Crappy pontoon

We have a place to dock a boat within walking distance from our house and we are thinking about getting a pontoon since the parents might be selling their cabin and my 14′ boat is getting tight with our family of 4. I have been looking at cheap pontoons and wondering if anyone has gone down this road before. You can find old ones from $500 on craigslist. It looks like if you go to the $2000-$3000 range you can get one with worn furniture and such. My main concern is that I would buy a super cheap one and end up putting lots of cash into it.

I have a 15hp outboard from an old pontoon if needed (with the hookups on it). I have a place to store it on a farm. I have a gas tank and battery if needed. I am able to launch it for the season, leave it, and then put it in storage so I think I could get by renting a trailer twice.

Just wondering if anyone has experiences/advice about doing this.

two years ago we had a customer approach us with this very thing.
we priced out all new factory furniture and carpet for his pontoon,five pieces of furniture total,if I remember right the furniture kit as around 3880.00,carpet was another 400.00
labor would of cost around a grand to replace all of the furniture and all of the hardware/wiring for the helm.
the floor was completely shot,that would of took the most time to install and cost 1500.00 or so to replace.
we found his entire lower unit had been run out of oil and was junk on the 35 hp outboard,that pushed the estimate over his price range and we didnt end up doing the job.

if you can buy a pontoon cheap with a decent motor you can do a lot of work yourself and have a really nice pontoon when done.

All depends on how “fancy” you get. You can do all the work yourself. Put on a new deck floor. Make sure all the railings are solid and secure. Use lawn chairs for seating. (with only a 15hp motor unsecured lawn chairs are fine, IMHO) You will have a very serviceable fishing platform for a modest investment.

If you want more than that, it can add to the cost considerably. Plus all that padded vinyl seating and such, can deteriorate quickly if left unprotected in the elements over the course of one season.

Replacing the floor is super easy. Anybody can do it. Buying new furniture isn’t cheap. But can be installed by you and some buddies. As long as the pontoons are in good shape and the frame is good. Your golden. Replace the floors, wiring, furniture and you’ll have a newish rig for cheap. I’ve done it a few times for buddies.

cost me 1450 to have two chairs and a couch reupholstered on a old pontoon that I bought and redid. Cleaning up the toons was the most work.

Do you enjoy fixing things on the weekend or do you enjoy relaxing?

At that low price range I think you’ll be spending more time fixing then relaxing. My buddy did this for about 5 yrs but he had to travel…you have the luxury to keep it near your house which might help some. My buddy has never been so happy going to his cabin and not having the worry anymore.

Huntindave wrote:

depends on how “fancy” you get. You can do all the work yourself. Put on a new deck floor. Make sure all the railings are solid and secure. Use lawn chairs for seating. (with only a 15hp motor unsecured lawn chairs are fine, IMHO) You will have a very serviceable fishing platform for a modest investment.

This is what my Dad did when they got their lakeplace. Put in new floor and found a cheap boat couch to put in back to store lifejackets etc that would stay on boat. Lawn chairs for the rest which IMO work out great bc you can switch it around however you want for the coolers, grill, water toys etc.

Have to consider whether you want to cover the thing after every use, and if not how all that new furniture will wear exposed.

Yea, my thought is that I want something that I don’t want to worry about covering. At this point if it has the steering column and sound railings I think I would be ok. Would probably just leave it as is for a year and make sure we use it then get creative later. Seems like if the pontoons are in good shape there isn’t much else that can’t be fixed fairly easily.

We just want a place where people can chill and swim from with a cage for little kids. We make it work with a fishing boat already and a tube to get off and on and I rigged up a couple beach umbrellas for shade, so I’m hoping anything would be an improvement.

I am not fancy.

Check the motor and steering system carefully. Pontoons tend to be the most abused of all boats. Nobody garages a pontoon, they sit outside all the time, summer and winter and they get treated like a no-maintenance deck.

It’s a PITA hauling pontoons, so most get no seasonal or preventative maintenance like lower unit oil changes and impeller changes.

I would absolutely take an oil sample out of the lower unit and make sure it doesn’t have water in it. A lot of pontoon owners leave the boat on a lift and let the lower unit hang in the water. Very hard on seals and if it’s leaking oil, they are unlikely to notice so it can get run dry. Bad, bad, bad.

Change out the impeller unless the previous owner can prove it’s been done within the last 3 years. A guy saying, “I think grandpa did it a few years ago,’ = “We beat this thing like a rented mule and nothing’s been done ever.”

Check steering and wiring carefully. Check under cowling for rodent damage and replace any under-cowl lines that look suspect.

Grouse

Iv done it. Bought a 20x pontoon with trailer and motor for 2900 in the middle of the season.

Then gutted it re did the wood floor and carpet, built a helm and got new cables, got a bimini top (best investment) and cleaned the pontoons and found some epoxy patches but held for a couple seasons. By the time i was done that time around i had 10k into it. Then last year i put some newer pontoons under it that were 2′ longer and larger in diameter. So with some new crossmembers That enabled me to make the deck 6’longer but costed another 3k. And now the trailer is to smakk so im going to get a new one shortly and thats another 4k. Its a slippery slope bud. But if you can leave well enough alone you should be fine. Its a good thing i like building and modifying things or id feel pretty salty that i could have bought a new grand island 24′ for less. But hey at least its paid for.

Not sure if this was mentioned. Do not buy an old STEEL pontoon. Don’t even take it if it’s free!! They rust from the inside out and are impossible to have fixed.

Don’t ask how I know….

-J.

pm sent

We are in a similar situation. Bought lake property and are prioritizing things we need or want. Pontoon is probably 3rd or so on the list.We are on a 5000 acre body of water so to really enjoy it a pontoon is a must, at least we feel so. A quick glance at Craigslist and Facebook marketplace shows a plethora of choices in all price ranges.

for me I don’t want anything that needs a lot of work and money put into. I vowed to all my adult children I was not going to turn the property into a work camp.

If I know I’m going to have to put 3 to 5 thousand into a pontoon to make it decent I would sooner spend that money up front and save myself the labor. To me it appears you can spend $7 grand and get into something used that’s pretty decent that’s plug and play. Making sure the pontoons don’t leak is the big thing.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

It’s a PITA hauling pontoons

What makes them hard to haul? Is it the shape of them, or the tiny scissor trailers? Are they better on the bunk trailers?

tindall wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>TheFamousGrouse wrote:</div>
It’s a PITA hauling pontoons

What makes them hard to haul? Is it the shape of them, or the tiny scissor trailers? Are they better on the bunk trailers?

I have a dual axle bunk trailer for mine and it tows just fine. Scissor trailers are tippy and a bit nerveracking.

tindall wrote:

What makes them hard to haul? Is it the shape of them, or the tiny scissor trailers? Are they better on the bunk trailers?

A lot of lakeshore owners don’t even own a trailer. They rent one for haul-out and set the pontoon on blocks. The tippy little narrow trailers are the scariest thing in any traffic or wind. An experienced guy will be fine, but I think the towing makes people hesitant to tow them anywhere they see as not totally necessary.

Grouse

belletaine wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tindall wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>TheFamousGrouse wrote:</div>
It’s a PITA hauling pontoons

What makes them hard to haul? Is it the shape of them, or the tiny scissor trailers? Are they better on the bunk trailers?

Scissor trailers are tippy and a bit nerveracking.

Truth!

You mentioned not wanting to cover, does that include shade? Bimini tops for toons can be very expensive as well.

My dad and I bought a pontoon last year and we trailer it everywhere, nice tandem axle bunk pontoon trailer tows great! Pulled it up to longville and back last fall and can hardly tell its back there. I tow quite a bit though. Loads great with the bunks too! Excited to get it out this summer!