Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I always said I would not buy a Tracker.
A few years ago I pulled out my 3 year old
Sea Ray 21ft and looked and said I will not
wax this thing again. So off I went looking
for a pontoon.

I looked at both dealers offers. The 1st dealer
told me he could not trade as my boat was
more expensive than anything he had to sell
new. So I went to the Sea Ray dealer and he
said if I can screw you out of your Sea Ray
we can make a deal. At this point I did not
care and bought the Tracker. I have been very
happy with the boat. It's not the best in the
world but it has done what it was intended to
do and that is have fun. I have no regrets
buying it.

I am the same I never really thought about a tracker toon. When I went shopping our budget max was 27,000. I looked and wanted a Bennington but to much money and would have to order. It was may and a 2 month wait, no way. I looked a Lowe they were ok voyager is a good toon but I don't like their furniture, the backs are to low and two friends had them and just wasn't comfortable for me. When I checked the Tracker I really was impressed as it would be 4th pontoon purchase I looked real close. All aluminum deck I like , no wood in boat, Regency has nice seats and layout. We bought the 22 Regency with 90 4 sk Merc. I would never recommend Houston Marine but I haven't had problems with boat only trailer.

This is my 2nd poontoon boat. I had a Starcraft 24 with a 115
Johnson. This boat was great It was the Fishing one with 2
swivel seats in the front and 2 in the back. We loved it for about 2 years. Then
we had to have the power head rebuilt every time we took it out. We would run for an hour or two and then take it to a shop and get the motor rebuilt.

No one could find out why but it would melt the top right piston. and freeze up the motor. So I traded it after the 3rd
rebuild. Got another Sea Ray kept it for a few years and went
back to the old poontoon. We really love it and hope it lasts us
until we are too old to boat anymore.

I made the final decision to go with sun tracker at a boat show. Was able to compare boats right then a there. I could not see spending 50% more for the same thing and can up grade the boat myself and have just as nice for still less. Add all alumnum deck and I don't think I went wrong. It only took one week for the toon to arive after ordering and that was in Feb.

I wish the regency came in a 18 -20. The regency seats are comfortable but the 18-21 trackers have different seats that are not comfortable.
We asked the dealer if we could get an 18 with with regency furniture, and the answer was no. He (dealer) asked if that was the only thing holding us back on a purchase of a tracker and I told him yes. 22 foot is too big to put in our garage, or turn in to our driveway with.

I have a 2001 SunTracker PartyBarge 25 IO Regency (2-tube). I bought it used in 2002. I have been very happy with it. The only times that I've had it in the shop is once a year to have it winterized & oil changed. I have seen people, in other forums, talk about SunTrackers as being K-Mart pontoons. I have friends with other pontoons, and they were amazed at how nice our boat was for the price. The furniture on the Regency is as nice as they come, and the layout gives you plenty of room. We like to have friends come with us, and the large tubes keep you high & dry. Our boat has a double bimini, camping enclosure, sink, potty, etc. We really enjoy it. A couple of things that I've done since I bought it include skinning the bottom, adding exhaust relief plugs to quiet the engine, and an adding an on-board battery charger. I'm not thrilled with the 3.0L engine. It lacks power. If I were to buy new, I would want a 4.3L 6-cylinder or an outboard. My top speed with 4-6 people is only about 22MPH. The tri-toon would have been nice, but the price was right. I have bought a Pontoon Waterglide, but I have not installed it yet. The fuel capacity is only 30 gal, so I am planning on adding an auxiliary fuel tank for longer trips on the river. Overall I have no complaints.

Welcome to the forum.
Where on the Ohio do you boat?

Thanks. We put in at Mount Vernon Indiana.

When the wife decided she liked pontoons boats and wanted to get one, we looked around. I didn't want to buy new in case the little woman fell out of favor with the boat. We looked for a good used boat. That was the challenge. I must have looked at 10 to 15 boats before we came across this Tracker fishinbarge21. The guy told me he only went fishing on it three times in 8 years. The boat is in excellent condition. He kept the boat in fresh water and always had the mooring cover on when it was not in use. During the winter it was wrapped. I like the condition (really liked that there is no wood on the boat). I spoke with my neighbors who have boats and Merc outboards. These guys went and looked at the boat with me.
We find that the boat runs very good. 40hp 4cyc o/b. The boat handles well and has enough power to pull someone on a tube. We have had 9 people on board with no problems. Boat rides high in the water even with a group of people onboard.
We are very happy with the Suntracker.
Here are some pics.

We just ended our 3rd season with the Party Cruiser without any mechanical problems and it seems to be built rather well. Tracker has vastly improved quality over the years and we would buy the same boat again if we had too.

That is unless Cheryl finally agrees to buy a liveaboard, and sell the house In that case, I'd go HUGE. Maybe 55 footer.

Love the 3.0 liter, although maintance is a little cramped due to it being an I/O but Mercruiser has made things easier with the oil drain tube and block/water drains. It's excellent on gas (our total 2008 fuel bill was under $250.00.

We've had a few sheetmetal screws come loose for the sliding doors and the shower/head entry which I repalced with rivets, and that's it.

We have an 2006 21' Partybarge with a 90 Optimax. The boat and motor have been trouble free. When we were looking to buy, our limit was about 20k with a trailer. Nothing else we looked at here locally came close to the value we saw in the Partybarge. It has been a very good purchase. With the grandbabies getting older we use it more than ever. Take care, Craig

We had a Blast on our new 2007 22 foot Regency 3.0 i/o this summer!
Has been running like a champ! Even pulled the bro-in-law behind it skiing, no problem!
Id buy the same one again, no problem. Way cheaper then the competition!
PartyON!

My family bought it's first pontoon in 1969 and has owned boats continiously since then.
I have seen a lot of changes over the years and for the money, I don't think you can beat a SunTracker.

Yeah alot of people that deride Tracker are judging them by the way they were 25-30 years ago and/or bought something they paid tens of thousands more for the same quality 'toon.

We looked at a lot of pontoon boat manufactures but kept going back to the trackers . Seemed to be the best bet for the money in the 3 years we have had it no real problems. but now since we spend about 3-4 days a week on her during the spring summer and fall . thinking about one of the bigger ones . just keeping the bass buggy set up for fishing. Its a toss up between the 30 or 32 ft we like the configuration of the 32 footer but not sure if its worth another 10 grand or not. captain really likes the slide..and of course she ALWAYS has the last word . anyway i don't think you can beat the trackers

good to be on this site now

Jeff