24'... or smaller?

My wife and I have been thinking about buying a pontoon for some time now and hopefully, within the next few weeks, we'll be able to buy. We'll have about $6,000 to spend, so we we should be able to find something decent. My wife insists that it should be lake ready, but I don't have a problem with a project boat... so it may be something in between. Usable (with a good motor) but still needing work.

Anyway, the question I have is the length of boat. I'm leaning toward something 18-22', but I see more 24-footers for sale than I do the shorter ones. It's only the wife and I for the most part, and we'll be using it only for fishing. We may also try camping on it. We have a full-size Dodge pickup with the 5.7 hemi, so towing should not be an issue.

How does a 24' pontoon compare to a shorter one when it comes to towing, loading and unloading, handling on the water, and windy conditions (on the water)? We'll mostly be using it on larger lakes, but occasionally on smaller state lakes. We live in Kansas, so the larger lakes can get rough when it's windy.

I feel that a smaller boat would fit our criteria without cramping our style. I'm open to buying a longer boat, I just don't think I need it. Any thoughts?

Re: 24'... or smaller?

how far will u be towing it and kind of hp u limited to a 24 is a great boat and nice when u take others if your thinking 22 and thers a good deal 24 id buy it. but if u are going to go on long tows that are new to go to a 18 makes it easy

Re: 24'... or smaller?

I don't think you'll be happy with anything under 20 feet and I recommend the 24 especially if you may be camping on it.
Your truck will pull a 24 footer fine and there are little handling differences between a 20 and 24 footer.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

+1 to "EglideRider"'s comments.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

We have a 22 footer, four can fish comfortably with room for several others to lay around. I would not recommend going smaller. A 90 Honda 4 stroke gets us up to 17 - 19 WOT while loaded with gear. It handles the waves and current great in the intercoastal waterway.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

You'll be happy with a barge in the 21' to 24' range. Anything smaller will feel cramped when you camp on it and will make your wife nervous in rough/busy water or wind. Keep us posted, and feel free to run potential purchases by us if you're so inclined. Good luck with the search.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

Thanks for the replies. I'll reconsider the 24-footer. Compared to other types of boats, pontoons seem massive to begin with, but a 24-footer seems like a lot of boat to haul down the road. I've been reading a lot on here, so I'll be going into this purchase with a pretty good idea of what to look for and what to expect.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

We have a Hemi and a 24 ft pontoon boat. It pulls so easy you will forget it's there. As for getting a 24 footer ,Some time's I wish it were a 28 footer.We have 90 two stoke Merc. And we cruise in the Chesapecke bay all the time. It it gets to windy open up your doors,It helps.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

Like Silver Eagle and the lot above say. Once you get a boat you get more friends.....everyone you know will want to go out with you. I have a 24 foot with a 90 on it and if I had anything smaller I would be cramped. I towed this pontoon with my V8 ford to Big Hill Lake in Kansas two weeks ago and had no problem towing it.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

You will be a lot happier with a 24' especially if your lake gets a rough as the one we are on.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

Give me room, give me room, give me lots lots a room, go for the 24'. Remember, with a toon you are towing mostly air.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

We'll probably be fishing Cheney Reservoir (Kansas) mostly, primarily because it's closest. It seems that all it takes is a gentle breeze to cause whitecaps on this lake. And it seems that around here, it's always windy... unless it's a 100 degrees, then there's not a breath of air. However, there will still be whitecaps on Cheney.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

Towing a 24 footer vs towing an 18 - 20 footer will be very little different. The frontal area on a pontoon is the same regardless of length so wind resistance will vary only minimally. The extra weight will not be cause for concern since the tow vehicle has adequate power. What will be different however is that the larger toons will need a tandem axle trailer. and 18 - 20 can ride on a single but above that you are in tandem territory. Bigger also means more power. More power means more fuel. More fuel means more money.

Re: 24'... or smaller?

Good points. Thanks.