Sun Tracker Party Barge21

Does anyone own one of these or been on one?

Wife and I are wanting to get a boat the first of next year (got to get a jon sold first).

Went to BassPro today looking at different models.

Found 1 we really liked, a Tahoe q5i.

Also looked at a few pontoons.

Picked up a brochure and wanted a bit more info about it. Its the Sun Tracker Party Barge 21. 22' long with a 90 HP Mercury. Anything good or bad to say about them? How fast will the 90 HP push it? We want something that can possible tube behind.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

We have a 2001 model and it's fine for us. If you look around much you'll find that it's not built or optioned as well as some of the other brands, but it will still get you onto to the water for a good time and will give you many years of service provided you take care of it. One nice thing about it is the alunimum deck. With the ninety you should be able to attain 25-30 mph, just a shade under 25 when towing a tube. That's plenty of speed for youngsters but would be boring for most adults. Before you pull the trigger on a brand spankin' new one check the secondary market. Lots of good deals out there on gently/barely used toons. Welcome aboard.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

Our first pontoon was a 1995 Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 18 foot with a 60 Merc. We owned it for 11 years and it was only in the shop once and that was for a low oil sensor in the oil tank went bad. Was a solid pontoon and drove very nice. You can't go wrong with Sun Tracker pontoons.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

Like "Incoop, and Redneck" said, they're great barges, and 90 hp is plenty for a 21'. We've seen at least 60-75 Tracker barges running around down here. Should be able to find some nice clean used ones out there if you want to save some bucks !!!

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

As the others said Tracker is a good boat and there are alot of them so if you decide to go used you hsould be able to find more than a couple to choose from.

As far as I know there are no real probelms with them, they aren't the best but they aren't even close to the worst either, should be a good boat for you.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

Incoop,

What prop do you have on your 21' pontoon? I have a 2000 Party Barge with a 90hp on it and don't know what it's capable of running as I've finally got all the water out of the toons.

Love the boat though! Very stable and plenty of room.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

It came with a basic aluminum 13.5 x 15. I tried a 13 but liked the 15 better, so I returned the 13. The strange thing was I experimented because I was only getting 5000-5100 RPMs at WOT (recommended max is 5500), but after running the 13 for a few minutes and exceeding the max then putting the 15 back on my max RPMs made it up to 5500 and have been there ever since.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

I was wrong about HP. I would get it with a 60hp. Could upgrade to a bigfoot, but what difference does that make?

What would tubing be like behind this boat? I love the looks and design of this boat, I just want to make sure its got enough hp for what we need it for. Like I had mentioned in a seperate post I made. I will not be on any monster lakes with this boat. We have a nice lake near home that is about 4000 acres and that is where we would probably spend 80% of our time at.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

Gonna be awful slow on a 21 footer with a 60hp. Maybe 15mph at the most. 60hp is the max the Signature Series can except. The Regency Series 22 footer will take up to a 115hp but it cost a bit more.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

riverbottomhunter said:

I was wrong about HP. I would get it with a 60hp. Could upgrade to a bigfoot, but what difference does that make?

What would tubing be like behind this boat? I love the looks and design of this boat, I just want to make sure its got enough hp for what we need it for. Like I had mentioned in a seperate post I made. I will not be on any monster lakes with this boat. We have a nice lake near home that is about 4000 acres and that is where we would probably spend 80% of our time at.

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Definitely go with the Bigfoot as a MINIMUM. A regular 60 hp will disappoint. Ideally, go with a 75 or 90. I have a 60 bigfoot and tubing is possible but expect speeds of 15-18 mph while towing a tube.
FYI, a Bigfoot is a regular longshaft with the larger gear case and ratio as that of a 75 and 90 hp.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

what exactly is the bigfoot package? I think sun tracker website said 20-25mph out of the 60hp, but probably only 20 max with a tuber (just guessing).

I haven't been tubing for year... and year and years. It does sound fun now. I am in my mid 30's and weigh about 220. I am not out break any kind of speed record or get hurt tubing, just some safe fun. How well would this pull me on a tube?

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

actually i guess the question would be, what is tubing like at 20mph?

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

also, what do you all feel like the perfect "relaxing cruise" speed is?

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

My ideal cruising speed occurs around 3500 RPMs. That seems to be the sweet spot. If I had to guess I'd say ten to fifteen mph, but that is strictly a guess as I've never GPSd it. The bigfoot is just a different gear ratio and helps with hole shot and does a better job of pushing a loaded barge. If you try to pull a tuber over the age of five with a sixty horse you and they will be disappointed, and frankly, I'd say twenty mph pulling a tube with that setup is optimistic.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

Redneck_Randy said:

Gonna be awful slow on a 21 footer with a 60hp. Maybe 15mph at the most. 60hp is the max the Signature Series can except. The Regency Series 22 footer will take up to a 115hp but it cost a bit more.

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Not sure where you got this, but my 21' Signature maxes out at 90, which is what it has. Capacities may have decreased some time over the last ten years, but it seems unlikely.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

I think they max out at a 90hp, but they come standard with a 40hp. I would upgrade package to a 60 bigfoot

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

Tracker boats operate under the one price sales model nationwide, but they're pretty expensive on optional setup and transportation. You can also save $500 on another brand of trailers purchased separately. They do have a dealer network all over the country--a good thing. They're #1 in sales, so parts are readily available if needed. They'll never be the cheapest boat in the retail market.

Tracker has a tendency to under power their boats to keep the prices down. Most Forum members prefer using the largest size motor the boat is rated for--or one notch down. The 90 hp would be sufficient on a 21' pontoon, and the 75 hp would be marginal but okay.

BoatTest.com is a great place to read about pontoon boat performance--signing in to get access to their in water tests.

I personally prefer to use the internet to scour Boattrader.com, EBayMotors.com, Craigslist.com and other boating sites for slightly used boats. If I was going to buy a new boat, I would decide on 3-4 comparable brands and the model that suits my need. I would then figure out where the boat dealers are in my retail market. Then, I would figure out who is the dominant dealer--someone that's willing to use price to compete for my business. I try to buy local, but won't hesitate to drive a little to save a lot.

And, make sure you have a good tow vehicle. Pontoons are not necessarily heavy, but they're very long and there's a lot of wind resistance. They pull "heavy".

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

Got it from Sun Trackers website.

http://www.suntrackerboats.com/boat/motors.cfm?boat=3345

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

Redneck_Randy said:

Got it from Sun Trackers website.

http://www.suntrackerboats.com/boat/motors.cfm?boat=3345

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That's the most motor they offer for it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's the most motor it will accept. It clearly stipulates there may be "engine options other than the ones shown for this boat". In any case, it's not enough motor for tubing. Also, riverbottom, note that the price doesn't appear to include the trailer, which is optioned for another $1900. By the time you added a trailer and upgraded to a ninety you'd probably be into them for close to 25 grand. You can buy a really nice slightly used complete package for that. Just something to think about.

Re: Sun Tracker Party Barge21

You live in Missouri? You can pick the boat up and save the shipping costs.