Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

There are a couple tritoons available in my area that I can afford. both sport a 3.0 Merc. Does anybody have experience with this setup? I had in my mind I wanted a 22'-24' boat with 3 logs and a 4.3, these may be out of my pocketbook. I don't need to go over 35-40 mph, I just want to be able to keep up with my group of v-hulls when heading 10 miles up the river or lake and want to be able to home through a summer storm if needed. Also kids on wakeboard or tube. I am trying to move up from a bouncy 15 yr old runabout with a 4.3 merc.

Available:
2007 voyager 22 sport cruiser tritoon w/ 3.0
2005 princecraft versailes tritoon 22' w/ 3.0

I also can get into a 2005 crest II pontoon with 350 mag MPI - this seems like an awful lot of engine and gas use
OR a
2006 25' crestliner LSI pontoon with a 5.0-this on is a little more $$ and I am concerned with the quality


You may have guessed someone once told me that if I ever get a pontoon boat mae sure it has 3 logs. any feedback to this newbie is apreciated.

I don't know about the others but I tested a Crest II with that exact set up and loved it. It flat out hauled ass but at a slow cruise was very quiet. It was out of my price range though so I went with my current set up. As for your gas argument and as many will tell you, I've never heard anybody complain that they have too much HP, only the reverse. If you want to conserve gas just remember, the throttle works both ways. You’ll never regret getting the bigger motor. Plus, Crest (Maurell) has been making pontoon boats much longer than all the others you mention (since 1957). Just my .06 cents worth (inflation ya know)

My Party Cruiser and my Starcraft both have the 3.0 Merc. It's a bullet proof and fuel efficient motor, takes very little mechanical knowledge to maintain and has been around forever. My Party Cruiser tops out at 18 mph, the 21 ft. Starcraft v-hull about 40...expect a little less with a pontoon. 2010 versions of the 3.0 finally have optional MPI. If you can get it at your dealer, pay the extra money. Carbs are old school tech, it's about time Merc. started doing away with them.

Most small runabouts with a 4.3 can hit 45 mph or so. With a 3.0 they can still come pretty close to 40 mph.

A pontoon is going to be a different story. I have seen test reports on pontoons with the 4.3 and it seems that they only hit about 35 mph (from memory, which isn't worth much these days). A 3.0 is probably going to perform similar to a 115 outboard, and get you into the mid 20's for top speed. If that is enough to keep up with your friends, then go for it. People rarely complain about fuel usage and dependability on the 3.0, but lots of people complain about it being too slow.

If you have the chance to get either the Crest or Crestliner, I would go for it. It's cheaper to buy the extra motor now than to buy the small boat now, and trade it later.

Philip

My Party Cruiser tops out at 18 mph

Any faster and you'd lose beads, and we Cant have That!

I really do kind of dig the idea of being able to flat out haul ass but cocaptain is watching the money.


None of you thought the third log would be significant? Whats the general feelings about a crestliner, they don't fair to well in jd powers ratings.


And hey, speaking of the cocaptain, she is pushing for a waverunner to compliment the toon. anybody ever seen a descent way to haul both with a single vehicle?


Thanks for being here!

daddio wrote: And hey, speaking of the cocaptain, she is pushing for a waverunner to compliment the toon. anybody ever seen a descent way to haul both with a single vehicle?

I guess it would depend on the size of the jetski, but if it were small enough, and you had a normal sized truck bed, or a long bed, you could put the jetski in the bed of the truck, but I would suggest againts it, as it may be a PITA to load/unload.

They make trailer that haul both, but I couldn't find one on line, but I seen them, maybe they had it modified to do both.

I though we had one guy here doing that at one time.

Whats the general feelings about a crestliner, they don't fair to well in jd powers ratings.

We have a 2185 Batata Bay and are very happy with it. We have the 4 point fishing model. We do not have an I/O, but have a 90 4str. We replaced the fishing seats with the good reclining captains chairs. The origional ones were very hard and uncomfortable. With that change, we are in hog heaven

Speed wise, we are getting 27.3 flat out on the gps with that motor.

Good luck

I saw a tri-toon 28 footer maybe that had a huge swim deck on the bow with rails that had a jetski on it it was an older one so was still under 8 ft long and fit without hanging over the sides. Badass idea but probably kinda costly. He was cruisin down the lake so I only saw it for a few seconds.

I went to the tritoon in 08 an am sold on them. I didn't realize how much less drag they have until the first time I came into the dock like normal with the two log an thought I was going to run through the dock. Once I went to neutral the thing just kept going an had to jump on reverse hard.
Less drag should also translate into better fuel economy also not to mention better top end.
doc

Does anybody have experience or knowledge about Fisher boats. I got my eye on a 24' "freedom" tritoon but cannot find any ratings etc. Thanks

Oh, i did find a trailer that put the jet ski up near the tounge, It was only 40 some feet long...

daddio wrote:Does anybody have experience or knowledge about Fisher boats. I got my eye on a 24' "freedom" tritoon but cannot find any ratings etc. Thanks

Oh, i did find a trailer that put the jet ski up near the tounge, It was only 40 some feet long...

40 ft SHIIIIIIIT!

Fisher is made by Tracker.
Its their lower line, under the SunTrackers.
Should be fine.
With a I/O 3.0 youre not gonna Haul Ass though.
A tritoon with a 250hp OB strapped to it will haul ass!

We have a 22 foot with a 3.0 and we can get along pretty well.
Without strakes, youll prob hit 25 ish. With strakes, prob 35 ish.