Open Throttle ). We now do 30 Mph max WOT, fuel burn rate incredibly better and ride now extremely quiet. Keep up your great work.

This could be a new favorite video for us.... Way to go, old "slow & steady" man!

Excellent information - much thanks!

Great video. Thanks for posting

Basic information and very informative. The old KISS formula, keep it short & simple. Thumbs Up

Bennington 25 foot tritoon with lifting strakes and a Volvo Penta 5.7L (350 Chevy) engine, 280HP. Will do 40mph but wish it was faster.

I have a 1995 Suntracker with a 2017 Yamaha 90 on it. It is a light boat, only 21 foot long and makes quick circles and I can run 3.5k rpm and burn 3 gallons per hour. I drove a friends 26 foot tritoon with a 250 and found it harder to handle and no use for fishing. It just felt like a barge. I am going to get a new boat in a couple years but I think I will stay with a lighter / non tritoon boat with a 115. Just easier to handle, more nimble, better for fishing and easier on my wallet at the gas dock.

There is no PDF as promised in your video at the end, please direct me to the PDF that shows what we can expect from different boat sizes and engines.

Nice Video

My friend had a 23 foot pontoon boat what's 105 horsepower Chrysler on it and it would pull a 130-pound person water skiing behind it a lot of people would flip when they saw a pontoon boat pulling somebody water skiing this boat would get up on the back end and really run that was in the early eighties up to 1985

22' Princecraft Vantage with a Merc 90hp and a 4 blade 13.875" x 13" pitch prop... Approx. 40KMS with 2 people and dogs at 5500RPM

So we have a brand new 24ft Berkshire with 3 toons. We currently have a 150 Honda motor. Would it make sense to upgrade to a larger motor? (Would like a 250 hp)

In lieu of the pdf, Sweetwater has a bunch of test reports for different size toons with different engines.

I don’t know what to compare to. I have an old Weers 24 foot with no furniture. Just a wooden helm and railings. The motor is an old Mercury 25XD. It goes between 14 and 15 with two people on it. Is that abnormal?

I was thinking about getting this motor for a 16foot pontoon boat. 1997 Johnson 50 SPL. The boat was previously a 48V e Drive minn kota powered boat. will this 50 work?

BIL has a 1987 Sweetwater 20' with a 35 Yamaha and was wondering if it could handle a '95 Force 70hp. I can't find anything about max hp for that model. Any thoughts?

I think 25 mph on a standard 20 ft boat seems fast enough for most general getting around my plan is a 20' toon with a 90 hp 4 cycle new.

Never owned a Pontoon boat. But I do have experience with owning a boat and growing up with a family that had boats. I would imagine that a pontoon boat produces a sizeable amount of drag. I would never use a pontoon boat for tubing or skiing, but that's just my opinion. I do know that when you lean towards the idea that a small engine uses less fuel is a bit of a stretch. One major problem with 'under powering' a water craft is about boat control, especially approaching a dock or shoreline on a windy day. I would choose a size that allows me to 'cruise' within an expectable range of fuel efficiency, but also gives me some reasonable speed, say 25 mph in case in need to get off the water due to bad weather rolling in. I also know that using too small of an engine puts a lot of strain on that engine which can led to short engine life if you constantly run the engine above mid range day after.

I have a 24-foot Neptune dolphin pontoon boat has a 40 horse 4 cylinder Mercury on runs roughly 19 miles an hour not bad for a little 40

Still waiting on the pdf. Hope its soon

got a 27 foot starcraft trtioon with a 200 evinrude..does 35-38...42 once solo ride...the boat can take a 300hp...what's your thought on how much speed I'd gain?

As a kid my buddy’s dad would overpower everything. Gotta be able to tandem waterski behind his pontoon👍🏻

Well, pontoon boat engineering and design has certainly come a long way since I was in the business many years ago...Back in my day, these things had a certain hull speed that would not be overcome by more horsepower...Adding more power just strained the engine, caused more ventilation and discomfort. I remember when the "deck boats" first came out, now those were a great combination of room and performance....Wonder if they still make the deck boat design..

Where is the PDF with the list of pontoons lengths and engine h.p.'s?

Does proper weight distribution help speed?

Let's say I want a slow boat .. with a cabin and small front deck. I want to be all solar,so I'm just looking to get a 16ft pontoon boat with a title and no motor, I'm just wanting to diy it,but I'm at a crossroads... do I buy a very expensive torqeedo. Or,a quality high thrust trolling motor? I live along the Ohio river and just want to putz along without gasoline and do some river/tributary camping.

I am still looking for any info or comments about this type of boat on the bigger lakes like huron or michigan. Can the tri-toon be set up for safe use on the big lakes or is that to "iffy" ? Not so much for speed but for rougher water. Any comments on that use of a pontoon boat?

How good are they in rough water, like a 10' sea?

18' x7' with 60 etec does 21 cruise at 16 at 2.5 gph

Remember, more horsepower more fuel used at speed. It’s not like a car cruising along 40 mph on a level highway, it’s like 200 hp car fully loaded towing up a hill all the time and 40 is all she’ll do.

@boatinglessons I am looking for a used pontoon boat with a 200 horsepower Yamaha outboard with a hummingbird on it please

Hi Sean, I really enjoy you videos. They are so real and informative. In this and other videos you point to the upper right where we are to find additional information. Unfortunately i am unable to access it. I would love to get copies of the pdf charts on size, weight, hp and speed for pontoon boats. Where can i find them. Thank you Robert.

What would happen if you welded a flat sheet of aluminum to the bottom of the pontoons?

Hi. We are looking into purchasing a used 24' Sunchaiser Jamaica pontoon boat with a 70 HP Evinrude motor. Will this motor be adequate or should we look into a larger engine?

Hi... I own a Sun tracker 32 party cruiser Pantoon boat with 2 floats.. what is the minimum engine size you recommend.. also i own a 50hp Honda 4 stroke engine will that engine be enough to power the pontoon temporarily until I get a bigger engine?

Hi Sean. I'm going to get a 20ft Bennington pontoon with a 90HP Yamaha 4 stroke 25 inch pontoons. I'm wondering what speed i can expect out of it. Can it tow tubes?

Nice video. However, unable to find the PDF you mention at the end 😞

I don't want to go too big on a pontoon, an 18 ft would be perfect for my family of three who wants to fish. However, my daughter would also like to try water skiing as well. Is it possible to water ski with an 18 ft pontoon and a 75 hp motor? we might consider a 20 ft pontoon with a 90 hp, but would prefer the 18 ft if its possible to water ski.

I have a 2020 sun tracker 18 dlx with 75hp Mercury- top speed was 25mph with top down and zero passengers.. mph drastically dropped with passengers and top up.more like 15mph fully loaded up. I want to upgrade to 115hp.

My Harris 22 foot dual log pontoon with a 115 HP Mercury goes 25 mph.

Are the safe on Lake Erie for fishing and parties? I don't see them on Lake Erie.

Years ago, when I was like 15 or 16, I got a job working for a guy who owned a development on a lake in NH. He was selling house lots and it was my job to take people around the lake in his pontoon equipped with a 40hp Johnson. We'd typically have 6 to 8 people on board and I grew to genuinely hate that boat. Top speed with that many people was about 10 tops (if we were lucky). Because of this I thought I'd never consider a pontoon for anything, ever. However today they have respectable performance and still have the benefit of deck room.that other boats configurations can't come close to matching. Now that I have my own lake cottage I'm going to dump my bowrider and, hard to believe I'm saying this, get a pontoon.

Rented a pontoon on lake Hamilton Arkansas. Most boats on lake Hamilton are pontoons. Wonderful lake but I'll stick to my deck boat.

@boatinglessons 24 foot long with a Yamaha 200 hp outboard and a hummingbird fish finder for a used pontoon boat can you get me a price on if it’s used for me

This is why I bought the new Sea-Doo triton boat cause it’ll do 45!

I didnt see a pdf regarding size and speed?

Novice boater, and first time boat purchaser, what size pontoon and engine setup recommend ?

Algae or any build up on the pontoons will increase drag and decrease speed.

Putting this out there: I'm thinking about getting a 20 ft pontoon and putting a Toyota 22RE onboard (about 116 hp) on it. Any thoughts?

Would a 22’ to 23’ with 150 to 200hp be good?

would a 40 horse on an 18 be to little and how much more gas would i use with the 60 over the 40

i dont see the pdf file

What is the size of the boat you are driving in the video and what are the specs as far as speed, pontoon size and how many, and capacity for people? I looking to purchase a pontoon boat and we are a family of 6, my husband loves fishing with the kids and I want to be able to pull them on tubes and skis on the lake. Thanks

27' Manitou, 250HP Suzuki on lake of the Ozarks

Did I miss something? I watched the video until the end for the downloadable fact sheet and also checked the links. I can’t find it! Can you point me to where it is so I can download it?

22' Lowes Sunchaser. Just traded 40 hp Merc for 60 hp Merc Big Foot. They thought they were doing me a favor and put a bigger pitch prop on and I think it killed my rpms and speed. What would best prop be to achieve my max 6200 rpm and get best top speed? Want to be able to do 2500 - 3000 rpm and 10-12 mph on my long river trips.

PDFs?

Where is the downloadable PDF??

Didn’t know they still made pontoon boats. Tri toons are the way to go

4 years and no PDF

Not able to find,buy a 4point fishing pontoon 23foot 150 hp . At bass pro theses days.

PDF???

No PDF

PDF?

I just want to have an option to tube what size motor do I need for a 18ft pontoon 🤦🏼‍♂️

How fast is a 16ft xl with a Mercury 50 hp?

AZ

I have I 28 ft 350 hp pontoon

So a 150hp is a bad combo for 24ft dual toon?

Size matters on a pontoon IF you want to slalom ski.

Common sense

I am about range, slow and go .

Appears to be targeted for the craft size, make(s) this Canadian dealer is aligned with. The Sun Tracker Boats [ White River Group / Cabela's ] are 16, 18, 20 ,22, 24 in length (FEET) and are vastly more popular for the value - dollar for dollar & options for the craft appropriate for many boating needs. Interesting that all dealers for upscale Boats = Bennington, South Bay, Veranda, Sylan, etc are geared for those less concerned with price point. Also THE WORD Pontoon is a amalgamation of an Pacific Islander language and "Toon" does not refer to The Tubes as flotation devices .... seems every perspective has it's commercial value - not educational integrity. Thanks, jj

How about an 18 foot, 2 tubes with lifting strakes and a 200 HP engine?

My lake is 20HP max. No decision here

Where's the PDF ?

Never mind I found one

No ,it’s the length of the ride😅

No PDF went from a thumbs up to a 👎🏼

Size matters! Except er, sometimes.

Where's the PDF??

Save money, don't purchase new unless you have a lot of money. A Lot of nice used pontoon boats out there and you are not making unneeded payments during when the boat is sitting in the back yard.

Larger boat equal more HP. Brainiac we have here

)

I have 12 ft Electacraft Pontoons 30" wide Have 40 mercury long And eight wide its a elec start . 2 stoke

25ft Avalon Catalina with 300 Mercury will do 50 mph

he forgot BOAT stands for "bust out another thousand".....

This is pretty much a 'no shit Sherlock' video.

Four strokes no power e-tec way better

Max HP or go home. Lol