Buying a toon

[jason176]

Looking for a new pontoon cheap. So far I found a 2005 sweetwater 2423 DC 4 gate w/ 60 hp mercury bigfoot 4-stroke no trailer. Asking price is $16,900 but I figure he will take less for it being it is last years model. Anybody got any experience with sweetwater? This will be my second boat and I am kind of weary of getting one this big but I tried to find a nice used one to no avail and figured if I am gonna spend the dough on a new one it might as well be what I want cause i'm keeping it forever. I tried to find the value of the boat online but didn't have any luck so I am unsure of what it actually books out at, I will probably go to my bank and ask them just been too busy lately. Also, I am unsure of who I will have finance it so if anybody has any suggestions on that too I will take them.

 

[KCook]

Re: Buying a toon

Sweetwater is a decent 'toon with sound construction. Seats will not be as posh as on an Aqua Patio or Bennington. I've had better luck financing with my credit union than banks. Also check the forums over on www.PDBmagazine.com<br /><br />Kelly Cook

 

[bidlimit]

Re: Buying a toon

LOL<br /><br />"cause i'm keeping it forever"<br /><br />famous last words...

 

[jollymon]

Re: Buying a toon

Jason,<br /><br /><br />Where are you going to be using the boat and how are you going to be useing it?<br /><br />I have a 25' Crest Pontoon boat, with a 90HP Merc on it. I love the boat, but when I am going any distance, I wish I had got the 115HP Merc. (Max for boat is 115HP)<br /><br />I use mine on the Delaware River, and once a year I tow it to the 1000 Island, on the St Lawrence River. As much as I love a leisure cruise, there are many times, when I just want to get there or back. The little extra HP would be nice.<br /><br />As far as it being a big boat, You will find the space is great, with 3 people on the boat, we do not feel lost, but we can go out with 17 (crowded) and have down 3 hour cruises with 12, and had a good time.<br /><br />I can not answer about the Sweetwater boat itself.<br /><br />I also looked for 18 months for a good used ponton but they are hard to find, in 2001, I order my Crest new (2002), and have not looked back since!

 

[sumcat1]

Re: Buying a toon

I bought a new Parti-Kraft (Godfrey)in '01 and really liked it. 20' fish model with 50hp 2C but it took forever to go anywhere. Top speed was 22mph and it turned into a real gas hog. A 60hp 4S should be better but I'd buy all the power I could. You don't have to use it! You can cruise economically at a decent pace and the 4 strokes are much quieter at low speeds.If you do much towing I would get trailer brakes even if the 'toon is not heavy enough to require them.

 

[whblaylock]

Re: Buying a toon

10-4 on the power. It is very expensive to try to trade up power wise. I have a 24' 98 Fisher with a 120hp force. Considering the fact that the force isn't really a 120hp, called that for mktg purposes I guess, the modern day equivalent probably would be a 90hp merc 2 stroke. I had a friend with the same size toon with that mtr pretty much walk away from me and my supposed 120. I gps'd mine at around 27mph and he was probably doing close to 30. I had a much lighter 24' Safari with a mariner 40 that would scoot with one or two people but put 4 or more and it was a slow boat to anywhere. Put at least a 90 on it, expect to cruise somewhere around 20mph with the capability to sprint to 28 to 30 depending on load etc...

 

[jason176]

Re: Buying a toon

In regards to the motor, I figure with what I have to spend I am doing pretty good to get a 60 hp 4 stroke. I didn't think that I could end up with a 60hp merc so I am pretty happy with that but I just can't swing the money to put a 115hp motor on it. I plan on using the boat on a river nearby which isn't too big so I am not gonna worry about opening it up too much. I am gonna go to a boat show in chicago thursday to see what they got up there and if I can't find anything there I am more than likely gonna buy the sweetwater this weekend. Thanx for the replies. If anybody has anything else to add feel free as this is a pretty big investment to me.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: Buying a toon

In all respect to all you "tooners",and no respect for your wallets ..... why not get a deck boat to begin with ??<br /><br />DHP

 

[jason176]

Re: Buying a toon

Price, I think you get more bang for your buck with a pontoon. Last I seen a sizeable new deck boat would cost around $30,000 , too rich for my blood.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Buying a toon

Godfrey Marine, which makes the Sweetwater line, makes some fine boats. Not as good as Premier, Bennington, Etc. but still a good toon. I owned a Sweetwater 20'er for 12 years(Bought new) and it was a fine boat. Had a 70 HP on the back and it did fine. But you will want more power...Always do... Oh, and it's much easier to clean up a toon and way easier to beach one as opposed to a deck boat. More open space, too.. I love mine..

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: Buying a toon

jason176,<br /><br />Like I said "and no respect for your wallets" I am great at spending other people's money.I <br />just like the performance of the deckboat hull,over the pontoons.<br /><br />DHP

 

[BillP]

Re: Buying a toon

My 20' MonArk toon was purchased new in 1996 with 50hp 4 stroke (standard foot)and also does approx 22mph. It's all the power and speed I care about...but my usual boating area is within 5-10 miles of the dock. The only reason I would go higher power is to pull tubers or if daily trips were 30+ miles out. Throttled back it cruises at 15mph with a boat load of people. <br /><br />As far as a toon purchase, I would make sure there is stern access from the water while swimming...and access to the engine while the boat is in the water. Both are faults of mine, it has a full width seat.<br /><br />Concerning deck boats, they are good if you want a speedboat. They also need 4x the power to do it. Otherwise they are just a heavy monohull with a big flat deck. My toon weighs approx 2500lbs and a deckboat of comparable size probably weighs 2x that.

 

[KCook]

Re: Buying a toon

A tri-toon with lifting strakes and big OB is as fast as a deckboat and then some.

 

[BillP]

Re: Buying a toon

Originally posted by KCook:<br /> A tri-toon with lifting strakes and big OB is as fast as a deckboat and then some.

But you better watch how big the chop and waves are when in a toon. My 20'r will stuff a pontoon bow quickly at 20mph in big chop. At 20mph it brings big solid water up onto the deck, slows the boat drastically in a split second and makes the engine cavitate. Trimming and loading aft helps but doesn't eliminate the problem because toons run so flat at high speeds they just punch through and not over the waves. It's a bad experience and the only thing that cures it is running slower. If running 45mph like a deck boat it would probably pitchpole and throw the people overboard. <br /><br />I'm not saying to go low power on a toon but the deckboat will usually handle big waves better. I like my toon and have a regular ob boat for speed.

 

[KCook]

Re: Buying a toon

They have some nasty chop on LOTO. Where tri-toons are preferred to the traditional 2-log 'toons.<br /><br />Kelly

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Buying a toon

Yeah Kelly, that LOTO is something else. It tosses me every which way but loose. Just gotta be careful how you run in the rough water(Or if at all down there!). Been going there for 25 years and it's just about gotton out of hand. I'm gonna put some belly skin on my toon this spring to cut down on the pounding from the waves hitting the crossmembers. Should help alot...

 

[BillP]

Re: Buying a toon

What is LOTO? This is a little off topic but adding aluminum shields on the crossbeams of my toon made a notable difference in speed in rough water.

 

[KCook]

Re: Buying a toon

http://www.funlake.com/

 

[whblaylock]

Re: Buying a toon

Are alum skins for the underside something you can buy ready made or is that something you have to have fabricated at a metal shop?

 

[KCook]

Re: Buying a toon

Virtually all builders offer that as a option. Or you can have it added by a shop. Pretty much a must-have for the high performance 'toons.<br /><br />Kelly