1969 house boat conversion.

Me and my family purchased a little 20' suncatcher pontoon, We enjoyed the boat when it was on a calm lake but realized the hard way it would not climb a wake to save itself.... all items in boat washed to rear of boat including dog, wife friends what ever was not tied down came back to visit me at the helm of the boat.

We promptly sold the boat because 4th of July was quickly approaching so not to lose our money.

A week later I was cruising craigslist and found, less than a mile from my home, a set of pressure tested, registered and hull number title in hand pontoons, with its original trailer. from the year 1969

So begins my story

 

This is the starting point.

Wife is not happy about the new yard decorations.
Sorry about upside down pic, every time I upload comes in that way... I even tried rotating pic and then importing still upside down.

 

Welcome to the forum.

So, you're considering nearly a half a century old toons? Really? Did you see this pressure test preformed? How long did they hold pressure?

Lastly, you found out about pontoons with your Suncatcher, you must learn hard. Pontoon boats are the worst hydrodynamic shape you can use and typically must also be lightly loaded. Most 20' pontoon boats can barely hold up a family, Fidel the wonder dog, a cooler full of beer and the cheapest, aluminum skin, aluminum framed shoe box like structure, they can make reasonably appetizing for the market. Even with all the aluminum, most are just below their 50% flotation points, meaning if you add much more weight, well, you already know what will happen.

I hate to be a kill joy, but a houseboat on pontoons is doable, but even worse from a sea keeping point of view. You'll constantly have to look at ways to save weight, so the structure will be flimsy, unless you employ some fancy exotic materials, plus the other issues associated with houseboats in general.

If you're going to build something, start with a good base and work up.

 

Used my 18' Utility trailer as a Jig.



Wife a lot happier, project started

 

I am not making a house boat, I am converting a house boat to a pontoon for fishing in the delta and camping on the lakes.

15lbs was held on each section for 10-15min each section without psi loss. I know the gentleman and trust him and his work. He builds work barges in the Sac Area.

Pontoons will float more than I will ever put on them, even If I put a hard top on it.

 

Stringers installed

 

Motor located

I found a murcruiser 3.0lx complete with pod, controls, and fuel cell out of 1994 fisher pontoon for 1500 bucks and it runs. The owner of the fisher even threw in the under sheeting to cover up the bottom side of the stringers.

I know it's an inboard outboard, but is the cheapest way into a 4 stroke engine in the sunshine state. No lake restrictions

No permits are required to operate a grill from your boat, like they are on the shoreline.

Just a deck, pontoons, engine and furniture with a couple bimini tops to push around.

 

Picked up Decking

Picked up 3/4 marine ply,
Will start scarfing together to make one solid sheet to place on boat.

Once scarfed going to finish with epoxy to seal and protect from weather.

Again I will convert my 18ft utility trailer into a jig to work on. Then slide the plywood onto the pontoon boat.

I figure it would be stronger and more weather resistant if I get rid of seams that can fail.

All together the weight of the toons, motor, decking and stringers is about 1800 lbs, Furniture, coolers bimini tops, and bikini tops are all that is left to figure