Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Ok I just filled out my profile now I need some info.
I've been searching the interwebs for a new to me boat. Haven't decided on a pontoon or tritoon guess that's up to the price. I do know I want a 20' to to a 24' with at least a 90hp, not set on any one brand. But the Benningtons and Bently sure do look good. So here's my question..... I've seen some decent prices on inboard/outboard boats. But have a few friends telling me to stay away from them due to costs associated with them. I've never owned one before but can't figure for the life of me why they would be anymore to own or operate. Any input? Thanks for any help. I'm sure there will be more questions as this process goes on.


Mitch

I've had a couple of I/O's and a bass boat. Then I got into Pontoons, and got 27 years out of my first one w/Yamaha 115 hp 2 stroke. Last year, I upgraded to a Bennington 24' w/F150 Yamaha 4 stroke.

Marine salvage yards are full of good I/O hulls w/o engines and outdrives. I/O's are fine the first 8-10 years, but they eventually need maintenance on outdrive bellows, and they're a pain to deal with.

Modern outboards just run so good and require minimal maintenance.

You'll get a lot of recommendations from this website:
Buy a boat that suits both your present and future needs. (Identify what you're going to do with the boat.)
Purchase the largest motor your hull is spec'd for--or one as large as you can afford.
Plan on spending 110% of your original budget.
If you're typically carrying a large crowd on your boat, buy a tritoon.

If you go for a boat with 115 hp or more, go after one with lifting strakes on the toons. They get your nosecones out of the water which gives you another 5 mph and better fuel economy. Underskinning (aluminum sheeting) makes boats ride smoother and quieter.

Thanks Bama. The bellows had never been mentioned by the friends I talked to.
As far as size goes 95% of the time it's going to be and the wife. That's why I'm looking at the 20'. I want the biggest motor I can get but have said a 90 is the smallest I'll accept. I don't really care to fly but want to be able to pull a tube when the Grandbabies get older. Dad had a 28' with an 88 years ago and I could get up on skis, that was a chore but I did it. So I think a 90 will be ok for now and if the need arises down the road I'll get a new boat. Lifting strakes will be a plus but buying used you take th ebest deal you can find....

A 90 on a 20 foot toon will give you around 22 MPH, a lot of 20 footers won't take a 90 so maybe you should look at a 22 or 24, mine was supposed to be 70 HP max, but since I rebuilt mine I could go to a 90.

I checked Bennington's web site's build section, and their 20' has a 70 hp max. horsepower, even with the optional 25" toons.

Their 22' takes a max of 115 hp and is available with $644 MSRP lifting strakes. The underskinning is $538 (MSRP). The 115 hp motor is $1K more than the 90 hp. All of these options are well worth the investment.

I put in the above info just for relativity. It's just not that expensive to turn a regular pontoon into a much more seaworthy boat with strakes and underskinning. 90 hp is the minimum amount to do that on a 22' boat, however.

I could have sworn I saw a 90 on a 20'.... Maybe I've been looking way too much. Bama all those options are great but I'm lookin gfor a used boat to start. I'd love to find one built like that but having everyone of them will be a hard find.

Mitch, other than the bellows issue, if you don't live where it never freezes you'll have to winterize the boat by adding anti-freeze to the system. This effectively reduces how long your season will be unless you want to re-winterize the boat after taking it out during the cold season.
You still have to change the oil in a four-stroke, but if you get a nice day during the winter time it's a piece of cake to drop the boat in the water, take it out and not have to worry about system freeze-up (as long as you leave the outboard in the proper position to drain).
I believe you also add a weight penalty with an I/O.
Good luck.

HandymanHerb wrote:A 90 on a 20 foot toon will give you around 22 MPH, a lot of 20 footers won't take a 90 so maybe you should look at a 22 or 24, mine was supposed to be 70 HP max, but since I rebuilt mine I could go to a 90.

I pull 30 MPH (GPS) with the 90 Merc EFI on my 22' Sun Tracker with just the wife and me.

I had 7 adults on board last week, 3 were 200 lbs plus, and got 20 MPH.

Bassn's right about the freeze issue. I/O engines don't ever wear out, they just freeze up due to lack of maintenance in the Fall.

I once had a Mercruiser 140 hp engine with a bad head gasket. It pitted between two cylinders, and I needed a short block. It took me 1 year to get the part in because Mercruiser didn't have any in their warehouses. They had to cast more engines. Mercury said that they rarely even sold a short block by itself--unless there was a cold winter.

I never worried with antifreeze. I pulled the plug on the block. I figured air never freezes.

On our lake, any house that doesn't have a pontoon boat has an inboard outboard. And most have a couple of PWC's.

My buddy came by the house Saturday in a black Cobalt 27' bowrider with a 8.2 liter Volvo-Penta Duoprop. He said it gets 2 mpg. No thanks!

BoatCop wrote:

HandymanHerb wrote:A 90 on a 20 foot toon will give you around 22 MPH, a lot of 20 footers won't take a 90 so maybe you should look at a 22 or 24, mine was supposed to be 70 HP max, but since I rebuilt mine I could go to a 90.

I pull 30 MPH (GPS) with the 90 Merc EFI on my 22' Sun Tracker with just the wife and me.

I had 7 adults on board last week, 3 were 200 lbs plus, and got 20 MPH.

I'm still trying to figure out what prop I need, my brother put the new prop on and told me it seemed fast, did you take your GPS to see what speed ? NO ????,WTF, so have no ideal how fast we are turning now and I believe my used tach the boat guy threw in is crap as it was showing 6500 RPM with the 15 pitch prop, but then it was showing that too, with the 21 inch prop that came with the engine.

But then that two extra feet of toons gets you floating out of the water more than my 20 footer and you have fuel injection