Sea Legs

Jeff Pearl

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Does anyone have any experience with Sea Legs? I currently tie up my pontoon on my pier as my wife likes the water bounce when sitting on it. I’m thinking about sea legs as a lift alternative. Any pros or cons? Thoughts on the different brands? Any idea on cost?
 
Does anyone have any experience with Sea Legs? I currently tie up my pontoon on my pier as my wife likes the water bounce when sitting on it. I’m thinking about sea legs as a lift alternative. Any pros or cons? Thoughts on the different brands? Any idea on cost?

First, do a search on Sea Legs and Ultra Legs in there’s forums. This has been an ongoing topic. There is a group of people on here that swear by them, 1-2 that had bad experiences with them, and most that don’t have them. If you browse these older posts, you will get LOTS of advice, perspectives, etc...

I had my dealership get Sea Legs added to our boat two weeks ago. We get it for the first time with them this upcoming Thur. 6/19. I may not get much of a chance to really play with them until the week of July 4. However, I am happy to report back to you my thoughts if you contact me in a couple weeks. :)

In the meantime, I am confident some of the others will chime in and share their thoughts. I know Renegade (username of a forum member) has had them on his last 2-3 boats, and is very knowledgeable. He has given me great insights!!!

Pros: ease, flexibility, convenience. All amplified by certain lake and boating uses/conditions.
Cons: cost, weight (extra 360+ lbs), less speed at WOT (3-5 mph less), and I’ve heard of issues if used on a very rocky bottom, or super mucky lake bottom.

Good luck. Being new to them, I will for sure be following this thread for additional advice and insights myself.
 
I'll be curious to see if the 3-5 mph drop holds true!
 
Last I saw, Tritoon sea legs are 570 lbs since there’s 4 independent legs. I know mine are pretty husky. I’ve had leaking issues with mine among other issues but they have been good to have in lieu of buying a lift.
 
When doing your search just be aware that the installation techniques have advanced in the last couple of years. They can now install them without cutting or removing any underskinning and also now have their own installers (at one time you were at the mercy of the experience and skill level of the maintenance people at the boat dealership). When we had them installed on our new boat last year the dealership just called Sea Legs and an installation crew came and installed them. The dealer said he just makes a couple hundred bucks for the phone call. I like this process a lot better as they do them all of the time and know what they're doing.
 
I'll be curious to see if the 3-5 mph drop holds true!

It held pretty true with mine. I have a 23' swingback with a 150hp Merc and am seeing 33-35mph. It sounds like others with the same set up, minus the Sea Legs, are in the 38-40 range.
I might even pick up a bit more now that DaveyJ has my prop dialed in!! Thanks again!
I might try lifting the motor up a notch or 2 this summer as well.
 
Last I saw, Tritoon sea legs are 570 lbs since there’s 4 independent legs. I know mine are pretty husky. I’ve had leaking issues with mine among other issues but they have been good to have in lieu of buying a lift.

I’m thinking they have improved that a lot, just like the installing with under skinning with Sea Leg installers, changes in legs/feet, etc... For our pontoon it was going to be somewhere between 350-390 lbs. That is literally it for a tritoon. Honestly, that’s only the weight of two grown men. That was part of my deciding factor...they were a couple hundred pounds less than I thought they were, so my performance hit should be minimal and predictable.
 
I’m thinking they have improved that a lot, just like the installing with under skinning with Sea Leg installers, changes in legs/feet, etc... For our pontoon it was going to be somewhere between 350-390 lbs. That is literally it for a tritoon. Honestly, that’s only the weight of two grown men. That was part of my deciding factor...they were a couple hundred pounds less than I thought they were, so my performance hit should be minimal and predictable.
That’s a lot of weight to cut but certainly possible and, with the improvement in the install techniques, it’s obvious they haven’t been sitting on their laurels.
 
I’m thinking they have improved that a lot, just like the installing with under skinning with Sea Leg installers, changes in legs/feet, etc... For our pontoon it was going to be somewhere between 350-390 lbs. That is literally it for a tritoon. Honestly, that’s only the weight of two grown men. That was part of my deciding factor...they were a couple hundred pounds less than I thought they were, so my performance hit should be minimal and predictable.

Weight is one thing, drag is another!
 
Weight is one thing, drag is another!

True that! In looking at another display tritoon with Sea Legs on it at the dealership, I am optimistic that will minimal to nonexistent. BUT wont know until we get the boat back and try them out.

I was stunned how high up they tuck into the under-skinning, and what little hangs down is angled water-dynamically. With them put up, it was all smooth and mixed tightly with under-skinning. Fingers crossed on it being a non-factor.

I was just amazed at the tight flush finish, very little hanging down, all angles thought of in design, and the big reductions in weight compared to the past. I’ll take pictures with them up and down, etc, etc... and report out how they function and impact performance.
 
Can't wait to see what you think of them Jeff and also see what the actual effect on performance is. My last set were installed before the boat left the lot and the other two boats that I had them on I didn't pay much attention to the difference in performance as I didn't have enough hp to care about it. To me the slight loss in speed is easily justified by the convenience of having them. I also don't have to f#$k up my back dragging a lift in/out every season (although I do get roped into helping my buddies with theirs o_O (although they usually compensate me with cold beer :D)
I can't say enough good things about them but, like everything else in life, there are trade offs.
 
How do the cost of Sea Legs vs Ultra Legs compare?

I don’t really know. Our dealer works with Sea Legs, so frankly I went that route for that reason. I can say the Sea Legs are going to run approximately 8-9k for the legs installed on a tritoon, and another +/- 4K if you also do the canopy (which we didn’t add on). That’s a 2019 price. Cheaper if buying them for a traditional 2-toon.

Anyone know recent 2019 prices for Ultra Legs.
 
LOL, i finally looked up sea legs, it is a portable (on boat) lift. i had no idea. i thought it was something installed on toons to stabilize the boat in rough weather, i was wondering why people needed it, now i know.



sealegs1.jpg
 
LOL, i finally looked up sea legs, it is a portable (on boat) lift. i had no idea. i thought it was something installed on toons to stabalize the boat in rough weather, i was wondering why people needed it, now i know.


sealegs1.jpg
They are a neat idea but that picture is an example of how not to deploy them. You want the toons to be a max of 6”-8” above the water in order to minimize the chance of the wind blowing the boat over. I’ve seen plenty of pics of boats flipped over because people left their boat up in the air and a storm came through. Not as likely with a Tritoon due to the additional weight and the center toon filling the space but still something to be kept in mind.
 
Yeah, maybe just demonstrating how high that they could lift the boat but I'm not sure why on earth you'd ever want to. I just raise mine until it's about 6" off the water and call it a day.
 
We paid $5,000 for ultra legs for pontoon (2 logs). We received the same quote for sea legs.

I don’t really know. Our dealer works with Sea Legs, so frankly I went that route for that reason. I can say the Sea Legs are going to run approximately 8-9k for the legs installed on a tritoon, and another +/- 4K if you also do the canopy (which we didn’t add on). That’s a 2019 price. Cheaper if buying them for a traditional 2-toon.

Anyone know recent 2019 prices for Ultra Legs.
5,000
 
We paid $5,000 for ultra legs for pontoon (2 logs). We received the same quote for sea legs.


5,000

Yup, $5k for dual toon on Sea Legs here as well. How much for Ultra Legs on a Tritoon? Wondering if they are the same price too.
 
Recently installed Sea Legs on my 2015 Bennington 21s Tritoon. Love them by the way. No need for a shore station and the toons stay clean. It's amazing to dock or raise at the beach. No issues except was using an old battery and the boat sat for 2 weeks and battery was dead.

Not sure if I need to run a second battery or larger battery if anyone perhaps has Sea Legs to comment.
 
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