Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I posted this at another forum, but found this forum afterwards and thought it would not hurt to get other opinions.

We are looking at getting a new pontoon boat, mainly for fishing and piddlin' around... nothing fast. We have just began to look around and found a couple of boats thus far that peaked our interest. We definitely like the vinyl flooring vs. carpet.

The first is a 2010 Bennington 22SFi (22' fish) with a 90HP Yamaha and trailer at $22500 or $21400 with a 60HP Yamaha. We like the changing area, dash mounted color fish finder, dual live wells and vinyl floor, but we were not crazy about only 3 chairs... the one in the back seems almost out of place. They just did not seem to make the best use of the deck. It is really only like a 20' deck to me with the wasted space.

The second one is a 2009 Premier 201 Explorer (20' fish) with a 115HP Yamaha (2-stroke) for $22,900. We liked the vinyl floor, colored fish finder, and the build quality looked a touch above the others we have looked at. The seats seemed more plush... plus the front seats were more like captain chairs. The side deck trim and corner bumpers were stout. The rod holder cover was flimsy (minor complaint) and there is no changing area and only one live well. This may have been the nicest boat we looked at... between it and the Bennington... at least this one had 4 seats. We are not crazy about the 2 stroke, but the dealer will change this out to a 60 Yamaha 4 stroke... will have price on this tomorrow.

The third one is a 2010 G3 SunCatcher 228 FC (22' fish and cruise) with a 115HP Yamaha and trailer at $24700. We like the four chairs up front and the vinyl floor, but it has no changing room and no fish finder (add another $500) and only one live well. This is probably overkill on the motor for us, but that was how it came stocked. He did tell me they could drop it to a 90, but the price only dropped $700. (EDIT: Dealer has dropped the price to $23,500 and offers the same boat with changing room and 60HP Yamaha for $21,595).

The fourth one is a 2010 G3 SunCatcher 208 F (20' fish) with a 60HP Yamaha and trailer for $19,500. It has 4 chairs, but split front and back... and has the vinyl floor, two live wells, but no changing area and no fish finder. This seems to be more comparable size wise to the Bennington and a lot less expensive, even if we wanted to add the changing area and fish finder. It also has the U-shape pontoons partially filled with flotation material. Of course we really like the price on this one. I forgot to find out if this was a tandem axle trailer... I think it may be a single axle. (EDIT: This on is single axle and the dealer has dropped the price to $18,960)

We live in south Alabama and will travel up to a couple hundred miles for the right setup.

If anyone has any suggestions of what to consider other than these, please chime in.

Thanks!

All I can say is that we just took delivery of our Premier a few weeks ago and we love it. We went with Premier for a couple of reasons - reputation, layout and perhaps most importantly - the comfort of the seats! We have a escapade 250 and love the comfort of the captains chairs and loungers. We spend anywhere from a couple of hours to an entire day hanging out at the lake in the chairs. love em. I tell ya, fishing come the captains chairs up front is great!

Always buy as much motor as you can afford once you load coolers and people that 60 turns into a 40 or less. Trust me I know..... I have a 115 and wish I had a 150 or more.

They are all good boats. Pick out the top two you like and ask the dealer about estimated speed. If you are comfortable with that, choose the one that is most comfortable an the one you feel is better built. If you have kids figure them into the equation far as tubing an wakeboarding. Good luck on your choice
doc

I'll agree with Curtis on this one. ALWAYS buy as much motor as you can afford. Like he said, once you add 4-6 people, coolers, fill up the livewells, etc. the boat get's heavy, and you'll want more motor. Also, I wouldn't necesarilly steer away from the 2 stroke, unless you have had bad experiences in the past with one, which in that case I would understand. There are some very good 2 strokes out there now a days. After that, go with the one that YOU feel you are getting the best bang for your buck out of.

good luck.

Scoobieman... let me start by saying I don't think you would be unhappy with any of those boats you listed. I decided to chime in here because I actually looked at several of the boats you mentioned and ended up buying a slightly smaller version of one of those boats. I ended up buying a Bennington 20 SFi with a Yamaha F75. We wanted something small, but not too small, and not real expensive. As for the 3 seat configuration, it hasn't been a problem for us. Usually just me and the wife, and when others go out with us it's usually a day spent just crusing. We also have the vinyl floor which I think is the way to go if you're going to use it for fishing... think about all that crud ( bait / fish etc..) on carpet.. no thanks. The fastest I've gotten my 75 up to was 24 mph via gps, and that was with a couple of people sitting up front and some chop in the water. Really think 26 mph is attainable with smooth lake and nobody sitting up in the front. You mentioned prices, we got out 20 sfi, single axle roadrunner trailer, 75 hp yamaha, everything including tax was 20,700 Of the other boats you mentioned we also looked at the G3 208F with a Yamaha 90. That boat's deck is about 2 feet longer than mine, but bear in mind the deck on the G3 is 96" wide, the benny is 102" wide. Don't know how much difference that makes, but it makes sense that the more width, the more stable the platform. I really liked the g3 208, But the dealer wouldn't haggle much on the price and we were able to buy the benny for less. Also, the benny has a very good warranty. You mentioned U shaped toons partially filled with styrafoam. Some people like that, others don't. It's like ford or Chevy, to each his own. So to wrap up here, our benny suits our needs just fine, while 25 mph wont set any speed records, it's plenty fast for me.. didn't buy a pontoon with speed being a big concern. Like I said at the beginning, you can't go wrong with any of those, I'm just partial to out benny... Good luck with your decision and don't forget to post some pics when you get it.

We love our Premier, the comfy seats were also one of the reasons we chose it.
Plus the warranty, construction quality and we really liked the dealer we bought from.
Our 5 year old grandson was with us when we were looking and he even commented about the seats being more cushiony.
Ours is a Sunsation LTD 225 with a 90hp Merc 4 stroke and with 4 (large) adults and 2 kids and gear on slight chop we got 22.6 mph on gps without playing with trim with just 2 (large) adults and gear we got 26.8 mph on gps.
More than happy with the speed and comfort.

Since you are in the shopping mode, I would suggest you take a look at the Avalon line... they make 25 or so different fishing models, and their quality and warranty are top notch having won the CSI award from the NMMA for the Best Pontoon Manufacturer the last two years and most likely for this year as well. I will be posting a 22 CT Fish we just completed and delivered in the next few days for everyone's viewing pleasure... This boat simply has it all and then some.....

Best regards...Mike

Thanks for all the replies... I will be calling a few more dealers today.

Mike... I checked out Avalon's site last night and noticed they are very nice boats. I actually stretched out our area to look for potential buys and found several Avalon's. I expect I will be talking to a few Avalon dealers today... may even call you guys.

I posted this at another forum

other forum?
there's no other forum....
ONLY this one...

lol... Hold on a minute now... I own three forums myself.

If you ever wanna build your self a home theater... http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums might be of interest to you. Obviously no competition for you guys here. We got better bananas too...

We thought we were the only forum...

We have about looked out... traveling some 1,200 miles in three directions looking at nearly every pontoon available. There is just nothing out there that will compare to the Bennington for the price we have negotiated, which is $19000 OTD for the 2010 22SFi with a 60 Yamaha 4-stroke. Looking at it a couple of times sold us after seeing all the others. Yeah... the Avalons was awesome, the Crests were awesome, but so were the prices... ouch!

Now... one last opinion from you guys. I know you preach getting the biggest motor you can get. Here is our thinking... we fish a small lake and the river... always drive very slow, which would only be about 4-5 MPH faster anyway. I also wonder at an extra 120lbs would the 90 not cause the boat to sit lower in the back, which I do not like. I would rather the boat be as level as possible (this will aggravate me to no end). HOWEVER, considering we can get the 90 4-stroke for only $1,200 more than the 60 and it helps resell value, maybe we should get it, but I am having a hard time convincing myself we need it and that it is not going to cause the boat to be off balance.

I would stick with the 60 for the reasons you have given. Fishing a small lake/river why bother going to a 90. Go with your gut instinct on this one.