Pontoon Cruisers/496 HO

[FireSternTube]

Anyone out there have insight into the new tritoon hot rods? we are looking at a Playcraft triple with a 496 HO and a 28 Bennington with same power. Sure would like some information if any one has experience with those.

[H20Advantage]

Take a look at this recent thread:
Pontoons (http://www.***boat.net/forums/showthread.php?t=107534)

[FireSternTube]

Take a look at this recent thread:
Pontoons (http://www.***boat.net/forums/showthread.php?t=107534)
Well so much for asking. Guess I should shop around for an opinion outside of Southern Cal.

[beyondhelpin]

Take a look at this recent thread:
Pontoons (http://www.***boat.net/forums/showthread.php?t=107534)
Before to much elitist bullshit gets spewed.............I talked to an old man at the boat show a couple of years ago whos Tritoon pontoon boat was there with a pair of 300 Mercs hung of the back. He stated the thing would run 92 GPS. It was a couple of years ago so I am not 100% sure on the MPH number he stated but it was something like that. He had pics with the thing running hard. Did not look like anything was in the water except the props. Said he liked nothing better that to blow away some of the gold chain wearing guys in thier hot boats! (His words not mine)
BTW H2O how fast is your boat!
Sorry Fire I dont have anymore info than that. Mount a stripper pole in the middle and a thumping stereo and I would not be ashamed to hang on one!

[Sigus]

The Toon with the whackers is still avalible at Shimmer Marine in Havasu. Ask for Mike.
Don't take it past 70!!!

[Seadog]

If you want to talk about pontoons, go to Pontoon and deckboat magazine forums.

[2Driver]

If you want to talk about pontoons, go to Pontoon and deckboat magazine forums.
Yeah! Because ***boat is a site for Crestliner owners with V6 engines :rolleyes: :rollside:
There was a Playcraft with a 496 HO for sale in the Trader at Lake Pleasant last Fall. All I've heard is that it is a tight fit! I had a couple of Tritoons with the 350 and they did very well. Personally, I'd opt for the MX 6.2 MPI 320 HP. I am betting with the weight savings you would be reasonably close on top end and have a much better fit, MPG etc. Just my 2 cents.

[Seadog]

I am just saying that there are a lot of performance pontoon owners there that could have pertinent advice. BTW, the speed record for pontoons was set at 82 mph.

[Havasu Cig]

Before I bought my Bennington with the 350 Mag I looked into the Playcraft with both the 350 and the 496. From the people I talked to that had experience with the 496 it was for the most part not very positive. The motor is squeezed in with very little room to do any work on it, the engine pod has to be modified by adding a foot onto the boat, and they had encountered problems with stuff coming loose on the boat. When I talked to the Playcraft dealer in Havasu they even told me to stay away from the 496 (this was the previous owners of the dealership).
I looked at the Bennington at the L.A. show this past year with the 496 and it looked very tight as well. The boat had not been on the water yet so they could not give me any real info about it other than to say it should top 60 mph. It was about 70k (about a 10k increase from the small block) so I guess it depends on what you want. For me 45 mph was enough, but it is our second boat. I still have a fast boat for the speed fixes. I would call Bill (WildBillg) at the Boat Brokers for info on the Bennington.

[Warlockjer]

Hey Seadog , I'll bet alot of members on here have pontoon boats. I for one do. Good advice on going to Pontoon and Deck boat forums, but They don't offer alot of advice on performance. Give this site a chance to help :) :)

[Seadog]

I agree that this is the place for performance boating. (among other things) If I have a query, I always like to find all the places to get info. Every board that I deal with takes a different approach to a problem, yet it is all good. Pontoons are a great breed of boating, but they require some changes in thinking for boaters used to V-hulls.
Playcraft is reigning performance make right now. The tweaks they made to the twin 300 Merc rig to get the record took a lot of effort. Bennington is more into creature comfort luxury, but still has lots of go.
BTW, 2Driver, one advatage of my Crestliner, is that the engine compartment is big enough to swap a 5.7 w/twin turbos for the V6 and still leave room to work on it. Most pontoons are too tight to easily work on the engines. Besides, while I like to get some speed up, I find that most of the time, the lake is too rough to stay over 35 mph. Since that is well under my top end, it works.

[Kilrtoy]

http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/111DSC01096.JPG

[BoatPI]

I know a number of peeps that have the Playcraft. All are happy. Do not sell the option of outbords short, and in low water that might be best. Condider twin 225's or a Merc 300. Many are sold with Honda 200 or 225's. U need to ride in one first. It takes alot of HP to push them real fast.

[Havasu Cig]

My Skater has 300x's and I love the motors, but I would not want them on a pontoon boat. They are a little bit of a pain in the ass around the docks because they don't like to idle all the time, and they wont be as reliable as a 350 Mag / Bravo boat (or similar set-up).
While I think the above Playcraft is cool, if I wanted a performance boat with twin 300x's I would not pick a pontoon for the plateform to put them on. My Skater with the same power will run 40 mph faster.
On top of all this I have a five year warranty on my I/O package that cost a lot less than the two year extended warranty you can get on the 300's. The I/O package is like a car, you get in turn the key and it starts and idles every time. If you want something fast go buy a hull that is designed to go fast. If you want something that you can hang out on all day in comfort go with a pontoon. If you want something in the middle go with a deck boat. My.02.