Buying the right size pontoon

[gsarge]

I'm considering buying a 20-foot Bennington (20 SLX) with a 70-horsepower Yamaha. I live on a pond that is about a mile by a half mile. Is that too much boat and/or too much motor?

[teecro]

Heck I've seen toons floating on acre sized ponds to tell you the truth but with that being said a 1 x.5 mile lake is fairly small so a large motor is really going to be overkill as all your likely to be doing is just putt-putting around... Right? Are there any other boats on the pond for you to eyeball their motor size?

[gsarge]

Heck I've seen toons floating on acre sized ponds to tell you the truth but with that being said a 1 x.5 mile lake is fairly small so a large motor is really going to be overkill as all your likely to be doing is just putt-putting around... Right? Are there any other boats on the pond for you to eyeball their motor size?

Thanks, teecro. Yes, we would primarily be putt-putting around, but then again the grandchildren will want to be towed on a tube, and the boat we're looking at does come equipped with a tow bar. (The other Bennington 20 SLX offered by the dealer came with a 90-horsepower Yamaha.) I'll have to do some spying to see what else is on the pond, both with respect to the size of the other boats as well as their engines. Can I presume that on a pond of this size you still wouldn't mind having the 20-footer, rather than 16 or 18?

[teecro]

Heck I've seen toons floating on acre sized ponds to tell you the truth but with that being said a 1 x.5 mile lake is fairly small so a large motor is really going to be overkill as all your likely to be doing is just putt-putting around... Right? Are there any other boats on the pond for you to eyeball their motor size?

Thanks, teecro. Yes, we would primarily be putt-putting around, but then again the grandchildren will want to be towed on a tube, and the boat we're looking at does come equipped with a tow bar. (The other Bennington 20 SLX offered by the dealer came with a 90-horsepower Yamaha.) I'll have to do some spying to see what else is on the pond, both with respect to the size of the other boats as well as their engines. Can I presume that on a pond of this size you still wouldn't mind having the 20-footer, rather than 16 or 18?

A 20 toon boat is a sweet size in that it is not too big and not too small... I really enjoy our 18 foot toon and only wish for more room when we total more than 4 souls on board... Plus 20's seem to have more lounging space or lean-backs which I wish I had on the 18... Is this pond deep enough for pulling tubers? I'm not so sure it is even big enough? The slowest your really going to want to pull a tube is say 15 to 20 MPH so even if you can run shore to shore and you can't you would need be turning around at least every 2 to 3 minutes...

On a bigger lake I'd take the 90 HP over the 70 any day but all things cost money and you have to consider that too....

[gsarge]

How deep does a pond need to be for tubing?

[teecro]

How deep does a pond need to be for tubing?

Don't make me lie to you here.... I'm going to say that I'd not really want to tube in anything under 10 foot.... But honestly that is but a wild guess....

[Bamaman]

If you get tired of the small lake, you can always trailer it to more major water from time to time.

[gsarge]

If you get tired of the small lake, you can always trailer it to more major water from time to time.

Good point. We should consider doing that.

[JBO]

If you get tired of the small lake, you can always trailer it to more major water from time to time.

Good point. We should consider doing that.

I agree 100%. I'd be wary of settling on a smaller motor simply because you currently want to fish on a certain smaller body of water, today.

A 70HP motor isn't all that big or fast. I would get a 20' pontoon and a 90hp+ motor if you intend to tow anyone. A 70HP motor is more of a fishing boat on small bodies of water than it is a tube puller. If you intend to lug 4-8 people around at a time the motor is going to be slowed down dramatically. I feel somewhat underpowered at times with a 90HP 22' pontoon.

To put it frankly, I wouldn't complain if it was 115-150HP. I bought mine 10yrs old from a friend so price was a bigger factor than the engine size. If I was buying new, I'd buy a bigger engine. The smaller engines are only outfitted on new boats so dealers can advertise a lower price, IMO. I doubt many people that custom order pontoons are wanting to go cheap and/or small.

[gsarge]

If you get tired of the small lake, you can always trailer it to more major water from time to time.

Good point. We should consider doing that.

I agree 100%. I'd be wary of settling on a smaller motor simply because you currently want to fish on a certain smaller body of water, today.

A 70HP motor isn't all that big or fast. I would get a 20' pontoon and a 90hp+ motor if you intend to tow anyone. A 70HP motor is more of a fishing boat on small bodies of water than it is a tube puller. If you intend to lug 4-8 people around at a time the motor is going to be slowed down dramatically. I feel somewhat underpowered at times with a 90HP 22' pontoon.

To put it frankly, I wouldn't complain if it was 115-150HP. I bought mine 10yrs old from a friend so price was a bigger factor than the engine size. If I was buying new, I'd buy a bigger engine. The smaller engines are only outfitted on new boats so dealers can advertise a lower price, IMO. I doubt many people that custom order pontoons are wanting to go cheap and/or small.

Now that you mention it, with respect to engine size (assuming it's within budget) I've yet to see anyone on this forum say Go Small.

[teecro]

.... Now that you mention it, with respect to engine size (assuming it's within budget) I've yet to see anyone on this forum say Go Small.

Nope absolutely not either go big or go home....

Unless your completely sure that all you will ever do is putter around; but even then you will secretly regret going small....

[ROLAND]

We own a 20 foot bennington ( 20 sfi ) with a 75 horse yamaha, so the set up is pretty close to what you're looking at. you said you wanted to pull the kids on a tube and the 70 will do that, it just wont be "very" exciting.... Last time I checked, top end on my boat with 2 people on board and a full tank of fuel was around 24 mph... fast enough for me since we use our boat for fishing for the most part... as far as thinking about a 16 or 18 footer... I wouldn't advise it.. nothing wrong with either of those sizes if you're only going to be carrying 4 to 6 people or so... on my 20' boat I'm okay with 6 people on board, but it starts getting pretty cramped with 8 people... so if you're thinking about taking kids / grandkids a 20 footer might be "just right".... let us know what you decide to do...

[justrfb]

Hi All.
We have a 20' Princecraft with a 75 4 stroke Merc hanging off the back and we love it. We cruise Lake George (BIG lake in upstate New York...)every year with a full boat (8 people. it is tight though...) and it does well. I think it is the perfect size... Big enough to handle the "big" lakes and a lot of people but small enough to maneuver, dock and trailer with ease... This is our first boat and we were limited some what by our tow vehicle. Couldn't buy the used boat AND a new tow vehicle... We pull tubes all day long and with a light load, pull a skier! Roland, you are getting 24MPH! That is good. I am getting 21.8 MPH (best) with 11" pitched 3 bladed aluminum "BlackMax" Mercury prop. Can I ask what prop you have on? Thanks. Good luck Gsarge.

Sincerely,
Rich

[BobG]

The Admiral agrees, that a 24 foot toon is just about right for the two of us. Of course we live on it every weekend, May 1st through September 30th. Now our data plate says "13 People", but we've agreed that the only way we will ever come close to that, is if we're rescuing the Norwegian Women's Beach Volleyball team.

[RcgTexas]

Five feet of water is plenty to tube in, barring any stumps within 3 feet of the surface. Four feet would do as well. Take as much HP out of the motor as you need, no law says you have to run it at 5 k all the time! It might be nice to have the added hp if you trailer to a river or large lake.