Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hello all--

Sold my last pontoon a few years ago... 2010 Suntracker FB 22 with a 60hp 4 stroke.

I recall all of the very helpful and friendly members on this forum!

Story: After selling my pontoon, I purchased a new 17' alum fishing boat as I thought I would do more saltwater fishing....like so many other things, it didn't happen! Ended up using it for lake/river fishing.

I think that since I have local lakes near me, I should focus on these and make my time on them as comfortable as possible!

Live in SoCal and I have a few local lakes near me and also have Lake Havasu/Lake Mojave a few hours away.

Hence, I am considering another Pontoon. Again, I recall how comfortable they are and at my age, comfort is good!

Primary uses:

My 13yo son (who is on the Autism spectrum) and I will be the primary users. My 18yo son is in college and works part time so he'll go when he can, but will not be too often. Wife may go on occasion. I believe the pontoon boat provides a safe platform for my younger son and I to enjoy the water together...much safer I believe than a smaller and much more tender, 15'-17' fishing boat.

Other trips will include a friend or two
Many trips will be just be me and a friend out fishing

So.........

In the market for both used and new.

Need advice/assistance on:

Size....I'm thinking 18'-22'?
Brand?
Outboard HP size (fishing/cruising - no water sports)?
Pontoon or Tritoon?
Models?
Any brands to be concerned about?

What else should I be considering?

Thanks!

I think price would be #1 here...

22 ft

75+ hp

Tritoon better than 2 toon.

Sounds like fishing model would be the layout you'd prefer...

Welcome Aboard!

You might want to look at the Manitou Aurora LE angler model. It is available in several lengths (20' and 22') and several configurations. Pontoon, tritoon and uplevel tritoon. I have a Manitou on order and one of the things I liked is is it seems their structure is quite good and of all the boats that I looked at, their welding looked consistently better. There are numerous options to break the bank but they are just that, options. You can go on their website and configure a boat any way you wish and you will get an idea of the price at list. I would expect that you should be able to negotiate at least ten percent off that price and maybe double that. Good luck.

Hi there, I'm in SoCal as well and go to San Diego Bay, Mission Bay, the River and El Capitan. El Capitan lake is great after they raised the dam by 70' and all new launch facility. I have the Lowe SS210 tri-toon with 150 HP Mercury. As for a great dealer I can recommend Last Chance Performance Marine in Hemet CA http://lastchanceperformancemarine.com/ . I had a great experience with them when I bought my boat. There are some great fishing toons out there to consider and way more comfortable. My recommendation would be a "Fish & Cruise" 18'-22' tri-toon with a decent engine based on budget.
Good Luck

Just a welcome back post

[quote="Reiner"]Hi there, I'm in SoCal as well and go to San Diego Bay, Mission Bay, the River and El Capitan. El Capitan lake is great after they raised the dam by 70' and all new launch facility. I have the Lowe SS210 tri-toon with 150 HP Mercury. As for a great dealer I can recommend Last Chance Performance Marine in Hemet CA http://lastchanceperformancemarine.com/ . I had a great experience with them when I bought my boat. There are some great fishing toons out there to consider and way more comfortable. My recommendation would be a "Fish & Cruise" 18'-22' tri-toon with a decent engine based on budget.
Good Luck[/quote]

I called Last Chance Marine today.

They have a 2018 Lowe SF214 with a Merc 90 CT for $27,552
Bass Pro has a 2018 Suntracker FB 20DLX for $25,915
The Suntracker is about $1500 LESS with same motor and both have tandem axle trailers.

Spec are similar but here a couple of differences:

Lowe has 25" toons and 24 gallon fuel tank
Suntracker has 24" toons and a 32 gallon fuel tank

Thoughts?

Still keeping an eye on Craigslist for a used one......have always found good deals there.....just a matter of patience and time
But, boy, new would be nice (as it always is)!

If you're going to be on Havasu more than occasionally, I would absolutely buy the bigger boat with the bigger pontoons. Probably would even if never going on Havasu.

[quote="SoCalAngler"][quote="Reiner"]Hi there, I'm in SoCal as well and go to San Diego Bay, Mission Bay, the River and El Capitan. El Capitan lake is great after they raised the dam by 70' and all new launch facility. I have the Lowe SS210 tri-toon with 150 HP Mercury. As for a great dealer I can recommend Last Chance Performance Marine in Hemet CA http://lastchanceperformancemarine.com/ . I had a great experience with them when I bought my boat. There are some great fishing toons out there to consider and way more comfortable. My recommendation would be a "Fish & Cruise" 18'-22' tri-toon with a decent engine based on budget.
Good Luck[/quote]

I called Last Chance Marine today.

They have a 2018 Lowe SF214 with a Merc 90 CT for $27,552
Bass Pro has a 2018 Suntracker FB 20DLX for $25,915
The Suntracker is about $1500 LESS with same motor and both have tandem axle trailers.

Spec are similar but here a couple of differences:

Lowe has 25" toons and 24 gallon fuel tank
Suntracker has 24" toons and a 32 gallon fuel tank

Thoughts?

Still keeping an eye on Craigslist for a used one......have always found good deals there.....just a matter of patience and time
But, boy, new would be nice (as it always is)![/quote]

I looked at Tracker & Lowe at a boat show and found the overall welds on the Lowe much cleaner. Also Tracker was not able to supply a galvanized trailer with the boat since I use it in salt a lot. As I remember my price OTD tax & license included was around 33/34 with the 150 HP Mercury for the SS 210 RFL under-skinning and strakes. Prices may went up. Go talk to Last Chance and tell them Reiner sent you Plus the reviews on tracker service were kind of good and bad. I have a 24 gal tank and had very rarely used it all. So no criteria for me. Just more weight and less good gas mileage.
Good Luck

My local dealer for pontoons carries Lowe and Lund. They are also Mercury and Honda certified service centers.

What is the story on Lund Pontoons? I know their alum boats are considered very good quality.

Built a 22 Lund Fish model (on Lund website) with 3rd log, 115hp Honda, hyd steering, and several upgrades.....priced out a $45K MSRP If I could get this for $35K it may become interesting.