I have a lot of boats; but I'm getting more and more convinced that the perfect boat for me might be a small pontoon boat (maybe 6' x 12'). I've never seen one "live" though.

Do any of you have experience with one?

Can you expound upon the pros and cons?

Can you recommend any that you would or wouldn't get?

Can you recommend any features you would or wouldn't recommend?

I think I've seen some advertised in Pondboss, but I've loaned my magazines to a coworker in hopes of getting her and her husband hooked - I mean better informed - about ponds.

Thanks!

A few years back, I was going to get a swim platform which is basically a pontoon boat with a flat deck only. I figured I would anchor it somewhere, but also thought I would hook a trolling motor to it and use it to fish from.

I never got around to getting it, but I still like the idea.

Jeff, your pond is really big, so I think it would be good as long as you had the simple jon-boat for ez-on-ez-off boating when solo.

Here are a couple threads on pond boats the may help. Pre wired for motor , has a live well/ cooler, stable when standing , comfortable to sit in , easy to put in and launch, enough easy storage including for battery , holds enough weight and lasts a long time.

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=001780#000012

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002916#000002

Take a look at www.pondking.com. I got the opportunity to play with the 2 man one a couple of months ago at a seminar. The owner loves it and I can't find a flaw.

Mini Pontoon Boat

Here is the one we have (615 cruse). We have a Briggs and Stration 3hp eletric on it. We love it.

Renewing this thread. I am thinking very seriously about a small pontoon boat for my three acre pond this spring.

Adding a pontoon boat and securing it to my dock when not in use as an additional fishing and swimming platform seems like a good addition to the dock.

Does anyone have any new experiences with small pontoons?

Bing

No practical experience recently with pontoon boats, but I still have a hankerin' for an 18 footer. Go to Ebay and search pontoon boats. You can narrow the search to the size, ie; 18 pontoon . There was a couple of dealers that posted heavily on Ebay with new inventory. I remember some guy up in Minnesota...?

"Dwight's Discount Well-Built Barges"?

aka Queen Mary Bremer Barge II

The pontoon has gotta come with a trailer. Although somewhat blasephemous, one might consider dipping one's pontoon in other bodies of water.

I used a 4 by 8 ft pontoon once.Fit in the back of my pick-up and lanched it by hand...great boat.Very stable...but I cant find one to buy.

I found this website recently while on a similar search:
http://www.protatch.com/

I have since decided to go with a larger pontoon (20 footer), depending what I'm able to find locally (and cheap). These small pontoons may have a place in many small ponds though.

We have an old Weers waterbike that has seen over 30 years of use at our pond, the thing is great to fish out of.

http://www.weeres.com/waterbikeraft.htm

Rangersedge,

Are you looking for an inflatable, if so try out this company.
I have an ODC1018 and love it. There are many different companies that produce these but I like this one due to price and lifetime Warranty. Very stable in the water and you can add a motor if you prefer not to oar. I take it rafting on the river and fishing in some smaller lakes instead of hauling out the bass boat.

http://www.creekcompany.com/multidisplay.php?Cat=3

Shorty, that reminds me of the paddleboat that I used to get to "rent for free" at a small Minnesota family-owned resort our family vacationed at every year when I was a kid. We became very close friends with the resort owners, and I worked out a deal with them. I cleaned the resort rental boats every morning in return for free use of the paddleboat while we were staying there. It's also how I stocked my tacklbox. It was amazing the good stuff people would discard in those boats.

This looks much like what I fished from. http://www.pehrsonlodge.com/images/boating6.jpeg

I went all over that lake with that thing. Trolled great for walleye via human power too. No electric trolling motor could provide the speed control I had with that paddleboat.

All;

I was about to query what you might suggest for a 4 acre watershed pontoon wise - anyone have any experience with this firm?

http://www.protatch.com/Pontoon15.htm

They aren't huge [15 ft], but since I don't think I need an outboard, [a 70 lb thrust Minnkota would be ideal I think], and the four seater version would be ideal for wife and two kids.

Of course, if you know the gals on the boat from the website we could always offer them a spot to sunbathe.

TJ

Sorry Weissguy - you beat me to the punch - those 15 footers look ideal for guys with smaller ponds like myself. Sorry for the reiteration....

...or, hang out the "Red Footed Boobie Sanctuary" sign

I bought one of these:

http://www.directboats.com/basstender102.html

I can chuck it in my truck by myself and it's very comfortable for two people.

One more link with a little larger boats but still not obligated to use the outboard:

http://www.logoboats.com/

...or follow Dwight's lead and build your own.

Here are some ideas with commentary: Barge

i bought a small 14' boat from an outfit in Florida. it is call PondToon they had several elctric or gas options. I have a 15hp motor on mine and it runs out at 14 mph. I beleive their site is

This a really old post; but thought I'd provide an update. We went with the Protach (I'll suggest to them that they advertise here) and are well pleased with it. We have it at marine place getting decked out with 15 hp gas and 55 lb thrust electric; plus some other mods. Considering some others. Looking forward to getting it back.

Sounds like a sweet little package! Post some pics when you get her back from the marina place after she is all decked out.

I'm fortunate I found this post when I did. Thanks for letting us know your feedback on the Protach - I was just talking to them Friday and got a proforma invoice with the features I wanted. I've compared pricing and [visually] their structural integrity and I think the Protach is the way I'm going [they're also only located 90 miles from Lincoln, NE]. Let us know how the 55 lb thrust motor gets you around or if you'd suggest more thrust.

I'm thinking of adding a fish finder, livewell, bimini top and 6 removable swivel seats. Six positions in all: Four in the corners when the family is aboard, then pull those and stick two of them in two middle positions perfect for two anglers. I hope the deck can handle all those mounts.

Have you had it on the water yet? Let us know...I can't wait to order mine.

No clue on the size Protach you all are thinking on nor its "waterdynamics", but I have a smaller 15' v-hull Tracker boat and have a transom mounted 55 lb trolling motor on it I use for trolling. It'll do about 2.5 mph on the high setting at full throttle. I'm happy with the amount of power I get out of the 55 lb motor.

Our boat is about 5' wide and 15' long. We used it with a 35lb thrust motor and it did ok. We tried it with a 10 hp gas and it did ok. I ordered it when they just came out with the below deck battery compartments (to enhance above deck floor space). Pros and cons; but I probably wouldn't order those again if doing over. It is nice to have the extra floor space; but I'm not sure it was worth it based upon the drag they create. We got the bench seat, top, etc. We almost got the swivel seats; but ultimately decided against them. I'm actually kind of glad we didn't get those. It is stable enough to be out closer to the front and one of the mods is putting a bass boat bicycle style seat mounted on one of the rails up front. I'm a little nervous about it; but it might be pretty nice. Why we decided against the swivel chairs was mainly to conserve floor space and thinking we could use that space for coolers, etc. It definitely doesn't have the floor space of the big pontoons and it doesn't have the speed of a bass boat; but it has a nice niche and is probably perfect for us.

Especially since you are so close, you might stop by and check them out in person if you haven't already. They were out in their showroom so they took us to visit a customer who has two. They were smaller than I envisioned and we immediately decided to go with the 15 model vs. the 10 we had been considering. Everyone involved was great.

We've used it in several local ponds (from 1/2 acre to 17 acres) and a couple local lakes (140 and 1,700 acres). It did fine even with waves from bass boats while we were using a trolling motor. We're considering taking it out on Lake Shelbyville http://www.lakeshelbyville.com/ soon which is around 11,000 acres and not far away.

We mainly fish shallow water where a lot of fishfinders aren't so much help. I'd love to have one of those nice Hummingbird sidefinder ones. I just have a lot of difficulty right now rationalizing $2K for an electronic device that won't be used often and will be obsolete in 6 months. Plus an aquaintaince is a semi-serious tournament fisherman (has participated in and won a lot of tournaments) who has two and gives them only a marginal endorsement. I should probably get a cheaper fishfinder; but I didn't spend the time really learning to use / trust the last one I had.

Thanks Rangersedge - this is great feedback. I too was considering the 15' model. Seats will be installed aftermarket so they are removable depending on the number of folks on the boat. The people at Protach told me to just use lawn chairs...?

Good advice on electronics. I am curious how the bottom of my pond looks as I've never been able to see it and what structure the fish are relating to.

Good advice on the battery compartments, I am planning on adding them but will never be using this boat for any other body of water, most likely, and only have 3-4 acres to navigate.

Please keep in touch and let me know how your modifications are working for you. I really appreciate your feedback!

TJ