Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

We’re currently looking for a 24’+ fishing/comfort rig. From the research I’ve done so far it seems a tritoon with more HP than you think is the way to go? But I also have a few more questions.

1: Is there just as many or more satisfied pontoon owners vs tritoon owners? Is the third toon something that should be a deal breaker?

2: Lifting strakes. If the boat doesn’t have them are they worth adding?

3: Ready to go or fixer upper? I love purchasing projects that require some personal time and effort to get back to working order. The wife has a different mindset(surprise), and wants a water ready boat. Hopefully I can find something in the middle that can taken out while repairs are being made.

Thanks for any information.

Missing one...maybe most..... critical detail.....BUDGET?

My first pontoon is a fixer upper and as nice as a ready to go pontoon would be I like the idea of making the pontoon they way I want it. I think your choices are going to be dictated by how much you want to spend. and of course get the biggest motor recommended.

Personally, I would only get a tri-toon on anything greater than 20'/22'. It may be hard(er) to find a "newer" 24' boat that only has 2 toons.

Another factor not listed is where are you fishing and cruising. If you are fishing and cruising primarily on inland waters, the tritoon option may not be as crucial, however if you are doing this on open bays and in the Gulf, I think you will wish you had a Tri if you don't get one. Of course you can fish a regular pontoon on Bays and the gulf, but you have to be a little more discriminating on your marine forecast. The tri will handle just about anything you can throw at it, where a two toon is going to be pretty precarious.

BTW, didn't address #1 but you really need to see if you can take a ride in both and figure out which you'll be happy with. You can look at my sig and see that I didn't take my own advice.
#2, a tritoon will have strakes as it will typically have enough hp to use them. On a pontoon, strakes are typically optional as you'd need enough hp to take advantage of them...probably 115hp at a minimum but when you're talking 24' maybe that goes to 150hp....

Referring to Flounderpounder's post - Remember that I live on a smaller lake where a 50 mile round trip is a very long cruise. If the weather looms large, I just head for the barn.

I have a standard two tube pontoon boat that I like very, very much. It's an old 25' with a 115 hp that pushes me along at 25 mph with 4 -6 people, running WOT. No strakes, and it is full couches front to back, so it is heavy. We pull a 3 person tube with 400 to 450 lbs. on it, at 18-20 MPH wide open. I prefer to cruise at 4,200 to 4,300 RPM at 19 to 20 MPH using less than 5.0 gallons per hour. (About 10 gallons per hour wide open) With my two 12 gallon portable tanks of gas onboard, fuel is never a problem.

Yes, the nose cones are ALWAYS plowing, even by myself at 27 MPH with the motor trimmed up. If I were to bring on the 16 people that it's rated for, I had better be sitting in a quiet cove! In watching pontoon boats that have more HP/foot and lifting strakes, the front 1/3 of their tubes are out of the water - as they fly by me at 35, 45 or 50 MPH I have intentionally crossed wakes from wake boats at 90 degrees, and it is violent, but it wasn't close to breaking over the deck. Open water small swells would be a different animal!

We boat all year, and this time of year we go out 3-4 days per week. Winter time, we often have to wait for a week or two for the weather. Sometimes just a quick attitude corrector for 30-35 minutes is all that it takes!

I am an ex-west coast offshore guy. Would I be happy running my boat offshore or on the any big water? Nope, no and uh uh! It would be bigger, have three tubes and maybe run twins. For MY purposes, on MY lake, I am very happy with it!

If you plan on running the full length of Toledo Bend, then a 200 HP on a Tritoon could give you enough speed to get home quick if needed. It really comes down to budget. Twin 300's would be really cool, but for me, it's Party in Slow Motion.

Marc

Thanks for the replies. For budget I’d say up to 25k. It will only be used inland and mainly on Sam Rayburn and Toledo. I’m pretty set on going tritoon just for the benefit of capacity if nothing else. The majority of the time it will be me, the wife and our 4 kids but I like the idea of being able too carry plenty of people when needed. We may settle for a 22’ after looking at one and considering how often we’d have guest. It’s also looking like we’re gonna get something that’s ready to go since she isn’t very enthusiastic about the fixer upper idea .

Thanks again for the information.

I was going to pitch-in with the advice to buy a tritoon if you can afford it because it’s such a vast improvement over the twin-toon as far as boyancy, capacity, handling, and speed.
Secondly, Do not think that you’re going to buy a twin-toon and then add strakes to make it into a great performer. It ain’t easy as all that. There’s the issue of welding talent so as to not blow thru the tubes. There’s the issue of how long, and where to place, and how many to place when ti comes to strakes. Thirdly, How’s it going to fit on your existing trailer if your new strakes don’t fit on the bunks? What angle do you plan to align them? (Marine engineering has it’s own set of data to determine that issue. Once you’ve welded them on and they don’t do as well as you thought... how to you cut them away and relocate them without damaging both? This is no idle task to take under consideration lightly.
As for whether or not to buy a fixer upper or one ready to go (and you like to fix things up...). ... Let me assure you that if you buy a boat that is “ready to go” you will STILL find PLENTY of things you’re going to have the satisfaction of modifying/adding and “fixing up” regardless of it’s condition when purchasing it. You will personalize it plenty of ways.

I agree with your leanings that a tritoon is the way to go. Our lake gets pretty rough on the weekends and my tritoon with a 150hp pretty much rides right over the top of any chop. Everyone onboard always is amazed at how smooth the ride is compared to pontoons and V hull boats.

As far as project boat or "water ready". I like to tinker and add stuff to my boat, but I still bought brand new. I've upgraded the audio system, added shelves in storage lockers, added a grilling station, a turboswing, a GPS chartplotter, vodka on tap with an electric pump, a flag holder, and probably a few other things I can't think of right now. Even though I'm always making these little additions, which satisfies my DIY urge, it's nice to do it on a new boat that performs flawlessly and is ready to cruise the lake at a moment's notice for those times when I don't want to tinker.

What’s the view on inboard/outboard setups? I located a Odyssey Lextra 25’ tritoon with the 350 mag I/O. I read that they’re not very fuel efficient compared to an outboard. It’s not a fishing setup but does have a gps enabled trolling motor along with fish and depth finder so I guess it’s possible to use for fishing and I wouldn’t be against changing up some seating arrangements.

I've always loved the open rear deck on the Harris grand mariner with an I/o set up. Not sure if they offer it anymore. When it comes to I/o set ups the motors seem simple compared to an outboard, however you have to deal with a lower unit.

With an outboard set up you eliminate the issues of bellows, gimbal bearings and increased draft found on I/o boats. If you're going to be fishing ( depends on type I guess) I'd think you'll want minimal draft. An out board can easily trimmed right out of the water and just troll. There's no getting the I/o out of the water. Outboards seem to be really popular these days. There are a lot of small cruisers even being rigged with outboards. Those were always I/O's in the past.

If you find a boat you really like don't be afraid to make changes. I'm getting ready to weld on a brand new one lol. I'm adding extra strakes and sealing up the transom. Modifying any boat to what you want is half the fun!!!

New outboards are quieter, more fuel efficient and have longer maintenance intervals than I/O's these days. Also no need to do any kind of winterization for an OB as they are self draining (assuming they are out of the water).

10 years ago (or even more recently), I/O's were the preferred power plant of most boats in the 20-40 foot range. Today it is just the opposite. I read in a boating trade magazine that 70% of all new boats sold today are outboards. The numbers would probably skew more toward outboard but inboards still are the most popular power choice for wake/surf boats.

You also get a lot more room with an outboard, since the entire power plant is hanging off the stern.

steve1313 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 17, 2019 2:49 am

10 years ago (or even more recently), I/O's were the preferred power plant of most boats in the 20-40 foot range. Today it is just the opposite. I read in a boating trade magazine that 70% of all new boats sold today are outboards.

Makes a lot of sense given some of the power levels they're hitting with outboards now used to require an inboard. Plus you get an inboard boat, you have to take what you can get and it goes out the factory door that way. With an outboard, the manufacturer can just build the boat to some max power spec and let the customer chose what they want (even brand in some cases) and let the dealer worry about install. Not happy with something but like the boat? A few bolts and connections and a fat wallet is all it takes to fix and there's almost always someone willing to take the old engine off your hands.

If you are buying it for fishing and cruising, my thoughts are to buy used for $3500 rip all seats and crap out, buy 3 new bean bags and slap a new warrantied 4 stroke on the back.
Fishing with 3ft worth of cushions sucks....plus with open deck you can put up an easyup shelter or tent.
I tell folks riding our boat to byob and byos beverages and seating