Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm really happy to find this site, there is a wealth of information here.

We have owned a 20' Bennington for four years now and have thoroughly enjoyed it and we are now ready to upgrade. We boat solely in salt water with lots of shallows and the ability to be very rough.

I was sold on going to a 22-24' triton with a 150 for our next boat. I like the Benningtons, but we saw a Sweetwater at a freshwater boat show and it had a perfect layout for our use, plus it seems to be a great value.

Here is where my confusion starts. We visited the Sweetwater dealer near where we boat and he said that unless you go greater than 200hp that tritons are unnecessary. They set up most of their boats with 27" toons and he said it would float higher and run shallower than a 25" triton.

Thoughts on that?

One other thing... I noticed that their running strakes run from the bow to about two-thirds of the way aft. I asked about it and he told me that the boats were getting too much lift and were blowing out the props, and they were weight sensitive. By cutting them down they ride more bow high now. The dealer worked with Sweetwater on this and now Sweetwater does all their boats that way -- so they claim.

Is this accurate?

Im not an expert, but I have yet to see any twin toon, of equall length, outride a tri toon in rough water. And to me it makes more sence to be straked full length, because you have the option of changing nose hight with trim. Just my thinking. JT

Well it's just of matter of what you want to do on your pontoon, do you want to just Chill out or do you have the need for Speed

I'm questioning weather the salesman is actually stretching things a bit trying to move maybe even leftovers he has on the lot for a quick sale vrs ordering the boat the customer actually desires.

They seem to make a big deal of the 27" toons and they did have some tritons in stock.
As to the cut down strakes, I can understand it to some extent. They set the boats up with 20" shafts vs. 25" (not sure if that is normal for toons) on account of the shallow water here, that then puts the prop closer to the surface and more susceptible to cavitation.
Plus, salt water is more buoyant, so maybe that's a consideration too.
They had a video they just filmed of a 22 pontoon running with a 115 and the cut down strakes. It only had one guy on board and it was windy and choppy, but the boat seems to really be cooking along and it was riding on just the aft quarter of the hulls, it looked like a bass boat running fast.

There's a couple of guys on this forum that seem to only boat in salt water. Maybe they can weigh in.
From my perspective boating on Lake of the Ozarks, the center toon makes a world of difference in the ride quality on a busy summer weekend!

That's my intuition as well.

Any insights on the cut down strakes? Is this standard with Sweetwater or is it something this dealer is doing to customize their boats? There isn't much information on the Sweetwater site, I may have to go visit another dealer.

Here's the 22 running with a 115 and the cutback strakes on a toon, not tri.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBgcKSXtWLg

A 22' pontoon with strakes and 115 hp will probably outrun a tritoon of the same horsepower with or without strakes. It has less drag and less weight.

But the two toon boat will not handle tall waves or large passenger loads nearly as well. Get 3-4 people in the front seats and the motor will lift--and you'll get ventilation. And when you try to take a tight corner, the outside toons will dig into the water--cutting down on turning speeds greatly. A pontoon boat is just simply no where as seaworthy as a tritoon boat with strakes.

Now as far as what your dealer has told you, it sounds as if it's BS. 27" toons sound great, but if they were so great we'd be seeing them on every boat on the lake. We see 25" toons almost across the board.

Stick with your first thoughts about a Bennington tritoon and 150 hp. I'm completely satisfied with mine, and I'm getting 41 mph @ 6100 rpm's with a Yamaha Reliance 15 pitch prop. Horsepower is never as cheap as on Day 1, and there's quite a bit of difference between 115's and 150's.

Thanks all for the input.

Any thoughts on the cut down running strakes? You can see them in the video.
Bahaman -- how are the strakes set up on your Bennington?

Bamaman wrote:A 22' pontoon with strakes and 115 hp will probably outrun a tritoon of the same horsepower with or without strakes. It has less drag and less weight.

But the two toon boat will not handle tall waves or large passenger loads nearly as well. Get 3-4 people in the front seats and the motor will lift--and you'll get ventilation. And when you try to take a tight corner, the outside toons will dig into the water--cutting down on turning speeds greatly. A pontoon boat is just simply no where as seaworthy as a tritoon boat with strakes.

Now as far as what your dealer has told you, it sounds as if it's BS. 27" toons sound great, but if they were so great we'd be seeing them on every boat on the lake. We see 25" toons almost across the board.

Stick with your first thoughts about a Bennington tritoon and 150 hp. I'm completely satisfied with mine, and I'm getting 41 mph @ 6100 rpm's with a Yamaha Reliance 15 pitch prop. Horsepower is never as cheap as on Day 1, and there's quite a bit of difference between 115's and 150's.

Good advice above.... I boat in the salt water of SW Florida. I am familiar with the 27" pontoon boat your looking at. They are over priced. They promote them as being the best salt water pontoon boat, they are not. Many other pontoon manufactures with their salt water packages are just as good in the salt and offer more amenities.

Check out Premier and Manitou & there are others. I have a double toon 22' premier with a 115 hp engine. I can run in up to a 2' 6" chop in the Pine Island & Gulf of Mexico area with relative comfort at about 25mph. A "S" Series 22" Bennington with trip toons and the same 115hp motor will blow right by me... Triple toons will go faster and operate in rougher water than double toon boats no matter who makes them. But you'll most likely need to upgrade to a 150hp (Break out a few thousand more) to lift the heavier trips out of the water.

My boat has heavier construction and very plush (heavy) seating and only two toons. The Bennington company builds good boats. (IMHO) Sweet water is not in the same league as a Bennington. They're like the GM of pontoons. They sell boats in several price & quality ranges as many boat companies do. From good to great. Take a look at a Bennington in the "G" series or a Premier with trips.

Kind regards,

Rascal

The deal with the Sweetwater comes in at $29k with triple toons and a 150 Yamaha. Seems like a pretty darn good deal if the quality is good, I have yet to find any real negatives on them.

We have twin 27" tubes on our sweetwater and we boat the Chesapeake Bay, it cuts through the bay chop easily. It sits high and dry, I deal with large wakes from heavy cruisers, go-fasts, and headboats blasting down the bay...no speed limits, also the HUGE trans-atlantic container ships heading to/from the port of Baltimore. The 27" tubes handle all that well, and I have no problem being out in that type of water, a third tube would even be better, but then I would require more hp. Now on the shallow side, I can get up into some of the tributarys to enjoy the picnics, wildlife and scenery, our toon only needs 14" of water.

I have had different styles of boats through the years, and I'm staying with a pontoon boat for the long term, and I know I will get many years of enjoyment from this Sweetwater. Godfrey makes good affordable boats, I wasn't looking for 27" tubes when we got this boat, but I'm glad I did, and in the future, you can bet other manufacturers will offer that as an upgrade for those who don't go with tritoons.

I have no idea about the shorter strakes, but on some of my glass boat, the strakes weren't full lenth, maybe Godfrey is researching that performance aspect, time will tell.

All the the pontoon manufacturers nowadays offer different levels of value, performance, and looks, that's why you have so many option packages. It's makes it very difficult for a consumer to choose, boils down to what you can afford, after all... it IS a hobby.

For those on here who bad mouth other captain's choice of boats, just because it's not what YOU bought, and on behalf of all the Sweetwater owners on here... you can go fuk yourselves!

cleatus wrote: For those on here who bad mouth other captain's choice of boats, just because it's not what YOU bought, and on behalf of all the Sweetwater owners on here... you can go fuk yourselves!

EXACTLY!

Strakes that are "cut down" or stop short of the rear of the OUTSIDE of pontoons are done that way to reduce the boat from "cutting" in to a turn. This is the exact same reason you don't normally see tri-toons with outside strakes. Straking the center and insides provides the best compromise between lift and handling. Looks like this sales person needs to do some research rather then making up tall tales to sell a boat...