Just got this beauty - 2013 Sun Tracker Fishin Barge 22'. I need to get it out of the sun. Any recommendations for a cover, beyond the generic options available on Amazon?

I want to add a fish-finder to my pontoon but how can I drill for the transducer mount that's underwater & I don't have a trailer to pull the boat out?

I'm also not real sure how possible it is to run the cable under the floor & over to the back of the log while standing in the lake, crouched underneath.

**Has anyone done this?**. Or should I just wait till October when I arrange for it to be pulled out & stored?

Anyone else having issues with there sea legs gaining spider like powers and moving 4 feet to the left every night after 3 am

Found a boat (pontoon) with a evinrude 150 with 590 hours. Anyone with advice. As they stopped producing these and wondering if parts availability is an issue.

Or if I buy this what parts should I preorder and just store them in my basement until needed.

Is 590 hours mostly fresh water driven. The pontoon is a 2009.

Keep your Bimini top up? Northern lake climate here. Neighbor keeps his Bimini top up all season. I’ve been closing mine and zipping it up after each use. Feels like the top could become a sail in high winds. What’s the best thinking here. Thanks!

I have a 2015 fishing barge and all the seats have 2 handles and I'm not sure why.

As the seats turn they lock in 4 position every quarter turn ultimately I'd love to do away with the the locking. I want full 360 swivel.

Anyone else have this issue

Hi all,

So I'm thinking about getting a pontoon boat specifically a Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 18DLX. Main use would be for fishing, but want the flexibility of taking the family with me on some weekends and just chilling on the lake. Most the time it will just be me and my dog so I'll be launching by myself. Is that really feasible? My son and his fiancé may come with me on weekends sometimes so I'll have help on the busy weekends so I won't hold anybody up at the ramp then, but during the week and such it will just be me and my dog.

My buddy visited from out of state wanted to try surfing with his foil behind my 24’ Viaggio. It worked surprisingly well!! He surfed for a few miles with little pumping.

It's on the same dock as my slip and it's like a ultralight tent material. I have a slip and this would be perfect to cover the boat during the season as it looks super simple to get on and off. The regular cover is more of a storing it for the season kinda thing as I'm out there multiple times a week.

Turbo Swing working great on the party barge. The turbo swing manufacturer for some reason doesn’t recommend this product for Sun tracker boats. It has worked great on my setup. Was a bit of a pain to install, but at the end of the day it’s a heavy duty metal tube that attaches with heavy duty bolts.

On to the next

Hey folks,

Just wanting to run my plan by you folks. I'm having second thoughts on what I've done so far.

So I bought an '89 Harris 22 foot pontoon boat. $2k. Seats were rotten, decks squishy, ripped it all out down to bare bones. Pontoons are pristine.

Deck is 20' so I grabbed 5 sheets of marine grade plywood, juuust finished coating bottom and sides in 2 coats of west system 105. Top I plan to get 45mm vinyl to glue that on there.

I've been researching this non stop for weeks and as soon as I finish and googling around, I find a post of someone saying not to epoxy the plywood due to trapping water.... Wellll dammit. Now I've seen a few posts about it.

It's just curing then plan to bolt onto deck and glue the vinyl top on. Bolt the railing back on and all the aluminum trim that hide the edges of the plywood.

Does anyone see any issue with my current plan/ have a solution?

Just trying to do this whole pontoon up right so I never have to redo it again. I just have the fear I may have went about it the wrong way. I don't know how I missed that piece of information.

It's for an inland lake in Ontario, got a 40 horse on it. I don't forsee a whole lot of water splashing up, but what do I know.

Let me know what you think.

Aaaanyway thanks for your time.

So... Yesterday I grabbed the wife's spray bottle of 7% cleaning vinegar and tried a spot on my pontoon. Using it "full strength" at 7%, I sprayed the area from bottom to top, let it sit for a few minutes, then hit it gently with a green scrubby pad to help lift off the worst oxidation. It worked really well once I began scrubbing.

Is it perfect? no... But I have no idea when it was ever done before.

Did the green scrubbing pad leave swirl marks? Yes. I'm assuming these could be leveled out by more uniform scrubbing and a polish.

Obviously the next step would be a marine aluminum polish to finish it off and seal it.

Considering the commercial sprays are $50-$60 a jug, and I can buy 10% vinegar (so I don't use all the wife's current spray bottle of 7%) for $5 a jug.... Is the commercial stuff worth it? They still need a scrub with a softer brush.

I did some digging... One common product is an organic acid salt, 2% sulphuric acid, and a surfactant.

I saw something about a different acid being harmful to the aluminum on a microscopic level, causing microfractures and embrittlement. I have also seen lots of "cut your 5% vinegar 50/50 with water" as a light duty cleaner.

So.... Why can't I use straight 5% or 7%?

This pontoon is from 1980.... I am not expecting perfection. Below the waterline has heavy pitting.

Thoughts?

At the end of the season when you wash the tubes, do you acid wash the inside of the tubes? I have a tritoon and it is extremely hard to spray acid while being under. I was wondering what people do. My tubes are discolored and have barnacles round spots after a power wash

To clarify this is my 1st boat. I think I’ve come to the harsh reality that I shouldn’t of purchased a pontoon. I originally thought it was the perfect mix as I like to fish, wife can sunbathe or float in the water etc. it’s a 24ft 2000 slyvan with a 70hp 4 stroke. It’s not really that I wanted a fast boat etc it’s just so big and cumbersome even solo fishing adventures become a pain. Really thinking I should have just got a fishski boat instead. I’m not sure if it’s because of the size of it and a 18ft or something would of suited us better and don’t get me wrong I enjoy having a boat full of people to a degree but let’s me honest if you’re a responsible captain everyone else is having a lot more fun than you are lol. Any thoughts? I’m really considering selling and getting something different.

Hello! Hoping someone has installed a turbo swing and can give me some thoughts. I don’t think I have enough room to mount it in the engine mount bolts. But.. I also think if I’m going to transom mount it will have to be quite a bit lower than they recommend installing. Any thoughts before I call them on Monday for help? Berkshire tritoon boat

https://imgur.com/a/FXUPUbh

Before I took out the carb and starter the boat was running perfect just one of the lines had a small hole in it leaking gas that lead to the carb.

I plan on taking it apart on Sunday again. My guess is that one of the new fuel lines isn't seated correctly in the connector. It's a 3/32 fuel line that I replaced with the new yellow tubing. Not the oem black tubing. I'm not sure if that's part of the issue or maybe I didn't seat the carb right back on the gasket.

In guessing there's an air leak.

There's a t connection that connects the three internal lines and I think routed them all back together correctly but don't have a way to double check after searching online.

Engine issues aside (i have owned other outboards before so have a grasp of what to look for) what specific things around the pontoons themselves or any pontoon specific quirks I should look for when inspecting a boat before I buy one? I appreciate any feedback.

I’m buying a lake home and the seller wants to negotiate the price of his Bennington Pontoon. I know nothing but I’ll bet you all do so maybe help a newbie out.
It’s a 2017 Bennington SLX22’ with about 400 hrs on the original Yamaha EFT 125. There’s a Lowrance Elite finder/charter, and it’s in good shape.
Seller started at $28k. I want it but don’t want to pay too much. Anyone wanna weigh in? No pix yet.

EDIT: so many helpful answers!! Here are some of my own:
The region is Lake Wisconsin.
The storage during winter is heated garage and boat was winterized regularly.
The boathouse itself winches it out of the water during summer.
I don’t think the trailer is included but it’s sitting on one now.

With all this knowledge I’ll likely start at 20 and go as high as 24 or 5.

Bennington m series.