Considering purchasing a pontoon boat for float parties, looking for suggestions?
 

My buddy and I have been talking about splitting the cost of a pontoon boat and converting it into a party barge, and we found a killer one for $5000 here in town - http://burlington.craigslist.org/boa/3201455066.html

The idea is to add more batteries, amps, speakers, lighting, DJ booth, BBQ, etc and moor it at his house, then just drive it over to the local beach we have our float parties at!

Just wondering if anyone has any experience converting a pontoon boat to a party barge (creating secure/dry areas to mount the stereo/speakers (there's no real rack on this one, so I'm guessing we'd have to fabricate something?).

Post some pics if you do (and yes, I did see that one in Cali that was just crazy overdone with the 16-18 tower speakers and green glow!)

Gotta have a giant giraffe. Seriously, the tiki theme us pretty classic
http://www.geoffschultz.org/2010_Sai...1_13051782.JPG

i would think a honda eu2000i and some powered pa speakers would be easier than charging batterys all the time and having them die before the party is done, , . 5k for that seems high to me.

here ya go LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJzSr3G61Bo

hold my beer and watch this!

Interesting idea but I'd personally would run a generator with true P/A equipment.
Used P/A equipment should be easy to find and is much better suited for the plan.

I did something similar.
The 35 hp motor is a turd. With anymore than 2-3 people, you’ll be luckily to break 10-12 mph. add some wind….and you’ll never be able to maneuver something that big. Into the wind expect max 10 mph, lol.
I had a 115, on a 23-24 ft…and it was slow. ( top speed with only a few people was about 22-25) . Those old two strokes suck gas too. I used to burn thru a ton of gas in mine…oil gets expensive.
I’d up your budget and get something a bit newer with more HP. Also those older pontoons are prone to leaking.
I mounted my amps in the drivers helm…I had two amps. I replaced all the cockpit speakers with JL components. (eBay) and mounted a free air sub in a box( decent sound). All marine grade….if you party on the boat, it’s gonna get wet. I had a bank of 4 golf cart batteries…the generator is a good idea. But not cost effective for me. Don’t’ hook anything up to the boat electrical system…you will fry the small stator in the motor. I also had a 25 inch LCD TV in mine (hooked into stereo)  had a portable HD antenna…worked great. Had LED lights around he flooring….used the outdoor ones with a 3m adhesive backing ( for under cars)
Had the bbq on the side…..didn’t’ use it near as much as I thought.
I even had an enclosure made for the rear half of the boat….great for winter/rain. Used a portable heater on board as well.
Same thing…I lived on the lake and kept mine at my house or friends houses. It probably got more use than my supra at the time.
They suck to drive in any windy conditions.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/32-PO...item1c2a750bff

Thsi would be the perfect set up for what your wanting.

My mechanic has a older version of this he got cheap with a soft floor. He did like your wanting and gutted most of the overnight type stuff and made the kitchenette more of a bar. Then set up a rack mount audio system and had the huge sub enclosures in front of the enclosed part of the boat and a couple dual 15" full rang boxes on top of the building. All ran off the built in geenrator with a spare generator on the back deck.

There should be tons of resources out there. I remember going to Havasu and couldn't believe how many party barges there were! Disco balls, DJ speakers, couches, full bars, etc. There was some really cool stuff there!

You will want to purchase a toon with the largest diameter logs you can find. If you're going to add all that stereo gear and lights, generators, etc...you'll need the buoyancy to handle it.
You can find deals on Crest (look for mid 90's and up III models or fishing models), and some Harris. Crest used wood in their seating, so they are heavy, but if you're stripping it out, that will save you weight, and the Crests are built like tanks.

http://www.crankyape.com/default.asp...emNumber=34280

http://www.crankyape.com/default.asp...emNumber=35635

http://www.crankyape.com/default.asp...emNumber=33908

You May have to get a cannon and take this one by force matey..

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...-30-06_786.jpg

I had a regency suntracker party barge ( 25) Ther was no wood on the boat...all seat frames were plastic. even the floor was aluminum.