Should I use Fiberglass or PVC sheet to cover pontoons?

You can build them in plywood for less money. There is no need for foam.

 

Good plan, start by throwing away $300 then do it right later. Thats saves how much money?

And you will probably have triple that into it in just strapping it all together.

 

Yes that's right too, i've seen several good approached on just plywood as well so also considering that. I saw in one example where someone simply took 2 8 inch by 6 foot strips of plywood and basically bowed them outward in the middle using a bulkhead piece and just connected the ends and then put flat pieces on the top and bottom, so yes i'm also going to consider this approach as well, thanks for the suggestion!

 

yes probably true, but for the outrigger arms and connectors, i would still use the same approach for whatever pontoon i come up with and as for the pvc pontoons, after i drill the holes i will see what the weigh reduction is and if its not that great, i can just stop at that point, but either way i would have to take the tubes to the dump, so might as well see if i can reduce the weight, but one things for sure the structure will be pretty solid even with the drill holes, so at that point i would be out another $50 bucks for the drill bits, but can still use the drill bits for other stuff, so basically out a bunch of time.

 

Pair of Inflatable 0.9mm PVC 10ft. Fishing River Pontoon Raft Boat Float Tubes | eBay https://ebay.us/m/UHWBaJ

This too simple?

 

that's definitely an option, going to look into these more, thanks for the link!

 

Hi Rumars, i'm going to start planning on building this design and i think someone mentioned that this link might be associated with a detailed step by step guide on building this pontoon or maybe they were talking about another build having a step by step guide?

 

and i could probably build the pontoon from this posted information, but what i can't be sure on is the center rib that runs though the pontoon and i'm assuming its a piece of plywood in the center which would add the overall strength to the pontoon right?

 

Gary Dierking has step by step instructions for a foam and fibreglass outrigger in his Va'a Motu plans. See if you can find an email, here is one of his sites.
Va'a Motu sail https://outriggersailingcanoes.blogspot.com/2023/05/vaa-motu-sail.html?m=1

 

Many many thanks Helmut! have a great week!

 

You too Bob.

I did see an email on his profile on one of those blog sites and understand he is no longer charging for plans. I guess the support element would be tedious for a small income.

 

thanks again Helmut and i think i can pretty much extrapolate the whole process and the only thing that i think would be ify are the types of glue ect, but there's enough info out there and product posts and i found a really good site for learning about fiberglass and resins: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fishbumptv. And one thing i was wondering about was if i needed to use marine plywood, but i think it will be sealed enough by said materials enough it shouldn't be a problem. I'm still going ahead with my pvc pipe approach and removing as much material as i can via drilling 1.5 inch holes and the weight is getting more manageable, but i want to start setting up the work room for these foam pontoons as having light weight pontoons really makes sense! thanks again Helmut, getting there is half the fun right? hahaha

 

Not a great idea to drill holes in schedule 40 PVC if you’re planning to use it as pontoons. Once you penetrate the wall, you’ll almost certainly introduce leak points, and sealing them with fiberglass or PVC sheet won’t hold up well with flex and water pressure over time. Fiberglass especially tends to crack when the pipe moves. Grinding out material internally will also weaken the pipe and could lead to sudden failure, especially under load. A safer approach is to keep the pipes fully sealed with proper end caps and solvent welds, or use purpose-built flotation materials instead of modifying the pipe structure itself.

 

Thanks for the pointers starcmr, yes i was afraid of that so looks like i'll have a good source of pvc sheet for years to come and lately i've been setting up workplace to make these foam plywood pontoons: amas: Foam and Fiberglass Ama Construction https://amaconstruction.blogspot.com/2021/02/foamand-fiberglass-ama-construction.html?m=1