Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

[mickjetblue]

I'm thinking about a small, 18' pontoon boat to use for flat water boating in
kind of a "picnic boating" mode. Probably use about a 50hp outboard.

Does anybody have experience with a small pontoon boat, and what do you
think about it?

Thanks

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

We've got a 20' with a 60 hp, and are very pleased with it. I looked at a few 18's and was surprised at the room available if you get one without the front deck. We have friends who had a 50hp and always wished they had got a 60 instead. Something to think about.

 

[Ruggybuggy]

Re: Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

I have a 19' Forester with a 20hp and works great. I don't regret buying the smaller motor. It does 14 mph and has a full camper top. I've also had it out it some heavy winds and it does fine although the speed does drop when heading into the wind. We take tours out on Lake of the Woods every weekend and are out for the day. Last weekend we were out and there were 4 foot swells, the boat handled it fine but wasn't a fun ride.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

We had a 18ft Starcraft(not the best choice) with a 50 Erude.Very happy with it. Seldom had more tha 3 aboard top speed seemed to be about 18.(a guess)at 5,200. we usually cruised at about 4,000 probably around 15 mph. Handled very well in cramped quarters.They all ride very smooth.I'm inclined to think more hp is better.It doesn't add a lot of speed but the motor can be loafing instead of straining when running at a smaller motors top speed.
Toons can be setup allmost anyway you want.I was allways going to set it up like a patio/deck with deck chairs,maybe a porch glider a grill, Umbrella
table you get the idea.Or with a porta potty and an inclosure you could have an overnighter.The sky's the limit.

 

[hvachillbilly]

Re: Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

my 21 ft with a 60hp merc does very well three sides inclosed for camping lake mead dont need full incloser handles rough water very well only been scared once i learned to sit in coves and wait big wind stroms out

 

[gfincati]

Re: Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

We have an 18' Crestliner with a 50hp Mercury 4 stroke. Perfect for cruising around or fishing and plenty of room for up to 9 people.

GF

 

[SunTrackerPB21]

Re: Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

I'm thinking about a small, 18' pontoon boat to use for flat water boating in
kind of a "picnic boating" mode. Probably use about a 50hp outboard.

Does anybody have experience with a small pontoon boat, and what do you
think about it?

We have a 21' SunTracker w/60hp Merc Bigfoot OB.
Friends have a 18' with a 25HP.

Both are great for picnic boating. The 18 size would work great for 4-6 people IMO. Our 21 is best with 6-8 although the Capacity plate says 13.

Alan

 

[PGFISHER]

Re: Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

We have an 18' fisher with a 60hp mercury EFI. We love it, but it came (used) with nothing but two pedestal fishing seats forward of the helm. The rail is all the way forward, so it has lots of room. Wishing to use it for fishing and cruising, the fishing seats were useless for traveling the long distances on lake mead. I bought two flip flop seats, and two sets of 24" bimini top mount rails (from IBOAT). the seats had to have plastic bases to slide on the carpet.
I mounted the rails about midway between the helm and the bow and attached the vertical mounts to the seats. I used the thumb screws from the stops and drilled and tapped the verticle mounts to use them. The seats now slide outboard for cruising, and inboard for fishing or sightseeing, and i have much more storage. The idea is that if you buy a pontoon, the sky's the limit. I can't see my wife and I owning any other kind of boat.

 

[Big Bubba]

Re: Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

I own a 1991, 20' Lowes Pontoon boat with two logs under her and We all my family and I love the Pontoon Boat. So much you can do with her and you can hawl about 10 people comfortable. I have a 70 horse powerr Johnson and she does good but I am having a bogging/stalling issue with her that I am going to work out of her when i get back from deployment. I need to re-do my carbs since I didn't do all thre of the jets. But after that I should have her running good. Yeap, the 20' Pontoon boat suits my family just fine and we all love it and wouldn't trade her for anything else except maybe a tri-toon down the road but that would be about it. Good luck on your decision, Bob

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Thinking about a small pontoon boat---

I have a 16'er with a 25hp on it and only use it on an inland river so no huge swells. I was thinking of going back to an 18hp next year as it got much better fuel economy.