Pontoon Boats

John A. Birdsall · 07-14-2014, 03:06 PM

My dad had a 24 foot pontoon boat which I now possess. It seems to me that when it came to the lake (new) it was 1984 and there were not all that many of them on the lake. So my question is how long or old is your pontoon boat been on the lake? I know that they have grown in popularityy

Happy Gourmand · 07-14-2014, 04:25 PM

2012 Premier Solaris PTX w/ Merc 200HP Pro XS. 2nd year on the lake with it. Love the boat, but if I were to have a do over, I'd get a 4 stroke instead of the 2 stroke.

Orion · 07-15-2014, 07:31 AM

2001 Bennington 2575RL 25' tri-toon w/130 hp 4-stroke Honda O/B. It' been on the lake since 2001, and I love it.

jeffatsquam · 07-15-2014, 08:08 AM

A family friend of ours had a pontoon boat (We called it a party barge)
on Squam before 1970

Greene's Basin Girl · 07-15-2014, 01:03 PM

2012 Harris Tritoon Floteboat. It is 24 feet. We can anywhere on the lake even when there are big swells.

codeman671 · 07-15-2014, 02:27 PM

My oldest pontoon was a 1989 Lowe 18 footer. It had the tiny tubes under it, on rough days with a heavy load the water would roll right over the bow and up the deck. Had a few days with wet feet riding in it...

Over the years I had many pontoons on the lake, the largest being a Premier 310 Skydek with a 300 Verado Pro.

tis · 07-15-2014, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John A. Birdsall

My dad had a 24 foot pontoon boat which I now possess. It seems to me that when it came to the lake (new) it was 1984 and there were not all that many of them on the lake. So my question is how long or old is your pontoon boat been on the lake? I know that they have grown in popularityy

I agree with you. We never used to see pontoon boats on the lake and now there are a lot of them. I think they went to the smaller lakes first and now are here. We were just talking about this the other day.

chasedawg · 07-15-2014, 10:30 PM

The reason you are seeing "look like a pontoon boat" on the water is because most are not pontoons but are now called Tritoons. A tritoon can out perform many deep vee fiberglass boats. The previous owners of high performance boats now see the value in tritoons. They can hold three times more passengers and can exceed the max speed limit on the lake. I had a 32 Scarab with twin engines that could seat 5 people at the most. My 25' tritoon can seat 14 people and can exceed the speed limit in the roughest water on Winni. It is that simple.

KarmaGirl · 07-16-2014, 07:13 AM

And many have a "changing room"/porta-potti!

codeman671 · 07-16-2014, 08:37 AM

Even some of the twin tube pontoons ride pretty well these days. We rented a 23' Crest with a 150hp Suzuki last week from Trexlers, it ran 35mph and handled quite well.

cmack · 07-17-2014, 09:50 PM

Bought ours in new in 2012. Does seem to be a lot more toons on the lake this summer which is nice. The big problem is the large cruisers that putter around just under planning speed and creates huge wakes. Those are not toon friendly

07-14-2014, 03:06 PM	#1
John A. Birdsall Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Norwich, CT Posts: 599 Thanks: 27 Thanked 51 Times in 35 Posts	Pontoon Boats My dad had a 24 foot pontoon boat which I now possess. It seems to me that when it came to the lake (new) it was 1984 and there were not all that many of them on the lake. So my question is how long or old is your pontoon boat been on the lake? I know that they have grown in popularityy

07-14-2014, 04:25 PM	#2
Happy Gourmand Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Ruskin FL Posts: 1,027 Thanks: 188 Thanked 322 Times in 179 Posts	Pontoon Boat 2012 Premier Solaris PTX w/ Merc 200HP Pro XS. 2nd year on the lake with it. Love the boat, but if I were to have a do over, I'd get a 4 stroke instead of the 2 stroke.

07-15-2014, 07:31 AM	#3
Orion Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Cow Island Posts: 914 Thanks: 602 Thanked 193 Times in 91 Posts	Tritoon 2001 Bennington 2575RL 25' tri-toon w/130 hp 4-stroke Honda O/B. It' been on the lake since 2001, and I love it.

07-17-2014, 09:50 PM	#11
cmack Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 18 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Bought ours in new in 2012. Does seem to be a lot more toons on the lake this summer which is nice. The big problem is the large cruisers that putter around just under planning speed and creates huge wakes. Those are not toon friendly Last edited by cmack; 07-18-2014 at 04:56 AM.

07-15-2014, 08:08 AM	#4
jeffatsquam Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: moultonborough/sandwich Posts: 187 Thanks: 173 Thanked 77 Times in 50 Posts	A family friend of ours had a pontoon boat (We called it a party barge) on Squam before 1970

07-15-2014, 01:03 PM	#5
Greene's Basin Girl Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Moultonborough, NH Posts: 1,515 Thanks: 394 Thanked 527 Times in 269 Posts	2012 Harris Tritoon Floteboat. It is 24 feet. We can anywhere on the lake even when there are big swells.

The Following User Says Thank You to Greene's Basin Girl For This Useful Post:
Anvil (07-18-2014)

07-15-2014, 02:27 PM	#6
codeman671 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 3,454 Thanks: 220 Thanked 802 Times in 480 Posts	My oldest pontoon was a 1989 Lowe 18 footer. It had the tiny tubes under it, on rough days with a heavy load the water would roll right over the bow and up the deck. Had a few days with wet feet riding in it... Over the years I had many pontoons on the lake, the largest being a Premier 310 Skydek with a 300 Verado Pro.

07-15-2014, 10:30 PM	#8
chasedawg Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Melvin village Posts: 522 Thanks: 512 Thanked 314 Times in 148 Posts	The reason you are seeing "look like a pontoon boat" on the water is because most are not pontoons but are now called Tritoons. A tritoon can out perform many deep vee fiberglass boats. The previous owners of high performance boats now see the value in tritoons. They can hold three times more passengers and can exceed the max speed limit on the lake. I had a 32 Scarab with twin engines that could seat 5 people at the most. My 25' tritoon can seat 14 people and can exceed the speed limit in the roughest water on Winni. It is that simple.

07-16-2014, 07:13 AM	#9
KarmaGirl Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 50 Thanks: 3 Thanked 13 Times in 10 Posts	And many have a "changing room"/porta-potti!

07-16-2014, 08:37 AM	#10
codeman671 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 3,454 Thanks: 220 Thanked 802 Times in 480 Posts	Even some of the twin tube pontoons ride pretty well these days. We rented a 23' Crest with a 150hp Suzuki last week from Trexlers, it ran 35mph and handled quite well.

The Following User Says Thank You to codeman671 For This Useful Post:
VitaBene (07-16-2014)