8' pontoon boat

I'm having the same trouble cat chaser had. Alum. pontoons(8'x10-12") are well over $300 from any welder. But if I use 10-12" PVC like he did and then create a fiberglass tip like a real pontoon I think I could work it better. I'm working on building a pedal boat. The big question I had was how to attach the PVC to a deck without creating holes for water in the PVC???...no clue. I'de be happy to hear any suggestions. If you could email them to ted1685@hotmail.com I would appreciate it.

 

Ted, you could try this. Before you cap off your pontoons mount a 2"x4" to your tube. Run the screws up from the inside, use some silicone to seal the holes. Now you have a surface on each tube that you can attach about anything to. Just a thought.
Gary

 

yeah, I've thought about that, but wouldnt that still have a tendency to leak or even collect condensation?...

 

Any leak would be small. Install a drain.
Gary

 

Thanks for the info. Do you know if it would help if I pressurized the tube?..

 

Only if you used helium.
Gary

 

As an alteration to Gary's suggestion, I'd put a timber inside the tube, the through bolt to another above it, sealing the holes as he suggested. It would stronger (but a little heavier) than simply srewing through the plastic.
I'd steer clear of trying to pressurise the tubes - getting very complicated and you'd have a hellish time trying to get an adequate seal to maintain the pressure - as Gary says, better to install a bung (drain plug) in the transoms and empty out any water which collects in them.
The inly other way you could do it would be to fabricate collars to go around the tubes which connect to the framing above, but you might run into difficulties with the tubes moving if they aren't tight enough. Plus if they stick out too much they'll create a lot of drag.

Post some pic in the gallery once you've started building her won't you....

 

thanks for the info. It might be some time before any pics start.

 

Go Ted, Go! ... g.luck on the pedal boat. Here's a little inspiration for ya!
http://lancet.mit.edu/decavitator/video/recordRun.better.mpg

Cheers

Lock

 

The one thing I also want to know is what material could I use for the pontoons that would be the lightest and most affordable? I'm trying to make this a one man thing, so I can go out to a small lake by myself now and then for some time to myself. The only thing I cant come up with is how to carry the boat into the water and then back on the truck afterwards???...... Plus, ends for PVC at about 14 in. is roughly 1400.00 and I dont know about you guys but I'm not going to pay 1400 for 4 ends. No way in hell. I want to put about 5-8 hundred into this boat.

 

US $350 per PVC end? Holy cow that's a rip off! No wonder new sewers cost a million bucks. Maybe you can find different grades of pvc pipe?

You could fiberglass end caps yourself - a difficult fiberglass job for a first one, but I bet you could do it. Maybe you could cut off a short section of pvc pipe and inflate a beach ball in that, and use that to make a cap. Not sure if the heat of the epoxy resin curing would do strange things to the ball - it's just an idea - but it might work.

Aluminum would be a good deal lighter, but it would be very difficult to do yourself if you're not a pro welder.

 

aluminum is $350 for an 8 ft. pontoon, so not that way either..

 

if you would like an enexpensive pontoon flats fishing boat go to powerspontoon.com

 

What about foam filled wood??? You could about make these in your sleep. Scalable to any size. 2 of these out of 1/4" ply and foam would run about $75? or so. 15"x18"x7.7 ft long x 2 pontoons will support 530 lbs in the middle or 265lbs standing on the edge of the deck.

 

oh, yeah... weight would run about 25 lbs per sheet if you used luaun or meranti underlayment. Some pine stringers, and a sheet of 1/2 in ply for the deck you are looking at about 85 lbs or so?
Steve
PS: as of right now it doesn't look like my pic is going to show up so I'll try again