Tritoon vs. Pontoon
 

Hey Gang,

Hoping you can help out a rookie. I am looking at buying a boat this winter or in the spring. I live on a 500 acre lake and have 2 kids ages 6 and 10. They are just getting to the point where they want to tube and do some other water sports. I am looking at buying a new pontoon or tritoon and really the main thing I want to know is does a tritoon corner hard and easily get tubers outside the wake? My friend bought a very nice pontoon boat this year and it has a 90 horse Mercury on it. The boat goes plenty fast for me and for the tubers but the one thing I notice is it is hard for him to get tubers outside of the wake and "whip" them around like most tubers like. If I were to get a 115 horse Merc on a pontoon could I whip tubers?

Thats why tritoons are interesting to me because I have heard the turn alot better and corner harder. Is this true as I have never been on one? Tritoons are nice but they are expensive. If I spend 35K on a tritoon I want it to be able to "whip" my tubers. Will I be dissapointed? Should I just buy a ski boat? We are not huge into water sports but I want to be able to have fun with my kids and the tritoon or pontoon is nice because I just have to buy one boat.

Any advice would be helpful.

Not the best forum to ask this question, but...
...Tri-toon all day everyday, and twice on Sunday. They are dramatically more stable, and absolutely a better design.

This one can run over 50mph with the right conditions, but it's in the mid-40s every time we take it out; with a 250 Yamaha on it.

And be careful on the whole "whipping" tubers and the like. That's how people get hurt, maimed, and killed; as they get flung into stationary objects like docks, markers, stumps, and land; or the path of other boaters.

Either it's winter, or we've reached the end of the Internet....

I have a pontoon right now. We will be adding a third log with integrated transom to it this winter. No comparison, imo.

You don't need a 3rd log on a 500 acre lake. I had a tritoon on LOTO for years and I wouldn't be caught dead on LOTO in a pontoon....it's way too rough, but on 500 acres...you're going in a circle.
My kids learned to ski & wakeboard behind my tritoon and they suck for watersports. 2 main problems: 1) they don't produce a wake 2) they don't turn worth a ****....even the "best" turning toons don't turn well.....to me, this is a safety concern. If you have a skier in the water; circling back to get them can take some time and other boaters don't see a head bobbing in the water very well.
I just moved to a community with a 650 acre lake. I'm looking for a v-drive wakeboard / ski boat. The v-drive boats can still seat 8+ people.

Funny you mention that because last month we were at a relatives place on a tiny 500 acre lake south of INDY full of homes in coves and a central area where everybody boats in in one circle. Some guy was pulling his kids on a tube and dam near slung them right into a boat sitting at idle just outside the circle. It was a pretty setting good for swimming off your dock but too dam dangerous for me to even think about skiing or tubing on.

I live on about a 480 acre lake and my neighbor has a tri-toon with twin 400r's.... little overkill

If your set on pulling tubes you will want a minium of 250hp and tri-toon. When you throw it into the corner your going to have to keep the throttle up to keep the speed going. As for lake size our cabin is on a 550 acre lake and I have a 68mph and 550hp pontoon. Never such a thing as to much HP.

Don't discount a Chaparral Sunesta 220 Deck Boat. We one in the family. It seats people just like toon, frt and rear swim landings and ladders. Used as much as a waterski / wakeboard / tubing boat as it is going to hang out with a bunch of people. A ton of people ! Tons of storage and a room for a portapotti underneath the helm,

Even has a frt, rear and a frt side door...great for elderly and drunks. :)

Only issue is it's looks. Took me a while to get over it.....but it is used a ton. I use it a ton also.

Pics are not mine..just one's I found on the net.


http://www.avidboater.com/sections/c...3302351951.jpg

http://www.boatersresources.com/img.php?t=1&id=4882347

A 22' tri-toon with 150HP is enough to have fun, it will turn like a plastic boat, ride better and offer more convenience.

Ok I can't help it, this is OSO. People used to say what the hell with all the CC's now we are talking about pontoons on 500 acre lakes?

To the OP, don't get me wrong not saying anything about the question but isn't there a site maybe more focused to the question?

I see your point, but this site seems to be dying a slow death these days as well as the "performance" boat thing in general.

I would rather die a Slow death then discuss 110 mph Toons lol :lolhit:

Didnt one hit that this year at the Shootout? We wont let Toons tie up to our raft ups lol the look on their face is Priceless :gfight:

Before you know it they wont be letting you tie up to there raft up!!!

We are all out there to have a good time not sure why it matters what the haul is made out of, or what shape it is. Or maybe your insecure that your big bad v-bottom boat will get passed by some little pontoon boat.:riding:

Not at all- Usually THEY dont have the proper bumpers to join the line. And if one of them offered me a ride at a Hundie--- I would be On IT! :)

it's the only way to bring a decent BBQ pit we always have one if we can

I met a guy yesterday rafted up on Lake Champlain near Plattsburgh. Went from a 38 Fountain to a 24 Larson TTT tritoon deckboat with a single 400 Verado. The boat was amazingly plush and the most efficient use of 25' I've ever seen. The tubes were unlike I've ever seen. They were not round tubes but square. The boat runs over 50 and was smoking other runaboats and deckboats. The boat was rigged and sold by Aquamania in Alexandria Bay, NY. That is the home of the world champion turbine powered cat.

25 Triple TTT | Larson Escape Pontoons

i have trouble w/ 1 poontang how you are you guys making 2 or 3 work with such good results ?

If your looking to pull tubers than its hard to beat a ski boat with an inboard and a rudder. Nothing is going to turn harder.

Off Shore ONLY?

Isn't this whole discussion sort of like debating which electric wheelchair handles the best inside the Wrinkle Ranch?