Tahoe or Sylvan

I posted about a month ago about different pontoons. Thanks for all the info, it was appreciated. My family has narrowed down our search to two boats, both 2023 models. The Sylvan Mirage 822 Party Fish, and the Tahoe Sport 2385 Rear Fish. Both have 25 inch tubes. Price is within a couple hundred bucks of each other. Feel like the Tahoe has a little bit more room, but before my search I had never heard the name before. Sylvan is a little smaller but a little more name recognition.

Anybody have any history with either of these boats or similar in those brands. I’m leaning towards the Tahoe, but again, a little leary because I’ve never heard anything about them.

Any recommendation on trailers? We will only be putting it in and taking it out once a year. But we’re not sure if we’re going to store it somewhere or on our property after wrapping it. One recommended a scissor, another recommended a bunk. Never dealt with a pontoon before so I’m not sure which to go with. I’ve heard scissor trailers can be sketchy to drive, granted we will only be driving it a few hundred yards to put it in each year, few miles to have it winterized.

Thanks for the help again.

Alex Fox wrote:

I’ve heard scissor trailers can be sketchy to drive, granted we will only be driving it a few hundred yards to put it in each year, few miles to have it winterized.

If you’re only going to take a few hundred yards to launch/load it twice a season, using a scissor trailer wouldn’t be an issue. The issue with those narrow trailers is when you have to haul them on the road regularly or long distance.

That’s kind of what I was thinking Gimruis, but we do have a tricky turn coming out of our driveway, picture rising hill, 90 degree turn onto Hwy 18. I really don’t want to dump that thing to a side because someone didn’t get it on the trailer perfect. Again, beginner when it comes to pontoons so want to make sure I get everything covered.

No help on those models, but they both look nice online. If I bought a trailer it would definitely be a bunk trailer, they are far easier to load well and more stable. We rent a scissors trailer to put in and take out most years for like $25 and that works well for us.

Big Werm you just drop the boat on the ground at your place or where ever you are storing it? We’ve debated renting a trailer and doing that as well.

Alex Fox wrote:

Big Werm you just drop the boat on the ground at your place or where ever you are storing it? We’ve debated renting a trailer and doing that as well.

Yeah we just drop it on some logs, so it’s elevated. At least we used to, now my Dad just pulls it up on shore with his truck and some round logs under it, and then roll it back in in the spring. Actually works pretty well.

One difference between the two trailer types is the scissor will allow you to launch/load in shallow water, whereas the bunk it might be a bit tough. I’m on a shallow lake and I know there would have been years where I wouldn’t have been able to get my pontoon out of the water in the fall if I had a bunk trailer.

I only need to go 10 miles each way in the spring/fall with my scissor. If you strap the pontoon down good (front and back) it’s not going to go anywhere. I was hesitant at first since I do have a 90 degree downward turn to get it into my yard/pole barn, but after a few times I got more comfortable knowing it wasn’t going to flip.

If you can swing it, I’d buy a trailer. Much more convenient to know that you can drop your boat in and take it out when you want. I don’t like relying on other folks, but if you have a good neighbor that has a trailer then that might be the ticket. Pontoon trailers hold their value too, so you’d always be able to sell it at a later date for close to what you paid for it.

We are in the market for a pontoon as well. Swing back style instead of fishing but we had Tahoe and Sylvan in the top running. Ended up deciding we will be buying a sylvan. The seats seem to have higher backs, more comfortable, and nicer upholstery. I also didn’t appreciate the decals/look of Tahoe. Instead of installing actual accent rails, they are digitally printed on the wrap. There are some other features we really liked but I think those are specific to the Sylvan L3 models.

It might be a little far from your place but 66 marine north in Crosslake is a Sylvan dealer and been super helpful with us in making a decision. Same pricing or cheaper when I compared them to other dealers in the cities and southern MN.

Both pontoons are pretty comparable in features and design as you intended. I’d focus more on the place you’re buying them from and which one appears more likely to handle warranty work or issues in a professional, timely manner.

FWIW I’ve crawled around on some Sylvan tritoons in the higher trim levels, and they are right there with the top of the line brands. There sure are a ton on the water in the past couple years as well. I can’t say anything bad about Tahoe, just no experience with them.

We run a bunk trailer for our 23′ tritoon. I’d personally never mess with a scissor trailer unless I was literally towing it a mile or two once a year to and from storage.

Whichever you go with, be careful to measure for the correct tongue weight and load the pontoon with gear accordingly. It’s pretty easy to throw 1000# of stuff in a pontoon without thinking twice about it.

Nodakk, how do you like your L series Sylvan?

I am considering a 2023 tritoon S series fish package (very similar to L series) with 150 Merc.

Does it list (eg, is the boat tilted to right or left) while sitting in the water or while driving?

We ended up putting a pause on the tritoon purchase so I dont have direct experience. We’ve still been looking and if we do go new, Sylvan L3 is still at the top of the list. I’ve heard only good reviews from asking around

Great, thanks.

One I am looking at is actually an X Series. So really similar to L.