Pontoon trailer

Advantage or disadvantage to bunk vs scissor style?

Also can anybody explain Sealegs to me? Are they mounted to the belly of the pontoon and go up & down with a switch? Are they sturdy, problems with wind or waves? I’ve never looked into them so I don’t know the pro’s & con’s or if they are even worth the trouble.

Thank you.

What!
You buying a toon?

Trailer for me is a non factor as i only move the toon A mile in the spring and a mile in the fall.
From what I understand sea legs are good in shallow water, but they are susceptible to Being blow off the Their legs in windy conditions.

scissor style for me, can launch in shallow water better

Bunk trailer.

They tow substantially better, like night and day difference. If you go to a place that sells new, mid and higher end “packages”, it will be hard to find scissors styles unless it’s for someone who never needs the trailer and therefore can cut the cost.

The only way I’d consider the scissors style was if I was pulling it out once a year and driving it down the road for storage close by. Anything highway speed or out of town and I’d go with a bunk trailer. We slip our tritoon on the river but I still take it on a couple trips up North a summer, plus pull it once a month to clean/acid wash. Even with that amount of use, I’d never consider the scissors style.

Bunk pontoon trailers are typically more stable, better for towing, but they require deeper water to launch. Scissor style allow you to get under a pontoon with less clearance and allows launching in shallower water, but they are notoriously unstable, so not great for towing longer distance, but sufficient if you only launch and pull your pontoon once per year.
Sea legs are a nice substitute for anchoring and mooring, can eliminate the need for a pontoon lift, but they are limited as to how deep of water you can use them in, and they do add some drag to the underside of the pontoon since they will be in the spray when underway. If your pontoon is under 115 hp, the extra drag/weight is noticeable. They are mounted to the pontoon frame and do operate with a switch. Wind and waves have to be fairly severe to warrant concern, but I have seen pics of overturned pontoons that were moored on Sea Legs in a storm. Raising the pontoon to avoid the waves, raises the profile, and wind can roll it. Not raising it, can allow waves to “walk” it out of place or possibly tip it.
If you only launch it occasionally, or you park it in a marina, harbor or sheltered area where wind and waves are not a concern, they might be ideal. If you’re in a deeper lake with limited protection from wind/waves, I’m not sure they are the best choice. A bunk trailer is preferable if you mount Sea Legs.

Most stressful days of the year are towing the pontoon from Winter storage and putting away in the Fall on a scissors trailer. Used a bunk trailer once. They are great.

All depends on the landings you use. Up at our cabin you pretty much need to have a scissor trailer to launch smoothly due to the depth of water at the launch. A “new” cabin owner up there bought a toon on a bunk trailer and they had to get pulled off the bunk trailer to launch last weekend, and that is with the higher spring water. Most of the neighbors use our scissor trailer and I launch with the loader attachment on the tractor. Goes much smoother.

However, be sure to strap all four corners when using a scissor trailer until you’re about to launch. I remove the rear straps right before the back end goes in, then remove the front straps after it’s mostly in.

If getting a scissor trailer, make sure to get one that cuts in where the wheels are so it is as wide as possible for the majority of the support. Our newer trailer is like that and is much more stable than the older one we had.

Everybody’s advice is sound, but i’ll never forget driving behind someone towing a pontoon on a scissor lift and while turning at an intersection in the center of town watching it slowly tip over… stopped all traffic for a few hours..

I live on a small lake inside the city limits of Crosslake, it has a DNR built public access with a concrete ramp. My pontoon boat is tied up to my dock at this writing. It goes in in the spring (last week) and comes out in the fall (after leaf season). I don’t even own a trailer for my pontoon. In the winter my pontoon sits in my storage building with 5 other boats all on caster based boat stands. Three of the boats are pontoons, the largest is a 24 footer (not mine).
The pontoons go in and out in and out on the same trailer (owned by the 24 footer). I basically rent it from him for 50 minutes of use a year. I picked my pontoon up with that trailer in the Detroit Lakes Area (some years back). There many places you can rent a scissors trailer in the area (under $100 for a couple hours). I doubt I will ever own a pontoon trailer. I DO have a well equiped fishing boat that travels. Decide how you are going to use your boat, if your pontoon is going to travel often, go with bunks. If not I would rent, save your trailer money, if it is going to sit outside year round, spend your saved money on shrink rap and wood blocks.

Has anybody ever compared the height difference between a pontoon boat on a scissors trailer vs a bunk trailer (scissors lift locked in at its travel height)

Just curious in terms of what height garage door frame is required for a pontoon on a bunk trailer vs having the ability to lower the scissors trailer when backing it in?

Not trying to hijack the thread, its something to think about if you plan on storing your pontoon in a garage over the winter…My neighbor had to cut into his garage face and make the door frame 2′ taller after buying a big pontoon on a bunk trailer…

There’s quite a range of heights based on the profile of the pontoon/tritoon itself, but I’d say you will surely need a 10′ tall door for most that are on bunk trailers. Ours will fit in a 10′ tall door with the bimini down completely. I’d predict the difference in height is approximately a foot or so for trailered height between bunk and scissors.

One other thing to consider is the tire size on the trailer. Ours came with the wider, “super single” looking wheels that are sufficently rated for weight and highway speed. I was skeptical at first, but so far they’ve been good. I bet they’re 5″ shorter than some of the typical trailer tires which helps for shallow launches and storage height but still keeping the pro’s of the bunk trailer.

+1 for Bunk Trailer. Sea Legs should require max HP (not that you weren’t planning on it already as an IDO Vet ), also if you plan on having max passenger capacity the weight is a factor to keep in mind as the sea legs+battery=about 1 person.

Most of my neighbors manage to get their pontoons into garages with 7ft doors. You have to drop the bimini. Tilt the motor up some, put the boat on 4 short roller stands and carfully slide it through the door. It is a squeeze for my neighbor with a modern 20′ Harris or 24′ Weere. But it is doable with a scissor trailer.

I have a friend with 17′ Forrester that manages to slide his pontoon sitting on a bunk trailer into a double garage with a 7′ door.

Most pontoons without the bimini istalled are roughly the same height.

When I had my storage building built, I had it built with 9′ walls and a 8′ door.

In the winter there are 6 boats in there, all neatly slide in there sitting on roller stands. Brought in with a scissor trailer.

I tow my pontoon everywhere. Usually an hour each way 2 or 3 times a month. I’ve had it 9 years and I’m on my second bunk trailer. I have used a scissors style and they are great for everything except for actually towing. Most pontoon trailers and boat trailers for that matter are made to minimum standards. I ended up driving from Minnesota to Indiana to get my forever trailer after doing a bunch of research. Ended up with twice the trailer for the same $ as was available local. Check trailers for pontoons.Com they are a part of pontoonstuff.com and the customer service on both of those is awesome!

Thanks for all the advise. I think I have it handled.

I bought a 24ft pontoon this spring. Haven’t had a lot of time to try it out. It came with a Hoosier classic trailer. This type of trailer has a pulley system to lower and raise the boat . It also has a safety cable hooked on a back but not connect to the pulley system. My question is this : when we towed the boat and originally lowered the boat in the water the safety cable was tight . I am unable to get the safety cable tight when I have the boat back on and secure . Is anyone familiar with this type of trailer