New to boats, seeking advice.

[Littlehoe]

I can do all that with my 23 foot boat and a 115 yamaha, mines a tritoon, well the centre is only a 3/4 toon, I think they call it an express tube or something like that. Either way the 150 would be nice for that extra power but we can do what we need with the 115. If I had to do it over and had the extra cash I would go with the 150 just to have the extra in case you need it.

I am on my second boat, my first boat was just a 2 toon, identical brand, layout, motor, length... having the 3rd toon and full underskinning makes the ride much smother and quieter. I also find with the 3rd toon the boat corners much tighter and when just sitting floating the tritoon doesn't float around near as much as the 2 toon did. Buddy has a Sylvan with just 2 toons and last year we were out watching fireworks on the lake and his 2 toon was all over the place while my tritoon just sat in one place, I would say he drifted 10 feet to every 1 foot I drifted. just my 2 cents...

[Scott1]

There are more experts on here than you can count...lol
Look my friend, what works for one doesn't for another. Whether you get a medium large or friggin huge motor, two three or 40 logs, this brand or that brand. It's your money. No body else's. What the rest think doesn't mean shit. We aren't driving it or paying for it. Get what YOU want. Ask yourself this question...How am I going to want to use it? Am I gonna spend majority of time cruising? Anchored up in a cove swim in, sunbathing amd listenin to the tunes? Or am I gonna be running wide open pulling tubes all day? Am I more concerned with being adequately powered or am I looking for a speed boat? What is my water? Big lake , big waves or smaller lake with calmer waters? Am I gonna drag it or slip it?
Answer these questions and that will tell you what direction you should take. Only you know the answers. There are no wrong answers just YOUR answers.
I personally have a 22 ft two log boat with a 115 Yamaha. For what we use it for which is 85% cruising , swimmin and hanging out and a little bit of tubing. My set up works great for ME. I didn't buy the damned thing to blast across the water at 45 miles an hour. But then again that's ME. I paid cash for it so I bought what I felt was right for me and not one penny more. I'm happy. It will run 30 miles an hour wide ass open with 4 people and full of fuel. I'm good with that. Majority of time we are running 12-16 m.p.h. Perfect. May not get me in the cool kids club , but the cool kids club didn't write the check and have their names on my title..lol

Again, it's all depending on how you answer those questions. Once you do, your direction will be clear. Best of luck and welcome to the asylum!!!!!!

He knows what he wants to do with it, he just said he doesn't have the experience to know what he needs to accomplish that. If I don't know about guns, but I want a nice bird gun, I will go to a gun forum and ask questions. Yes, the buyer makes the final decision, after taking in all the opinions from others.

[Soonertoon]

I guess my two cents worth was not well received..lol. No offense meant to anyone if it was taken that way.

[tbmguy]

I guess my two cents worth was not well received..lol. No offense meant to anyone if it was taken that way.

Nah man, I did appreciate what you were saying regarding being happy with your boat. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. And I do understand what you were trying to say regarding the rest. Anyone should understand that when seeking any kind of advice.

[PontoonRon]

Just a few words of caution when thinking about storage for your boat. I have a 20' pontoon and it measures almost 29' from the hitch to the propeller. Just fits in my barn. Don't know if this would be an issue for you.

[tbmguy]

Just a few words of caution when thinking about storage for your boat. I have a 20' pontoon and it measures almost 29' from the hitch to the propeller. Just fits in my barn. Don't know if this would be an issue for you.

Thanks. I was wondering about that. I expected it to be longer than the boat but 9' extra surprised me. I can go bigger than I want to if I must though. There's an area in the back of the shed that can be cleared if needed as the shed is rather huge (was here when we bought this place). I'd rather not have to do that though but getting the 'right' boat is more important. But I do want to store this boat inside.

[robertm]

I live in DFW and bought a pontoon this spring. We already have a ton of great memories on it. Much like others have said, it’s almost always on the back of my mind and not a free moment goes by that I don’t want to be back out on the water on it. Fortunately the kids love it as much as me!

We got a 24ft Berkshire tritoon with F200 Yamaha out back. I feel like with a 24ft tritoon you need (want) to have 200 hp. With almost no one on the boat it will do high 30s, maybe hit 40. With 12 people on the boat (half of which are kids under 50 lbs) and two tons of crap (beer, food, bags and bags of girl stuff) the boat tops out at 29. A 150 will work no problem, a 200 will just get you there quicker and have more reserve.

As far a pontoon or tritoon I think that’s already been covered pretty well. That third log makes a big difference in handling and stability.

Not sure where you are looking but I called 15 dealers up and down the central corridor of the country. Ended up at Jerry Whittles in Dallas. Gary is the name of my salesman and he is a class act. I really appreciated his straightforwardness and never ending patience in the year it took me to finally buy a boat. He continues to answer questions after the sale. You will have to work on him the get the best price but that’s all part of the fun. They are the single largest Berkshire/ Xcursion dealer in the country for a reason. They also have an additional 3 yr warranty (total exclusive to their boats.
Marine Max in Fort Worth also sells a good product. I just couldn’t get them to come down on price as much and no addl 3 yrs of warranty. They sell Southbay which is carbon copy of Berkshire.

Good luck to you whatever you decide!

[tbmguy]

Never heard anyone say "man I bought too big of a motor for my pontoon" 150 should be adequate, my 135 does it for me. I personally would never have another two log boat! Period!

Just thought to look at the sigs to see what people were driving that were doing the talking here. As for those that have participated in the thread, you've got the oldest boat here by far. Anyway, I'm looking at a tritoon of similar year. Has all I need and most of what I want and at least from the pics I've seen of it, it looks to be in very good shape. The seller has had it for 9 years and bought it off of his parents who bought it new. Will be looking at it tomorrow in person. What's your thoughts on older toon ownership?

[RcgTexas]

Check the decking! Look for rusty stains where the cross members are attached to the decking.

of course the engine. the trailer needs to be inspected for rust and bearing condition if one is involved.

[Seon]

Never heard anyone say "man I bought too big of a motor for my pontoon" 150 should be adequate, my 135 does it for me. I personally would never have another two log boat! Period!

So what about the maximum hp rating? I currently have a 115 Merc 2 stroke on the "new to me" 28' Tracker Party Hut and am looking to swap to a 4 stroke. I'd like to replace it with a 150hp but 115hp is the rated max. Will the transom handle it okay? .

[Bamaman]

Our lake is loaded with older pontoon boats. I'm talking hundreds and hundreds boats--at virtually every house. And they're still in the hands of the original owners because PONTOON BOATS ARE ALUMINUM AND THEY NEVER WEAR OUT IF KEPT OUT OF THE WEATHER. Virtually all boats on our lake are kept inside boathouses out of the water.

And since they don't wear out, people don't trade them as often.

We're finally seeing a few examples of tritoons with bigger engines showing up on our lake.

If I was in the market for a boat, I'd start at BoatTrader.com or online. And remember to have any used boat checked out by a qualified marine mechanic mechanically.