Construction of new pontoon boats - a few questions.

[rob28]

We were at the Mid Canada Boat Show Yesterday in Winnipeg with the specific purpose of checking out as many pontoons as possible.
The makes represented were Harris Floatboat, Crest, Princecraft, Bennington, Starcraft, Manitou, Montego Bay and one other I can't remember......

Each maker claims this or that is better than the competitor so I though I'd run a few questions past you to see what you think.

Mounts between pontoon and crossmembers - some have a vertical piece which is welded in place , while others bend it to lay flat, so there is a bigger surface area contacting the pontoon. They claim this is better for longevity due to reduced stress loading but is this really true? Has anyone had an issue?

Crossmembers - C channel over top hat style. C channel is portrayed as inferior but is there realy an issue?

Crossmember spacing - Some have 24" spacing from end to end while others have 12" spacing for the first 2 ft at either end and then go to 18" for the center section. Would this really be noticeable in the flex of the boat?

We were looking at the lower level boats and after our (limited) look around, the ideal boat for us would seem to be a Starcraft deck and below with Bennington furniture and fittings. The quality of welds on the fence was far superior on the Bennington to anything else there and the furniture just had a quality, no nonsense feel to it.

I know there's a lot of knowledge on this forum so I might as well do my research thoroughly...

[tms0425]

We went through the same thing after owning 2 Harris's before ordering a Bennington, and I analyzed this to death. I narrowed it down and visited both Manitou and Bennington and I live 5 miles from the Harris factory, so I got a very good look at them first hand. Be assured ALL of those top tier boats (Harris, Manitou, Bennington, Avalon, Premier, JC, etc) are really well built and you'll likely have no structural problems with them. Pick the one that works the way you want to use it, has a great dealer, and fits your budget. For us that was the Bennington. I loved the Manitou SHP running surface and handling, but the Bennington layout just nailed it for us and the local dealers were equally great for both brands.

The guy who conducted our Bennington tour had been with them from the start and handled all the thorniest dealer warranty issues. He said the move to 16" OC, which they did as well, amounted to nothing more than bragging rights (competitor did it so they had to as well). He said in all the time they used 24" OC, they never had a claim and they performed exactly the same, but they do what the customer asks for and is willing to pay for.

[Gonefishing]

All brands you listed are good. There are a lot of Bennington owners on this site so I am sure you will get a lot of response from them. Me I own an xchursion 23x rfc made by Forest River who also makes South Bay and one other. Very while made pontoon and priced right. As you and everyone else knows when talking to a dealer his is always the best. It all comes down to what you want in the pontoon and what price is right for you. As long as you are happy with the deal it is a good deal. For construction I would think the closer the braces the better it is. As for seat material look for thickness and soft touch. Also the closer the stitch the better. But any of the brands you mention are all while known for quality and you would not have a problem with any of them.

[bassn386]

I'm not going to get in a pissing contest as to which mfr. has the best. I bought my Benni based on research and not the least of which, I got a hell of a deal.
Regarding construction, Bennington mounts their decking using bolts, not screws.
Like someone said, if you go with one of the higher rated lines you will be fine.
Good luck.

[badmoonrising]

All the major manufacturers are equal in quality, from Sun Tracker to Bennington or whatever. Some brands just cost more. That's the only difference. The engines are the same across brands.

[SCOUT11]

Montego Bay and Bennington are the only 2 I believe that actually bolt there "C" channels and decking which gives your more strength and you will never have to worry about screws backing out. You can get an entry level pontoon without sacraficing quality so your on the right track.

[ToonGuy]

All the major manufacturers are equal in quality, from Sun Tracker to Bennington or whatever. Some brands just cost more. That's the only difference. The engines are the same across brands.

Hit the nail on the head. I agree with this almost 100%. There's always going to be a large following for his or her "favorite" brand, followed by the many reasons why. And EVERY manufacture has a customer who feels he/she got a lemon. As long as you are comparing equally priced lines, BMR is correct. I've been around the marine industry a long time and I've never seen or heard of a pontoon deck failing because it didn't have through bolts, or because it's cross member spacing was xx compared to competing brands xx spacing. I've never seen a C channel fail, nor have I seen a top hat or a Z bar fail. If these OEMs were making inferior products they would not be in business. Every pontoon is built by a human so there is always the factor of human error, no matter the brand. Find the boat that fits your needs, in your budget, and is appealing to your eye and you will be happy.

[jafo9]

Find the boat that fits your needs, in your budget, and is appealing to your eye and you will be happy.

agree. you won't find many folks on here that won't defend their brand after they did extensive research and spent their hard earned money. my advice is to figure out what you want to do with the pontoon, the size you'll need, the optimum layout, bimini size, budget, etc. after that, you'll probably find the number of choices has decreased to a manageable number. good luck.

[bassn386]

We too did a fairly extensive search and being somewhat anal, I did a lot of on-line reviews, including this forum. It was between Premier and Bennington because I felt this would be our "last" boat and I wanted something that would "Last". The Premier dealer thought their boats were lined with gold and wouldn't come down off the price. We got an excellent deal on the Bennington. My only complaint from a fit & finish standpoint is a mis-alignment of the front gate with the rest of the fencing. The fix is kludgy but that's really my only squawk. The Yamaha motor runs great, and as long as I don't push the throttle all the way to the stops, it gets pretty good mileage (don't ask me what that is because I don't really track it and I don't care-if it needs gas I put it in!).
I think BMR said the quality is fairly equal across the top tier manufacturers; they aren't going to sell boats that are sub-par in fit & finish and build. The market is too tight to do that for long and get away with it. Forums such as this will out a bad boat or dealer quicker than a case of beer disappears on a hot summer day!