Names of entry and mid level pontoon companies

[dppe]

What are the names of some of the better built pontoon companies? In other words what companies in your opinion give you a quality built pontoon
for a reasonable or low price? I realize that these are only going to be opinions and many of them will be biased according to what pontoon they may own or who they work for. I am new to the group so if I am not allowed to ask this please pardon me.

 

[Bamaman1]

Pontoons are all essentially aluminum barges, and most are comparable in quality of the hull. The real difference is in the quality of the seating, carpeting and fencing components.

The top 4 brands would be Bennington, Harris, Premier and Manitou. There are another dozen companies that make a really nice boat, however. Even the luxury brands make 3-4 different levels of pontoons--from reasonably priced to ridiculously priced. You don't have to buy a lesser brand to get a fairly priced high quality boat.

A mid line boat brand might be a Bentley or a lower line Suntracker.

It's best to buy a boat that will serve your present and future needs--so you don't have to trade up later. You can go for short and slow to long and fast--and everything in between. And properly cared for, a pontoon/tritoon will last virtually forever. (I retired one pontoon after 28 years' good service.)

My favorite size/cost compromise is a 22' to 24' tritoon boat with lifting strakes on the hull and a 150 hp motor. They'll run about 40 mph, carry sufficient loads and pull tubers and do water sports. Most of these will run about $36K, not including a trailer.

 

[ron nh]

Agree 100%, The most expensive manufacturers make entry level and the less expensive brands make high end high priced models. Don't rule in or out any brands based on perceived quality. I just bought my boat after looking at every brand on the market, literally. look for the floor plan that fits your needs and compare dealers prices rather then brands. Like Bama said if you can swing it get tri-toon. I've never been on a boat smoother than mine. these things ride on top of the water and get up and go plenty. Good luck.

 

[ahicks]

Are you thinking new or used? If used, a HUGE part of the boats value is what's bolted to the back of it. It's almost like buy the motor and get the boat free....

 

[cannonman]

I bought a new Lowe 232 tritoon last year with a 150hp Mercury 4 stroke. It has the floor plan we wanted and the performance is very good for our purpose. I knew at the time that there were fancier/more expensive boats available, but the Lowe dealer was close and treated us very good. The only thing so far I wish we had is in floor storage, but it wasn't offered on our model. You will just have to look around and find what you want for the money you want to spend. Good Luck and Enjoy!