pontoon tube design confusion

SprinterX

Recruit
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
3
I'll be buying a pontoon boat shortly as our cabin renos are almost completed and it's time to get back to spending time on the lake. Looking for a traditional layout, 22' two tube, max HP allowable, with a nice change/port-a-pottie room for the ladies. Objectives are for mostly cruising, floating, bbq and being able to tow around the occassional tube or skier. My research leads me to several pontoon tube designs from various manufacturers, all claiming to be the' best.

RPT (V shaped) by Sylvan, CP2 (V shaped) by Crest, elliptical from Bennington and the "U" shaped from G3. Oh and less I forget the std round.

I do subscribe to the "V" shaped design as it makes sense to provide greater lift, less drag and higher top speeds with less power but Sylvan and Crest don't have the nice rear large change room w/o spending for their top models.

The elliptical shape makes some sense also and Bennington has a good name/reputation.

I really like the G3 LX 22 C but I'm concerned about what I'm reading about with the "U" shaped tubes. Being a narrow 23" wide I suspect they're more difficult to get on plane. Would simply adding lifting strakes be the answer? What about repair/welding with their Maxi-Float foam inside, how's that work?

Any input from you experienced pontooners out there that can shed some real world light on this design thing would be greatly appreciated by this newbie trying to get the facts. Pros and Cons, that sort of thing.

Cheers, Kirk
 

The Rooster

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Apr 28, 2011
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936
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

Welcome Kirk. For what you're looking to do, I really don't think its going to matter much what type pontoons you get. I think the concern some have with "U" shaped tubes are the foam inside possibly getting wet if you spring a leak, which is fairly common during the life of a pontoon. Some manufacturers offer lifting strakes on twin tube barges and they make a difference, but if you're not looking at triple tube barges it should not matter. The triple tube rigs can be a whole different can of worms. The manufacturers have put a lot of time into the design and engineering and as you have seen, there's more than one way to skin a cat to get higher performance. Good luck.
 

SprinterX

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Aug 24, 2011
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Re: pontoon tube design confusion

Thanx for the response.
I did contact G3 Tech Support directly with questions about there toon shape, ability to plane and repair therory. There guy said they don't have the slightest issue getting on plane. Kinda what I expected to hear. Repairs are rare, but straight forward. I asked about having strakes added to the two toon version and was told they tested that and didn't like the results so they don't offer that as an option. I see some other manufacturers offer strakes on two toon models.
Have any of you guys seen these;
http://www.pontoonwaterglide.com/index.asp
Seems a little spendy but if the results are proven and accurate you might get some great performance with one of these. Any one have or seen one in the water?
 

The Rooster

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Apr 28, 2011
Messages
936
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

Hello again "Sprinter", if you search back on page 2 of the forum I believe, read through the "Lifting strakes" thread. The Water glide is covered somewhat near the end. I believe "Suncruiser24" is a dealer for the water glide. Yes, it works pretty much as described, just may need some tweeking to fine tune the performance. Good luck.
 

5150abf

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
5,808
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

I don't know how set you are on getting funky shaped toons but most companies have really gotten the lifting strakes figured out and most pontoon makers offer them and round tube boats are much more common and less expensive, nothing against Sylvan and Crest, both top teir companies.

Never repaired a foam filled toon but since they put the foam in wet it would be right against the aluminum and seems to me that it would be almost impossible to weld
 

suncruiser24

Cadet
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Aug 18, 2011
Messages
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Re: pontoon tube design confusion

Good morning Sprinter. Give me a shout, 309-840-1586, and I'll be happy to discuss the Water Glide system w/ you.
 

Bamaman1

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
1,895
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

I have a 85 24' Starcraft with 23" U shaped toons. It's the best riding/running older pontoon I've ever been on with its Yamaha 115 2 stroke running a satisfactory (very quiet) cruise @ 2800 rpm's. It's very strong accelerating--until hit a wall @ 30 mph. I'll be replacing it eventually with a high performance 24' tritoon.

In a new generation pontoon, you'd probably do better to go with two 25" toons on 8 1/2' wide boat with factory strakes. They will run substantially better than a no-strake hull, and fuel mileage will also be better. You're smart to go a larger motor, but a 115 hp should do a good job at substantially less fuel usage than a 150 hp--maybe 5 mpg vs 3.5 mpg.
 

SprinterX

Recruit
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
3
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

Thanx for the feedback guys.
Had a sneak peek at Sylvans new 2012 models http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebestboatbrands/6009478932/in/photostream/ they have revised their more affordable signature line with rear (larger) change rooms. Haven't been able to get a hands on view of any of Sylvans stuff though.
Further researching I find deck boats offer a lot of the same features and room as pontoons and with a conventional V hull have the speeds of a runabout.
Pontoon vs deckboat. my head hurts trying to figure this all out and make a decision.
 

Blank-N-Ship

Seaman
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
60
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

You might try Leisure Kraft Pontunes:

22' leisure pontoon boat with lifting strakes and underskinning, 140HP Suzuki engine, changing room with sundeck, four gates, patented 25" diameter circular tubes, bbq grill, ski tow, tandem trailer

US$28,273

I'm sure this is a small fraction of the Bennington price. It's probably close to that of the Sylan.
 

luckyjr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
169
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

The guys at Custom pontoon kits . com can give the answers you are looking for. They are straight shooters and build great boats. What ever you want they can do at a good price. Better performance come from rectangular pontoons but I personally don't like the looks of Rect toons. A fix is a flat bottom on a round pontoon which would give you more lift (_) and less drag. Strakes, you are riding on the sides of your toons. Why not the bottom (_). How about water skis why are they flat? stock-photo-north-american-light-aircraft-with-pontoon-floats-seaplane-horizontal-framing-with-c.jpg
PHP:
What about these pontoons. Round pontoons are about looks and cost.
 

Blank-N-Ship

Seaman
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
60
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

The guys at Custom pontoon kits . com can give the answers you are looking for. They are straight shooters and build great boats. What ever you want they can do at a good price. Better performance come from rectangular pontoons but I personally don't like the looks of Rect toons. A fix is a flat bottom on a round pontoon which would give you more lift (_) and less drag. Strakes, you are riding on the sides of your toons. Why not the bottom (_). How about water skis why are they flat? ... Round pontoons are about looks and cost.
A circle provides the maximum amount of area versus the circumference. In other words, it's the least amount of aluminum at a fixed amount of buoyancy.

If you did have strakes on the bottom of the pontoon you'd possibly need a specialized trailer.
 

luckyjr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
169
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

ship, I am not proposing strakes on the botton of the toon but a flat bottom on the round toon. (_) You have to put the piece in the brake a couple times and rolling a circle on a plate roll takes less time. As you pointed out, less material. IMO the boat would plain fast and run faster because of less drag and the bouyancy is better. I have wondered why Manu have not inserted blocks of stryfoam inside the toons of equal size for damage control.
 

Lawnmedic

Seaman
Joined
Jan 22, 2011
Messages
60
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

I have a Bennington with eliptical tubes with lifting strakes. The bottoms are closer to flat than the round tubes, and the eliptical tubes give much more buoyancy. Sealed tubes are divided into multiple sealed sections. Don't know how welding would go if the foam heats up and starts off gassing. Plus, once it gets wet it will stay heavy, and could keep repairs from being made.
 

luckyjr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
169
Re: pontoon tube design confusion

http://www.pontoons.com/ptx_performance/ptx_advantage_video/

Lawnmedic, This video might support my thinking. One of test boat is a Bennington. The need for seperate compartments would not be needed. You would have rounding rings inside. One closing weld the best distance and One insert of full size and length of block stryfoam into the toon.
Repairs would be EZr.

http://www.fpcfoam.com/styrofoam.html Stryfoam resist water . The amount of water it absorded would not enough to effect floatation unless you tore the pontoon off. The stryfoam would actually displace any water trying to enter the toon. In cased in a air tight space would greatly extend this it's closed cell properties but how many years it would maintain it's properties, I don't know. Thanks for your thoughts.
http://www.pontoons.com/ptx_performance/ptx_advantage_video/
 

pbxcomm

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
Messages
35
Hello all,
Would anyone know of a site where the V-Shaped Pontoons are available for sale? I checked into Great Lakes Skipper and thought at one point they had them.

Thanks..
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
The members in this thread haven't been around in years, probably best to start your own thread.
 
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