Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey guys... need to blow off alittle steam, I'm a type A personality and I just can't let things go.... first off, for those of you who don't know me, bought my first boat, a 20 foot pontoon just about 6 months ago... new nothing, zero, nada, about boats or boating.. anway read all the forums, including this one, got as much info as I could, then bought our pontoon... but note we came very close to buying a 17 foot G3 panfish boat ( 3 people max ). none the less, bought the pontoon boat because of the comfort level, more people, etc. Now I've only put the boat in the water 4 times since we bought it.. 3 weeks ago, took it to the launch, got it off the trailer, BUUUUZZZZZZZZZZ.. Alarm going off, Pee hole not peeing. Put the dam boat back on the trailer, back to the house, hook up the garden hose and flush it for 15 minutes, flushing and with the help of a toothpick, pee hole opened up... today my wife and I head back out to the lake... Don't know what the hell we were doing wrong, but it seemed like it took me forever to get the damn boat off the trailer... just wouldn't go, even though I had my wife backing up the trailer more and more.. anyway, Finally off the trailer and here we go to spend the day fishing and hanging out... the second she gets on the boat and I turn to head out to the lake, there goes the damn alarm AGAIN.... same issue, pee hole plugged up... wife sat at the back and kept "toothpicking " hole, after about 10 minutes of that, water started flowing like it should and out to the lake we went...I should add that a guy in a bass boat had the same issue when he put his boat in the water right before me. anyway move ahead 4 hours, back at the launch... she backs the trailer down, I get ready to pull up on the trailer, and buzzzzzzzzzz, theres that alarm again. anyway, boaters lined up behind me, I'm getting nervous trying not to hold anyone up.. get the boat up on the trailer, ( I thought i had ) when a fellow boater on the dock tells me the toons are cockeyed... so I have to back off the trailer again, and re-load. seemedlike it took forever to get back on the trailer. beginning to wndonder If I should have gotten the smaller pan fish boat. Maybe I made a misake with this being my first boat. Not to mention I'm getting tired of the damn alarm going off everytime the boat hits the water. Havent decided what I'll do yet, I'll sleep on it tonight and see what my frame of mind is like tomorrow. Just needed to vent... thanks guys.

Well I haven't had the pee hole problem yet but I have got it put on crooked and had to do it over but learned I was putting the trailer in to deep so the back of the toons where still floating.

This looks like a new boat. You need to get it to dealer because you have some cooling issues. The pee hold is only to verify the water pump is working. I think you have some crud in power head somehow and causing alarm to go off. A new motor can have a bad water pump ( been there).

Move your upright guides no more than a inch from logs. This will force logs to settle on bunk boards.
Don't give up on the toon, things will be easier as you use it more.

OH yea I forgot most times I'm launching by myself and got it down to a science, I load every thing then undo my wench and tie my line to my trailer with about 25 feet of line.

This let's my 20 footer come off and float behind the trailer, I pull forward slowly till the pontoon gets close to grounding, stop and move it to the dock or shoreline out of the way and park the truck.

Took me a few times to get it right and I still have trouble with the wind or low or very high water, but stick with it ,like learning anything one day it will all click and you be on here helping someone else out.

Anything worth doing is worth fighting for, just put your head down and figure it out! The end result will be countless hours of enjoyment on the lake with your wife!

Welcome to the normal life of boating!

3 person boat or 14 person boat, these can happen with either, so dont sweat the toon decision!

Sounds like a stop by the dealer should fix the BEEPing problem. I cant tell you how many times ive put my toon on crooked, only to have to back up n try again... heh
Dont let other boaters pressure you.. some will be cool with it, others a$$holes, but then those people are usually a$$holes in all of life.

Screw em....take your time and get it right...
ive even moved off to the side and let em 'play through' before.

Either way.. dont sweat it.... hurrying will only cause you to make a BIG mistake.. its just not worth it. That guy behind you can just fricken wait... haha!

Like mentioned, back the trailer all the way into the water getting the full length of the boards wet, then pull back forward till only the last like 1/3 of the boards are under water....
That will make it less of a chance of the back end settling sideways, course you may need to power the toon up the trailer abit more... and for the last foot or two, you can just wench it up...
So the name of the game is to figure out how far to back in to get the toon all the way up, yet not so deep the back end keeps floating off...

Its just a matter of trial n error, and practice...

Just learn to laugh at yourself, and have fun putting the thing around!

Heck, i laugh at myself all the time..

Know stuff like that can be aggravating, take the cowl off an follow the rubber tube up from the pee hole, squeezing an releasing all the way up. That way you can feel if there are any obstruction in there an if it is from dobbers this will break it up so it can be flushed. I know down here that clay can get as hard as concrete. Far as the loading an unloading try something between the float on method an the drive on method. On launching just go a little deeper if the boat doesn't come off. On retrieving if the bunks are v shaped it should center itself if you are fairly close. If the trailer doesn't have guide ons might want to try them. Getting the bunks wet helps to.....coming an going
Hang in there it will get better.

doc

I keep some line trimmer line { about 2 ft } on my boat and when it is not "peeing" I run it in and out and if there is some obstruction , it usually takes care of it . I would also take it to a mechanic and have it checked out if the alarm keeps sounding !

Yep, get it to the dealer for the beeping problem. As for launching, it takes practice. I would take the boat to the ramp during the week when there's not a crowd and practice until you get comfortable launching. Once you learn, it's becomes easy.

mike wrote:Anything worth doing is worth fighting for, just put your head down and figure it out! The end result will be countless hours of enjoyment on the lake with your wife!

That's perfect. Says it all.

Hope you stick with it Roland!


As for the pee hole, when I bought mine, the mechanic told me that spiders will often crawl up there and build webs that get caught. He said they just blow it out with compressed air, so I carry a can of compressed air in my lake bag just in case. I like the idea of weed wacker wire too, I'm going to cut off a 24" piece and throw that in my bag as well.

Loading the toon can be very intimadating at first. I used to wait until the ramp was empty with not many people around. Now it's so easy I don't care. Hell I like a crowd now so I can show off. Pull the toon on the 1st try why some ahole is there try to load his little fishing boat for 1/2 hr.

On the pee hole. I would also take it to the dealer to get it checked out. One thing also to avoid stress at the ramp. I ALWAYS put the muffs on at home before I go out to make sure it fires up and there are no problems.

Agree with heat on the muffs before launch.! If it don't fire on the trailer it ain't firin on the water!!

Yeah Roland...Stay with it and you will get it figured out. I had some (a lot) trouble with mine in the beginning, heck, I still have trouble from time to time.

Two things I figured out were:
1) how deep to place the trailer. You will develop an eye for your trailer in the water. I always had someone driving the truck but always had to give them directions about how far to pull up after backing it in to wet the bunks. I would have them pull out until it looked right to me.
2) how to line up the boat. The trailer shouln NOT be at an angle behind the truck if at all possible. The angle messes with my mind! I have an imaginary spot on my front rail that is the centerline of the pontoon I am standing on. I have an offset helm so I am not in the center of the boat. I back off far enough to get lined up strait with the trailer (back of truck) and ease it on, usually a little power will push the boat up to the bumper. I realized that I was turning the wheel some and driving the back of the boat off the bunks. When I keep the wheel straight I have little problem with alignment.

One day I had pulled out and the toon was crooked on the bunks. The rear of the toon was sittin on top of the bunks. I was getting ready to pull back into the water when my friend stopped me. He put his shoulder under the edge of the pontoon and started rocking the boat.... and it jumped into the bunks. I had no idea to try that, he laughed at the look on my face. I have done that several times.
I don't do this by myself and I have great respect for anyone who does. I have moved over to let the bass guys play through like has already been mentioned. I have also gotten good enough to get positive comments from the bass crowd when I load up. That does feel good! Stay with it and you will get better.

1. cover the pee hole with something (cover, tape, etc.) when the boat is sitting on the trailer.

2. the dealer needs to make good on warranty repairs.

3. get the repair manual for your motor and read it. carry whatever tools you need to do the work you are able to do.

4. practice loading until it becomes easy. i agree with lr and herb, the two most important things are having your guides adjusted right and not having the trailer in too deep.

Thanks guys for all the advice... I talked to my wife about it over dinner tonight and she thought I was nuts for even thinking of selling the toon. She loves it. Her philosophy follows what all of you have said... If the toon loads alittle off center, back it off and try it again, and if there's boaters waiting in line, screw em... as soon as we get the toon on the trailer we'll pull out. I really don't want to get rid of the toon, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed just cruzin around the lake Sunday and tieing up fishing... In between the launch and retrieval, it was great... Funny thing is, I've had this boat out about 4 times now and never had trouble the previous 3 times like I did Sunday. It really pissed me off, but like my wife, you guys are right, don't get rid of the boat I love because of one bad situation. So what I'm taking from this is the following:

1- when putting the boat in the water, back the trailer down further into the water. ( how far down should you trim your motor when pulling off the trailer.. I"ve been trimming mine about 1/2 way, partly because i'm afraid it's to shallow to trim down further, and partly to keep from churning up more mud and crap.

2- when loading onto the trailer, back the trailer down all the way just to get the bunks good & wet, then pull the trailer back up so that about 1/3 rd of the trailer or so is still below the water line ( 2/3rds) above the water line.. That way I should have less water under the ass end of the pontoons, and less water should mean less chance of the toons floating over to the side of the bunks, is this right?


Please correct me if I'm wrong. as for the pee hole thing, like I said, boats brand new, less than 10 hours on it. I really think it's getting clogged up because of all the mud and crap being churned up at the launch, especially since the boat in front of me had the exact same problem. but I'm going to call the dealer and let them know about it tomorrow. Boat will be going in in a week or two for it's initial 10 hour service. By the way, the edger / weedeater line is a great idea. Beats the hell out of just having a 2 inch toothpick. I'm going to cut about a 2 ft. piece off the spool tomorow. Thanks again guys.