r/Pontoons

We have had our pontoon for about 6 years. For the previous 5 years our dealer has dropped it off to our lake for us in the spring and picked it up in the fall. We didn't buy it with a trailer.

This summer we found a deal on a trailer. We have pulled the boat out of the lake twice. And each time the carpet towards the front of the bunks...tore?...as I pulled the boat forward on the trailer with the winch. If that's the right way to describe it. It started to pull off of the bunk.

The first time I figured it was because the bunk carpet was still dry. Our landing is shallower than it should be. But this last time we pulled out I brought a bucket and soaked the bunks before winching. Unfortunately, same issue.

Am I doing something wrong? I have to be missing something.

I've also read about the silicone or plastic bunk slides. Should we add them? Will they help? And if we do, to the entire bunk or just the front?

I have a 23 ft pontoon with a 115 Mercury Command Thrust motor. The boats max speed is 20mph with a WOT around 4300 rpm. The current prop is a 16” / 13 pitch. I feel like I’m leaving some RPMs on the table as the WOT should be in the 5-6k range. I would like to get the max speed up for tubing.

What size prop should I be looking at and what is a realistic increase in MPH?

I currently own a Boston Whaler 210 Montauk with a 200 Verado engine about 165 hours on it. The boat also has a 12 inch Lowrance gps/fishfinder in dash and all the accoutrements that came with the boat. My wife would like to switch over to a tritoon. I know very little about them. We are located on the border with Canada so the boat has always been in freshwater and stored indoors over the winter. We boat only on the St. Lawrence River. Any recommendations on what I should buy, look for in a used tritoon, what size engine, etc.?