Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hope this is the right place for these questions.
My family and myself just ordered a 2015 Sun Tracker 24' ft fishing barge with the xp3 triple tube 26 inch tubes with a mercury 150 4stroke.
We looked at alot of brands premier, sweetwater, bennington, and a few more but they where either out of our price range or not set up they way we wanted. We had complete sticker shock on sone models. Wow they are Expensive.
While searching for the boat we kept coming back to the Sun Tracker as it had the features we liked and fell into our price range. We where looking for one with good seating arrangement and the four fishing chairs. We wanted something to handle the rough chop on Lake Luvingston.
We found a dealer that is about 15 minutes from the lake and is a highly reptuable dealer. They didnt have a 24 fb with the xp3 package in stock but took us on a ride in the 22 ft model.
Wow this thing is quick on plane and handled very good. I put it through some manevours that i think we would have while tubing and wake boarding. The boat relly handled well with 7 people on board and hit 35 mph in no time. I felt the 24 fter will preform pretty much the same?
The tpiple tubes do feel different from any two log pontoon boat that i have been on. Two logs plow the water but this boat got on top and you could feel the bow actually rise up.
My wife and i did notice though that on it the ride felt more like a flat bottom boat going across the slight chop. You could feel it in your feet. Is that the way it is suppose to feel? I didnt notice it as much as she did but should we be concerned?
The lifting strakes make it just like a flat bottom boat on the bottom of the tubes so i guess the ride will be a little rough or should i say you can feel the water under the tubes while on plane and running 30+ mph.
While looking at different brands the fit and feel where nicer in the Upscale boats and the over all detail of the boats was very nice but just out of our price range. How does the Sun tracker hold up to alot of use?
Did we make a mistake on buying a Sun Tracker?
The furniture looks nice and in my opion nicer than a friends 08 g3 pontoon boat i have been in his pontoon alot and this tracker has a better feel.
Thanks for reading and answering. Sorry for a long write up but just hoping we made a good choice.
Thank you
Robert

The trackers are good boats and hold up very well.

Sun tracker makes a very sturdy boat, If you look at how there manufactured and materials used there fine. then throw in the warranty! you didn't make a mistake.Also they make it so easy to buy it's easy to see why they sell so many boats. some dealers are way over priced as you've seen,up here in NH I've gotten quotes 8,000 dollars apart on the exact same bennington so you really do have to shop around.Some dealers are just snakes, they say they don't want to haggle then they force you to.So far I'm not enjoying the experience. To sum It up Suntracker has come a long way recently,You'll love It. Enjoy and congrats.

Thanks for the replies.
I feel good about our dealer we chose. He is an independent dealer that had a A+ rating with the bbb and has been in business for 40 years.
One thing in the boat we noticed is the under skinning doesnt cone all the way to the frint of the boat. I asked him about that and he said it was because the water would never hit there on a triple toon. Does that sound right?

Drifter wrote:Thanks for the replies.
I feel good about our dealer we chose. He is an independent dealer that had a A+ rating with the bbb and has been in business for 40 years.
One thing in the boat we noticed is the under skinning doesnt cone all the way to the frint of the boat. I asked him about that and he said it was because the water would never hit there on a triple toon. Does that sound right?

Yup. Same as our Bennington.

I was told the same thing by a different manufacturer,It makes sense since the toons up there won't be in water @ speed. Iwas wondering about there underskin,on there web sight an option is underpinning.In construction that just means to strengthen the underside. is it the same as underskin just a different term?

On the flat bottom boat thing. I find that if I don't trim up as far in chop it rides better and not as much bumpty bump!

I've had 2 Sun Trackers, love them both. The warranty can't be beat and they have been around forever.

Having a dealership relatively close by and one that's been in business a long time is a big plus. I never want to do business with any dealer that's not going to be in business as long as my boat's in warranty.

Don't worry about how your boat rides. Except for the upholstery and fencing, most pontoon boats are generic as far as the hulls go. Most tritoons have aluminum sheets covering the cross members, and they ride smoother and are much quieter than boats without undersheeting.

I would have looked at a Sun Tracker, however our local dealer subscribes to the one price business model. I just enjoy the hunt for a fair price, and my Bennington S model was their cheapest model. Just about every major player in the toon business has 3-4 different lines of boats at different price points--including those that compete with a Sun Tracker.

You'll really enjoy your new boat.

Well we got the phone call we have been waiting for. The boat has arrived .
I am going to go look at it this morning to check it out, and make sure all is ok .
Dealer said they will be have it ready one day next week. Man i cant wait.

Drifter wrote:Well we got the phone call we have been waiting for. The boat has arrived .
I am going to go look at it this morning to check it out, and make sure all is ok .
Dealer said they will be have it ready one day next week. Man i cant wait.

Congrat's.....

We've only had our Sun Tracker since June but I'm very pleased for the quality of the build as compared to the overall cost; my only regret is that I wish for more motor... Don't need more motor just wish I had more for when the boat has 4 or more on board....