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JLB · 02-23-2006, 03:35 PM

I'm laughing!

The boat formerly was referred to as the TUG Boat, but it is without an ID right now. We are thinking about Port of Margaritaville.

We got ours at Bass Pro also. It is a Fisher, a Bass Pro brand (like Nitro or Party Barge) and is manufactured near here. It had been at Big Cedar Lodge, owned by Bass Pro, for one summer and then replaced with a Tahoe deck Boat, also a Bass Pro brand. When they did that, they put our Fisher on a Trailstar trailer, also a Bass Pro brand manufactured near here, took it to Bass Pro Outdoor World in Springfield, and we found it there. There were 10 or 11 of them.

So, before we owned it it had never left the Bass Pro family.

It looks like a pontoon until you push the throttle forward.

Your question is as broad as the day is long. Pontoon boats range from small and 25 HP to big and 150HP or more. The engines themselves vary greatly. There is a wide variety of different 2-stroke designs and a similar wide variety of the newer, 4-strokes. The Bass and Walleye Boat magazine I get has been debating both technologies since the 4-strokes came out.

Tell me what you want out of you boat, how you will use it and on what types of waterways. Some folks use a pontoon boat more or less as a moving swim or fishing platform, just putting around, and others have big beefy pontoons that get up and go.

Originally posted by Marti

JLB

In some of your posts your mention that you are The Tug Boat Captain
What make - brand - size/type boat & motor do you have out in Branson

Can you help with some questions regarding purchasing a new pontoon boat

We rented a "21 Foot Pontoon Boat" while we were staying at Disney OKW
We`re now thinking about buying a new one from Bass Pro Shoppes in MD
We live in a water priv. community and not far from the comm. boat launch

What size Pontoon Boat(s) are best - What brand Motor and Horsepower
Any comments re: Pontoon Boats & Motors would be appreciated Thanks

Marti · 02-23-2006, 06:01 PM

Thanks JLB

The Official Pontoon Boat of Walt Disney World Resort

2006 SUN TRACKER® PARTY BARGE® 21 Signature Series

Q:
What are the differences between the
Signature Series and Regency Edition

http://www.suntrackerboats.com/

shaggy · 02-23-2006, 08:04 PM

Shame on you!! Feeding Lucky Lucy to the shark!!

Shaggy

JLB · 02-23-2006, 08:38 PM

I looked at the pictures you sent and was guessing the rentals are lower end boats with a 25 HP engine. It is very common for rentals to be underpowered. The ones we take on Estero Bay when we are at Bonita Beach are 25 HP.

I was going to suggest a 4-stroke just for the simplicity. A 2-strokes mix oil, most automatically now, but some you still have to pre-mix. The oil-mixing part of a 2-stroke is something that can go bad and is an expensive fix. When that happens a lot of people just pre-mix, adding oil to the gas when they fill up.

4-strokes are user-friendly, but you do have to change the crankcase oil in them, like in a car.

Like I said before, you need to look at the boat configurations to see what will fit your needs best. You can see the difference by looking at the configurations. If you want to use it to fish, you will probably want one the has a fishing deck on front, in front of the cage. You will want to put a trolling motor up there, too.

The first pontoon we went out on here had a 115 HP outboard on it. It moved pretty good. I think a 25 will probably drive you crazy. You'll think you're working it to death and not getting anywhere. Something in the middle will probably be best. Something around 21-foot with a 50 or 60 HP would be a good combination.

EFI is how the fuel gets to the cylinders. Electronic fuel injection is more efficient and worry-free than carbureted. But, we have a 150 HP Mercury Offshore, which is a carbureted 2-stroke, and it has done just fine. The more expensive engines are 4-stroke and EFI. The bigger engines are in the $20,000 range, just for the engine.

The 4-strokes are being promoted as environmentally more correct because they do not smoke or put oil into the water. In a 2 stroke unburned oil goes into the water through the exhaust, located in the middle of the propeller.

Marti · 03-04-2006, 02:16 PM

Q: Motors and All Aluminum Construction

Went to Bass Pro Shop and seen 6 different Sun Tracker Pontoon Boats

The Regency 27 ft boat - has a MerCruise 3.0L 135 HP Incline 4 cyl - I/O Motor
What is your opinion of I/O motors - compared to - regular outboard motors

If it holds 30 gallons of gas - appr. how long would that last - on average

What do you think of Dura Deck all Aluminum construction with Lifetime Warranty

JLB · 03-04-2006, 03:24 PM

Originally posted by Marti

Went to Bass Pro Shop and seen 6 different Sun Tracker Pontoon Boats

The Regency 27 ft boat - has a MerCruise 3.0L 135 HP Incline 4 cyl - I/O Motor
What is your opinion of I/O motors - compared to - regular outboard motors

If it holds 30 gallons of gas - appr. how long would that last - on average

What do you think of Dura Deck all Aluminum construction with Lifetime Warranty

That's a big boat, but if you have big needs, that would be OK. I would not want to be doing a lot of hauling it around. Our's is a 21-footer and I don't like trailering it around. There's not many slips it would fit in either.

I was guessing from your pictures and pricing that you were thinking smaller.

The first pontoon we went out on here was a 21-foot with a 115 HP outboard. It moved really well.

Since you are already up in that bracket, why not look at a deck boat? Of course, that would open up a whole new discussion since I don't like Bass Pro's deck boat hull design, the V bottom.

I/Os are fine. I prefer an outboard. One reason is that we take our boat out on the lake in the winter. The I/Os get winterized and then they are done for the season. You can't take them out on a nice winter day. Although it gets below freezing here, our lake never freezes. We had the boat out the day before yesterday, moving stuff over to our new dock, and then putting around awhile.

Our dockbuilder called while we were on the lake and he was bringing us a load of new encapsulated floats for our dock. We've been working on that ever since.

JLB · 03-04-2006, 03:46 PM

Fuel Consumption

As far as fuel consumption goes, that is a Gallons Per Hour (GPH) figure. Of course, it varies depending on RPM and speed. Every boat/motor combination has an optimum speed/engine RPM, the point where you maximize fuel consumption.

On a 17-foot Skeeter tiller model, with a Yamaha 80, the optimum point is 3500 RPM, 21.8 MPH, and at that point it gets 3.0 GPH, or 7.1 MPG, and has a range of 212 miles. At Wide Open Throttle (WOT), 5450 RPM, 36.9 MPH, it gets 6.9 GPH, or 5.3 MPG, and has a range of 157 miles.

By comparison, a Suzuki 225 HP, on a test hull, is optimal at 3500 RPM, 33.3 MPH, 7.3 GPH, 4.6 MPG, and can go 225 miles. At WOT, 5600 RPM, it goes 53.7 MPH, burns 19.6 GPH and only goes 2.7 MPG.

What you described will be in between those two. Pontoons are not fuel efficient because of their hull design. If you refill when you have 5 gallons left in the tank and operate it optimal speed, around 3500 RPM, I'm guessing you will have to refill it every 6 hours or so.

When my nephew takes my BIL's bass boat out, and blows the cobs out of it (75 MPH), it costs him about a dollar a minute for gas at marina prices!

Jestjoan · 03-05-2006, 11:18 AM

Check out the new Evinrude E-Tec engines.

http://www.evinrude.com/en-CA/E-Tec/E-TEC.Advantage/

JLB · 03-10-2006, 12:41 PM

I'm looking at the Bass Pro Spring Fishing Classic flyer. The center two pages are boats.

On the left there are some decent Party Barges, if one were so inclined to a pontoon boat. On the facing page are the Tahoe deck boats. For not much more than the pontoons there is a 4.3 liter I/O Mercruiser, with a fishing deck.

There is even a smaller one for the same price as the pontoon.

That's something that we would be intersted in.

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