Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey guys, when me and the wife go out for a day of fishing on the toon ( provided I can get it off the trailer and out into the lake without the alarm going off ) we usually just tie up to a tree to keep us in place. Normally we tie up using the "hole' at the front of one of the pontoons. I know that's what they use to lift the boats, but I read somewhere where there was some concern about using those holes for anything but "straight upward pressure". anyway, wouldn't think that tieing up using those toon holes would hurt anything since it's just the wind or water current pulling the boat away from the tree. Just wanted to get some of your opinions. Thanks.

Tie it up, I would

It's pretty unlikely that there's going to be enough side to side pulling in that situation to damage them, but it can happen. I was told to never use them to tie up in a slip. If it were mine, I'd install a few cleats.

I use them all the time. Go ahead just like your doing. I wouldn't use them to tie up unattended in a slip though. If you have a heavy boat (like BMR's) and a large wake/wave or even high winds jerk your boat around it might cause problems.