Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

On Nov 2, 7:35*am, "Paul@BYC" wrote:
On 11/1/2010 10:52 PM, wrote:





On Mon, 1 Nov 2010 18:38:06 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Nov 1, 5:51 pm, *wrote:
On Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:36:59 -0400, *wrote:
On 11/1/10 11:15 AM, Frogwatch wrote:
A friend of mine built a custom pontoon boat roughly 34' long with
beautiful woodwork. *It is powered with a 90 hp and he claims he had
the prop pitched by an expert. *He attains 18 mph so he is planing
some but gets very bad fuel economy, I'd estimate 1 mpg. *Underway,
most people sit on the foredeck so she probably is bow heavy. *Is
there some way to get her to plane better? *He does have one of those
Dol-Fin things on the motor but I think he needs more planing surface
along the pontoons.

This might do it:

http://tinyurl.com/367x6pm

I don't know what a custom 34' pontoon boat weighs, but I'm guessing two
tons or more. That's a lotta weight and length for a 90 hp outboard to
"plane better." I doubt a lower unit wing is going to make a difference.

This would do it.

http://tinyurl.com/29cbqav:)

It should....

This is what the boys over on Pontoon forum are doing

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3386

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3390

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3018

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3019

Don't see too many pontoon boats out on LI Sound. *:)

They tend to be popular on inland lakes and places where the weather
is warmer than LI Sound. :-

Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

On 11/2/10 7:52 AM, Jack wrote:
On Nov 2, 7:35 am, wrote:
On 11/1/2010 10:52 PM, wrote:





On Mon, 1 Nov 2010 18:38:06 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Nov 1, 5:51 pm, wrote:
On Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:36:59 -0400, wrote:
On 11/1/10 11:15 AM, Frogwatch wrote:
A friend of mine built a custom pontoon boat roughly 34' long with
beautiful woodwork. It is powered with a 90 hp and he claims he had
the prop pitched by an expert. He attains 18 mph so he is planing
some but gets very bad fuel economy, I'd estimate 1 mpg. Underway,
most people sit on the foredeck so she probably is bow heavy. Is
there some way to get her to plane better? He does have one of those
Dol-Fin things on the motor but I think he needs more planing surface
along the pontoons.

This might do it:

http://tinyurl.com/367x6pm

I don't know what a custom 34' pontoon boat weighs, but I'm guessing two
tons or more. That's a lotta weight and length for a 90 hp outboard to
"plane better." I doubt a lower unit wing is going to make a difference.

This would do it.

http://tinyurl.com/29cbqav:)

It should....

This is what the boys over on Pontoon forum are doing

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3386

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3390

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3018

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3019

Don't see too many pontoon boats out on LI Sound. :)

They tend to be popular on inland lakes and places where the weather
is warmer than LI Sound. :-


I remember several warm days out on Long Island Sound when I was a
Connecticut Yankee. Several, at least.

Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

On Nov 2, 7:56*am, HarryK wrote:
On 11/2/10 7:52 AM, Jack wrote:



On Nov 2, 7:35 am, *wrote:
On 11/1/2010 10:52 PM, wrote:

On Mon, 1 Nov 2010 18:38:06 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Nov 1, 5:51 pm, * *wrote:
On Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:36:59 -0400, * *wrote:
On 11/1/10 11:15 AM, Frogwatch wrote:
A friend of mine built a custom pontoon boat roughly 34' long with
beautiful woodwork. *It is powered with a 90 hp and he claims he had
the prop pitched by an expert. *He attains 18 mph so he is planing
some but gets very bad fuel economy, I'd estimate 1 mpg. *Underway,
most people sit on the foredeck so she probably is bow heavy. *Is
there some way to get her to plane better? *He does have one of those
Dol-Fin things on the motor but I think he needs more planing surface
along the pontoons.

This might do it:

http://tinyurl.com/367x6pm

I don't know what a custom 34' pontoon boat weighs, but I'm guessing two
tons or more. That's a lotta weight and length for a 90 hp outboard to
"plane better." I doubt a lower unit wing is going to make a difference.

This would do it.

http://tinyurl.com/29cbqav:)

It should....

This is what the boys over on Pontoon forum are doing

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3386

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3390

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3018

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3019

Don't see too many pontoon boats out on LI Sound. *:)

They tend to be popular on inland lakes and places where the weather
is warmer than LI Sound. *:-

I remember several warm days out on Long Island Sound when I was a
Connecticut Yankee. Several, at least.

Those mods to the pontoons look interesting. Now, if he went to a
larger engine and added planing strakes, could he expect better MPG or
just higher speed. (fuel flow meters ought to interface with impeller
knotmeters to get mpg).

Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

On 11/2/10 10:44 AM, Frogwatch wrote:
On Nov 2, 7:56 am, wrote:
On 11/2/10 7:52 AM, Jack wrote:



On Nov 2, 7:35 am, wrote:
On 11/1/2010 10:52 PM, wrote:

On Mon, 1 Nov 2010 18:38:06 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Nov 1, 5:51 pm, wrote:
On Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:36:59 -0400, wrote:
On 11/1/10 11:15 AM, Frogwatch wrote:
A friend of mine built a custom pontoon boat roughly 34' long with
beautiful woodwork. It is powered with a 90 hp and he claims he had
the prop pitched by an expert. He attains 18 mph so he is planing
some but gets very bad fuel economy, I'd estimate 1 mpg. Underway,
most people sit on the foredeck so she probably is bow heavy. Is
there some way to get her to plane better? He does have one of those
Dol-Fin things on the motor but I think he needs more planing surface
along the pontoons.

This might do it:

http://tinyurl.com/367x6pm

I don't know what a custom 34' pontoon boat weighs, but I'm guessing two
tons or more. That's a lotta weight and length for a 90 hp outboard to
"plane better." I doubt a lower unit wing is going to make a difference.

This would do it.

http://tinyurl.com/29cbqav:)

It should....

This is what the boys over on Pontoon forum are doing

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3386

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3390

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3018

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3019

Don't see too many pontoon boats out on LI Sound. :)

They tend to be popular on inland lakes and places where the weather
is warmer than LI Sound. :-

I remember several warm days out on Long Island Sound when I was a
Connecticut Yankee. Several, at least.

Those mods to the pontoons look interesting. Now, if he went to a
larger engine and added planing strakes, could he expect better MPG or
just higher speed. (fuel flow meters ought to interface with impeller
knotmeters to get mpg).


Impeller knotmeters?

Better a fuel flow meter interface with a GPS.

Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

On Tue, 2 Nov 2010 07:44:44 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

Those mods to the pontoons look interesting. Now, if he went to a
larger engine and added planing strakes, could he expect better MPG or
just higher speed. (fuel flow meters ought to interface with impeller
knotmeters to get mpg).

If you increase speed without increasing horsepower, mileage will
improve.

Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

On 11/2/10 2:45 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 2 Nov 2010 07:44:44 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

Those mods to the pontoons look interesting. Now, if he went to a
larger engine and added planing strakes, could he expect better MPG or
just higher speed. (fuel flow meters ought to interface with impeller
knotmeters to get mpg).

If you increase speed without increasing horsepower, mileage will
improve.



Wayne...I think the guy has "tapped" out on performance with the engine
he now has.

Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

In article , says...

On 11/2/10 2:45 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 2 Nov 2010 07:44:44 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

Those mods to the pontoons look interesting. Now, if he went to a
larger engine and added planing strakes, could he expect better MPG or
just higher speed. (fuel flow meters ought to interface with impeller
knotmeters to get mpg).

If you increase speed without increasing horsepower, mileage will
improve.



Wayne...I think the guy has "tapped" out on performance with the engine
he now has.

Why do you think that?

Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

wrote in message
...
On Mon, 1 Nov 2010 18:38:06 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

On Nov 1, 5:51 pm, W1TEF wrote:
On Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:36:59 -0400, HarryK wrote:
On 11/1/10 11:15 AM, Frogwatch wrote:
A friend of mine built a custom pontoon boat roughly 34' long with
beautiful woodwork. It is powered with a 90 hp and he claims he had
the prop pitched by an expert. He attains 18 mph so he is planing
some but gets very bad fuel economy, I'd estimate 1 mpg. Underway,
most people sit on the foredeck so she probably is bow heavy. Is
there some way to get her to plane better? He does have one of those
Dol-Fin things on the motor but I think he needs more planing surface
along the pontoons.

This might do it:

http://tinyurl.com/367x6pm

I don't know what a custom 34' pontoon boat weighs, but I'm guessing
two
tons or more. That's a lotta weight and length for a 90 hp outboard to
"plane better." I doubt a lower unit wing is going to make a
difference.

This would do it.

http://tinyurl.com/29cbqav :)

It should....


This is what the boys over on Pontoon forum are doing

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3386

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3390

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3018

http://www.pontoonforums.com/download/file.php?id=3019
I think that in a time, long long ago and far down the river, my pontoons
were all shiny and pretty like that!

Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

On Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:54:42 -0400, HarryK wrote:

On 11/2/10 2:45 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 2 Nov 2010 07:44:44 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

Those mods to the pontoons look interesting. Now, if he went to a
larger engine and added planing strakes, could he expect better MPG or
just higher speed. (fuel flow meters ought to interface with impeller
knotmeters to get mpg).

If you increase speed without increasing horsepower, mileage will
improve.


Wayne...I think the guy has "tapped" out on performance with the engine
he now has.

That may be true but unless they try to get more of it out of the
water with lifting strakes or similar, they won't know for sure. I'd
agree that more horsepower is probably easier and cheaper but it
certainly won't improve economy under most circumstances - only if it
is now operating "on the hump".

Getting a pontoon boat to plane
 

On Nov 2, 10:49*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:54:42 -0400, HarryK wrote:
On 11/2/10 2:45 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 2 Nov 2010 07:44:44 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
*wrote:

Those mods to the pontoons look interesting. *Now, if he went to a
larger engine and added planing strakes, could he expect better MPG or
just higher speed. (fuel flow meters ought to interface with impeller
knotmeters to get mpg).

If you increase speed without increasing horsepower, mileage will
improve.

Wayne...I think the guy has "tapped" out on performance with the engine
he now has.

That may be true but unless they try to get more of it out of the
water with lifting strakes or similar, they won't know for sure. *I'd
agree that more horsepower is probably easier and cheaper but it
certainly won't improve economy under most circumstances - only if it
is now operating "on the hump".

I believe his pontoons are not big enough for the weight so he should
weld planing strakes on the pontoons that are enclosed with extra
floatation. OR, he could resign himself to cruising at 7 kts to save
fuel.