New to toons.

[Lilguy]

Have been talking to the South Bay dealer on our lake system. Will be test running a 24 ft Tritoon this week.
One I like is a 200, sans engine,on the show room floor.
I’m told it’s rigged for an Evinrude, I prefer a Merc.
I like the idea of a composite deck so the SB is the way for me to go. What would it take to rig it for a Merc and is there any ride difference between plywood and composite deck toons?
Thanks all.


Previous boats
4 Winns cruiser
Bryant Deck
Bryant Bow rider.

[FogHorn]

Your dealer should be sufficiently talented to rig it with whatever outboard you choose (presuming he deals in that make also) it’s not that big a deal if the instrumentation matches up. (That’s the issue I found... the standard Forest-River/South Bay display may/may-not take advantage of all the features available from particular outboards... You’ll simply have to ask your dealer this question, IMO.

[FLOUNDERPOUNDER225]

I doubt they will re-rig it for you, they come from FR rigged for a particular brand of engine, the work involved in re-doing the helm, the harness under the underskinning etc.. is too much work. you can ask, but my bet is no.

[Liquid Asset]

I doubt they will re-rig it for you, they come from FR rigged for a particular brand of engine, the work involved in re-doing the helm, the harness under the underskinning etc.. is too much work. you can ask, but my bet is no.

X2 to this. I was told in the past that if I was to have one switched I would own the old controls and harness along with all the hourly labor to swap. It was recommended to me to just order what I wanted.

[Lilguy]

Thank you all. I’ll scratch that one off my list. Will see what else they have that would work.

What can any of you tell me about Veranda Pontoons.
Found a dealer today and they seem to be a top brand.
They have an Aluminum deck and build their own fitted
Aluminum trailers.

[Liquid Asset]

I looked at veranda and was very interested in the all aluminum construction. Everyone I saw had triple 27" logs which was also attractive. Once I dug a little deeper (going from memory) I found out that the all welded construction might be an issue. For instance if one log was damaged it would need to return to the factory ( not anywhere close to me) vs. a dealership just swapping one out. If you're set on mercury veranda may not work. I believe they rig Yamaha exclusively. I personally would have no issues with the Yamaha. We ended up going a different route but the veranda boats were nice looking to me!

[Lilguy]

You are correct, they come rigged for Yamaha. I’ll ask about damage repair. Thanks for the heads up.

[steve1313]

First, welcome to the forum. There's lots of great info here that will help you before and after your purchase.

You seem to be leaning toward a non-wood deck as a key part of your purchasing decision. I also felt the same way when I was looking for my first pontoon a few years ago, but ended up buying a tritoon with a traditional wood deck. After owning it for almost three seasons here's my thoughts on wood deck.

1) Probably 95% of all pontoons are still built with wood decks. I really think that if non-wood decks were that big of an advantage, you'd see a lot more of them.
2) Marine plywood is just that...… MARINE plywood. It's meant to get wet and not have any adverse effects. Unless you plan to abuse your boat and leave it unmaintained and out in the elements for a long time, the plywood will be fine long after other parts of the boat are failing.
3) Virtually all manufacturers offer at least a full 10 year warranty on the deck.
4) Wood decks tend to be quieter than metal decks.

One other major factor that makes me very happy that I ended up with a wood deck is the ability to easily mount to or drill through the deck. I've added lots of wiring for upgrading my audio system, lighting, and NEMA network. I also added an extra "grill station" which I screwed to the wood deck. A standard wood drill bit and wood screws made all those upgrades super easy and manageable. I'm not sure it would be the same with other decking materials.

Last but not least, let me offer what I consider to be the most important advice for new boat owners...… PICK THE DEALER, THEN PICK THE BOAT. Having a great dealer for ongoing support and maintenance (especially if any warranty issues crop up) is far more important than what the deck is made of.

No matter what you choose, you'll love having a pontoon boat!

[Steiner]

This you can just list as hearsay: I only know one guy with a Veranda, purchased last year as a 70hr dealer demo, Yamaha Vmax 200, $46k....this is a direct quote via text message: "Good quality structure, the rest is shit." I think aluminum decking is something that looks good on paper but in the field is another thing. Take a close look at the actual warranty....many places that offer a great looking factory warranty require you to handle getting the boat to them on your own dime...not to the dealership, to the factory. As far as I'm concerned deck warranties are about useless. Most likely you'll never have a problem inside the actual bow-to-stern warranty time frame so if you have something after that they basically give you a few hundred dollars worth of decking delivered to your house on a flatbed and say "have fun installing it".

Honestly, these things are a shitload of money and because of that you will have a regret somewhere along the way no matter what. I just tell myself "If you can't afford to boat, stay off the water."

BTW, if everyone would take a minute to update their location in their profile so it shows up with the user name it sometimes can be a big help if someone sees and and says "Hey you're close to so and so, you should check this out."

[wc9550]

After I sold my first pontoon, I too was on the hunt for a new one. I did purchase a South Bay 224 with a merc. 200 (just got it Mother’s Day weekend this year). After running it so far this season I have only had 1 issue (which is minor in my eyes) and that is, the speaker next to captains chair and in front of captains chair will randomly cut out for no reason. Other than that it has been flawless for the 46.2 hours we have on it so far.

As for the composite decking, I really like it over the wood for a couple reasons.
1- it is a lot lighter than the conventional wood (my boat is 2215 pounds dry weight)
2- it has a “cushioned” feel under your feet when walking on it
3- it will never rot

My boat is a 3.0 package (not the 3.0+) which means my cross members are bolted to the toons and not welded. We had the boat down on LOTO and it was very rough down there. This boat performed very well.

I also was partial to the Mercs. because I wanted to monitor the engine in real time (using simrad or vessel view). I have the vessel view on mine and use my phone to monitor it.

Good luck on your search.

[Steiner]

After running it so far this season I have only had 1 issue (which is minor in my eyes) and that is, the speaker next to captains chair and in front of captains chair will randomly cut out for no reason.

Likely has insulated spade connectors. They are often EXTREMELY tight so they feel like they push together but don't. Also with the insulated ones, oftentimes when you crimp them the male spade bends down inside the housing so when plugged into the female housing it misses and goes partway over the top of it or just butts up against the end of the female spade. Two of the speakers in my Sweetwater were the same way but they were in the seat bases so easy to access the wiring since it was exposed.

[wc9550]

Steiner: yeah I will be bringing the boat home from the lake this weekend. Once I get it home I’ll be looking at the connections of the speakers. I’m sure I’ll get it fixed real quick. Then it’s only a couple more weekends until she’s put away for the season.

[Lilguy]

What are the top 5 quality pontoon builders?

[Liquid Asset]

That's a Chevy , Ford , dodge type question lol. Ok I'll start...... I obviously like 1.Tahoe/Avalon because that's what I ended up with, next choice was 2.Manitou ( v too n need I say more) then 3. Godfrey ( sweet water, aqua patio , San pan) great floor plans and all around nice boat, my brother in law has a sweet water a few years old and zero issues . 4 I love regency because of the powder coat logs and all around nice boat, but they are vanilla on floor plan and options. And my 5. ( Going to get flamed) Bennington. Good boats with amazing marketing behind them, the most confusing number/ letter codes for models. A million floor plans available. I was lucky enough to attend a test drive and drove every hull they make. 2 log - twin 300's. Very nice boats but in my market I was able to get a similar trimmed/ optioned/ handling Avalon Tahoe for much less.


Pot stirred lol

[Liquid Asset]

All that said, it doesn't mean a thing without a good dealer/service. It's nearing the end of the season. Go test drive a bunch and see what you like!!! My opinion doesn't matter for your money. It's fall boat show season, best deals of the year right now!!!