Pontoon Boats

Sol Duc · 06-26-2001, 05:22 PM

Iam thinking of buying a pontoon boat.Does anyone have any input on what brand would hold up the best? Possibly the best all around size for most N.w rivers.. and better what brand to stay away from! Thanks in advance, Ron

Get Bit · 06-26-2001, 07:12 PM

SD,
I own an Outcast and like it, but the best I've rowed is the Skookum Steelheader. The phone number can be found in STS in their ad. Good Luck !!

Thumper · 06-26-2001, 08:41 PM

Why play with a little toy cataraft. Mine is on 14 ft. X 22 inch tubes. Fishes three just fine. And cheap too. Make up your own from tubes and an old whitewater raft frame.

Steelheader69 · 06-26-2001, 08:45 PM

Looking at getting a cat eh? Good choice. Ok, first thing you should do is do a search on catarafts/pontoon boats on this BB. You'll find alot of info. But, if you keep reading I'll give you my input.

First off, you need to decide how many people you plan to float with. Next, what type of water do you want to hit? Sounds like you want something that can hit alot of different water. If your name implies anything, I'll day you'll be hitting the Duc and local rivers around there. What is your max you can spend?

Now, here's my recommendation. If I were you, I'd get a 12ft boat. It's a good all around size. This way if you wanted, you could put a second person with you. Now, if you plan on using with at least 3 people, I'd go with a 16ft. There are alot of quality tubes out there. I'd suggest having a setup built. A custom frame will be much more pleasing to you then a premade. You can go with Sotar, Maravia, Wing, Aire, and NRS. I'd stay away from the rest (especially Outcast. They're tubes are made by Aire, but to Outcasts specs not Aire's) Now you can have a custom frame built by Osprey on this BB. You'll have to wait in line (He's gonna be building my frame before yours [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ). I'd go with a modular frame. With a 12ft have a two piece frame. One being your main frame (rower's frame) then an extra module frame which will be your passenger frame when you want company.

Well, I probably have missed something. What did I miss Os???? I've been running cats for over a decade. Started in the whitewater realm and converted mine over to fish a few years back. If you have any questions email me and I can give you all the info I have on cats or email Os.

Jerry

Hey Os, I'll be emailing you, but we need to get together to build my frame. Also, on floatilla 3, I may have an extra seat in my sled. Depends on whether my girlfriend wants to go.