Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I am new to pontoon boats with very little knowledge on how to set one up properly. Long story short. I have the option of getting a couple different pontoon boats. Both need extensive rehab. One is a 20ft Bass Buggy unknown on age with 22" diameter logs. The other is a 24ft Unknown as it is in pieces at the moment with 22" diameter logs. Forgive me if those are incorrect diameters but best I had was a tape measure. What I would like to do is fix one of them up and make it to where I could use it for recreation and tubing/skiing. What I am most concerned with is the log diameters. Will these logs support these activities?. I will be using this primarily on a busy lake which can generate some large wakes or occasionally on the Ohio River. The reason I ask is my father has I think a 18ft pontoon with 20" diameter logs and his boat likes to submarine with little wake. I don't know if it is a problem with his setup or the fact that it has 20" logs, I just don't want spend the time and money on something that will not work well and be disappointed. Also since both have the same diameter logs would the 20ft or 24ft lend better to this as well?
Thanks in advance

Keep looking. If you want it to do what you say, I wouldn't bother, Even the small tri-toons have at least 23', and that's with 3 logs. it will not be sea worthy on a busy lake to do anything but a slow cruise safely.

wouldn't want less than 24', prefer 26'.

Glenn

I run with 27" on my toon. 22" is way too small

The standard size toons of today are 25"

I see 20' pontoon boats come by my house all the time loaded down with people with the toons barely out of the water--and they're going really slow. Many are 19" toons.

You want to have a boat that's as seaworthy as possible to handle any wave situation you're going to be in. That's especially important if you're boating on some big waters like I do.

I have a mid 90 pontoon boat with 24 foot x 23 inch logs, no strakes. I repowered with a Yamaha 115 and have a top speed of 23 to 25 mph depending on load. I have had no problem water skiing behind this boat. Last night I pulled a 220 lb guy up on a "wide body" slalom ski, and we were going fast enough to have fun. Yes, I can not go fast enough (32 mph) to ski with my competition slalom ski, but these new "wide body" skis really do allow you to go slower than we did back in the day. I also have no problem pulling tubes...

That being said, I would love to go faster so I could ski with my competition slalom ski, but this is the setup I have now and it is working for me.

When did manufacturers start using logs bigger than 23 inches? I am guessing that you may have a hard time finding a project boat cheap enough with bigger logs than 23 inches. As far as measuring log diameter, I find it easier to wrap a rope around the pontoon, measure the circumference, and then convert to diameter.