I am new to the pontoon world as we just got our 1st one a couple weeks ago. I have been on boats my whole life but never a pontoon until now. As I understand that most are not very fast I am not sure what kind of speed I should be looking to get out of mine. It is a 2008 Bennington 20ft with a 90hp 2 stroke Yamaha. As of right now I am only getting 20 mph per GPS at 6000 rpms with a light load. Does that sound about right?
2021 caymas cx21
No, I'm almost that fast with a 40 on a 20 footer. I'd think 30-35 would be a reasonable number.
You are close. Bennington is a heavier boat because of the larger pontoons, floor, etc. 6K on the tach is a little high though. Go up one size in prop and speed should come up. Also, are the pontoons clean or dirty? This will cause you to loose as much as 33% speed. At least here where we are.
1997 STRATOS 285 PE EVINRUDE INTRUDER 175
If I were you I'd run it with a load and see where your RPMs are at WOT. (wide open throttle) If you're still over 5700 RMPs with a full load then I would go up one more pitch
2008 XPRESS H18
2017 MERC 150 4S
If I'm not mistaken the max recommended RPMs for that motor is 5500rpms. If you go up one pitch and put a load in the boat you should be right where you need to be. I wouldn't expect much more speed than where you're at once you get a load. I have a 24ft harris with a 90hp 2 stroke and with a light load we see about 20mph. Loaded we loose a couple mph.
2008 XPRESS H18
2017 MERC 150 4S
Ok. I will look for another prop. Appreciate it guys
2021 caymas cx21
your Bennington to the pontoons is akin to the Holiday Rambler Brand of campers.. High Dollar toon. I've seen putt putts and a few that make a wake boat look sick lolo.. the ZOOOM ones where BIG HP motors I guess? Only ones been on is in showrooms, never rode 1 on lake.
My 22 ft Harris with a 50hp mercury can get up to 21 mph on gps.
That's bs!!!Originally Posted by larryhyco
20XDC Bullet/Modified Merc 260
295TF Charger/Merc 225X-Sold
20' Contender Pickle Fork/Merc EFI Bridgeport-Sold
18' Stratus with Sommerford Tunnel Vee Hull/2.4 EFI Merc High Perf-Sold
Freedom 240DLX Toon/Merc 115
10' Cougar Cub/Merc 25 on the Bottle
18" Homebuilt Tunnel/.021 OS Max Outboard on 50% Nitro with a Pipe
I just traded a 2007 22ft Bennington with a 2007 115 yamaha four stroke and 22 MPH was all i could get with two people if I had a load it was more like 16 to 18 MPH.
2016 South Bay 23’ pontoon with a Honda 115. Top GPS speed with an average load, two people and a 3/4 tank of fuel is around 23-24. I have a neighbor that has a Bentley with a 90 Yamaha. He’s told me his top speed was around 20-21.
Southbay pontoons come aluminum skinned on the bottom. It helps on a pontoon boat. My next boat will be a tri-toon.
BassCat Sabre FTD
Mercury 150 Optimax
"It's just fishing"
What pitch prop and RPM range do you have. we have a 2018 22 with the same motor and getting 27 gps with a lite load. We do have lifting strakes though.
I've got a 24' Suntracker Fishin' Barge with a 115 CT Mercury. Loaded I get 21mph according to GPS.
Pontoons with larger engines are good for the high 20s before they hit a speed wall. They are displacement hulls plowing through the water.
A 20 ft. Bennie usually has 25 inch toons and the 90 hp 2 stroke should be good for the high 20's with the right propeller. You should be looking for 5800 rpms max.
Why don't you call Bennington's customer service and see if they can suggest a good propeller for your hull and engine? Or, call The Prop Gods in Florida and see what they suggest.
Those 40 mph pontoons have lifting strakes on the toons which get the nosecones out of the water. Most are also tritoons. And they are great rides.
Last edited by Bamaman; 03-10-2018 at 08:28 PM.
I bought a 2017 Tracker XPS 3 last year with a 150 4 stroke Mercury and I get 43 mph with my wife and I on it.
My Bennington 25 RCWW with 300 Yamaha will run 46 with 4 adults. Absolutely love this boat for our family. We have 4 teenage kids with friends most of the time and can ski, tube, boat ride, etc. This thing does it all for us and can handle the big water of Toledo Bend.
My 25 ft Berkshire with a Honda 250 will run mid to upper 40MPH
Play-craft has some toons running over 100MPH. There is no wall that HP can't overcome.
The biggest wall here is a HP of 90!!!!
2 toon boats hit that wall about 30 mph. Any faster and it takes a lot of horsepower to get there.
3 toon boats have to have lifting strakes to break the 30 mph wall, and they hit a wall about 40 mph. You will see 50 to 100 horsepower increases only gives you 4-5 mph than 150 hp. But that horsepower costs $3000 to $8000 more plus a $3000 hydraulic power steering is required. That is some expensive speed. We seldom run our boat over 35 mph anyway.
So how many HP to get a tritoon over 100MPH according to your figures??
There was one Playcraft at the LOTO Shootoff last year running those numbers. I would think three Mercury Racing 300XSs would get one up there. I have no idea what pitch props would be required to get any boat "up there."
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