house bouse on a pontoon boat

[4x4ryder]

Please help,
This is my first post, I have a 21 ft. Suntracker pontoon boat with a 50 hp motor, I want to build a cabin on it that my wife can stay in on the weekends.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated , drawings, website and any information would really be great !

Thanks in advance,
Michael C. Smith :confused:
Harrison,TN

[hoytedow]

Look at similar threads at bottom of this page.

[SamSam]

Here's a conversion I like. It was done on a 24' pontoon boat. I'll post the site with the photos and a description and some other posts the fellow put elsewhere in reference to the boat. He has two posts on the thread shown, #3 and #5.

Click on the blue "Pontoon to Houseboat Conversion" below.

Pontoon to Houseboat Conversion

I travled extensily all over Florida's ICW and Okeeechobee Canals in a 24ft houseboat, which was self propelled by a 15hp long shaft Evinrude. I always towed 1 or 2 boats with me to "play" with once we arrived somewhere. Usually a 16ft fishing boat and a electric canoe were towed at the same time. I found this worked well, and the whole setup still would make 4 knots in most conditions. The fuel economy was good, I could cross the state on 15-20 gallons of gas. I found this to be much easier than trying to tow the houseboat, especially in rough conditions. It does not take alot of power to move a scow type hull, just alot of readily available thrust in the right direction, to control it. A pair of 9.9 Yamaha high thrust's would be fine for anything up to 40 ft or so. I always used the same motor on the fishing boat, and the houseboat, so I only had to sock one set of spare parts for both. Also, you could swap engines in the event of a major failure. I towed my houseboat a couple of times, and found it to be much more difficult to handle then using its own proplusion. Also, I could have a faster tender than you would require if it also had to double as a towboat. A good well designed houseboat is a great thing, especially when designed to suit your lifestyle and location. We spent over 10 years poking around Florida in ours, and would not have changed a thing on the boat. Simple, cheap and fun, thats what it is all about!

I did add a 3 pontoon to my 24 landau. It was a cheap ply/glass one, I made in about 2 days. It was only 10ft long, just enough to keep the bow up higher. It did not add anything to the speed, rather, it probably cost me a knot or so, but it really did improve the boat overall. My pontoon was a square shape, with a raked front end, and a flat stern. I added it, to overcome the extra weigh of a cabin i built on the deck. I worked well, and lasted over 10 years, for a couple of hundered bucks!!!

Here is a shot of my Shanty boat, which is 25ft long, by 8ft wide, on two 22"
aluminum pontoons. The cabin is 6'7" off the deck, and is 1/4 ply, painted over. I built her quick and dirty, and she has lasted for 10 years, with minimal care. The stability is not a real problem, except in big boat wakes on the beam, then she rolls badly, so I have learned to turn into big waves. The cabin weighs about 600lbs and is 12'x7'10". I would imagine a barge hull would be much more stable than pontoons, so I doubt you will have a problem with a 3 to 1 beam on a larger hull. I have run this boat all over south Florida, in some very bad weather, and she always handles it....wet, but safe. Heck she rode out 3 hurricanes in 1 year sitting on her trailer in my yard. The trick to these type of boats is to keep the weight low, build heavy on the bottom and lighter as you go up. I did a 3/4" deck, with 4x4 under, and 1/4" sides and roof on 2x3 frames. The roof is coated with elastomeric roof sealer, over bare ply, and has never leaked, and it will hold my weight.

[ezrollin]

Best idea I've seen is using 2" square tubing for the frame and structural insulated panels,the kind used for walk-in freezer etc;thin alum sheet with foam in between,very sturdy but lite weight.Can post pics as soon as I figure out how.

[ezrollin]

Hope I did it right.This thing has light weight windows and roof was designed for sunbathing.I spec fished overnight in the winter on lake Okeechobee and it was like a motel on the water.I like it so much I'm converting an older 20 footer I bought,his is a 24 footer.

[4x4ryder]

Originally Posted by ezrollin

Hope I did it right.This thing has light weight windows and roof was designed for sunbathing.I spec fished overnight in the winter on lake Okeechobee and it was like a motel on the water.I like it so much I'm converting an older 20 footer I bought,his is a 24 footer.

ezrollin,
would it be possible for you to send me some pics , to my e-mail address: 4x4ryder@comcast.net , so I could see them better and get a little better Idea how to start ?

Thanks in advance, Mike

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by ezrollin

Hope I did it right.This thing has light weight windows and roof was designed for sunbathing.I spec fished overnight in the winter on lake Okeechobee and it was like a motel on the water.I like it so much I'm converting an older 20 footer I bought,his is a 24 footer.

What is the diameter of the pontoons in the pictured boat?

[ezrollin]

The pics you see are of my brother inlaws boat.He is taking the rearside windows out and replacing them with sip so he can add modified foldup cots on both sides.I'll email him and have him send me some pics.I've just got the railing and seats etc cleared off my boat and I'm removing the "carpet" from the deck,a tedious process,so I can recover it with an epoxy type paint with a non slip additive.I can tell you his boat borders on looks like a factory build piece and he's altering it to fit his needs.We fished for specs on Lake Okeechobee last winter with only a lantern for heat and could'nt have been more comfortable.I will send you some pics as soon as I get them.

[4x4ryder]

Thanks !

[ezrollin]

Originally Posted by SamSam

What is the diameter of the pontoons in the pictured boat?

He said they were 30 ft long and 21.5" x 19" He is going to add a third pontoon because he intends to make his more like a house boat,with water storage,permanet gas lines etc. and will be carring more weight. I think his deck is 26 ft.

[ezrollin]

Originally Posted by 4x4ryder

Thanks !

My bother-in-law suggested I document my build since it is ground-up and would cover the complete process.My boat is a 20' Palm beach and has a 90hp 4 stroke Suzuki 2005 [low hours] and came with a little used[boat was on lift] magic tilt tandem galv. trailer.The wood deck is sound but the carpet was shot and the chairs were starting to split,perfect boat for this type of project.At this time I have removed everything from the deck except the console which will remain in the stock location. I have removed 1/3 of the glued down carper using first a scraper used for floor tiles and then with a belt sander with rough grit,what a pain!My actual deck is only 8' wide and 18' long with a 16" step-off at the motor.I've chosen to keep things as portable as I can,using a portable propane stove,ice chest etc. and a porta-pot out back.I have drawn a set of prints scaling the layout.The front deck will be 6'1" with over head cover,the cabin 9'6" and 2' at the back for the porta pot and possibly a shower and will still have the 16" step-out for motor maintainance.Yes,this is compact quarters but the 9'6" gives me room for a 6'6" bunk on each side with dry storage underneath and a 3' space on each side one of which will be taken by the steering console and the otherside will have a table top for the stove and cooler underneath.Will post pics of progress shortly.

[KnottyBuoyz]

Just be careful with the weight distribution. You don't want to end up like this guy!



Adding a third tube between the pontoons might help with load etc.

[ezrollin]

I can tell you that the boat I have pictured is very stable and planes well.The material is light weight and quite sturdy.The frame is 2" square alum. tube and the structual insulated panels are foam sandwich between two alum sheets,very light weight.Probably not much heavier than all the seats and benches I've seen on some boats.

[shrader]

I have been thinking of doing the same thing. I have seen a pop up camper with the axles removed and fastened to the top of a 24 foot toon. It looked pretty natural when they trimmed the bottom of the camper to cover the wheel wells. It was light enough to get away with just two 24'' toons. it worked out well because the local lake has a few low bridges that a tall boat could not pass under. Not to mention the pop ups are made to be light weight. Less wind resistance when trailering

[Doverguy]

I am very interested in your design it has the one feature I want in mine as well. The wrap around windows. Is it possible for you to send me some better pics & specs on how u put it all together I have a 26 ft pontoon & want to keep it as light & as open as possible. Any help wud be appreciated. I live just a bit north of u ( well maybe more than a bit) in a small fishing town of Port Dover on Lake Erie in Ontario Canada.
y email is guygilchrist@kwic.com...............Guy

Originally Posted by ezrollin

The pics you see are of my brother inlaws boat.He is taking the rearside windows out and replacing them with sip so he can add modified foldup cots on both sides.I'll email him and have him send me some pics.I've just got the railing and seats etc cleared off my boat and I'm removing the "carpet" from the deck,a tedious process,so I can recover it with an epoxy type paint with a non slip additive.I can tell you his boat borders on looks like a factory build piece and he's altering it to fit his needs.We fished for specs on Lake Okeechobee last winter with only a lantern for heat and could'nt have been more comfortable.I will send you some pics as soon as I get them.