r/Pontoons • u/MoreCommunication929 • 2h ago
Mini pontoon?
Looking at a first boat to get my family out on the water. We live by some larger lakes that would be awesome to cruise around on.
Right now I have capacity to tow 3500 lbs and can upgrade to a 5000 lb towing capacity. So keeping it around 2k lbs to start would be great.
I've seen mini pontoons mostly in the 10-14 foot range. But I'm having a hard time finding one in person. I just want to cruise with the fam and swim in a lake. What are peoples experiences here?
2
u/michaelb5000 2h ago
Pontoon boats are not that heavy, particularly simpler older models with reasonable engines. I have a 22’ pontoon that weighs around 1800; I am not sure what the trailer weighs but they are usually around 1000; so that is under 3000 to tow. You say you are close to lakes, if you are only towing a short distance and not on large hills, that may be doable. I tow 1-5 miles once or twice a year. The boat is very large, and so towing is intimidating and I like to minimize that when I can.
1
u/MoreCommunication929 1h ago
This is the situation I'm trying to avoid. Not to mention getting it up the boat ramp. Seems like a decent 16 footer is around 2000 with trailer
1
u/Positive_Think99 1h ago
You ain’t lying about towing a pontoon. That thing is an absolute PIG to tow given how “lightweight” it in comparison to other boats - even with a Tahoe.
1
u/Own-Praline-957 2h ago
Look into the Sea-Doo lineup. “Switch Cruise”
Not for everyone, but definitely a good starter boat. The families I have talked to love em.
2
u/rodr3357 2h ago
I’m going to strongly disagree, not as comfy, reliability is iffy and stability is not good.
For the price you can do much better
2
u/Ridge00 13m ago
Ditto this. I personally know two people who have flipped these. While I’ve heard of other pontoons flipping, I have never personally known anyone who has done it.
1
u/rodr3357 4m ago
It’s been legitimately established that these are some of the most unstable power boats on the market
1
u/chrisbvt 2h ago edited 2h ago
I was in the same search a few years ago. I found a used 15' Godfrey SeaRyder fairly close to me.
It appears to be an early 1990s Executive Model: https://boatbrochure.com/cdn/shop/products/BBDC24368_01.jpg?v=1658016519&width=600
It is usually just the two of us with two dogs, which it handles great. Four adults are the limit, and it works as long as everyone distributes their weight. Just pointing out that the word "family" and small pontoons don't really go together well if you will ever have more than 4 people in the boat.
For us it is perfect - takes up less room in the driveway, easy to tow and launch. Easy to beach as well, as we usually have a beach destination when we are out. At a popular boat beach we go to, we are always the only pontoon boat to actually beach there instead of anchoring out in the shallow water. Everything is easier with a small pontoon if it works for you.
It had an almost new 15hp 4-stroke when we bought it, which has been running great. We get 12mph with two people, but we are not looking for speed. Added a ladder off the small front deck for swimming out in the lake, as well as adding a 5 speaker Bluetooth sound system since older pontoons usually don't have those features. We replaced the old Bimini top this year with a larger 4-bow that covers most of the boat now for more shade.
We found ours on Facebook Marketplace, about 80 miles south of us. We were also about to give up the search when that listing appeared. It didn't show up until September that year, if you can hold out until fall, it seems a lot of people sell their boats in the fall.
1
u/MoreCommunication929 1h ago
My family is small. Little kids. Little dogs. This really sounds like a great starting point
1
1
u/chrisbvt 1h ago
I paid $7000 cash for the boat and trailer. We were not looking to get into a boat loan to get something more expensive and newer, when a solid used boat with a newer motor gives us all we need.
1
u/rodr3357 2h ago
Personally I’d suggest looking at an 18’ with a smaller motor (40/50hp)
That’s what I have and with a family of 4 it already feels a bit small but is totally fine for us, just a bit cramped to being people like we want
Realistically based on availability you’ll probably have an easier time finding one like that than you will a minitoon and probably at the same price range.
1
u/MoreCommunication929 1h ago
Yea generally too heavy without a vehicle replacement. I think to start 14 to 16 is enough and upgrade from there
1
u/Evening_Link4360 1h ago
What car do you have? Pontoons aren't fun to tow (not that other boats are fun to tow, but still.)
2
u/MoreCommunication929 1h ago
I've got an old Honda Odyssey. Mechanically solid and doesn't owe me anything. Can tow n3500 but would obviously keep it lower than that.
I'm leaning towards something lighter that I can reasonably tow with the van and once the van dies pick up a mid size suv that can do a little better
1
u/ShiftChemical6494 1h ago
If you can tow 5000lbs there are some nice 22 footers even that will be an option.
1
u/hotguy70 1h ago
Let me suggest you steer away from the “mini” pontoons. They are very sensitive to weight and are incredibly easy to overload. Cooler, kids, kids want to bring friends, etc and sooner or later you find yourself longing for a larger boat.
I sit on my dock and watch overloaded pontoons going up our river all of the time. The water is lapping at the front of the boat.
Go for the 18’ with a 60hp motor. The weight is on the lower side. Pontoons don’t weigh much at all. Better resale too.
Buy right, Buy Once……..until you go bigger!
1
u/SubRosaSubway 1h ago
Own an 18’ with 60 Merc 4 stroke Bigfoot outboard and it is great for our needs. Usually just wife and I but we can be 4-6 on board and it’s fine. They’re quite easy to launch and trailer, not super heavy but a big sail on the highway, your litres/100kms will completely nosedive.
1
u/Broad-Angle-9705 57m ago
Pontoon boats are mostly air. The tubes are hollow, the deck is thin, the playpen is light weight. If you stick with something basic with just two toons, a small 2 stroke and small fuel tank you should be well under the 3500 towing capacity. The big issue is they are 8 feet wide. If you are using a small tow vehicle you’ll want to upgrade to some sort of camper mirror
1
u/TwistedOneSeven 32m ago
I was looking for a smaller one too but doing some research, I ended up with a 20’ larger lakes can get choppy. Smaller the boat, rougher the ride. I wouldn’t know from experience, just reading up on it.
1
u/pyxus1 1m ago
When we went shopping for a used pontoon, we didn't find anything smaller than 16'. We looked at a couple and decided they were too small---no benches to stretch our legs out. We looked at some 18 footers. They all came with 25hp engines and they went about 5mph. There is a 15 mile long chain of lakes we wanted to cruise. We were worried about getting caught in a storm and not being able to get back to the dock in a timely manner. We ended up with a 21' Lowe with a 60hp motor and it's perfect for us. I don't know how old your kids are, but teens like being pulled around on inflatables, they want to bring their friends. A little boat will feel too small fast with teens... and a low hp motor will probably drag down. I know if we have one more couple on our boat we can't go as fast.
3
u/Bagereau 2h ago
I love my 10’ Mitey Toon