stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

[ajkustra]

Hi,
I'm looking at a pontoon boat for sale and was wondering how common is a stainless pontoon boat? I'm about 99% sure the logs and rails are stainless. I went to see the boat and everything important looks to be in good shape (pontoons, floor, carpet, rails). Some cosmetic work will be needed, as far as furniture and such. The motor he has is a 9.9 merc, how fast do you think it'll move? The boat is 22ft from the tips of the logs. Will the heavier stainless be an issue? I boat on a river with about 1.5 mph current on average. I did notice that instead of some type of plug, someone has drilled holes on the tops of the logs and installed automotive wheel valve-stems. does anyone see this being a problem? Also, is $1650 inline with the condition and motor size? I dont know if the motor runs, i'm going to look at the motor tomorrow after he gets it out of storage. I'm also waiting on looking at the title for the year/brand/weight capacity/hp limit. I could not find a tag anywhere on the boat. Where might it be, and will this be an issue?

heres a link to the ad..thanks for any opinions and/or warnings/advice

pontoon boat & trailer

 

[belairbrian]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

What makes you think they are stainless steel? I see polished aluminum.

personally, with a good motor I would top out at $1000.

 

[matt167]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

I think it's an old hommade boat, and yes at least the logs look like stainless but they may just be polished aluminum.. I think I would value the boat at scrap value or not much more. Don't bother with the motor, it's too small to be a main engine on a pontoon of that size. It could probably run with 25hp as a minimum and get displacement speeds out of it + a little extra to get up the river in bad weather

 

[ajkustra]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

Thanks for the insight guys, i feel like the price was a little high but i can't find a pontoon in western pa for less than about 2500 for something in the same shape. Is the market inflated here, or am i cheap? I regularly see old boats sell for more than the nada.

 

[belairbrian]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

I wouldn't say cheap, but I would say unrealistic. here a pontoon trailer (no boat on it) goes around $1200-1400 used. So junk on a trailer is going to be $2000.

Not sure exactly where you are so I took a look at Erie PA craigslist. found this 1989 Grumman Pontoon Boat 24 foot Funship

Kind of strange a 24' pontoon with a 9.9 hp. Then I saw several other boats pontoon and runabout with 9.9s. Are there a lot of restricted lakes in the area?

If so look at smaller pontoons or even maybe one of the kit boats.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

Limited HP lakes are very common. but a SS pontoon sure isnt, the last time I priced a SS 4 X 10 sheet of 1/16 was 400.00

 

[5150abf]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

I was gonna say they would look beautiful and last forever but there are only a handful of people that could afford one, they would eb a real pain to build too.

Had to be polished aluminum.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

Limited HP lakes are very common. but a SS pontoon sure isnt, the last time I priced a SS 4 X 10 sheet of 1/16 was 400.00

we pay $3.00 / pound at the quantity we buy at work.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

I don't know that anyone's ever built a stainless steel pontoon boat. The stuff's just too hard to weld. Pontoons are sheet aluminum and the fencing/railings are most often anodized aluminum 1 1/4" tubing.

Aluminum boats just don't age like a fiberglass boat, and there are many old pontoon boats around. Unfortunately, the seating and motors are also old, and expensive to replace. I wouldn't consider a pontoon boat with less than 50 horsepower.

My 27 year old Starcraft has a Yamaha 115 hp motor, and it's very seaworthy.

Finding a $1650 boat will be difficult if it's in decent shape. They're often worth that much as scrap aluminum. And pontoon trailers are needed for every boat, and just the trailer is costly even used.

You'll need to up your budget if you want to buy a decent used and reliable pontoon boat.

 

[steelespike]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

Check it with a magnet stainless will attract the magnet aluminum will not.
Lets just say a 9.9 will move the boat probably 6 to 8 mph.
When I was about 6 I had a 1.5 Evinrude Our friend had a 32 ft cruiser. To puff up my ego he thought it would be fun to have me tow him out of the bay.Had about a 30 ft rope the 1.5 could barely pull it tight. After we started , unknown to me, he ran his motor to help me out.So you see there is apparently a limit to how small a motor can still be practical.

 

[dls322]

Re: stainless steel pontoon boat? first pontoon...

Finding a $1650 boat will be difficult if it's in decent shape. They're often worth that much as scrap aluminum.

I wish that was the case, my 24' with no seats but still a full floor, console, and carpet weighted around 1,600 lbs at the scrap yard. To get to clean aluminum....if you strip it all down...get rid of the wood which alone weighs (~75lbs a sheet x 6) 450 lbs your down to 1150...then with the carpet, wiring, and all the old gas in the tank and such figure a stripped down 24' pontoon weights 1000 lbs.

If they agree that it's clean aluminum then you will get about .40 cents a pound so $400...if you leave all the junk on you will get about .15 cents a pound so (1600 8.15) $240...not too spectacular