Newbie at boats and getting a toon

Hi Everyone,

Our family has rented toons a couple times each summer for the past two years and decided to make the plunge into becoming owners. Trying to spend a lot of time researching before buying and will buy off season which for us is after October. The one thing that the wife and I agreed on is that the boat will be a thing of LEISURE, not work. I guess she's tired of me saying I can do that and taking forever to get it done. I still want to buy and oldie and strip it to the hull and build my own, but won't.

So that means the only time that we will touch the boat is getting on and getting off. We'll find a dealer that will provide all the maintenance and hauling to and fro storage and lake.

We are going to buy used and I'd like at least a 21' boat since the 18' that we've rented feels a bit small. Planning on using it for fishing and tubing. With this in mind, any recommendations on manufacturer, toon size, deck type and motor make and size? My son and I see the 125 hp motor and drool because the toon we rent has a 9.9 on her. Been reading some posts and see cracks in transoms with suggestions of motor torque being the cause. These types of posts made me realize I need to learn a lot more. For example, I thought the trim was just used to raise the prop to keep it from getting damaged in shallow water.

I have studied our state DNR boating regulations and certification course but this course doesn't tell you much about actually operating a boat. If anyone has recommendations for learning more about operation or what to look for when buying a used toon, I'd love to receive the info.

Thanks
Thomas

Re: Newbie at boats and getting a toon

So that means the only time that we will touch the boat is getting on and getting off. We'll find a dealer that will provide all the maintenance and hauling to and fro storage and lake.

We are going to buy used

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Lots of luck

Re: Newbie at boats and getting a toon

Boss Hawg said:

Lots of luck

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yeah I get what you are saying... I will do any mods and repairs that can be done on water, but anything like the winter maintenance, motor repair, etc will be done by someone else. In fact, we don't even have a vehicle that could pull a boat!

Re: Newbie at boats and getting a toon

I'm not aware of any dealer that will move and store your boat, but there are a lot of other people that do. Marinas do it and some businesses are just into the storage/maintenace part of it.

I'm a do-it-yourselfer too but bought a new pontoon so I'd have the warranty and wouldn't have to be fixing someone elses problems.

We have a Party barge 20. Seats 6 nicely, could do 7 with a folding chair but won't get anywhere fast with my 90HP 4-stroke with that many.

Can you afford a deck boat? They have a good combination of zoom and comfort.

Re: Newbie at boats and getting a toon

Mr Crabbs said:

Can you afford a deck boat? They have a good combination of zoom and comfort.

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We had five adults and a child onboard last outing with a 9.9. We crawled. Not good hearing that a 90 doesn't go much faster. I was hoping to be able to pull a tube at a fairly decent speed with a 90.

Not sure what deck boats run, but I looked at a picture of one and doesn't really interest me. Pontoon is nice to have friends and family on and to fish the night away.

Re: Newbie at boats and getting a toon

Welcome to the forum thommes. Please add your location to your profile. This will make it easier to help you with your quest. There are a couple of dealers near the lake where I boat that do what you want. Do maintenance, drop in at the beginning of the season and take out and store in the fall.
I have a 20' with a 60 hp. You may want to increase the horses for regular tubing. A 22' with a 90 minimum should do the trick.

Re: Newbie at boats and getting a toon

Mr Crabbs said:

I'm not aware of any dealer that will move and store your boat, but there are a lot of other people that do. Marinas do it and some businesses are just into the storage/maintenace part of it.

I'm a do-it-yourselfer too but bought a new pontoon so I'd have the warranty and wouldn't have to be fixing someone elses problems.

We have a Party barge 20. Seats 6 nicely, could do 7 with a folding chair but won't get anywhere fast with my 90HP 4-stroke with that many.

Can you afford a deck boat? They have a good combination of zoom and comfort.

Click to expand...

I have a 20' with a 90HP 2 Stroke Mercury and with 6 adults stills goes 22MPH

Re: Newbie at boats and getting a toon

I have a 20 bennington with ESP triple toon package and a 150hp Yamaha 4 stroke. It goes 39 MPH with 2 adults and 2 kids and about 35 with a full load of 11 people. If you want to spend around $31k without a trailer it is as close to a vhull in handling and speed as you can get. I love it, it pulls tubers and skiers no problem. Spend a few extra $ and you will get all the Benny's of a pontoon and most of the Benny's of a vhull.y