I realize this is a sorta vague question, but is there anything unique to owning a pontoon boat in terms of maintenance/upkeep, as compared to a bass boat or jon boat? Or anything unique as far as operating one? I've ridden on one countless times but never actually drove one, but I gotta think it's much simpler than a bass boat....

We may be in the market for [a used] one in the next year or so. It would have to be kept outside in the backyard, so a cover is a must to keep the interior in decent shape. Anything else I need to know about?

They can be a pain to load and transport. They are also great for family.

Yeah, the Mrs isn't a fan of bass boats......her dad scarred her for life when she was little because he apparently only knew 2 speeds: "Stop" and WOT. She wants something we can just joyride on, maybe pull a tube at a reasonable speed, etc. I've fished off pontoons plenty of times so I know I could fish just fine from one.

In what way are they a pain to load/transport compared to a bass boat? Just because they're bigger?

Hah; used to have my Skeeter throttle marked "whoa" and "WFO".

Wind pushes them around easier than a regular boat.

Current too

Tritoon is superior to 2 pontoons in a lot of ways

Smoother ride, gets up out of water faster being the biggest 2

We just sold a 22’ with a 150 yamaha for an 23’ with a 150 Honda and have been realhappy with it

Thickness of plywood deck is important too

If it matters............I'm cheap, so when I say "used", we're talking like < $10k

i enjoy fishing off of my friends pontoon. To answer your question it takes a time or two to learn how to load a pontoon on a trailer. Im also not a fan of pulling them.

I'm a 10 minute drive (or less) from virtually anywhere I'd be taking it, so I'm not too concerned about pulling it. Now, if it's trickier to load one on a trailer than a bass boat, I may be "that guy" at the boat ramp the first few times out, but I figure there's only 1 way to learn.

you are right gomer. I looked like " that guy" a time or to loading the toon up.lol

A 23' Tritoon at the Spanish Fort BPS has a $57,000 price tag on it.

That's ok............I'm sure they'd be happy to finance it for 144 months....

Try 240

Tri toon with a decent 150hp+ motor and a 36v trolling would be the set up. Just need the right interior layout in my opinion. Also a lowe or other aluminum deck boat would be nice and you can find them in your $$$ range.

The tritoons are the deal though. Ours is 24' with a 200 Yamaha and will scoot 40mph plus with all the day on the lake toys

They are real comfortable. Good to sleep on too. Plenty of room. But like said, current pushes them pretty bad as well as the wind. They are just so big and awkward. But you trade that for comfort.

Pontoons are awesome...loading is the only PIA IMO, but you'll learn hot to load it up after a couple tries. I'd like to buy another one to redo at some point as you can do it relatively on the cheap, but have a damn good boat when your done. You can have both a fishing and family machine all in one.

If you leave it in a wet slip, its a PITA to scrub the algae off the pontoons every year.

Pontoons are great. I think I need to do a "How to" video on how to load a pontoon. It's simple, even in the wind, once you learn how. If you buy one from me, I'll throw in free lessons

Hahah

There is a place on lake Martin advertising 2 free wake board lessons with purchase of a boat.

If you can buy $100k boat, you can afford 2 wake board lessons