A few pontoon questions

[crossent]

With a family of 5, dog and a few friends thrown in, we are needing a pontoon. Our bowrider has been great , but we need space. We have a budget of around 10k. How troublesome is it to tow. We do travel a couple times a year to lakes that are 2-300 miles away. I have found a few older 24' models with a 2.5 omc or 3.0 I/O for around 5k. Are toons from the mid-late 80's outdated? I'm not to worried about the new latest and greatest but just want to get out, do a little trolling and drag the kids on a tube once in a while. What speed would you expect out of an older 24' Harris with a 2.5 omc?
Thanks in advance,
mike

 

[Lurch77]

Re: A few pontoon questions

I cannot speak for most of your questions, but I can on the towing. They tow differently than most boats, because they are not streamlined. Once you get up to decent speeds, like on the highway, they catch a lot of wind and produce a lot of drag. More than most other types of boats. But they are just like anything else, you are good to go as long as your tow vehicle is up to the task and you are smart about it. Slower speeds tend to less stressful. I like to stay at 55mph when I tow with my Jeep. With our big van I can do 65mph all day long. I don't know the width of your old boat, but pontoons are generally pretty wide and take some getting used too.
There are two styles of trailers, bunk, and scissors/lift type. For long distance travel most people are going to recommend a bunk trailer, myself included. Far more stable.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: A few pontoon questions

Pontoons hold a very nice relative value simply because their very easy to rebuilt, so the year isnt all that importaint as the condition, the big things is do the loons leak, those can readily be fixed if needed but its a hassle.

 

[MaPaHa]

Re: A few pontoon questions

I would decide how serious you want to be with the water sports. My family and friends have always been intermediate to serious with tubing and some (me) on skiing. The challenge with tubing is not so much on speed as it is on maneuverability or turning. If you have a new tuber that is ok with being towed straight behind the boat at a slower speed then there?s no problem with the average pontoon boat. For the intermediate to experienced tuber this is boring and they want more of a ride that requires the boat to be able to turn quicker and sling them out of the wake. This is where average pontoons don?t get a very high rating.

To make a pontoon boat act more like a planning hull where it gets on top of the water and less like a displacement hull where it just plows through the water, it will take lifting strakes, a ?pontoon water glide? (or both) or a third pontoon preferably with lifting strakes. Without one of these you are just going to make long plowing turns that suck up a lot of gas and never turn sharp enough to sling the tuber around. The smaller the tuber is (the little guys) the harder it is to sling them around. Putting a larger motor on a displacement hull doesn't help much because you just hit a wall and it just plows harder.

As for skiing, you need to pick up the speed and this requires both a planning hull and more horsepower. Trying to ski behind a straight displacement hull (the traditional pontoon) for anyone other than a small beginner will be disappointing if not impossible.

In my opinion and experience, I think you have to answer these questions knowing it will change the amount you spend.

There are several twin tube models with lifting strakes that have motors from 115-125 hp that would do a good job with tubing and a poor to reasonable job with skiing. Add a pontoon water glide and you can improve considerably. The next model up is the tri-toons with 150 hp+ that will do what it takes for both, no problems.

There are many twin tube models (no lifting strakes) with 85-100 hp motors out there but having had one I would tell you it?s very marginal to tube behind and near impossible to ski behind. I?ll say again that for smaller children and teens that are ok with towing straight behind the boat at slower speeds then these boats will work.

As far as buying a pontoon I would look at the condition of the pontoons and for any previous tube problems that have been welded up. Ask what happened if you see welded pontoons. Watch the floor and check it everywhere for soft spots and ask if it sat out in the weather. Re-flooring a pontoon can be done but is a project and costly. Stay away from the smaller diameter pontoons such as 19 inch. Mine are 23 inch and there are bigger ones for sure. I use a bunk trailer and it works fine with a full size truck or suv, but it's a load. I've even pulled it short distances with a 5 cylinder H3 Hummer but not at 65 mph.

 

[The Rooster]

Re: A few pontoon questions

Excellent advice above ^^^. Only thing about barges from the 80's would be the smaller diameter tubes, 19"-21". The bigger ones 23" - 25" would tend to give a drier ride. Also since you are familiar w/ I/O's, just know that access for service is usually pretty tight on a barge. 4 cyl. I/O's of the 120 - 140 hp should easily be good for 25 mph +/- top speed. Where you will be boating could play a role in your choice as well, ie: rivers, lakes or ocean. Good luck !!!

 

[jakedaawg]

Re: A few pontoon questions

For ten grand I think you ought to be able to find an early 2000 late 90's tritoon with a 150-175hp engine in decent shape. It will have a bunk trailer that solves your long distance hauling problem. As a tri-toon it will plane and preform well enough for some fun tubing and mild waterskiing. Just my humble opinion.

 

[crb478]

Re: A few pontoon questions

I had an 86 I believe Harris Flote Bote with the 2.3 ford omc 4 cylinder. It was a great boat and motor combo until I started to need parts and OMC went under. I sourced a lot of stuff online or locally, but then finally switched to a chevy 3.0 motor. I actually lost speed doing that since the 2.3 was designed to run at higher rpm's. The boat is self was very well made and handled rough water very well. The seats were going and the wife did not like the boat since it required you to work on it occasionally so we sold it. I/O's can be a pain to work on in the water.

With a 10K budget I personally would be looking for a pontoon with lifting strakes and at least a 115 motor or even better a tritoon with hopefully a 150 but at least a 115 and the biggest tubes I could reasonably find. I personally have switched over to outboards since maintenance is usually easier, and the motor can be swapped out if the boat is still doing well.

 

[Silver Eagle]

Re: A few pontoon questions

Would you believe that I have the perfect pontoon boat for you and the price is what I'm asking for. Only problem is I bet you live so far away that you wouldn't travel to see it. I have an 2007 StarCraft Pontoon boat with a 90 HP oil injected two stroke Mercury.. It has two tables and a biminty top lots of room. Holds 14 people. It has a 2006 Five starr trailer, bonks with full sliders and front brakes tandum wheels.The boat is located in Earlville MD. on The Chesapecke Bay.

 

[BobGinCO]

Re: A few pontoon questions

I tow my 24' boat all over the place. Heck I bought it 1,100 miles from where I live. Make sure your tongue weight is right (10% of the total weight of the boat and trailer), and she'll follow you like a dream. I towed in 25-40 MPH cross-winds at 65 MPH last weekend, and had NO problems. I wish I could say that about when I'm on the water! A pontoon is a SAIL. Even though mine weighs 3,000 pounds, the wind pushes her around a lot - but mostly only when you're trying to get off the lake and onto the trailer!!! AND: We were looking at an 18 footer, because there are only two of us, and we haven't been out with more than 8 people. The cost difference from 18 feet to 24 feet was only $1,000. That made it a no-brainer.

 

[dls322]

Re: A few pontoon questions

For ten grand I think you ought to be able to find an early 2000 late 90's tritoon with a 150-175hp engine in decent shape. It will have a bunk trailer that solves your long distance hauling problem. As a tri-toon it will plane and preform well enough for some fun tubing and mild waterskiing. Just my humble opinion.

Good luck on that find...a 2000's tritoon with a 175hp outboard, with trailer and everything in great shape for $10k ??? Show me where these boat deals are

 

[muskiemike12]

Re: A few pontoon questions

Good luck on that find...a 2000's tritoon with a 175hp outboard, with trailer and everything in great shape for $10k ??? Show me where these boat deals are

No kidding, right! More like 18k-25k in my area for something that. Those will run 35k-40k brand new.

You don't need a tri-toon to pull a tube at a good clip. I have a 2011 20' Suncruiser pontoon with a 1979 90hp Merc (about 75hp as today's motors are rated) and I can get a tuber to whip at about 30 mph when I sling them around. Believe me that you need to hold on tight!

You should be able to find an early 2000's pontoon with a 75-90 for your budget. :eagerness:

 

[rrhodes]

Re: A few pontoon questions

You can find toons from the late 90's to early 2000 with 70hp - 135hp for $10k It all depends on where you live. Check the local traders as well as boat trader and do an advanced search. It took me 2 minutes to find 6 decent toons for under 10k