Originally Posted by noreast (Post 265480)

Wow, good job, Now you can use that against them. Those might be the nicest pontoons I've seen for under 60 G's, With a 150 you might get under 50.

Originally Posted by Descant (Post 265545)

This may be a first boat, but probably not your last. The dealer knows that and he wants to sell you the next three boats too. With this in mind, and the good reputation that the dealers all seem to have on this Forum, I wouldn't worry too much about buying a used rental. It's probably in better shape than a boat that was just traded in.
As you make your deal, I wouldn't dicker the little stuff to save $100. Look at what costs you a lot, but costs the dealer little: Winter storage, shrink wrap, winterize, dewinterize, spring launch, maybe some extra canvas work to be done over the winter. There's lots of stuff in this life besides the purchase price.

Originally Posted by Descant (Post 265545)

This may be a first boat, but probably not your last. The dealer knows that and he wants to sell you the next three boats too. With this in mind, and the good reputation that the dealers all seem to have on this Forum, I wouldn't worry too much about buying a used rental. It's probably in better shape than a boat that was just traded in.
As you make your deal, I wouldn't dicker the little stuff to save $100. Look at what costs you a lot, but costs the dealer little: Winter storage, shrink wrap, winterize, dewinterize, spring launch, maybe some extra canvas work to be done over the winter. There's lots of stuff in this life besides the purchase price.

Originally Posted by Descant (Post 265656)

67!? In 3.5 years you may be forced to make periodic withdrawals from your IRA. What to do with those funds? I started investing in fiberglass for my retirement many years ago. You should at least consider going to the boat show and investing in a little more fiberglass, or aluminum. The grandchildren will love you for it, especially if it is "just theirs". You don't have to drive a jetski to own one.

Originally Posted by Hillcountry (Post 265673)

Great point!

Originally Posted by marcucci (Post 265674)

I chuckled thinking about a boat as a financial "investment"


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Originally Posted by marcucci (Post 265674)

I chuckled thinking about a boat as a financial "investment"


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Originally Posted by marcucci (Post 265674)

I chuckled thinking about a boat as a financial "investment"


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Originally Posted by Hillcountry (Post 265877)

Okay, I'll add another dimension to the "toon" discussion...
Anyone have any real life experience with the Sun Tracker line of tri-toons?

I know...Bass Pro Shops line and all but they do build tri-toons (XP3 model)
And they have an amazing 10 year warranty.

Just looking at all options and would love real world experience from anyone out there.

Originally Posted by Hillcountry (Post 265877)

Okay, I'll add another dimension to the "toon" discussion...
Anyone have any real life experience with the Sun Tracker line of tri-toons?

I know...Bass Pro Shops line and all but they do build tri-toons (XP3 model)
And they have an amazing 10 year warranty.

Just looking at all options and would love real world experience from anyone out there.

Originally Posted by Hillcountry (Post 265877)

Okay, I'll add another dimension to the "toon" discussion...
Anyone have any real life experience with the Sun Tracker line of tri-toons?

I know...Bass Pro Shops line and all but they do build tri-toons (XP3 model)
And they have an amazing 10 year warranty.

Just looking at all options and would love real world experience from anyone out there.

Originally Posted by thinkxingu (Post 265881)

I think there's a reason Sun Tracker is sold through Bass and that no/few marinas do.

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Originally Posted by Hillcountry (Post 265913)

There are a few marinas in New England that do carry them (besides Bass Pro)
but just hearing from a few of you is enough for me to stay away and keep looking for a solid manufacturer with a great reputation...
I was hoping someone would chime in who owns one of the newer ST models...

Originally Posted by ApS (Post 266065)

Two-story? :eek2:

Saw this yesterday, towing a tube.

Greatly enlarged... :look:

Originally Posted by Tomt (Post 266078)

I own a rack at Harilla Landing and also have been thinking about a pontoon boat. We rode in a 22' with a 115hp and liked it very much even with 2 toons. We are used to an 18' bowrider that gets tossed around quite a bit. We put a deposit on a 20' (we felt the 22 was a little to big). The disappointment came when we found out that the older fork truck at Harilla won't handle that style pontoon (Crest I) because the forks are to wide apart. Harilla considers these non conforming boats. Does anyone know if different brands come with more room between the pontoons?

Tom T

Originally Posted by Outdoorsman (Post 266082)

You may want to inquire again, perhaps with a more senior member of the club.

The forks on these fork trucks slide in/out (to meet your needs). I find it hard to believe they can not slide these forks in to accommodate your boat.

Originally Posted by Hillcountry (Post 266292)

Well, I just sold my Four Winns bowrider...now the toon hunt begins in earnest!
Wish me luck!

Originally Posted by marcucci (Post 264285)

I agree. I did a lot of research since my post, trying to understand the physics involved better and all the various scenarios, and I came to the same conclusion. While in some situations they would help and in others they would hinder. I decided after a fairly long test drive Saturday to buy the boat even though it didn't have strakes. Time will tell if it was the right decision.

Originally Posted by noreast (Post 266364)

That's one of the nice things about pontoon boats,. They float either way.

Originally Posted by Hillcountry (Post 266374)

Got an impromptu chance to try a tritoon today...it was a Berkshire 23 with a 150 merc fro Irwin. It was our first time on a tritoon or any pontoon for that matter.

Seemed like a nice boat and was visually, pleasing.

They fork lifted it into the water and the salesman took us out into paugus Bay.



First impressions were it was very quiet and smooth and as we got past the NWZ the salesguy opened it up a bit. I have to say the area was literally, inundated with boats of every kind going seemingly every which way, causing quite a chop. He slowed down and offered me the helm whereupon I throttled up to a slow cruising speed (didn't think to look at the tach or speedo) but we were probably doing 10 mph. Heading towards the channel he said "we don't go past that little island over there" so i made a sweeping turn back in the southerly direction.

The chop was getting quite heavy and I decided to test the toon by throttling up a bit but not full throttle. A huge wake appeared in front of me and as I approached it at a diagonal headway. As we hit the wake waves the boat rose up and slammed down a few times (didn't expect this from a tritoon)

I guess that's called porpoising? I guess I expected the toon to cut through without slamming. It was probably my fault for not operating correctly as I was somewhat timid with it and unfamiliar with the trim and whatnot.

I headed back to the docks and handed the helm back to the salesguy thinking about what we had just experienced.

No doubt it was a nice platform and VERY different from our 19 ft bowrider.

Bottom line was the salesguy wanted to know our thoughts and we went inside to see what kind of deal was possible but that ended quite when Mr Irwin (in another room) that all they could do on this boat was about $250 off of the $45k price tag. we looked at a bottom line Premier (Palm Beach) and weren't too impressed by that.

We have another demo on Wed. morning to try a Sweetwater at Meredith.

Quite a process ahead of us!

Originally Posted by marcucci (Post 266383)

I just bought a Premier 220 Sunsation with a 150 4 stroke Merc at Irwin this month. PM me and I'll share all the details. What I learned, tritoons are the way to go and if you have lifting strikes you get the pounding but you get a faster (maybe more efficient) toon. Without them you get a strictly displacement hull that cuts through the waves very nicely but tops out at a lower speed. I've already taken it across the broads and in all kinds of waves and we are very happy.


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Originally Posted by noreast (Post 266390)

When you get the wakes from all directions like that, you're not going to like the ride in a tri-toon either. when it sucks it still sucks. As far as strakes causing pounding, That's a new one to me. If you're doing 40mph, you'll ride higher so I guess you have further to fall. you'll find the little things to make it better but there's not much you can do when it's heavy traffic. Keep doing what you're doing, Take the boats out from all marina's, Learn to separate the BS from fact and DON"T RUSH unless you get a great deal. When you get real prices go on boat trader to compare exact boats, and call the marinas even if there in Kansas to get real comps, unless money's no object.:eek:

Originally Posted by Hillcountry (Post 266393)

Thanks...that's what we're trying to do. And for us, being on mostly, fixed income, ( wife still working part time) money is definitely, an object!
I welcome any and all experiences dealing with the tritoon...one dealer says they can't even get them without strakes anymore.

Originally Posted by thinkxingu (Post 266395)

Not sure why you would want it without strakes--if you wanna plow through the water, just keep the trim down, if you wanna skip across the water, trim up. We've slammed a few times on our 'toon, which was, as you mentioned, just a timing issue with waves coming from multiple directions. Taking on one set of waves at a diagonal is barely bumpy.

If money is a consideration, check out Harris at Melvin Village--we, and I know Greene's Basin Girl, love ours.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Hillcountry (Post 266411)

Never said I wanted one without strakes...just trying to learn all the angles and options while hunting for one...the info here so far has been invaluable!

Originally Posted by thinkxingu (Post 266415)

Yeah, I was referring both to you and the posts above involving strakes.

Good luck in your hunt, and don't forget the extras that come along with buying a boat. Cheers!