New Tooner

[Tooner2B]

Hello Everybody,

First off I would like to thank you all for the wealth of information provided in this forum. It has really helped me along my journey into researching my pontoon purchase.

I'm new to boating and pontooning in specific, so I respectfully request any advice or tips you care to share about the pontooning experience.

I've purchased a 2011 Sun Tracker Party Barge 20 with a Mercury 60hp Bigfoot. My wife, two kids and I will use the boat mostly for fishing, tubing, swimming, and anchoring off in coves watching the sunset. We'll entertain friends and other families, but for the most part, it will be just us 4.

I'm thinking about installing a mooring cover, possibly a ski pylon, and possibly a depth gauge and wanted to get your advice on these. The boat will be slipped year round (no hydrolift) but I could trailer it in the off season if you think that's a better choice.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: New Tooner

Welcome to iboats and you will love your toon I believe thier isn't a better and more comfortable way to spend a day or weekend out and thier so versatile and you may even find a lot of new friends you didn't even know you had. And the extra room is great for kids. Mooring covers will save your interior and carpet. Towing pylons also help out a lot but you can make a rope harness and a float that will work to. And personally I wont run with out a depth/fish finder the bottom conditions can change just to fast and the cost of damage to or replacement of a lower unit will pay for a depth finder 10 times over. I also keep mine on a wet slip and could keep it there all year but I have found the list of things that need to be fix or adjusted adds up over the summer and I just don't want it in the water during freezing tempters and it is simpler to look out side and know its ok verse driving to the marina. But its what's the most convenient for you. My dock cover also doubles for rain and snow protection and I get in a few work days on it during decent weather. I know you will enjoy your first year and many to come.

 

[The Rooster]

Re: New Tooner

Welcome to the forum "Tooner2B". +1 to James' comments re: depth/fish finder, and bringing your Barge home during the off-season. Get a nice BBQ pit, you're going to love it out there. If you've been reading the forum, you know that Party Barges can be a handful to dock in a crosswind. Just take your time and practice, and you'll be a pro at no time. Lots of experienced "tooners" around here if you have any additional questions. We love pictures on here when you get time. Good luck and don't be a stranger!!!

P.S. Maybe you can get James to re-post the picture of his all female crew !!!

 

[jjohnson120]

Re: New Tooner

Hey and welcome. Where in Oklahoma are you?

Below are a few pictures of what I have for wakeboarding and tubing. It's home made, but is nice and small and does the job extremely well.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: New Tooner

Welcome to the forum and to the world of tooning. I have the same boat and motor, albeit a couple of years older. Mine is the Regency Edition. As to tubing, the ski pylon is a good idea. I tried with the rope but the only place to attach is the rear tie-off rings on the sides. Even the longest hook-up available is still too short, unless you install more tie-offs rings on the rear. The 60 will allow tubing, but you won't break any speed records. I got my mooring cover with the boat. It's a dealer item but the material is not Sumbrella which is the best. It's not bad though. Also my boat came with a depth finder, but I swapped it for a fish finder because it was more versatile. The factory one used a Lowrance transducer so I installed one that used the same unit. It was plug and play. Good luck and have fun.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: New Tooner

snickers o you mean the girls.




and be sure to have plenty of floatiton devices around.

 

[Tooner2B]

Re: New Tooner

Thanks for the welcomes and advice. This has got to be the nicest bunch of people I've run across in a forum! Kudos!

I took everybody's advice and opted for the fish finder vs. just a depth gauge. Nothing fancy but it'll get the job done. We're out a Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma. Pretty deep lake all around but I've seen some stumps here and there when the lake is low..better safe than sorry.

I just don't know what to do about the ski pylon or tow harness. The tow harness is definitely the cheaper way to go but it sounds like it just may not be big enough from what Jeep Man is saying. But I sure would like to save a couple hundred bucks by not getting the ski pylon if I don't have too. jjohnson that is a nice ski rig you got there, probably saved you a ton of money doing it yourself too, but I'm not much of a handyman. I ran across a Airhead heavy duty tow harness on the internet. Has anyone had experience with those? It says it's 12' long and fit pontoons and other larger boats..

The Rooster, I'm definitely going to get a bbq pit. I think it would fit in nicely in one of the fishing chair slots up front! I just wish the front area outside of the playpen was vinyl instead of carpet. That would help with the mess fishing and cooking both...maybe someday I'll work that in.

As far as flotation devices, I really like the pool saddles. It's hard to beat just hanging out with friends bobbing around in those!

I do have questions about the anchor though? How much weight for a 20' pontoon? what shape? mushroom? river? navy?

And what about boat fenders? Round or square for pontoons? I was reading that the round ones will creep up.

Thanks again for all the help guys. I'm sure I'll have more questions later on.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: New Tooner

I use the round fenders my self and got the cheep ones from wally world and the type of anchor really depends on your conditions, mud, rock, sand. I am sure some one who knows your area or lake will chime in on what works best there. I have mud bottoms and use 16 pound sledghammer heads I pick up at the flea marktet. And I just got one of the manga grills and dont even have it mounted yet but I am sure having trouble waiting out winter to get back on the water.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: New Tooner

Tooner, I have the heavy duty 12' tow harness. It still doesn't clear the motor enough. This is because the rings are a couple of feet from the rear on the sides. I plan on adding a couple of rings on the underside of the rear deck. This way they won't be a trip hazzard, and will give the harness enough clearance behind the motor. I'm also adding an extra floater to the harness to keep it away from the prop. Ski pylon is still better if you can get one fabbed.

 

[5150abf]

Re: New Tooner

They have all kinds of fenders, we got some for work to put on the tubes that are flat, I see the name all day and can't seem to remember it but really any of the styles will work.

By flotation devices I am pretty sure he means life jackets, check with your local DNR website to find out what the regs are in your area and make sure your boat meets all the requirements, here in Indiana you need a CG approved wearable fror every person on board as well as a throwable, horn, paddle, fire extinguisher ect ect.

A 20 should be fine for a toon in most conditions, the deal with an anchor is rope length, it is something like 4' of rope for every foot of depth and the type of anchor depends on what bottom you are dealing with but a mushroom seems to work well on most.

With the fish finder be aware that the transducer is at the back of the boat so it is telling you what you just went over but it can't tell you what you are heading into or if you are about to hit a stump, you still have to watch for them btu reading the water will come with experience.

Pontoons really are the perfect boat, they will do about anything you want them to and there si no boat better for just hanging out at the lake.

 

[The Rooster]

Re: New Tooner

Hey "Tooner2B", can't remember exactly, but we use a 20#-24# Danforth style anchor. The type w/ the large flukes. As important to us is the 5'-6' of heavy duty chain on the end. It never lets us down w/ our mostly muddy/sandy bottoms. As for fenders, we use the large round style. approx. 10" diameter x 24" long w/ the clips that snap onto the rails. You will be amazed how quickly and easily you can dent the side panels. Good luck !!!

One other observation, "Tooner". Most of the problems we see over the years w/ anchoring are not the type of anchor used as much as how it's done. Some get to their favorite spot and just toss the anchor overboard without actually taking the time to ease the engine into reverse and setting the anchor until you get a good "bite". Also, when retrieving, don't be afraid to ease back up on the anchor to break it loose. Much easier than yelling at your wife about how weak and incompetent she is.

 

[The_Kid]

Re: New Tooner

iboats has a 16' tow harness that should be long enough for a pontoon.

http://www.iboats.com/Airhead-Heavy...6664423--**********.114678362--view_id.718273

 

[jjohnson120]

Re: New Tooner

Thanks for the welcomes and advice. This has got to be the nicest bunch of people I've run across in a forum! Kudos!

I took everybody's advice and opted for the fish finder vs. just a depth gauge. Nothing fancy but it'll get the job done. We're out a Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma. Pretty deep lake all around but I've seen some stumps here and there when the lake is low..better safe than sorry.

I just don't know what to do about the ski pylon or tow harness. The tow harness is definitely the cheaper way to go but it sounds like it just may not be big enough from what Jeep Man is saying. But I sure would like to save a couple hundred bucks by not getting the ski pylon if I don't have too. jjohnson that is a nice ski rig you got there, probably saved you a ton of money doing it yourself too, but I'm not much of a handyman. I ran across a Airhead heavy duty tow harness on the internet. Has anyone had experience with those? It says it's 12' long and fit pontoons and other larger boats..

The Rooster, I'm definitely going to get a bbq pit. I think it would fit in nicely in one of the fishing chair slots up front! I just wish the front area outside of the playpen was vinyl instead of carpet. That would help with the mess fishing and cooking both...maybe someday I'll work that in.

As far as flotation devices, I really like the pool saddles. It's hard to beat just hanging out with friends bobbing around in those!

I do have questions about the anchor though? How much weight for a 20' pontoon? what shape? mushroom? river? navy?

And what about boat fenders? Round or square for pontoons? I was reading that the round ones will creep up.

Thanks again for all the help guys. I'm sure I'll have more questions later on.

Thats a great lake, but not sure if it's deeper than Broken Bow. I went out to that lake last year and was blown away at how deep and clear it is. Awesome lake. It's bee about 12 years since I've been to Tenkiller, but I do remember it being a nice lake. I try to spend most of my time at Murray as it's one of the clearest lakes I've been too.

Anyways, if you had access to a welder, what I have really isn't that hard and it's small and will do exactly what you want it to do. I really have no money invested in mine as I had the tube laying around. You may try contacting a local fab shop and seeing what it would run you. I know I sure do love mine. Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[a1nowell]

Re: New Tooner

Before you spend very much on ski equipment, I'd check to see if your 60 horse is going to pull a skier.

 

[Tooner2B]

Re: New Tooner

Does anybody have any experience with the fenders made specifically for pontoons, such as the Taylor Made pontoon fender or the Toonmate pontoon guard? Are these fenders worth the exta cost or are they more a novelty? I'm interested in the ability to leave the fenders in place while underway, but if this isn't the case and they don't protect the pontoons or fence anymore than a normal fender, I'd rather save the additional cost.

And what about clips? Any particular fender clips work better than any other clips?

 

[Tooner2B]

Re: New Tooner

Before you spend very much on ski equipment, I'd check to see if your 60 horse is going to pull a skier.

I appreciate the suggestion. I doubt the 60hp is enough hp to ski behind. But outside of fishing and cruising, tubing is what we had in mind for the kids. And even at that we probably won't be breaking any speed barriers.

 

[The Rooster]

Re: New Tooner

Does anybody have any experience with the fenders made specifically for pontoons, such as the Taylor Made pontoon fender or the Toonmate pontoon guard? Are these fenders worth the exta cost or are they more a novelty? I'm interested in the ability to leave the fenders in place while underway, but if this isn't the case and they don't protect the pontoons or fence anymore than a normal fender, I'd rather save the additional cost.

And what about clips? Any particular fender clips work better than any other clips?

Yes "Tooner", those two brands you mentioned work great at protecting the whole panel. I had two, but now just one. They can come off while underway. Just remember to remove them before leaving. I believe I paid $75.00 a piece. Expensive lesson. Our clips are the standard hard plastic kind made for the square rails. Good luck !!!

 

[Tooner2B]

Re: New Tooner

Picked up my boat and got it slipped over President's Day weekend. I'm looking forward to getting the boating season kicked off this year! I'll be sure to post pics of us in action once I get them.