Shallowest Draft Pontoon?

[Timinfla2]

Hi Folks, sorry to ask a loaded question but I wasn't able to get a solid answer on this from the search function.

I know that there are three big considerations in figuring how much a pontoon will draw - those three being weight, weight and weight.

I live on the Banana River in Merritt Island FL and we have practically zero lunar tides to speak of, so that's the good news. The bad news is that at my dock I get about 16 inches year round for about 100 yards before I hit the channel. Needless to say, a V-Hull is out for me, so now I'm exploring my options here.

Can anybody difinitively tell me if there is a pontoon boat out there that will fit my mission? Namely -

1. I'd prefer a draft of no more than 12 inches.
2. I'd like to have 4 adults and 2 kids on at any given time.
3. Pulling the kids in a tube would be cool, but not mandatory.
4. Because the Banana River is brackish, I will also need a solution to get the toons out of the water. Because the water is so skinny, the traditional bunk/lift system seems out of the question, but I could be wrong. I was exploring the plastic cubes that one can drive upon.
5. Would a longer, albeit heavier, pontoon draw less or would a shorter and therefore lighter one be better for me?

Thanks for any/all advice you can offer here.

-Tim

[HandymanHerb]

I have had my 20ft toon scraping the bottom a few times fishing by myself, but I never got out and measured how deep it was, I had the engine tilted up as far as it would and still sucking in cooling water and a few times I have run it aground and was able to back out of it, I think I was 10 inches of water, but I would be guessing.

And since the one place I did hit a sand bar, a nine-foot gator went down just on the other side of it in the channel, so I wasn't in no big hurry to have to get out and push, or to see how deep it was, glad I was able to back out, if my toon was close to me I would go measure the water line, but right now it is 30 miles away

[Kramfam]

I owned one of these boat lifts for three years and it worked flawless: http://www.airdock.com/

[Timinfla2]

I owned one of these boat lifts for three years and it worked flawless: http://www.airdock.com/

Very cool concept - did you happen to use it in salt/brakish water? I am concerned with barnacle growth on the floats and if they would tear a hole in them... I'll have to research that.

Those are EXCELLENT for my application though as they'll sit flat on the river bottom where I don't have a lot of room anyway.

Did the bags come up between the logs or did you lift the logs themselves?

Thanks!

[Bamaman]

1. If you want a draft of no more than 12 inches, go for a 20' boat with 25" toons and a 60 hp bigfoot 4 stroke motor. 75 hp motors are substantially heavier, and you need to keep the weight on the rear to a minimum.
2. It will handle 4 adults and 2 kids.
3. You probably can pull kids in a tube.
4. You may can use the plastic cubes you can drive upon. SeaLegs is another alternative as a lift.
5. A shorter, lighter pontoon would be better.
6. Equip the pontoon with a good long shaft trolling motor on the front to get you to deep water.

[crookedlaker]

you should be good with motor trimmed up at 16"
I also have a shallow dock area and I have a center lift pontoon lift that
lifts the boat by the deck

http://www.hewitt-roll-a-dock.com/lifts07/pontoon.html


is very stable and works good

see this one they are popular up here and I bought mine for 900
New they are only 2,000 or so

mike

[Timinfla2]

That Hewitt looks nice - I wonder how long it would last staying in brackish water year round.

[crookedlaker]

its aluminum will last a long time up north in fresh water
I bought mine used, it probably 10 to 15 years old
not sure about salt water

mike

[Kramfam]

Very cool concept - did you happen to use it in salt/brakish water? I am concerned with barnacle growth on the floats and if they would tear a hole in them... I'll have to research that.

Those are EXCELLENT for my application though as they'll sit flat on the river bottom where I don't have a lot of room anyway.

Did the bags come up between the logs or did you lift the logs themselves?

I used the bags in fresh water, but the company is located in FL and that's where I believe most of their installations are. Extra heavy duty rubber...I can't see much of anything putting a hole in them. Easy to patch if that ever happened. I used it on my previous boat which was a 22', 4500#, fiberglass, v bottom. I have not used it with my pontoon, but from what I have seen in pictures the bag will lift the logs.