Pontoon Refurb

[Matt Gent]

You could likely get more life out out of the deck if you used the methods developed by BateauDotCom but, as you said, "It's a third boat". Kind of like a 7th beer. Quality is not as important.

If I used Meranti, sealed with epoxy, and drilled / filled / re-drilled all the fasteners, I'm guessing it would have cost another $300 and taken twice as long. Never seen anyone do it that way, other than one guy who built his entire pontoon out of wood & epoxy. The holes had to be drilled in-place, but I could have drilled them, removed the ply, over-drilled, filled, and re-drilled back through using the AL as a template.

BBC actually recommends this CCA-treated wood for pontoons, and the manufacturers who use it typically offer 10yr to lifetime warranties on the decks with it.

[Matt Gent]

I seem to be struggling with photobucket. I resized the pics on their site to fit this format, but the link they provide for forum use still points back to the full-size image. When I click on them from my album they show the right size (640 ish).

I uploaded the pics from my iPhone and I can't resize them there.

Also tried the BB code image resize tags but they didn't work.

It looks like if I use the direct linking tag, then add the IMG tags manually, they come in to the resized resolution.

[sitandfish]

You could likely get more life out out of the deck if you used the methods developed by BateauDotCom but, as you said, "It's a third boat". Kind of like a 7th beer. Quality is not as important.

If I used Meranti, sealed with epoxy, and drilled / filled / re-drilled all the fasteners, I'm guessing it would have cost another $300 and taken twice as long. Never seen anyone do it that way, other than one guy who built his entire pontoon out of wood & epoxy. The holes had to be drilled in-place, but I could have drilled them, removed the ply, over-drilled, filled, and re-drilled back through using the AL as a template.

BBC actually recommends this CCA-treated wood for pontoons, and the manufacturers who use it typically offer 10yr to lifetime warranties on the decks with it.

I had forgotten that Shine had adressed your rebuild in an earlier thread. Here is what he said:

"No need to glass in this case, just put it back together as it was. You can go the extra step and epoxy/glass encapsulate the whole thing, but that would be overkill for this project IMO - Shine"

Good enough for me.

[Matt Gent]

As requested, a couple running pics. Having some trouble with the engine, on the look out for a good deal on a small 4stroke.







Unfortunately the canal is so low right now I can't get it out to work on the motor.

[Matt Gent]

Last job was building a cradle for my trailer to hold the boat. It lives in a fresh water canal behind our house, and we'll only tow it the couple miles to the ramp a few times per year for servicing, so I didn't want to buy and have to maintain another trailer.

If you're in the West Palm area "The Hub" off of 45th street is good work with for trailer parts. He cut some used axle tubes and found some old brackets which saved me a bunch of coin.

[TomW]

Great job Matt on the whole project. Should last and be a good addition to your fleet for many years to come!

[sitandfish]

Looks like she is back to doing what she was designed to do.

Great work and documentation of the whole project. Much appreciated.

[Matt Gent]

Pontoon is now moving on to the third phase of its life...I've been tempted to sell it a few times but recently moved to a creek where it can live behind the house, and be used a few times a week to head to the sandbar or tour the river.



Creek has a low bridge - which is a challenge, but also makes it affordable for regular people like me



It's tidal, and with the boat in its standard form we were limited to passing through at about half-average tide. So we either had to plan our trips around getting back early, or had to commit to a full day on the water. Also, the cosmetics could best be described as "battleship-chique" and we wanted it to be a little more fun.

So I sketched up a new layout, with a hinged console. Boat had no storage, I kept my eye out for a while and got a good deal on a yuuuge dock box which can double as a bench seat. I also needed a new fuel tank, so I drew one that would fit in the tray and sit just below the dock box. This brought my height down by about 20", console folded, which would get us through at all but the highest king tides.




Side rails that I had fabricated by a friend. Just one bent tube with a few tabs and tube ends


Quoted this tank at about 4 places. BBC was by far the least expensive, plus local and good communication.

[gstanfield]

Congrats on the new place, I love the concept you’re working on with the toon.

[Jeff]

Nice Matt Gent!!! Really nice work!! Jeff