Should I consider a Toon?

[mj05]

I'm hoping to be a boat owner next year, and have been trying to find what fits the family best. I have a wife and three kids.... 12, 4, 2 years old(next yr). I plan on the boat being an "all - arounder". Your usual pulling tubes n stuff, throwing a worm in the water on occasion..... just having a good time on the water with family and a few friends.

I've been looking at bow riders, and they're great except the lack of room...... Which is what got me thinking about a pontoon. I'm looking for a relatively cheap boat..... under $5,000. I can do some work, but not too excited about tearing into a rotted glasser. I've seen toons powered from 9.9HP up to over 200HP. Tell me what would be a good engine size that would provide some fun without being too hard on gas...... 50hp? 80? is over 100 necessary? Let's say it's a 24' for example.....

 

[BobGinCO]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

You don't want a pontoon! It has so much room you'll want to dance!

When I bought mine this year the difference in price from 18' to 24' was $1,000.

Make sure you get a tritoon with lifting strakes, and the biggest motor you can afford!

 

[WaterDR]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

Everyone has a different budget and definition of what is nice and what is not. Prices range from 2k to 100k for pontoons when you consider the cheapest of used ones all the way to crazy expensive. Like anything else, you get what you pay for.

For a family your size who wants to do those things, anything from an 18 footer to a 26 fgooter would work. Though an 18 footer is really small and a 26 footer is pretty massive. If you like to bring guests, a 22ft to a 24ft seems to suit most people. As to a motor, get the biggest one you can afford. If you want to pull tubes you will likely need something bigger than a 100 hp but sure as heck, there will be someone who posts that they tube with a 40 hp. In fact, when my kids were really little, that's what we did.

You won't buy much for $5k. You can get something really decent for 10 to 15k. Around here you can get much nicer bowriders for what a used pontoon costs. The pontoon market is really strong. Case in point....I have a buddy who just bought a 1999, 17/18 foot bowrider in really nice shape with a 100+ outboard (don't recall the size) for under 6k. A comperable pontoon with the same size motor around here will cost about twice that. I sold a 12 year old pontoon this Spring with a 40 hp for over 10k. People seem to be after toons these days.

I bought a new one this season because it was about what a used one cost.

 

[mj05]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

You're right about people wanting pontoons and about price differences! Man! Now, I've read on here somewhere about someone buying an older toon then putting a middle log on that actually had it's own transom. If I remember correctly, he was pretty happy with it. What do you guys think about that?
Ok.... about fuel..... I'd imagine that a toon is worse on gas than a bow rider how much worse? Does the third tube really help much?

 

[mj05]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

Bob.... good thing you live out in Colorado..... you don't want to see me dance!!

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

Pontoons are very low maintenance. In fact any one with a few power tools and a bit of time can rebuild one, no rotted stringers or transoms to deal with and lots of room and comfort, and for fishing its like fishing in your living room. And if you like to tinker you can easily custom make it to suit what ever your needs are. I am one of the ones with a 9.9 lol screaming along at 12 mph its a nice breeze speed. Any thing above a 40 hp will pull a tube for the younger kids for serious tubers you need at least 100 hp. You should be able to find a lot of decent used ones in the 5 to 10 k range.

And like ever thing else speed costs so its a question of how fast do u wanna go their toons that hill hit 100 mph.

 

[WaterDR]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

I think fuel economy on a bowrider vs a pontoon is so minor to be of no concern. It really depends on how you use it etc... and where. While a bow rider can plane and will go faster, most tooners tend to float around more etc... doing things that don't require power. As a practical matter, you might use less fuel on a toon.

My wife and I were just talking about this. We probably spent about $500 on fuel this summer and used the toon about 50 times. This included a few trips of over 40 miles (we are on a large river). We have a 115hp motor as a comparison. $500 over an entire summer with that much use is practially nothing. Heck, our slip rental is many, many times what we paty for fuel. When you factor in the car driving that we would have done had we been going places instead of boating and the beer that our friends bring when on our boat, we probably made money . You can bring a lot more people on a toon than a bowrider, so more free beer

But, every situation is different. We used to tow a lot and that is a real gas drainer.

 

[smoedog]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

I've got a wife a three kids 7,14,16.

This season was my first boat season. I started with a 17.5 glastron with a 4.3 and while it was fun, not enough room. A lot of maintenance with an I/O.

Sold it and got a 24' 1993 aquapatio with a 115 yamaha for 5500 with trailer. Good shape but one of the seats is bad, whatever. I can pull a tub at 23-25 mph. Have plenty of room for camping stuff, have a BBQ on it. Nothing better than camping out on an island, then next weekend cruising the river and sandbars with the adult beverage of your choice.

Plus maintenance is a joke. I pull it out of the water and I'm done. Winterization can be done in 30 mins where my oldboat would be a all day event. No rotten transoms to worry about. I could keep going.

The value is there with a pontoon. Get a lot more for your money.

 

[MinUph]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

mj,
I've had many boats through the years. from 16-26' V hulls and one a cruiser with cabin and bridge. We now have a toon and I have to say it is the best yet. While the cruiser was comfortable and had most all the things in a home it was a killer on gas. I could burn 100 gallons in a day if I wanted to. The toon while not a tri toon is slow. But it is much more fun knowing I'm burning 2-2.5 gallons in a days outing. It is all in what you want in a boat. Here in this forum you will find tooners and we all seem to love them. I'm sure if you look in other forums on cigarette type boats they will also love them. Bottom line is you have to decide which boat is best for your family. I would recommend renting a pontoon for the day and see how you like it.
BTW my cruiser had rotted stringers. I put 100 hours of labor and many $$$ in material to fix it. Not a job I will ever do again

 

[belairbrian]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

I'm looking for a used pontoon as well. Used to have a 24ft with a measly 35 and it still cruised the river fine. Wife doesn't care for "regular" boats and insists the next boat have bathroom facilities for her and my 12 year old daughter. That means convincing her on a cuddy or a pontoon. Plus way easier to gear up for diving on a pontoon.

neighbor just moved his 225hp Yamaha from the bass boat to the pontoon. Guessing that rig will scoot.

 

[86 century]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

My brothers old toon was 18" twin tube no lifting streaks with the 85hp force she ran up around 28mph guzzling fuel.

He now has a 19" deck boat with the 3.0 merc I/O runs 32mph sips fuel and can still hold 12 people.

My parents now have the same toon with a 48spl Johnson will run around 20mph(although I don't think they have ever been over 10mph)

In the end my brother hated it my parents love it. It will all depend on what you plan to do.

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

I don't know how i enjoyed the water before i changed up to a pontoon

 

[mj05]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

Thank you guys for the great feedback so far! I've learned so much on I boats! I can't wait to get on the water!

So what about adding a third tube or lifting strakes? Does either really make much differance in speed or more importantly, fuel consumption?

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

Thank you guys for the great feedback so far! I've learned so much on I boats! I can't wait to get on the water!

So what about adding a third tube or lifting strakes? Does either really make much differance in speed or more importantly, fuel consumption?

Personly i'd buy the nicest pontoon i cud afford to do the type of boating i wanted to do & worry about adding to it later-
BUT if your budget allows for a tri-toon to start with i'd sure go for it ------

 

[mj05]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

Unfortunately, there's no way I could afford a tri unless someone on IBoats is feeling generous . Since I'd be constricted to a regular toon, what are my options? Will a 70-90 horse engine do ok or should I still focus on 100+? Is there any way to reduce drag on a regular toon? Do strakes work? Anything else?

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

Unfortunately, there's no way I could afford a tri unless someone on IBoats is feeling generous Since I'd be constricted to a regular toon, what are my options? Will a 70-90 horse engine do ok or should I still focus on 100+? Is there any way to reduce drag on a regular toon? Do strakes work? Anything else?

About all i can say about HP is that i'd get the biggest motor the boat is rated for
I think about all you can do to optimize performance as far as the boat itself is to keep the toons clean & "slick" as possible & watch your weight distribution - Trust me, you'll learn as you go (thats the fun part)

 

[BobGinCO]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

If you're going to boat on rough water, the third log is a MUST. I bash through the wakes of the biggest boats, as smooth as can be. Lifting strakes will get you "up on the plane" so you have less drag. Less drag = faster speed for a given horsepower, OR less fuel consumption at the same speed. I wish I had strakes. I wish I had known about them when I bought my boat!

OH, AND:

Go out and RENT a Pontoon, and see if it's right for you! We rented for years before buying.

 

[mj05]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

We'll be boating on inland lakes so no big water.

 

[The Rooster]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

We'll be boating on inland lakes so no big water.

Excellent advice above "mj05". Spend $100-$200 and rent one for a day doing everything you envision. You'll get a fairly good feel for the size and HP you"ll want. Good luck !!!

 

[WaterDR]

Re: Should I consider a Toon?

Toons rent for $400 a day or more around here, but I too agree that renting is a good idea. I used to rent mine a few times a summer on my old toon. Paid for an electric anchor and a gas grill one year wih some elses money. Sort of funny when you think about it.

I simply under-cut a few of the professional places and only rented to people that I know.

As to the 2 vs 3 toons, it depends on how much power you plan on having. No sense at all in a third toon if you just have a 60 hp. The third toon will make it float better, but also adds weight. I have never seen a water test with identical pontoon boats and identical power to compare a two to a three toon setup. One of the reasons why I went with an RPT on my Sylvan is that the testing did confirm that they tend to do a lot better with added weight than do a stand two toon layout because the design pushes the boat up. I can run north of 20 mph with 12 to 14 people on board which is really pretty good if you think about it.