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Pontoon Boats and Deck Length

Generally in the past, the boat length was stated by the length of the pontoons. A 24’ pontoon would have 24’ pontoons but the deck might be only 20' and the fence only 18’.  There was often a length of pontoon tube extending beyond the front of the deck and occasionally behind.  Manufacturers seemed confined to the length of 4’ long decking.  4’-8’-12’-16’-20 and 24’.  In the earliest days pontoons didn’t have side gates and passengers boarded in the front. So a large deck in front seemed necessary.   There was often 3’-4’ in front of the fence.  This continued even though most pontoons had side gates by the 1970’s. 

1970-80’s boat wasted space on the deck and almost 2’ of tube in front of the deck.

Useable space to the front of the pontoon.

In the modern era manufacturers realized they could cut a 4’ piece of decking in half and have different length decks.  Modern decks can be almost any length and they are no longer just divided by 4’.  The idea of extending the deck by a few feet over the tubes was born.  This was originally called an Extended Deck but most modern boats have longer decks often as long as the pontoons so the term was discontinued. 

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