Any advice on purchasing and modifying a toon, long post

[scoobysmak]

Not sure exactly where to start but overall a total newbie to boating. My grandfather had a boat but I was only on it a handful of times. I have never personally owned a boat but seriously thinking about it.

When getting a boat first popped into my head a bowrider is what I was looking for. These are great for tubing/wake boards and other water activities but some of the things me and my wife want to do a bowrider just won’t cut it. I know a toon can do these things but unless you invest in a tritoon and use a 150HP motor or larger it can be more difficult. For my first boat I was looking for something with low maintenance and fairly affordable below $10K preferred. The tritoons with larger motors seem to be above what I am willing to spend at this moment; I also understand you get what you pay for as well.

One of the requirements my wife insist on in a boat is that it has a restroom; needless to say this complicated my search. I didn’t mind looking for a cuddy cabin but the price range had to be increased and of course now I am worried about maintenance issues. Many of the boats are older so many more things that could be broken or rotted. The other problem is to use this as a wakeboard/tube/ski boat this will get rather pricey with fuel since most of these are larger boats. Being able to tow skiers was not a primary object so I took a step back and opened up my search for all boat types.

I looked at the usage of the boat and where it would normally be in the water. Most of the time it will be on the TN river running from Knoxville area to Huntsville AL, but might make the occasional trip all the way to Lake City, KY. I am going to assume most of the time the river is fairly “tame” unless boat activity has been high all day or its extremely windy (anyone in this area feel free to correct my thinking if I am way off base, this is a very long area so understand that areas of wave activity will vary).

Primary usage will be to take camping trips on the river and also take the boat downtown for a football game or a lunch/dinner outing with a few other couples, probably 8 people max, most of the time 6 or less on board including my wife and I. This is what lead me to a pontoon boat, they have the most room and figure they won’t rock as much for overnight stays onboard (the last thing I want is a bad night sleep on vacation).

My plan was to get an inexpensive 24-30’ pontoon boat that needed new interior, gut it and build it for my purpose. I want to put an 8x8’ cabin in the center, this would give me 8’ before and after the “cabin area” if the deck was 24’. This area would have a toilet/shower combo, A/C, TV, a small sofa of some sort, small refrigerator, microwave, and the helm. After adding all this I started to wonder how many people can I carry after all this weight is put onboard??? I would have removed the other stuff but that wouldn’t put a dent into what weight I added. I also plan to make the rear section 8x8’ section covered and have a 2’ overhang on the front section. I need this to be sturdy enough to hold 4-6 people but preferably more. The only mounted furniture in the boat would be in the cabin section, everything else would be folding chairs or similar for seating, equipment or tables. (I do understand that it won’t be quite 8 feet for each section since the walls will take up some room).

I now started to research a bit harder my choices and differences in boats. The first thing I should have realized but never occurred to me is the length of the deck on a pontoon boat. My natural thought was that the boat length was the deck length but a 24’ toon might only have a 20’ deck, the measurement is from the front of the boat to the back of the boat not including the motor if I am correct. I see some pontoons the deck starts where the pontoon starts and others the deck starts a few feet behind.

Eventually my searches lead me here and now I come to look for advice. I see that you can have an I/O pontoon boat or a full outboard pontoon boat. I plan to boat even in the winter so I hear that a full outboard is better for this type running environment, but maybe that only applies to boats further north than I would be. This is why I want the cabin with the helm inside. Another consideration in the motor department is the difference in efficiency between a full outboard and an inboard/outboard. In my personal opinion I like the full outboard option, if the motor needs to be replaced, just mount a new one. You wouldn’t have to crawl into tight spaces to get the motor out. I have not looked at the price difference between the two though, maybe even with labor cost an inboard/outboard is cheaper to replace but I doubt it.

The next option I need to sort out is the pontoon Vs tritoon option. I see myself just cruising down the river at the best MPG, I figure for most boats this is right after you get on plane but not sure. The size motor I choose and how rough the river actually is I see is the main factors to decide this. Lifting strakes could also help for MPG I believe. I honestly don’t see me needing a tritoon unless a pontoon can’t hold the weight I would add to the boat in general.

Things I have noticed and things that make a difference for me. I need this to be pretty stable platform while anchored. One of my coworkers that would travel the river with us can get extremely sea sick while lying down. When he is sitting up he is normally not affected but I would prefer not to beach the boat if I don’t have to. In my search for used pontoons I have noticed that many boats have water marks that lead me to believe the rear of the pontoon is almost totally submerged. Is there a reason for this, like the boat performs better while underway? I would prefer my boat to be almost level if possible; this makes A/C and refrigerator’s happier. I believe I would like aluminum flooring just so I do not have to worry about floor rot.

Last but not least, the overall length of the boat. Normally the boat will be parked in a 26’ sized slip but on the occasion have to transport the boat I would prefer it to be shorter in length just for maneuverability sake and so one end of the boat is not past my boat slip. Being longer than the boat slip is not a huge concern but little tacky maybe. This will be somewhat of a compromise I believe, the longer boat might handle better in the water so the small time it’s on a trailer in transport is not too much of a concern but something to think about. I see some boats are 10’ wide, I believe this would be nice on the water but transport would make this a nightmare unless you don’t have to have any special permits to pull pontoon boats like this. Weight is not a legal concern for me but getting a special permit would be.

At this moment what I think would suit my needs (if you smell smoke don’t worry that’s me in deep thought).

25’ pontoon with a 25’ deck (8’ wide), 8x8’ cabin with 18x8’ roof you can walk on
Lifting strakes
115HP outboard motor
Underskinned
Aluminum flooring

Unless I found a steal of a deal for a 25’ boat at $2k with a motor I am pretty sure I will blow my $10k before I even finish the 8x8’ cabin. I would rather do things the right way the first time than end up paying double to make something work and only be half way there. I see myself doing things one piece at a time. Get the boat in top running condition then add lifting strakes, do the underskinning and possibly aluminum flooring if it didn’t have it already or not recommended. Then build on top of something I know to be good to go. Any recommendations or advice is appreciated. Things like certain models that have the I/O if that would be better for me or ones that have aluminum flooring from the start. Or if you just plain think I am crazy that's fine as well, lol.

Thanks,

Did not know him but based on the memories left behind
R.I.P. John 6x6 Larson

[rockhound]

You wont be tubing behind your setup, so thinking bigger motor and lifting strakes would be a waste of time, once you add the cabin, bathroom, fridge etc you are building a houseboat, the extra weight would make performance moot, the upper deck and extra wind drag will cost you any chance at performance,

that being said you will have a pretty comfortable cruiser/camper, motor type wont matter much you wont be going fast anyway, get the most hp you can afford your boat will be heavy, a third toon will give you the floatation you will need for the extra weight, they can be added

I would make the third toon the same size as the first two, I believe it will be more stable than a v toon,

your co worker will be getting sick no matter what you do, find him a hotel

the toons sit aft heavy because of the motor weight, if you raise the stern level you may need to lower the motor, the toon will run easier and smoother withethe nose cones out of the water, lifting the stern will cost you efficiency

[Soonertoon]

Whatever you get, do it in the next year so when my Sooners come to Knoxville next year, you can take me for a ride!!!!

[kryptonite]

http://www.pontoonhouseboatodyssey.com/ ... yssey.html

Check out this site. Lots of good write ups on it about what you are wanting to do. The owner of the site is a member here also, "Bamby" I think.

[teecro]

As repled by rockhound you can't eat your cake and have it too... Your asking too much your not going to water ski behind the "BARGE" you are wanting to build. Your not really going to tube behind it either as anything with a house is not going to even get enough speed to make tubing interesting. Yes you can float a tube behind a rowboat but how fun fun is floating? Also you know how tiny an 8' x 8' cabin is? Your not going to fit a toilet/shower combo, A/C, TV, a small sofa of some sort, small refrigerator, microwave, and the helm in that small a space...

Break it done again what do you have to have and still enjoy yourself?

[RcgTexas]

Next to Texas I love East Tennessee. Especially Cades cove and some of the lakes in that area.

I'm having a little difficulty understanding your needs, in that you seem to want a fast ski boat with a hotel room on it.

Seriously, you may have to adjust your criteria some or buy a houseboat and a 21 foot toon to tube with.
Without some experience handling a 30 foot boat in any configuration may be difficult at best and traumatic at the other end of the spectrum.

Good luck and keep us up to date, and there are no stupid questions.

[teecro]

Next to Texas I love East Tennessee. Especially Cades cove and some of the lakes in that area.

I'm having a little difficulty understanding your needs, in that you seem to want a fast ski boat with a hotel room on it.

Seriously, you may have to adjust your criteria some or buy a houseboat and a 21 foot toon to tube with.
Without some experience handling a 30 foot boat in any configuration may be difficult at best and traumatic at the other end of the spectrum.

Good luck and keep us up to date, and there are no stupid questions.

No better words could be spoken....

I live right on Norris Lake in TN and absolutely love that it is no more than an hours ride from one marina to another thus I see no need for a head on a boat... We have roughly 16 marina with restaurants/bars so it is a quest for the wife and I to tag them all...

[scoobysmak]

I well I understand that I can't have my cake and eat it too, be nice but won't happen. I am better off with a toon like I want it and a "run about" to do other activities. Most of my post was for a reference of where my mind came from but I guess it didn't have that effect.

(cut and pasted from my original post)
"Being able to tow skiers was not a primary object so I took a step back and opened up my search for all boat types.

I looked at the usage of the boat and where it would normally be in the water. Most of the time it will be on the TN river running from Knoxville area to Huntsville AL, but might make the occasional trip all the way to Lake City, KY."


The camping part is the more important piece of the puzzle anyway. Here is an example of something that interst me but wish it were a bit smaller and not sure if you can transport that without a permit.

http://boats.iboats.com/2002-tracker-32 ... 99028.html


I don't want to just run out and buy something without knowing the pros and cons of each choice a toon could have.

If you had a choice would you go with I/O or a full outboard and why?

What items will have the lowest maintenance to deal with, what could be some disadvantages of these?
(rough example: battery X cost $400 and you don't have to touch it for 5 years but pretty much have to be replaced at the end of that 5 years, battery Y cost $150 but every year you have to add $20 worth of chemicals to keep it operational but it will last 8 years with proper maintenance)

Things like lifting strakes I had never heard of until I came here; for a boat like I am looking at, I have to agree that it would pretty much be pointless if the boat will never go fast enough to use them. If it would increase the MPG I would still probably do it but obviously not for performance. The underskinning could be in the same "boat" you might say.

I know that my MPG will be terrible no matter what I do but if I can do things that would help I am all for it. Every little bit counts.


I appreciate the feedback.

[RcgTexas]

If you had a choice would you go with I/O or a full outboard and why?

Outboard for me, they don't take up much room, are light by comparison, and are very versatile.

Houseboats I have been on mostly use in/outs, some with diesel. With diesel you have less chance of becoming a suicide bomber! But bring extra money......you will need it. Personally I'd go with two mid size outboards rather than a big un. But that would be for dependability, on a house boat I mean.

Realistically a twin log boat of 21 feet with a 70 hp motor could easily become a tritoon with just a little effort and money in the future. A porta potty with a lift up privacy curtain, or like I have a drop down from the bimini when its absolutely needed.

[playcat]

Scooby;
Check out my reply to your PM. It might be what you are looking for. The Volvo was installed new in 2009 and got a carb rebuild and full tuneup in 2012, then winterized a month later. Has sat on the trailer ever since Try pricing a new 235 hp outboard...a 250 hp Yamaha starts at $18K, Honda even more. I repowered with a new Volvo short block for $6k including rebuilding the outdrive. The upper sundeck is the size of most pontoon boats...The I/O allows for the full-width welded aluminum swim platform with ladder. It tubes well enough to get 2-3 folks out past the wake even with my low tow point.
Yes it has wood decking, but if you are going to build on it, that's a LOT easier to work with than an aluminum extrusion deck. I have had 12 people out on it and it seemed more full but nowhere near crowded.

[greghvac]

playcat can we all see.

[Whitehorse]

playcat can we all see.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14753&p=161914#p161914

[rockhound]

Things like lifting strakes I had never heard of until I came here; for a boat like I am looking at, I have to agree that it would pretty much be pointless if the boat will never go fast enough to use them. If it would increase the MPG I would still probably do it but obviously not for performance. The underskinning could be in the same "boat" you might say.

I know that my MPG will be terrible no matter what I do but if I can do things that would help I am all for it. Every little bit counts.


I appreciate the feedback.

forget the strakes, they only help if you are moving fast enough to get them out of the water, you will only be increasing your drag....


the one on i boats looks promising for your purposes...