2 Person Pontoon Boat

I apologize for not making my question more specific. The pontoon boat is basically a piece of plywood on floats. I have put motors on regular boats, but they had a transom to clamp them too. The pontoon boat doesn't have a vertical surface like the transom of a regular boat. I guess I am asking how to make a motor mount for this rig. Thank you for your answers.

Place the motor on the stern with the transom between the clamps. Tighten.

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"The pontoon boat is basically a piece of plywood on floats. ... The pontoon boat doesn't have a vertical surface like the transom of a regular boat."

LOL, figured it was something like that...sorry for being such a smart-@$$.

For the transom itself, two pieces of 3/4" exterior grade plywood joined with a high-quality epoxy, and covered with a layer of fiberglass cloth would be strong and durable. Two pieces glued together makes a stronger board than a solid piece of hardwood or a single piece of plywood the same thickness.

If fiberglass is too much trouble, there are other solutions for protecting wood from the elements -- if you don't do something it'll start to delaminate quickly.

I'd visit the hardware store for a couple stainless steel L-brackets (shelf brackets for example -- that's not a whole lot of weight) for mounting. Better get four. Thru-bolt the brackets to your pontoon platform first, two on top, two underneath.

Getting your transom at the right height might be a trial & error process. Think about drilling several sets of holes.

Use stainless steel fasteners if longevity is a factor. For best results, pre-drill the holes a little larger than you need, fill 'em with epoxy, then drill through the cured epoxy. That will isolate the wood from the elements. At the very least, coat the bolts with 3m 5200 when you install 'em. You don't want water getting to the interior of your plywood.

That's what I'd do. At least, it's what I'd set out to do. What I ended up with might be different.....you know how it goes....

2009-07-14 10:02:51 by minitoon

Patented Sea Eagle FoldCat two man pontoon boat inflates in 5 minutes

this 27' pontoon boat we have is able to handle two (2) 135 HP motors to a maximum of 270HP. But we'd like to change this so it uses only one motor. Is there some important issues that we should be aware of before we allow anyone to do the modifications? Thanks for your info

no there would be no problems doing that, sounds like a good idea, thats a lot of h.p. ,, you can mount the motor in the middle, making sure the cavitation plate is just under the surface or you can just leave it where it is and correct the thrust with the steering wheel

2009-02-09 17:07:20 by buttskin

Price: $19.98 $14.22

Simply clip it onto your boat with the 5,000-pound tensile strength hooks, and attach your ski or tube rope to the heavy duty Kwik-Connect
This heavy duty tow harness is perfect for pulling skiers, wake boarders and up to 4 rider towables
Twelve feet long to fit larger boats and pontoons

So I've done a lot of math and I've concluded that a plastic 55 gallon drum will hold up about 480 lbs before it sinks. With that being said I've decided that 55 and 30 gallon plastic drums with closed tops and sealed bungs would be the best things to make pontoons out of for only having a very small budget.

I want to make a boat around 14-16 feet long. With the height of 55 gallon drums being about 3 feet, I could fit 5 of them in a row, each side of the pontoon boat. A total of 10 drums could hold up about 4800 lbs before sinking. Such a weight I don't think I'd ever reach.

I want to be able to fit 10 people on this boat. Using an extreme average weight of 200 lbs a person, I've got 2000 lbs I need to meet. Plus weight of the boat itself, coolers....the motor....gas tank....ect. ect. ect.

Just to help with readers to picture my design. I'm going to lay all of the barrels down, stacked top to bottom. 5 in each pontoon. Then if you were looking at it from the rear view, I'm going to put 3 long poles down the length of it, 1 at the 2 o clock. 1 at the 6 o clock, and another at the 10 o clock. Then weld them in place.

I do have a few concerns about using these barrels. Should I be concerned about cave ins when the barrels meet cold water? If so would it be smarter to use structurally stronger smaller containers like 30 gallon drums instead of 55s? I'm aware the leaking may occur, but like I said, I dont think I'll ever get near the sink weight. So leaking won't hurt it that much unless when it will only see maybe at best, 12 hours of use before going home. I can't imagine the leaks, if present, would be so severe it would be a problem in a 12 hour window.

With all that being said what are your concerns about using these barrels? Would you advice against them? If so, what else could I use to make pontoons out of?

I don't think cave-ins would be a problem, unless you're going from a hot springs directly to the Artic Ocean. Leaking shouldn't be a problem if you caulk them and don't run them into anything. I would arrange the bungs to be as close the bottom as possible, though, just in case - you could open them to drain water if necessary.

2009-02-14 13:29:44 by Cameron D

Price: $499.99 $364.99

Backpack features ergonomic fit padded shoulder pads with adjustable load lifters and adjustable sternum strap to stabilize shoulder pads
Steel clamp oarlocks and rugged three-piece 6 foot aluminum oars
Tow rings on front and back of pontoons

i have a 2 pcs16feet by 8 inch diameter aluminum tube,want to cut each in half so i can have a 4 pcs 8 feet by 8 inch pontoon 2 pcs on each side in tandem,what is the best deck dimension for this?can it carry a 4 person?is it safe to built apontoon with this readilly available tubes?thanks

Wow! What a wonderful idea...

Problem is however, with the 2 pieces of 16' x 8" aluminum tube you already have, it will only float 500 lbs maximum. So, that means that if you weighed 150 lbs, your tubes weigh 50 lbs, and you add 100 lbs of materials (one sheet of 3/4 inch plywood is 75 lbs) to build your floor joist and decking... you will only be about 3 inches out of the water... for each additional 50 lbs you add, your vessel will sink another inch in the water. And as a foot note here - trying to manually manuver (paddle) an almost totally submerged craft through the water is virtually an impossible task. So, you really wouldn't have the floation for a friend unless you just want to sit on it and float... it will do that just fine.
So, at best, you would be looking at a stationary swim platform or a one maybe two person raft.
certainly no motor of any kind.
But, don't give up the idea of building your own boat... that is a great idea...
If you want to see a very easy to build pontoon boat or even houseboat... however...
visit > www.glen-L.com < they have great easy to build plans, information and instructions for the novice boat-builder.

Happy & Safe Boating!

2008-05-28 21:48:52 by noelp

I have a Volvo Penta 135hp inboard in a 24 foot '98 Godfrey Aqua-Patio pontoon boat. I lost the impeller and overheated the engine. Compression tests in #2 indicated head work was needed, so I did it. After machining the head, I still don't have good compression. The person doing the work suspects a cracked block.

1. Should we have known that before machining the head?

2. What option is best at this point and are these good prices (includes work done to this point)? His suggestions are:

-Short block for $3500 (saving my newly machined head) and a 6 mo warranty
-Long block for $4000 and an 18 mo warranty
-Brand new for $5000 (or more)
-Sell the boat as is for???

Thanks

t-Dub

The compression test should have been followed with a leak-down test, to correctly identify the compression loss. Your tech jumped the gun on this one. He should know that an overheat almost always causes piston and block damage.

3500 for a short block is way high. 4000 for a long block, installed and running, with warranty is better.

The boat really isn't worth much if it doesn't run .

2009-02-26 15:59:51 by T Dub