Starcraft Pontoon 24ft

[Scubadoo22]

Hi,
I was wondering if someone could answer this for me, as im getting nowhere with other sources..

I have a 24ft pontoon, with a 90horse yamaha..
My question is this, does the transom need to have a drain plug in it?
or is it to fill with water?

I know this sounds crazy... i just need to know if the transom is supposed to be sealed or left open..

I'd appreciate any feed back on this..
Rob

[PAR]

Typical pontoon boat transoms do partly fill with water and are typically left open at the rear lower edge for this. This said there are those that aren't supposed to, so a picture or year, make and model will be quite helpful.

For what it's worth, if yours is filling without a means to drain you may have some issue to address, like being over loaded or having to too much weight aft. If the boat runs fine, but just needs a drain, stop by your local West Marine and pick up "SeaFit" part no. DP10-B, which is a nylon fitting and plug. You'll have to use machine screws (little bolts, like a #10, with a lock nut) to hold it onto the transom, but it work fine. Bed the fitting with 3M 4200 or similar.

[Scubadoo22]

Thank You for the info, its a 1989 24ft Starcraft Pontoon, sorry i dont have a picture of the transom..

It does have a hole on the bottom edge, didnt know if it needed a plug..

Guess its supposed to be open, what would happen if i were to seal it completely?

Thanks again for your time..

[PAR]

If it's like most pontoon boats, the engine is deep and the transom (a bracket or pod really) fills with turbulent water from under the boat. Leave the area free to drain. Other wise you'll likely be carrying a few hundreds pounds of water, trapped in the transom area, which isn't helping anything.

Is it just a hole or is it clear that the transom is intended to self drain? If it's just a hole (1" is typical), but the transom is other wise welded tight, then put a standard transom plug in it. If underway, you see it filling with water, then leave the plug ashore. Most of these types of engine brackets have a sizable gap along the lower edge, to let water run out naturally.