Re: New to pontoon - q's
As a brand, Playcraft is fine. In fact, it's part of a shrinking number of pontoon builders still in existence. That's no mean accomplishment in these times. However, when we're talking about 25+ year old pontoons the brand doesn't really matter that much. Price is significantly impacted by geography, but in my neck of the woods three grand would be at the top end of fair provided there was a trailer included and everything was ship shape and ready to splash.
The nice thing about used barges is the absence of any potential disasters lurking out of sight (with the exception of the power plant of course). Everything is out there for all to see. Look under the helm for potential wiring issues, turn the wheel back and forth to verify the steering mechanism (likely cable at that age) is in working order (not a huge deal if it's not, but definitely ammo for haggling). Jump up and down on the deck. Shake the railing in different places to check for looseness (some is to be expected; too much is annoying at best, safety issue at worst). Look under all the seats. Look underneath the deck for missing bolts, screws, or rivets. Look closely at all the weld joints to be sure nothing is compromised. Place your head within hearing range of the toons and shake the front of the barge vigorously to listen for sloshing, which of course indicates leakage. Leakage shouldn't necessarily be a deal breaker, but is definitely another significant haggling factor.
Jack up the trailer one side at a time and try to jiggle the wheels to check for play, then spin them to listen for bearing noise. Check the lights and the bunks. If it has brakes they're likely toast. If so, addressing that issue will be expensive. Again, not necessarily a deal breaker; just remember to factor it in. With that size motor the rig could well be under 3k pounds, which in most states is the magic number at which brakes become mandatory, so depending on your tow vehicle it may not even be an issue for you. The seller, however, does not need to know that.
Check the compression on the motor, then water test the rig.
You'll enjoy trolling and bait fishing from a pontoon boat. If you do a lot of bass fishing; flipping and pitching, etc., you'll find a barge isn't the best boat for that. It
is possible, just not ideal. That's a good size for versatile use. You'll find that a 21 footer is small enough to tow while being large enough to facilitate relaxing. She'll probably top out around 15 mph with that fifty, but you probably already know that. If she checks out and you like 'er, get after it. Let us know.
