Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Thinking of selling my pontoon to get a deck boat. Looking for a little more speed.

So, has anyone went from a toon to a deck? What's you alls thoughts?

Any regrets? Pros cons?

Themacdadt wrote:Thinking of selling my pontoon to get a deck boat. Looking for a little more speed.

So, has anyone went from a toon to a deck? What's you alls thoughts?

Any regrets? Pros cons?

I actually went the other way, from a Hurricane Deck boat to a Bennington Pontoon. Well actually I still have the deck boat and am going to sell it. (115 Yamaha to a 60 Yamaha)

I wanted smaller and for fishing in the gulf, the fiberglass always worried me with the oyster bars and such.

Typical deck boat won't be the speed upgrade it use to be, Toons are much faster than they were. Also my buddies deck boat will knock your teeth out sometimes, No deadrise to speak of.

We've seen a number of pontoon owners switch to a deck boat--only to switch back to pontoons.

The deck boats are essentially trihull fiberglass boats with the seating on top of the deck--rather than deep down in the hull. They look good on paper, but in reality ride really rough.

To find a deckboat that rides good, you'd have to go very a very large, expensive boat--like Bennington's discontinued deckboat. I did see a Starcraft I/O deck boat the other day that was very attractive, but I bet that thing was $80 or $90K.

If you demo'd a 22 to 24 foot tritoon with 150 hp or more, you'd be surprised how they handle and ride--and how seaworthy they are. They're just a completely different animal than your pontoon, and 40 mph is sufficient for our needs.

Bamaman wrote:We've seen a number of pontoon owners switch to a deck boat--only to switch back to pontoons.

The deck boats are essentially trihull fiberglass boats with the seating on top of the deck--rather than deep down in the hull. They look good on paper, but in reality ride really rough.

To find a deckboat that rides good, you'd have to go very a very large, expensive boat--like Bennington's discontinued deckboat. I did see a Starcraft I/O deck boat the other day that was very attractive, but I bet that thing was $80 or $90K.

If you demo'd a 22 to 24 foot tritoon with 150 hp or more, you'd be surprised how they handle and ride--and how seaworthy they are. They're just a completely different animal than your pontoon, and 40 mph is sufficient for our needs.

Some of the hybrid type like the chaparral sunesta aren't bad of a ride, but you can get into a pretty nice tritoon for the same money. Guy in our neighborhood just bought a used Mariah 24 with a 454 in it and it is pretty nice for an older boat. It's a little deeper v than the hurricanes I have seen, but I'd still look at a tritoon or a deep v with a deck boat style interior.

if not a deck boat I Been looking at the sylvan 2 toon with the RPT . 115 hp. 35 mph. But can't find a used one. And don't want to spen 30000 on a new one.