Newbie from Ohio-Looking to dip my toes in the jet boat waters.

[Smoots1977]

Looking for some opinions on whether I should buy a 2019 AR210 or a slightly used (36 hours) 2017 SX240 for roughly 2K more than the new AR210? Help me make up my mind.

 

[Dough]

240 all day

 

[GiddYupJoe]

Welcome from the Dayton area... Where do you plan on doing most of your boating? Regardless, if you can swing the extra 2K... that is a no brainer!

 

[AlphaKap]

Tower or no tower. Depends on what you will be doing I think.

 

[Smoots1977]

No tower on the SX240. Yes tower on the AR210.

 

[AlphaKap]

No tower on the SX240. Yes tower on the AR210.

I updated my post sorry. Depends on what you will be doing.

 

[Smoots1977]

Boating mostly in the Sandusky Bay Area, maybe a trip or two to put-n-bay or Kelly’s island, and some inland lakes mixed in once and a while.

 

[BigAbe75]

If you can find an AR240 from ‘16 or so, go that route. Whether you do tow sports or not, you won’t regret having the tower. Place to hold on when boarding or at the dock, place to hang stuff (towels, speakers, flags). Increases resale a bit too.

 

[REM835]

The only thing that would give me pause is no tower...the biggest regret on mine. With the SX240 your getting the 1.8L engines instead of the TR-1s which for me is more important. Boils down to how you plan to use it, watersports etc.

 

[Smoots1977]

Well my kids are 8 and 5 so maybe some tubing here and there for now but I’m sure as they get older they might want to try other watersports.

 

[Dpod13]

Hello from Cleveland/Solon area. I have a SX210 new to it last year. Also have young ones 6 and 4. So far no need for the tower but absolutely looking like I wish I would’ve went that route because I would love to do more watersports down the line with friends etc... even though my kids aren’t ready yet their cousins are and so are some of the friends. My wife pushed for the larger Bimini and that was really the deciding factor for her to agree...
From a Ohio perspective we got a lot of use out of it last year, but never went Lake Erie/Sandusky stayed in local lakes. Wakes from boats are noticable even at that size making me think on LE and doing the runs up to the islands you would want the 24’. I agree on the ar240 if you can find one if that’s your budget point.

 

[Dpod13]

The 210 is definitely big enough for staying inland though it works great for what we use it for.

 

[Betik]

240
especially if you think going to Bimini is even a possibility

 

[Smoots1977]

I’m not too far from you Dpod13. I’m right outside of Cleveland in Parma/North Royalton area. We have a year round camper we go to every weekend in the summer up in Marblehead, so that’s where it will be kept and mainly used.

 

[Dpod13]

Ahh very cool. This summer we will leave it down on lake Milton. Pull it a few times for some weekend trips. Sandusky/Marblehead is very fun, I may bring it up there one weekend this year. Have you had a boat at all up there? If a majority of your time would be in those waters I would go as big as you can. It gets wicked fast out there sometimes even with mild winds.. the bay is much cleaner but lots of traffic in there too, it’s a shallow draft boat so more movement around the more I moved around. My first full year of ownership was last year, as far as jet boats go it was super easy to maintain, especially in our short season and winter storage. You’ll love it.

 

[2kwik4u]

Get a tower. Many benefits already mentioned, but here are a few that I didn't consider and have really enjoyed about having the tower. Between the two boats in the original post, I would take the AR210 over the SX240. Ultimately if I was looking in that size range, I would hold out for a used AR240. I think the AR240 is best "bank for the buck" boat Yamaha makes.

Reasons towers are mandatory........

• place to hang towels to dry
• no poles attaching bimini top to side of boat
• place to hold without stooping when docked
• place to hang speakers/soundbar
• overhead lighting at night
• anchor light is integrated
• higher tow point helps get new skiers/boarders out of the water
• place to hang my hammock and nap in the shade with a breeze
• they look neat

I will never own another boat without a tower. It's that handy to have.

 

[AlphaKap]

place to hang my hammock and nap in the shade with a breeze

Okay I need to see this. Are you hanging it from each side of the tower or from the tower to the bow?

 

[2kwik4u]

Okay I need to see this. Are you hanging it from each side of the tower or from the tower to the bow?

Don't have one of me doing it on my boat, but here is a buddy in his hanging from the tower on his Axis. Same premise on mine, just use the top cross bars and give it a good pre-stretch. Worked really well this past summer when the baby (3-4mo old) needed a nap in the afternoon. Get us both in there and we'd sleep for 90-120min or so while mom and 7yr old played off the back.

 

[PJ73]

Don't have one of me doing it on my boat, but here is a buddy in his hanging from the tower on his Axis. Same premise on mine, just use the top cross bars and give it a good pre-stretch. Worked really well this past summer when the baby (3-4mo old) needed a nap in the afternoon. Get us both in there and we'd sleep for 90-120min or so while mom and 7yr old played off the back.

View attachment 88688

Sweet mother of God, that's a daddy's dream right there. However, I don't think my 200 lbs ass would be supported by the tower. On a completely different subject, what is the "weight limit" for a 212X tower... asking for a friend.

 

[2kwik4u]

Sweet mother of God, that's a daddy's dream right there. However, I don't think my 200 lbs ass would be supported by the tower. On a completely different subject, what is the "weight limit" for a 212X tower... asking for a friend.

I'm 225 or so. Been hanging off my AR190 tower for 2 seasons now with no ill effects. Like all things, YMMV.