What would you buy?

[XxJamesAxX]

Ok guys and gals, im planning to purchase my first pontoon in the next 3-5 months and am currently doing my homework to find out exactly whats going to fit my family the best.

Budget - $30k max. Prefer to be 25k and under but will push it a little more for the perfect boat. (New boats only)
Prefer seating for 10+ as I have a family of 4 and would prefer to be able to take some friends/family as much as possible. Want to be capable of some mild watersports, skiing and tubing. Nothing crazy but enough we can have a good time. Dont care about any fishing options, we have access to fishing boats for that. Build quality is very important, i want this boat to be apart of our family a long time.

I live in central ky and have access to many lakes but i will mainly be sticking to some of the smaller lakes in the area that range from 6k to 11k acres, and after the first year will probably decide which lake we like best and get a covered slip and store it there for easy access to the water.

If you were in my situation what boat/motor combination would you go with and why? Really appreciate any input anyone can provide. Like i mentioned above im in the planning stages now. Hoping to buy over the winter and maybe grab a little better deal.

My current top pick is a Lowe extreme 210 with a mercury 115 4stroke or possibly the merc 150 if I can find a good deal.

 

[WaterDR]

Not sure what brands are available in your area...

22 ft with a 115 or a 24 ft with a 150 shoudl do it. 10 passenger seating is small...go for bigger. 12 to 14 which should not be an issue with a 222 or 24 footer. Stay away from a 20 footer. You will regret it.

 

[RyFitz13]

Still just learning myself, so I can't speak to a specific suggestion, but: I'm with WaterDR that you probably want to look at slightly larger capacity. I have a 20 footer with a rated 10-person capacity - that thing would be super crowded with 10 people (we're actually a little dubious as to where #10 would sit while under way). It's usually just me and my wife, and usually a couple guests. 4 people onboard that boat is very comfortable, and everybody can get some shade when they need it. 6 might be OK - but much beyond that and it'd start to feel crowded.

 

[XxJamesAxX]

Thanks for the replies guys, I can definitely see us having 8 (4 adults, 4 kids) on the boat pretty regular and maybe a couple more at times so I want to try to be as comfortable as possible. I to was already skeptical of 10 person capacity being enough. I know with most everything "capacity" and "comfortable" are two separate things.

Still would be interested in peoples opinions on what they would pick.

I really like the look (styling) of the Lowe extreme boats and the fact they are tri toons.

On the other hand Sun tracker's (party barge 24dlx) 10 year warranty is really nice as I plan to have this boat many, many years.

Those are my top 2 picks currently but I have not got to fully review many other brands yet. Also haven't got to see exactly how many options I have for a boat like
I want for under 30k yet. (New) I know where I live I'm probably within 1 -2 hour drive a a dealer that will carry most every brand available but many don't advertise there prices so I don't know what I can/cant fully look at yet as a option.

Help in that area would be appreciated also, any boats you think are worth me checking out that meet my criteria feel free to name. I dont mind shopping around but I hate calling and going to places to look around to only find out I cant afford it to start with.

 

[Scott Danforth]

for water sports, your looking at a tritoon with lifting strakes

if I was looking with your budget, I would be going with a full center tube and at least a 175hp on back

If budget wasnt an issue....a Bennington Q30 with twin 300's

 

[XxJamesAxX]

for water sports, your looking at a tritoon with lifting strakes

if I was looking with your budget, I would be going with a full center tube and at least a 175hp on back

If budget wasnt an issue....a Bennington Q30 with twin 300's

You mention full center tube and Atleast 175 on the back but you don't actually list a boat/motor combo. I understand what your saying but I'm looking for actual boat model/motor combo I can look up and compare with other boats I'm already looking at.

Thanks for your post though and unfortunately budget is very much a issue.

 

[WaterDR]

Without walking through the thing and seeing it in person, its really hard to me to say which model is better. But I have advised a few folks to get a smaller motor and then buy a PWC for tubing....best of both worlds

 

[ahicks]

Re: budget. A buddy that lives a couple of doors down bought a 25' boat (Crest III) with a Merc 90 on it around 2000 or so. Both himself and his 4 teen boys (and their friends) used the hell out of that boat - for cruising, but mostly for skiing and tubing. That same boat today, with some of the boys now in their 30's, is still used occasionally to pull anyone that wants to go for a ride on a tube. Point being, it's not the best ski platform, nor is it the most maneuverable, but it IS very usable. You don't absolutely NEED the best combo available to do this job. This boat has dealt with the abuse that only a bunch of teen boys can come with for 16 seasons or so now, and is still running great, with just a minimum of maintenance. Would a tri-toon w/a big engine do it better? For sure! But priorities can/do come into play here.....

 

[XxJamesAxX]

Re: budget. A buddy that lives a couple of doors down bought a 25' boat (Crest III) with a Merc 90 on it around 2000 or so. Both himself and his 4 teen boys (and their friends) used the hell out of that boat - for cruising, but mostly for skiing and tubing. That same boat today, with some of the boys now in their 30's, is still used occasionally to pull anyone that wants to go for a ride on a tube. Point being, it's not the best ski platform, nor is it the most maneuverable, but it IS very usable. You don't absolutely NEED the best combo available to do this job. This boat has dealt with the abuse that only a bunch of teen boys can come with for 16 seasons or so now, and is still running great, with just a minimum of maintenance. Would a tri-toon w/a big engine do it better? For sure! But priorities can/do come into play here.....

You got that right! I know we are gonna enjoy what ever we have, I dont like buying and selling things often so I'm trying to buy what I know I would want in my 2nd boat. Trying to prevent the urge to sell in a few years and upgrade but when it comes down to it the budget is the budget. Still gotta live within our means even if that means we have less.

I even like WaterDr's idea of the smaller motor on the toon and putting that money towards a PWC in the future. Alot to think about, glad I got all winter to figure it out. I new I wanted a boat all summer but purposely held off looking because I knew if I did I would rush the decision just to get on the water.

 

[jkust]

Where, as in which state are you buying from? 30k around me doesn't get you to the starting line for pontoons unfortunately. You could swing maybe a 50hp basic model. Pontoons have become so enormously popular, the prices are getting crazy. Maybe it's the brand but 8 out of 10 are Premier brand on our lake and you need a good sized engine to get any satisfying performance. My friends on our lake just got a 24 foot Premier with a 115....the boat is beautiful but the 21mph top speed is not good. Point being, it takes a lot of HP to overcome the situation.

 

[XxJamesAxX]

Where, as in which state are you buying from? 30k around me doesn't get you to the starting line for pontoons unfortunately. You could swing maybe a 50hp basic model. Pontoons have become so enormously popular, the prices are getting crazy. Maybe it's the brand but 8 out of 10 are Premier brand on our lake and you need a good sized engine to get any satisfying performance. My friends on our lake just got a 24 foot Premier with a 115....the boat is beautiful but the 21mph top speed is not good. Point being, it takes a lot of HP to overcome the situation.

I'm in Kentucky, it ain't no problem to find a nice middle class boat around here for my budget. It's a little harder to get the performance options I think I want for my budget. Of course like anywhere you can spend as much as you want but also you can find nice entry level toons with small motors for under $20k fairly easy.

I'm just trying to weigh out what's best for my family as spending more money doesn't always equal better or "must have".

Just trying to get the opinions of fellow members that are much more experience in pontoons then me, they can say yes go ahead and spend the money for this or that it's worth it, while others may say don't spend the extra for this you don't really need it kinda thing.

 

[ahicks]

Have you considered deck boats? Again, this will depend on priorities, but from a bucks spent for bang received performance perspective, they may be a better deal.

 

[XxJamesAxX]

Have you considered deck boats? Again, this will depend on priorities, but from a bucks spent for bang received performance perspective, they may be a better deal.

Not put much thought into them, don't see many deck boats around here.

 

[jkust]

I'm in Kentucky, it ain't no problem to find a nice middle class boat around here for my budget. It's a little harder to get the performance options I think I want for my budget. Of course like anywhere you can spend as much as you want but also you can find nice entry level toons with small motors for under $20k fairly easy.

I'm just trying to weigh out what's best for my family as spending more money doesn't always equal better or "must have".

Just trying to get the opinions of fellow members that are much more experience in pontoons then me, they can say yes go ahead and spend the money for this or that it's worth it, while others may say don't spend the extra for this you don't really need it kinda thing.

I'm on a decent sized lake and the issue is how impractical it is to go out with a 50hp engine that will run 14mph at wot and try to see the lake. People do it, it just takes a long time and you can't get back when you need to in a pinch for which we have had to on many ocassions on our bowrider and the ability to cover great distances quickly is more than appreciated. The other issue (among others) is that on a pontoon, you are always fully exposed to the wind that you will surely have on the 11k acre lakes. You cant close the center windshield and the bow door like you could on a deckboat. Such as a Chaparral Sunesta or a Sea Ray Sun Deck. Not sure what you mean by a middle class boat since I've never heard of a boat referred to as a class. At the end of the day, the thing that is hard to overcome is how expensive the outboard engines cost even for small 115hp version. We've talked about adding a pontoon to the fleet but there is almost no time that our 24 foot bowrider isn't the preferred boat even if we had a pontoon except that we won't fish off of it. I can't emphasize enough how popular pontoons are and how many people have either gotten rid of their fishing boat and bowrider and consolidated to a pontoon...but universally the complaint I hear is that people didn't buy large enough engines and of course the lack of a wind break for passengers on all but the most expensive pontoons that have a full windshield system. We just had some neighbors sell their recently acquired 50hp model for a higher performance model because the lake size doesn't work with such a slow pontoon.

 

[XxJamesAxX]

I'm on a decent sized lake and the issue is how impractical it is to go out with a 50hp engine that will run 14mph at wot and try to see the lake. People do it, it just takes a long time and you can't get back when you need to in a pinch for which we have had to on many ocassions on our bowrider and the ability to cover great distances quickly is more than appreciated. The other issue (among others) is that on a pontoon, you are always fully exposed to the wind that you will surely have on the 11k acre lakes. You cant close the center windshield and the bow door like you could on a deckboat. Such as a Chaparral Sunesta or a Sea Ray Sun Deck. Not sure what you mean by a middle class boat since I've never heard of a boat referred to as a class. At the end of the day, the thing that is hard to overcome is how expensive the outboard engines cost even for small 115hp version. We've talked about adding a pontoon to the fleet but there is almost no time that our 24 foot bowrider isn't the preferred boat even if we had a pontoon except that we won't fish off of it. I can't emphasize enough how popular pontoons are and how many people have either gotten rid of their fishing boat and bowrider and consolidated to a pontoon...but universally the complaint I hear is that people didn't buy large enough engines and of course the lack of a wind break for passengers on all but the most expensive pontoons that have a full windshield system. We just had some neighbors sell their recently acquired 50hp model for a higher performance model because the lake size doesn't work with such a slow pontoon.

Thanks for the input jkust, I'm pretty well convinced I need Atleast a 115hp, would love the 150 I know but price will determine that.

Sorry for not being real clear in my post but what I meant by middle class was kinda like middle of the road Atleast in price, not high end but not low end. Even though I'm quickly learning my budget does put me closer to the low end

What I am surprised by is the lack of comments for pushing one brand over another, or Atleast some of the typical chest pumping and brand bashing you get with other motorsports.

Are all the boat manufactures that equal? Is there really no brands (manufactures) I should stay away from?

Thanks again for everyone's time

 

[jkust]

Thanks for the input jkust, I'm pretty well convinced I need Atleast a 115hp, would love the 150 I know but price will determine that.

Sorry for not being real clear in my post but what I meant by middle class was kinda like middle of the road Atleast in price, not high end but not low end. Even though I'm quickly learning my budget does put me closer to the low end

What I am surprised by is the lack of comments for pushing one brand over another, or Atleast some of the typical chest pumping and brand bashing you get with other motorsports.

Are all the boat manufactures that equal? Is there really no brands (manufactures) I should stay away from?

Thanks again for everyone's time

I don't generally see the same chest pumping for pontoons as you possibly might for bowrider boats and that you certainly do for trucks. For boats, there is sort of a pecking order. You can line up 5 bowrider brands for instance, remove the identifying marks, list the dry weights on each of them and you can pretty much tell which of the boats fits where in the line up. Generally then their prices reflect that because there generally isn't a free lunch. Trucks on the other hand are priced competitively against eachother...though I hesitate to make the truck-boat comparison at all.

There's probably three pontoon brands on my lake with a smattering of really old brands no longer in existence. Premier, which accounts for at least 80% of them which is a big number given the lake size and how many residents are on it and the fact that people generally don't trailer pontoons so the pontoons aren't generally day visitors. A handful of Benningtons and now just starting to see Harris brand pontoons. Again, with pontoons, you can very quickly tell what is what because of how they are appointed....when you go to a dealer and they have say 7 of them lined up next to eachother, it becomes evident. Harris has come on the scene around me as a cheaper alternative to the Premiers that are all over the place. I think people are realizing that they don't need such high end appointments on their pontoons that get used at most 90 days out of the year. When I see the 600hp Premiers float past my lake house that never go over 10mph, I get it, we all want 600hp pontoons but I bet some of them don't see 20 days of use per year and of course those are pretty expensive. Many are looking for good enough.

As for what would I buy...I don't subscribe to the good enough for the most part and am not constrained by budget. I would likely get a Premier and wouldn't consider anything less than 300hp..but I only buy used boats because there is no sales tax on used boats from a private party in my state of 7.5% sales tax.

 

[JOLLYTOON]

I have a bennington and a sweetwater. The bennington is very high quality. They offer a lot of extras on their new boats. And yes get the biggest motor you can afford. Again get the biggest.

 

[Silver Eagle]

Have you ever thought about a deck boat, It's sort of like a pontoon boat only better. They have bigger motors and they come with I/O's. Maintenance is a lot less .We just sold a StarCraft 24 foot pontoon boat it could hold up to 14 adults and it had a 90 hp 2 stroke engine..It also had a four wheel bunk trailer. I bought it in 09 and it was new in 2007. I paid half of what you want to spend. A lot of lakes have speed and HP restrictions so check around before you buy. .Remember a pontoon boat is not a rocket ship. A deck boat will handle a lot better and it will out run a pontoon boat. .And there is no perfect pontoon boat. October is a good time to buy a boat, the dealers want to unload this years models so look around.