Pontoon or not to Pontoon

[Venoms]

We've been shopping for boats, and were seeking a bit more advice.

Our primary purpose will be to spend Summer days out on lake Tahoe with our family just relaxing on the lake. Until recently we've been looking at a bunch of Deep Vee Bowriders. The lake can get pretty choppy at times, so these boats would seem to handle it a bit better.

However, over this past weekend our family fell in love with the Pontoon style boats. They have a perfect set up for the type of experience we'd be going for our on outings to the lake.

So I'd like to ask you guys if you feel this will work well on Lake Tahoe? Will there be any major drawbacks (other than top speed)? How will a Pontoon handle choppy waters (which would be our biggest concern at this point)?

Any info or personal experiences would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[ahicks]

Catching "chop" from the side on a pontoon can be uncomfortable if you get too much of it. If it's the occasional wake from a passing boat, I'll turn into it or away from it a little to lesson the effect of a broad side "direct hit". Consider that a pontoon deck is elevated higher off the surface of the water than many boats, and the furniture leaves you higher yet. When things start rocking and rolling on a pontoon, it because you are so high off the water. That distance acts like a lever. The further off the water you are, the wilder the ride.

For use in conditions where there is a chop present much of the time, I might prefer something more like a deck boat, where the deck is located at or maybe even a little below water level. The hull shape might help smooth things out a little at speed as well.

 

[steelespike]

We had a 18 footer I never noticed any more pitching in broad side waves than a mono hull. Usually you would take the waves at a angle.
We got it for my 80 year old mother so it was easier to get in and out of it especially in low water.It was very stable and lots of room.
They are really smooth in rough conditions.
The bigger the better for a motor. Little motors have to run their guts out to make any kind of reasonable speed.
A 100 would would just be loafing at the speed of say a 50.And of course a 50 would be loafing at the speed of a 25.
I think that a 20 or longer might be marginally faster than a 18 or less of the same hp.

 

[a1nowell]

I am on my second pontoon boat, both have been 24 footers. My first was 24 foot Starcraft powered by Mercury outboard 115 hp. I had 20" toons and always handles the chop pretty well. The bigger the toon diameter the better the ride. My current boat is a 24' JC Tritoon, powered a Mercruiser 170. The tritoon really handles the chop well because of the 3rd toon and the JC toons are U shaped rather than round really provides a nice ride. Handling lake chop is as much learning how to handle your boat in the chop, sometimes heading right into or sometimes catching it at angles. My 1st boat was a 17' v hull, like to beat me to death. As all my friends say about both of my toons, "It's like going out in your living room."

Hope this helps, I'm sold on toons.

Larry

 

[HotTommy]

Venoms,
I have a 24' two toon boat with a 150 HP outboard. I normally operate on a lake that is not wide enough for winds to produce much in the way of waves. In that environment, I can't imagine that any other type boat offers the same comfort, convenience and space for a bunch of people to spend all day on the lake. Last summer I trailered the boat to a large bay near the Gulf of Mexico. I was out on two very windy (20-25 MPH) days when I had to cross the bay both ways to get to my destination. I estimate the waves were 2-3 feet from peak to trough. At 15-20 MPH the ride was rough but did not feel on the edge. But when the wind was in my face, I got quite wet from all the spray being blown back on me. .... If I were in your place I'd be thinking about how far I'd have to travel on each outing. If I could find a spot shaded from the wind within 20 minutes of launching, I'd go for the pontoon boat. If I had to cruise in rough water for an hour or more each way on each outing, I might consider something else.

 

[Silver Eagle]

We have a 24ft Pontoon boat. It has a 90 hp Mercury motor two stroke. We use it in the Upper Cheapecke Bay. The channel runs 40 foot. It gets pretty rough on weekend with the tide changing and all those large power boats. So here's what we do. Mostly we stay out of traffic. When cruising we leave the front door open, If we take a head on wave the water will come in with out doing any damage to the bow .Some of the hot rodders will try to come up along side of you to show off. If I see them coming, i'll turn into them some. This makes them turn off and usually slow down. My boat carries 14 people. Don't do it ,your just asking for trouble.Just remember when moving keep people sitting.. Have fun.

 

[Venoms]

Very helpful! Thanks for the info!

Yes I think our heart is really set on the Pontoon. It really does look and feel like a floating living room! Seems like the best option for our family. By the sound of it, a big factor will be learning to mitigate the choppiness as much as possible.

Brand-wise, I see a lot of high recommendation for Bennington but they seem very pricey as well.

Aqua Patio has a nice Triple toon like this: http://www.liquidwrenches.com/new_vehicle_detail.asp?veh=486815&pov=4375122

I'm looking at a couple 24' 90+ hp options (similar to what many folks here have). By the sound of it Tritoon is the better option for me to help reduce the bumpy ride. Are there any other features I should be looking for or avoiding?

 

[Silver Eagle]

Ours is a StarCraft Twin toon . I really don't see the need for tri toons..Our toons seem to sit higher in the water then most pontoons.Make sure it has a Biminity top.or two.

 

[HotTommy]

If you don't plan to go anywhere fast, and you don't plan to pull folks on tubes or the like, 90HP will work. But if you have older kids or adults who want to go tubing, you'll need more horsepower. The most common advice you'll hear around here is to get the most horsepower you can afford because you'll want it.

 

[ahicks]

Nice pontoons can represent quite an investment. Tahoe has to have some rental boats available for you to try out. Suggest you rent a boat and check out areas where you plan on spending the majority of your time. What you learn from a trip or 2 on a rental may gain some valuable info. regarding your purchase thoughts. If nothing else, you'll be a much more educated buyer.

 

[bruceb58]

I have a house on Lake Tahoe and I use my Wellcraft cuddy on it. I also have a pontoon that I use on Big Bear Lake and I probably will never bring it up to Lake Tahoe because I feel it would be way to rough for it.

I see VERY few pontoons on Lake Tahoe. The few I see are in Tahoe Keys where my house is. They likely only go out on very calm days or stay in the Keys.

 

[Venoms]

I have a house on Lake Tahoe and I use my Wellcraft cuddy on it. I also have a pontoon that I use on Big Bear Lake and I probably will never bring it up to Lake Tahoe because I feel it would be way to rough for it.

I see VERY few pontoons on Lake Tahoe. The few I see are in Tahoe Keys where my house is. They likely only go out on very calm days or stay in the Keys.

Aww, that's sad to hear. We really want a Pontoon and we love Lake Tahoe. It would be nice if we could have the best of both worlds. :disturbed:

 

[bruceb58]

Aww, that's sad to hear. We really want a Pontoon and we love Lake Tahoe. It would be nice if we could have the best of both worlds. :disturbed:

Just have to be VERY careful when you take it out and be careful how far you go. For us, we like to go to emerald bay and to the sandy beaches up on the north east of the lake. If I ever brought my pontoon boat up to Tahoe, I would be very limited on when I went out.

 

[Silver Eagle]

When We bought our pontoon boat we also bought a trailer to tow it around with. Very important. There's a big difference between a bay and a lake driven pontoon boat. Just never over load it .I wish we could have rented one first, We had a 21 ft bow rider with a 5.7 I/o before the pontoon boat. Big difference.

 

[cc350]

A large tubed tri-toon would be fine. 27" tubes or larger will tame a rough lake. We run Lake Cumberland and it can get real choppie, had a 22' pontoon with 24' tubes and it was scary at times

 

[Venoms]

Just have to be VERY careful when you take it out and be careful how far you go. For us, we like to go to emerald bay and to the sandy beaches up on the north east of the lake. If I ever brought my pontoon boat up to Tahoe, I would be very limited on when I went out.

Yeah we LOVE Emerald Bay too, so we'll probably spend most of our time around that area. But getting over there can be a bit rough, and we also want the option of cruising around the rest of the lake too.

When We bought our pontoon boat we also bought a trailer to tow it around with. Very important. There's a big difference between a bay and a lake driven pontoon boat. Just never over load it .I wish we could have rented one first, We had a 21 ft bow rider with a 5.7 I/o before the pontoon boat. Big difference.

We enjoyed the Bowrider that we rented on Tahoe, and were able to get through the chop by going really fast over it. Maybe with enough horsepower on the Tritoon, we could mitigate it that way as well. We just really fell in love with the floating living room style ride that they have to offer.

A large tubed tri-toon would be fine. 27" tubes or larger will tame a rough lake. We run Lake Cumberland and it can get real choppie, had a 22' pontoon with 24' tubes and it was scary at times

Ok, really good to know! That will be an important factor in our buying process then.

 

[HotTommy]

Seems obvious, but a test ride on a rough day BEFORE you buy seems in order.

 

[bruceb58]

Yeah we LOVE Emerald Bay too, so we'll probably spend most of our time around that area. But getting over there can be a bit rough, and we also want the option of cruising around the rest of the lake too.

Where do you guys put in normally?

 

[jkust]

Our lake has succumbed to the switch over to pontoons it seems. You can sell your fishing boat and your bowrider and just have pontoon. Less trailers, maintenance, boat lifts, and insurance. The thing that I don't like about pontoons compared to bowriders is that you can't get out of the wind. So many days, probably most days, we are grateful to have a windshield to escape the wind. We will probably keep our bowrider when we finally get a pontoon as we are one of the holdouts. Plus, there aren't many of the newer generation, larger HP, tritoons for sale used quite yet.

 

[Silver Eagle]

If the wind is your problem ,then you must be getting swells.I had a high speed bow rider for 12 years. We used to take our grand daughters tubing in it. .Bow riders aren't made for windy days .On a windy day everyone gets wet.,if your not careful you can take on a lot of water. That doesn't happen on a pontoon boat. Have you ever seen a pontoon boat sink?