Motor Question?

Thanks for the help and Papa you get first shot at the 75 if I get rid of it.

You have some good info given here. You also need to look into wether the transome can handle the extra stress that the bigger motor will put on it.. The weight my be the same but not the amount of torch it puts out. I wouldn't want to be seeing you motor on my down imaging in the future.even if it's more structure for crappie to hide around

Insurance would be the issue!

Make sure the length of the lower units are the same. Many bass boats are short shaft while most pontoons require long shafts.

I know some of the newer high end pontoons like Manitou and Bennington are making 20 footers with triple pontoons that will take 175s and 200s and their 24 footers will take a 250 and run about 55mph. Had opportunity to drive a Manitou with a 250 on it one time. Center toon is 27inches and the outer 2 are 23". In the water it makes it run like a v-hull since the center tube is bigger. You could turn that thing sharp at wide open throttle and it just leans over and turns like my Ranger. Awesome boat. Also had lifting strakes welded to outside of tubes so it actually planes out like a bass boat instead of plowing through the water. Of course those boats cost about $50-$60k
As far as using more motor than its rated for I would be careful. I asked a friend of mine who is a DNR officer about it once and he said if you ever had an accident or got into a collision with someone and they investigated and found out it was overpowered then your in some serious trouble if they try to sue or something. I don't think a 115 would hurt it but I have heard of people causing some stuctural damage to a pontoon by overpowering it since the frame was designed for only so much speed.

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Originally Posted by 1coveblowcrkedcrkmarina

I have a 20 ft fisher pontoon with a mercury 75hp on it. The boat is rated for a 75hp. A friend of mine has an old bass boat that has a mercury 115hp on it. He just had his 115 rebuilt and he doesn't use it. I want to buy it and put it on my pontoon. What do you think? The motors weigh about the same. Thanks for any input. 1Cove

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Something to consider. If it’s the old “stack” merc with three carburetors, you’re going to have to keep the mixture the same every time. If you don’t, the carbs have a tendency, to get out-of-sync with each other. I’ve had two of them. When their tuned right, there one fine running machine. I can sit at the dock and watch some of the old mercs and listen as people have a heck of a time getting them crank or running smooth at idle. The fellows (a few that know what they’re doing on the triple stack) that can work on them love them. The people that don’t know what they’re doing will hose you every time in rebuilding them when it's just proper mixture and sync. I would stick with what I have now. Just my two cents worth.