deck boat or tritoon for Lake Travis, husband wants the tritoon

owned both on this lake. 2014 to 2019 i had a Sun Tracker 22 tritoon, since then a SunDeck 217. same lake, same ramp at Hudson Bend most weekends.

you already know the main thing. Travis on a saturday afternoon is a washing machine between Hudson Bend and Devils Cove and a tritoon slaps through it, the deck boat cuts it. the tritoon was more comfortable at anchor in a cove and had more flat floor for a crowd. the deck boat is a better boat every other minute of the day, including the trailer, the ramp and the drive home.

trailering is the part people underrate. a 22 ft tritoon on a bunk trailer is 10 ft wide of awkward to load with wind on the ramp and it sits tall. the 217 loads like a normal boat. if you are pulling it home every trip that is 50 ramp trips a year of difference.

217 owner, 2021, on Georgetown and sometimes Travis. the thing nobody tells you about the deck boat for kids swimming is the swim platform and the ladder. the 217 has a real platform on both sides of the motor and a telescoping ladder that a 9 year old can climb tired. most tritoons have a little rear deck with the motor in the middle of it and everybody is climbing around the outboard.

capacity is the one place the tritoon wins on paper. mine is plated for 10 people, a 22 ft tritoon is usually 12 or 13. in practice we have never had more than 8 on it and 8 is a lot of towels.

tech side, since both boats have the same motor. an F150 on a 217 is a good match, the boat is about 2,900 lb dry and the motor is rated to 200 so 150 is the sweet spot for fuel and holeshot with tubers. the same F150 on a 22 ft tritoon with three logs is working harder to get on plane with a load and you will feel it when six people and a cooler are aboard. not underpowered, just busier.

one more thing on the private sale tritoon. ask the seller for the last 100 hour service receipt. a lot of pontoon owners run them for years and never touch the lower unit oil because the boat "just idles around." on a 2019 with no paper i would budget for a full service before you trust it.

i will be the one who says the pontoon is fine. we had a 20 ft Sun Tracker on Medina for 12 years before the lake went away and the kids grew up on it. it was slow, it was ugly, it was the most comfortable boat i have ever been on for a day of doing nothing. if your husband's picture of a day on the lake is floating in a cove with the grill going, that is what a pontoon is for.

but Medina is a calm little lake and Travis is not. i would not want the tritoon on Travis on a saturday.

late but one practical thing. check the capacity plate on whichever boat and add up your actual crowd with the cooler and the gear, then compare to the persons and the pounds number. the coast guard has the how and why on uscgboating.org. a 217 with 10 adults is at the plate. a tritoon with the same 10 has room to spare. if you are the family that always ends up hosting the cousins, that matters more than the chop.