How much horsepower should I get for my new pontoon boat?

“How much horsepower?” is a common question for boat buyers and the answer is most often misunderstood, incorrectly estimated, or misleading. In this quick article, we are hoping to shed some light and answer a few questions related to engine horsepower(hp) that we hear often.

In our experience, we find guests that are getting into a pontoon boat have a hard time understanding what they need for horsepower (hp).  A lot of factors add to this unknown, including some misconceptions, bad advice, and/or lack of information in the market.  An added issue is that some boat dealers will sell unsuspecting buyers under-powered pontoons as they appear much more affordable and seem to be a great deal (the higher the horsepower, typically the higher the price tag).  In the end, these buyers soon find out that they were sold too small of an engine and are sort of stuck with a bad overall boat and weak experience. That’s not good!

At Bridge Marina, we always like to ask lots of questions to new boat buyers, especially pontoon buyers, about what they want their boating experience to look and feel like, including how many people they want to take out, and how fast they want to go with those people. We also want to understand what speed means to them, if and what watersports they will participate in, and the age and experience level of any watersports participants. Occasionally, buyers feel our questions are very personal and prying (we do ask a lot of them!). However, ultimately every guest has found our investigative process to be helpful and they find themselves pleased with their final choice, even if the boat they ultimately choose has a different amount of horsepower than they originally thought. That is good!

The challenge to choosing horsepower for a pontoon is that the answers to all the above questions we ask our guests, and perhaps a few more, need to be understood. If you don’t take into consideration what exactly you want your boating experience to look and feel like, you can end up being unhappy. Unhappy isn’t good, so we will try to generalize a bit here, give some advice, as well as note some pros and cons along the horsepower spectrum.

 

115hp – The Baseline

To start, unless you are on a small water body, have specific low horsepower needs and/or plan to keep the pontoon for a very long time, the baseline for horsepower has increased over the last few years. We have found that anything under 115hp is “unappreciated” in the pre-owned market (in our experience, the resale market for under 115 horsepower 20-25 ft boats is weak and has limited value). My intention isn’t to start off discussing buying a boat with worrying about resale from the start, but I think this gives some direct insight into not only what the market is seeking, but what people are expecting from pontoons today.

So, unless you are buying a pontoon under 20 feet, buying for use on a small lake, or want a pontoon just for cruising and don’t care so much about resale value, 115hp is your baseline.

With that said, a 115hp engine on a pontoon can do a lot. Although to do a lot, your boat will typically need a few features. A 20-22 foot pontoon boat, if equipped with the third tube (either ¾ or full tube), will make much better use of the 115hp power. If you add some lifting strakes to the tubes, you are even better off (we can have another conversation about pontoon design later). In any event, with 115 horsepower and proper pontoon set up, you can expect comfortable tubing speeds with a crew in the boat… a pretty nimble pontoon boat! Plus, when you are “light on crew,” you can expect a rather sporty toon experience… you’re not going to break any speed records, but you are certainly going to be able to speed along in the high 20mph mark and will feel rather agile doing so.

In short, 115hp and the right pontoon set up is a good all-around pontoon choice for lots of boaters (just note that the experience will feel just a bit sluggish and won’t completely get you into a “sporty” feel).

 

150hp-175hp engines, 200hp+

For many boaters, we find that tying a 150hp-175hp engine to the proper pontoon set up makes for a solid boating experience, with triple pontoons being the key.

If you are shopping in the 21-24 foot pontoon range and plan on carrying 8-10 passengers, a 150-175hp engine with a triple pontoon is a great all-around pontoon boat choice.

By “all-around” I mean it will perform watersports rather well with a crew, it will be more reactive from a standstill with a load, and will also push over 30mph with a light crew and trimmed correctly. This combination is usually still fair on the budget, so that’s why I would consider this a great all-around pontoon (i.e., fair budget, good performance, and good utility).

Above 175 horsepower is where speed, performance and budget really start to come into play. If budget is not major concern, I can mostly tell you we have almost never heard a guest complain “my boat has too much horsepower!” So, if you’re not as concerned with budget and you are also interested in going as fast as you can, then go to the biggest horsepower the boat will hold, understanding that big horsepower requires mandatory accessories such as power steering, which will further increase costs.

However, if you’re trying to stay within a budget, you will be pleased with triple pontoons that have a bump up of power in the 200-225hp range.

The real value of these larger horsepower pontoons is the speed and performance you can attain when the boat is loaded with crew. While under 200hp boats are more effected when loaded, a properly set up pontoon style with 200hp and over will still perform well, even with a load. Please note that regardless of size and horsepower, any boat slows down when fully loaded.  We have heard from owners with high horsepower toons (i.e 250hp+) that “the boat doesn’t go full speed with my full crew,” so we have learned to remind all buyers that pontoons will slow down with greater crew on board, much like any boat. Also, we like to remind buyers that it is not all that often that you are fully loaded and wanting to drive around the lake at 40mph; most boats live the majority of their lives cruising around in the 5-25mph range.

 

So… how much horsepower does you boat really need? To summarize: 

• 115hp has become the starting point for horsepower and can be a very suitable boat for lots of boaters;
• 150-175hp choice is a great all-around pontoon and can truly be a versatile “do it all” boat;
• 200+hp is the way to go if you have a need for speed and want the best performance out of your pontoon.

Watch Our Videos For More

We’ve put together several videos that specifically speak to horsepower, engine size and pontoon boats.  Check them out below!

 

More questions about boating, engine size or more? 

We’re here to help… simply drop us an email, message us on Facebook or Instagram or call us at (973) 663-1976. We look forward to helping you find your perfect boating experience!