03-28-2014, 09:34 PM
[quote Fergy]I've had a pontoon with a frame for the last 10 years and am in the market for a new one. I've seen a lot of talk about frameless ones. What are the advantages of the frameless?
Advantages are, they sit a little lower although you still sit out of the water, they are more secure / stable because that are not held onto a frame with straps, lighter, quicker set up
I float mostly rivers, won't be doing any back packing, and space in my vehicle is not an issue. I like having the open space between the pontoons with no floor so I can put my feet down to stop or stand up to hold me in place. Does the closed end on the frameless cause extra drag in the water?
This will be a yes/no depending on the boat. Watermaster which is a flat bottom with a foot print of the whole tube is more drag, North Fork Outdoors Assault series, no, they are rockered at both ends so the foot print is the same as a pontoon
I would also think that there is not as much strength and support for the oar locks on the frameless especially when you are leaning hard on the oars.
Definitely can be an issue. The oar pins have broke before and no not as strong as Horse Shoe style. Generally an easy fix.
From someone who has used both, what do you like better about frameless?[/quote]
I have three frameless and one framed. I like the portability and quick set-up not to mention lack of weight on the frameless. Another issue is the pontoon on each side or the U (uni) shape. On my duel pontoon, when wind picked up, I found the pontoon wanted to seriously turn, doesn't happen on the Uni shape.
I Have had a pontoon work loose on the frame and a lot of instability, can't happen with a Uni.
To address this further, although I own the Assault and the XX, and do like them a lot, I do like the open front end as I fly fish and prefer to keep the tip of the rod in the water. The U shape boats also offer the foot bar so you are able to stand up on the river without the boat taking off.
Hope this helped.
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Advantages are, they sit a little lower although you still sit out of the water, they are more secure / stable because that are not held onto a frame with straps, lighter, quicker set up
I float mostly rivers, won't be doing any back packing, and space in my vehicle is not an issue. I like having the open space between the pontoons with no floor so I can put my feet down to stop or stand up to hold me in place. Does the closed end on the frameless cause extra drag in the water?
This will be a yes/no depending on the boat. Watermaster which is a flat bottom with a foot print of the whole tube is more drag, North Fork Outdoors Assault series, no, they are rockered at both ends so the foot print is the same as a pontoon
I would also think that there is not as much strength and support for the oar locks on the frameless especially when you are leaning hard on the oars.
Definitely can be an issue. The oar pins have broke before and no not as strong as Horse Shoe style. Generally an easy fix.
From someone who has used both, what do you like better about frameless?[/quote]
I have three frameless and one framed. I like the portability and quick set-up not to mention lack of weight on the frameless. Another issue is the pontoon on each side or the U (uni) shape. On my duel pontoon, when wind picked up, I found the pontoon wanted to seriously turn, doesn't happen on the Uni shape.
I Have had a pontoon work loose on the frame and a lot of instability, can't happen with a Uni.
To address this further, although I own the Assault and the XX, and do like them a lot, I do like the open front end as I fly fish and prefer to keep the tip of the rod in the water. The U shape boats also offer the foot bar so you are able to stand up on the river without the boat taking off.
Hope this helped.
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