Used Pontoon Boat - What should I be looking for? I want a pontoon boat for salt water family fishing.?

Question

I will be docking it in a slip in Brigantine, NJ for bay fishing.

Answer 1

Just a quick heads up - Saltwater takes it toll on aluminum, and even though you will coat your toons with products like "sharks skin" the rest of your boat (rails, trim, etc) will still be open to the salt water damage. With that being said, there are still tons of people who use pontoons in saltwater. When you are looking for pontoon boats the most important things are:
1) check the pontoons for damage
2) WELDS - on a pontoon welds hold everything together, go through the welds, especially the ones holding the pontoons to the brackets (which connect to the deck) these are where you will see problems, these welds are under stress basically whenever the boat is moving, make sure they are not cracked, or damaged in any way.
3) Floor - most pontoons have marine wood floors (some have aluminum, but stay away from these) most marine plywood these days is strong stuff - but it is a major pain to replace all of it, so walk through the whole boat feeling for soft spots.
4) the engine I most likely don't need to mention, but get a compression check, and take it for a spin, make sure its running strong.

Those are the major things, everything else would be cosmetic or an easy fix - hope that helps

Answer 2

24 0r larger more stable. Make sure the supports are not corroded away rot in floor check the pontoons for corrosion & if water in side them there leaking.There not made of the best materal so look close . The seats are plywood covered vinyl look for rot.How about a deck boat fiberglass, party barge etc they will take a bit more ruff water an don't have the corrosion problem in salt water???