Trailering a Pontoon

[DickB]

Looking for some info.
We need a pontoon with enclosure (porta potty) that we can trailer long distances.
Use as a camper
Up to 2000 miles plus.
Any ideas on size. length etc?
And thanks in advance for any help

[LocoCoco]

The length of the boat really won't make much if a difference, provided you have a big enough tow vehicle. However, if you'll be regularly towing long distances definitely get a tandem axle trailer with electric brakes.


LC.

[Liberty MO]

If I am towing that far, I would make sure the tires on that trailer are made for long trips. Radial not bias-ply, no less than a 205/75 with a 14" or above wheel, and preferably a load range D (although a smaller boat on a double axle may be ok with C). I'd also make sure they ST rated for trailering. On top of that, make sure your air pressure is right for your weight and speeds. Then the little things, have a spare/jack/tools.

[Bamaman]

Just about every major brand pontoon/tritoon boat has a privacy enclosure available. Many use them for changing clothes when out on the water, but I don't know that many use the porta potty. They have to be cleaned, and there's a general lack of privacy with such an enclosure.

Many popular brands also have a half and full enclosure where boats can be used as an enclosure. The 1/2 enclosure might run you $3K and the full enclosure $4K. They have to be taken down to trailer the boat, however. I don't know what boating speeds they're limited to, as I've never seen one on the water.

Pontoon boats are not very aerodynamic, and they're very, very long, tall and wide for their weight. They tow like a vehicle that's substantially heavier than they are. And they're not very pleasurable to tow.

I have a 3/4 ton diesel crewcab that's setup for towing, and I don't even feel that comfortable. If I was going to tow long distances, I'd prefer a dual rear wheel diesel crew cab pickup truck. And the trailer would have to have brakes on both axles and a breakaway box to meet all states' regulations.

We seldom talk about trailer tires, however just about every trailer manufacturer uses poor quality, unreliable Chinese tires with brands you've never heard of. They call these tires "will pops" because of the high incidence of blowouts. Life is not worth dealing with junk tires. The only two good ST (Special Trailer) tires are Kumho 857's (14" size) and Maxxis M8008's. Even the Goodyear Marathon is a "will pop" and a prime problem tire. Any trailer being pulled 2000 miles needs the tires changed to 857's or M8008's.

Now as far as length, we don't know what you want to do with your boat. Most people now prefer a 22' or longer tritoon boat with a 150 hp or higher 4 stroke motor. It's not worth towing if the boat's not a seaworthy, good performing boat.

[Bamby]

We used to tow and camp on our pontoon boat extensively. Actually every weekend throughout the entire boating season here. And yea we did have a new boat and purchased a full enclosure for her, and yes it was a pricy option even then. I'm thinking what will be most daunting or it was for us anyway is finding a boat with a suitable floor-plan for your intended use. In our case after extensive looking and shopping we ended up purchasing new.

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The privacy curtain is missing in the photo, though it installed on the bar above the porta potty as seen on floor. And yes the wife did utilize it along with a lot of female guests to our boat.

Another nice option is seating that's utilitarian to both daytime needs and nighttime rest and comfort.

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And from experience the above seats both slept and sat plenty well enough that we had no complaints.

Now on to size. The above boat was a 24 footer and it served our needs quite well. But that said I wouldn't have wanted it any smaller either simply because by the time the coolers, supplies, and the dog were loaded for an extensive outing the boat was plenty full enough.

Moving on to towing. Everyone is right they do catch and create a lot of wind resistance. But a person doesn't need a duel axle one ton diesel either. We pulled ours around in this hill country here with a couple different half ton 4x4 pickups without issues. I didn't and still don't need or even want to pull any boat down the highway at 80 mph as some here imply. I found if I dropped the trans down out of OD and generally held speeds to 50 to 60 mph my trucks did fine and I didn't take near the gas penalty hit running any faster created.

You know at times I miss vagabonding around in that boat to different destinations once in awhile.

[LocoCoco]

Bamaman, what the heck kind of pontoon are you towing where you don't feel comfortable in a 3/4 diesel?

I used to regularly tow mine with my V8 Grand Cherokee just fine. Now I tow with a 5.4L F-150 and it's even better. I keep it at 100 km/h (62 mph) and am usually able to use overdrive with both vehicles.

Towing in town and in stop-and-go traffic is easy because the boats are so light and you're going to slow for significant wind resistance. But yeah, at highway speeds they feel a lot heavier. I don't tow travel trailers but I'm told they tow very similar to pontoons.


LC.

[LocoCoco]

...It's not worth towing if the boat's not a seaworthy, good performing boat.

I'd like to respectfully disagree with ya here. A seaworthy, good performing boat is one that does what it's intended to do, and does so safely on the waters it travels. A couple years ago I took my slow-ass, 2-log boat on a 7-day, 200+ mile trip down a canal waterway system here in Ontario. We really enjoyed cruising slow and most of the time there was a 6 mph speed limit through the canals anyway. And the lakes were small enough that our boat was plenty seaworthy. In our case, having a 40 mph tritoon really wouldn't have changed our trip much at all.


(Here's the story: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14199)


LC.

[OK Toon]

I don't feel trailers (of any size or shape) should ever be towed more than 60mph. That's the max speed I tow our pontoon trailer or smoker trailer and that was the max speed I used to tow our travel trailer. I've seen too much damage to travel trailers when they are towed at 70+mph and have a blowout. If you are towing something like this for pleasure... what's your hurry? Travel safely and enjoy the trip to your destination.

Just my $.02