Buying a new boat

[BrianP]

My 2 cents...

First, I wouldn't buy a deckboat. They are supposed to be a great compromise between a pontoon and a v bottom boat. They seem to compromise all of the wrong things IMO. The ride is one of the roughest out there.

Next, I own a bowrider with an I/O and a tritoon with an outboard. I love my bowrider, and it handles great. With this said, the pontoon handles nicely and can support more people more comfortably. It really is your living room on the water. The tritoon will handle rough water much better than a standard 2 log pontoon. Regarding an I/O versus an outboard, I believe that the answer to this is partially based on where you live. One of the reasons that I bought my tritoon was to use it year round. My bowrider is winterized shortly after Halloween each year, and I don't dewinterize it until early May due to the fact that it is an I/O. This is a lot of the year that I can't use my bowrider. My pontoon keeps going!

[dockholiday]

Sold on the tritoons now. If you end up going two log get the larger toons. My old toon was a 89 san pan. The logs were smaller back then an it had a good amount of drag an plow to it compared to the larger toons these days. I gain about 6mph over a comparable two log with the same hp. One condition you might want to check on is the condition of the vinyl. Whether recovering or installing new furniture it will cost you about 2.5k. If you see some cracking more is right around the corner.
doc

[ROLAND]

Ok thanks for the info!! I learn more and more every post. I would think that something like a deckboat with a fiberglass tri-hull that sits low in the water would be more stable than a pontoon, even with tri-toons, that would sit higher in the water therefore being more top heavy? Is this true or not?

I'm afraid I'd have to disagree with you on that my friend. Toons ( 2 or 3 logs ) offer not only more comfort, but stability. Sitting up alittle higher in the water can be a bit of an issue because of wind, but as far as stability goes, I think the wider platform ( 8 to 10 feet wide, depending on your boat ) the more stable the rig...

[rsmith]

Like Roland said, wider the platform the more stable. On a toon you'll notice far less tilting/leaning from weight movement and distribution than a typical v-hull. On our neighbors 22ft cuddy cabin we're pretty careful with the loading because of the lean if someone moves from one side of the boat to the other. On the toon while I watch it, it's not as critical when tooling around the lake - one person moving from one side to the other doesn't cause much leaning.

Also, while we say a tri-toon rides higher, it's not like we're moving the center of gravity from a foot above the water line to 3 or 4 feet above, if anything it's just a couple of inches at most so there really is no impact when you consider where it moves to and due to the width of the boat.

[V8DECKBOAT]

Cool thanks for all the info guys. I guess one of the other reasons I was looking at an I/O over an outboard is that the engine is pretty simple, I can work on them and know the parts on them. An outboard I know nothing about, other than what I have been told, which is that they are expensive to fix. I guess they are like anything else though, keep them well taken care of and well serviced and they will last you. What year did tri-toons become popular? Could I get an older tri-toon boat? Also there are a more than a couple nice pontoons for sale locally that have small engines, say 30-45 HP, if you could get one of those cheap enough would it be worth it to try and find a used 100hp or 150hp motor? Thanks!

[badmoonrising]

Cool thanks for all the info guys. I guess one of the other reasons I was looking at an I/O over an outboard is that the engine is pretty simple, I can work on them and know the parts on them. An outboard I know nothing about, other than what I have been told, which is that they are expensive to fix. I guess they are like anything else though, keep them well taken care of and well serviced and they will last you. What year did tri-toons become popular? Could I get an older tri-toon boat? Also there are a more than a couple nice pontoons for sale locally that have small engines, say 30-45 HP, if you could get one of those cheap enough would it be worth it to try and find a used 100hp or 150hp motor? Thanks!

True, most inboards require very little mechanical knowledge to maintain and repair vs an outboard. If you don't like to winterize, just buy a freshwater cooling kit

[GXPWeasel]

One more thing I will add is that around here, there are a good selection of lakes, and varying bottom types and temperatures. You can use a pontoon much longer into the fall than you can a ski boat or bow rider, IMO. That being said, it helps when you have an outboard engine with this, because of the super simple winterization. It seriously took me about 1 hour to winterize mine this year, and it's the first time I ever winterized an outboard myself.

I will say that if you can afford a bigger motor, do so. Get the biggest that you feel you will ever need, even 5 years down the road ( if you have little kids ). I have a 90hp, and it pushes my boat pretty well, but I would like a little bit more. The 90 is the biggest I saw on a toon around here, in the price range I was looking at last year.

I will offer, since you are soo close If you want some convincing or a "test ride" on a pontoon, give me a shout some time. I frequent Lake Perry, and have been wanting to go to Clinton lake, and those would be great places for us to meet, and for you to check out our toon. Also, if you are looking at anything from Lakeside Marine in Topeka, I can tell you that they are good guys, and I didn't feel pressured at all when purchasing our toon from them last year. They were always willing to answer any questions I have, and they even went with me, where ever I wanted, to go on the first run.

[curtiscapk]

V8,

A fellow Kansan! I missed it till Greg said somethin
I'm from OP boat stays at Truman though. Have a pretty nice place 2 miles from a ramp. 90 minutes from home to lot.

You ever want to go on a secluded lake Truman is it.

[V8DECKBOAT]

Hey guys maybe I need to start a new topic for this but here goes. I ended up buying a boat yesterday that was broken.... I got it for the right price so I am not to worried. Its a 1980 Larson V hull fiberglass boat about 21'. It has a very healthy 305 chevy engine and an OMC outdrive. We went out for a test drive before I bought it last night, everything sounded good, it was cooling good, outdrive sounded good, then we got past no wake zone and he jumps on the throttle, it pulls up out of the water and gets after it for about 100 yards then POP!!, engine revs up and we stop acceleratingl. Outdrive disengages and the boat is dead in the water, engine runs perfect, but the outdrive does nothing when you pull the lever. We looked over all the cables, it appears that they are working but there is one that goes from the plate attached to the engine down into the very bottom of the outdrive and I assume this is what actually engages the prop. I hope the outdrive is not toast, but even if it is I bought it at the right price where I could replace it and still have a damn nice boat for decent money. Any thoughts??

[GXPWeasel]

You still bought it after doing that on a test drive?

I hope you did get a good bit of $$$ knocked off, because a new outdrive can be costly. Sounds like you got a good deal though. Give us some pictures once you get it back from the shop.

[jimrs]

There are not many toons equiped to pull skiers. Unless your pulling a 50 lb kid that is. Sking below 28 m.p.h. is hard to do and not good on your lower back. For the last 48 years I have trained skiers and always run at 28 m.p.h. minimum. It's hard to find a regular toon that can go that fast pulling a skier.