Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

[Campylobacter]

Hey guys, I am toying with the idea of getting a pontoon to restore.

I have several boats (19' bowrider, 16' runabout, jetski), but this would be my first toon. I'm hosting a bunch of people this summer and would love to get everyone (12 of us) in one boat, mine don't cut it. I looked into renting, and it would be $1,500.

That got me thinking, and thinking got me to Craigslist, and well, you know how that goes...

I think I need a 24' minimum for the whole crew to get a moonlight ride. I've found a bunch of candidate projects (for about the same price as the rental), and I figure new floor, carpet or vinyl, and and new and/or recovered seats will set me back a couple thousand.

I found a nice looking 24', running motor, no trailer. I need a trailer just to get the boat to and from the ramp from my house (1/4 mile, no state roads). Then I found a 22'er, with trailer, no motor, and VERY cheap because it has no titles. What if i were to buy both, use a donor from the 22'er to make a tri-toon (our lake gets a bit choppy), and use the trailer to shuttle to my shop and back.

Crazy?

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

no not at all, that is what a lot do in fact.

 

[Old Screwball]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

Things to get used to when going from a boat to a 'toon....

Get used to going S L O W E R, unless you are looking at tri-toons with 200+ hp. It took almost a year to get used to 24.6 mph rather than the 70+mph of the blown, jet boat.

I'd do it over again in a second. If you can buy 2 'toons, 1 with a trailer the other with a RUNNING motor for 3 grand, GO FOR IT!!!

 

[The Rooster]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

That's a lot of time, effort, money & hassle for a moonlight run, Campy. Come get mine for the night, I'll loan it to you !!!

P.S. - I'll even leave the Rock & Roll CD's on-board. NO Rap or Country allowed. !!!

 

[Campylobacter]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

Rooster, Thanks for the offer, but I think a trip to LA is a bit of time and hassle. I drove to NO once with a van full of students, took 18 hours!

Screwball: I would looking more at 15-18 MPH rather than 24.

As for the effort, boating is the only hobby I have, and I like to keep busy.

Still mulling over the options...

 

[ahicks]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

I would say go for it.

In '78, the only pontoon boat on our part of the lake was mine, out of maybe 30 homes. I had 2 other boats, a ski/drag boat, and a Hobi Cat. Today, nearly every home has a pontoon boat, the Hobi was sold as we completely wore it out, and the ski/drag boat was sold the second year it came out of the water with the same tank of gas it went in with? Point being, with a pontoon available, you'll probably stop using the other boats as much, eventually stopping completely....

 

[calvinator]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

We left the v-hull world a few years back for a big pontoon. We really enjoy it, especially getting 1o people on board and still room for everyone.

Read up on pontoon width and how that affects load, handling, and speed. Old, cheapy craigslist finds might have the small pontoons (19") and assembling a tritoon out of that may not be worth it compared to a good 24' pontoon to start with.

And motor --- make sure you get the right one upfront. Those 50HP motors are 15-20MPH. You may want more HP to move the pontoon faster or tow a tube... Swapping motors not terribly hard, but going from a 50HP to a 115HP kind of frustrating finding a quality motor. Lots of junk out there..

But get the right pontoon size and motor size up front, and all the rest is easy to do.

 

[BigDfromTN]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

That's a lot of time, effort, money & hassle for a moonlight run, Campy. Come get mine for the night, I'll loan it to you !!!

P.S. - I'll even leave the Rock & Roll CD's on-board. NO Rap or Country allowed. !!!

Hmmm.... I will be in Ponchatoula in just under 3 weeks. Is it warm enough for a boat ride there yet?

Very Generous offer!!!

To the OP... If this is the kind of stuff you enjoy and have the space to store both. The two to make one sounds like an attractive way to go. One thing comes to mind to be aware of would be the controls for the engine. Are the two compatible. If not will the ones on the engine be long enough for the one it ends up on.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

Defiantly go for it…especially if you have the time and gumption to make the two into one.

We have the same set-up…24’ pontoon…my 21’ bow rider and the jet ski. My toon partner drives the pontoon..i take the bow rider and the kids bring the jet ski and we all meet up at the beach….Fun in the sun and everyone has something to do.
Then when it gets dark we all load up in the pontoon for a midnight ride….nothing better than to cap the day off like that.

Hope to add the Checkmate to the bunch this summer…that will put the Cherry on top.

 

[Campylobacter]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

Thanks for the encouragement and advice everyone!

Of course, just like most Craiglist dreams this one will likely fail, the cheapy boat with the trailer doesn't respond to email. I'm still going to take a look at the boat with the motor, it will likely have the small toons and yes, it does have a 50 (but its a Johnson, and I've got a soft spot for Johnsons).

I'll continue to look for others as well, I have until August!

 

[TD_Maker]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

I just completed rebuilding My Dads Pontoon boat. It is a 1999 Bennington with a very low hour Honda BF40. I have rebuilt several rigs, but the pontoon was the easiest to do simply because ease-of access. For me, it was a labor of love, and served as a rebirth of my old man's boat. It was with great pride when I loaded up the 3 Grandkids and took them for a ride on PawPaw's boat: "The Born Again"

If I want to go fast, I take out my little McKee Craft (another rebuild project) But, when I just want to chill with the babies (and my 14 year old Golden Retriever) oh yeah.....and my wife.....I really enjoy the Bennington.

 

[BatDaddy1887]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

OK, several options here:

1. Do all that work you plan to do with buying two boats, changing this and that, etc......

2. Expand your Craigslist or ebay search to nearby towns and get something like you really want in the first place.

It seems to me that a few hours of driving is a lot easier than all that work. You have plenty of time for a nice drive!

 

[Campylobacter]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

OK, several options here:

1. Do all that work you plan to do with buying two boats, changing this and that, etc......

2. Expand your Craigslist or ebay search to nearby towns and get something like you really want in the first place.

It seems to me that a few hours of driving is a lot easier than all that work. You have plenty of time for a nice drive!

This is what I did, I "expanded" the search. I am going to see a boat in SC this week, just the tubes, motor and trailer. We will see how it goes. I figure I'm putting new furniture on regardless for boats in my price range, so a total rebuild is not out of the question. And, most importantly, the Admiral is now on board with idea!.

 

[ahicks]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

Road trip! Yeehaw!

Some of my best purchases have happened like that. As mention, many times you can find exactly what you want if you're willing to drive a bit!

Regarding furniture, just a thought? Once the factory furniture gets to the point it's pretty nasty, we've just pitched it and run the regular control console, with a simple bench across the back (for life jackets and "stuff", plus it blocks a lot of the engine noise). From there forward, we just run plastic patio furniture? Super durable, no worry about keeping it covered, cigarette burns, pretty much completely care free! This let's everyone on board relax, without worry about spilling a drink, sitting down with a screwdriver in your pocket, etc. A little too casual for some, but it's worked well for MANY years for us!

 

[redneck joe]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

yeah if the seats are bad, just build your own. Plus having chairs lets everyone sit around how they want, rather than in a predefined arrangement. Only negative is they aren't great in rough water.

 

[ahicks]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

The plastic "Adirondack" style are pretty amazing regarding stable, and plenty sturdy for the "bigger" passengers? We prefer them in white so they don't get hot setting in the sun. The only down side to them is trying to get up out of them can be a challenge, especially if you don't have to drive anywhere afterward....?

 

[Silver Eagle]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

I don't know where you are from ,but my 24 fter has no title either. Just a bill of sale. When you buy a trailer make sure it has four wheels and one Axle at least has brakes. My boat has a 90 Hp 2 stroke Merc. Plenty of HP if your not trying to be a speed king on the water. It holds 14 people... Not bad on gas. I use mine in the Cheasapecke Bay .Not a tritoon boat and never will be.

 

[BatDaddy1887]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

12 people may be more comfortable on a 28 footer. You could put more seating whether it's bought, home-made or portable seating. When we have 8 people on our 24 footer, it's a bit crowded. Have you ever been on a pontoon boat before? If so, what size was it and how many people were aboard? Just wondering.....

Hey Silver Eagle......I see you are located in New Castle DE. That puts you right at the head waters of the Delaware Bay. You stated that you use yours in the Chesapeake Bay....I'm just wondering why you choose the CB over the DB, since you need to travel the entire length of the canal to get there? I've never been to the DB, but have always wanted to boat there once in awhile to see what it's like.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

Pontoons are for pleasure cruising. Yes, they make pontoons, with Tornados strapped on the transom, that will hit 50 but that seems to me-missing the point.

My family has owned six "toons" over the last 15 years. All of them were/are assigned to SLOW cruising and they do just great. The later ones with 115 HP (four stroke-Merc) power pull juveniles just fine on tubes and water toys.

Restoring a pontoon is easy. Notice I said-easy-not cheap.

As long as the logs are in good shape there is not much to them. You can go as fancy or as basic as you want. You can get everything you need, except decking wood, from here on iboats. Delivered to your door.

On the other hand, $1500.00 is pretty cheap for a maybe one time event as opposed to restoring and owning a toon. Something to think about.

However, I think once you own one, you'll love it.

 

[Malibu Rudder]

Re: Thinking about pontoon. Am I crazy?

You will love a pontoon. I would recommend purchasing a larger one if you can for 12 people and preferably one with a title. My 26.4 ft can handle up to 12 people but it is crowded. Personally, I like to stay 9 or less on my boat.