Pontoon Question?
 

Yea, I own a pontoon! I have painted it Camo and use it for Duck Hunting and Fishing.

It's a 20ft Nissan with a 50 hp Nissan outboard motor that run's great! The Question I have is...... It has Round pontoons that have Styrofoam in them, but the styrofoam is water logged and is REAL Heavy!! I'm not looking for more speed(I promise) but it would be nice to draft less water (Float higher) and it would be great to be lighter for the towing!

Can I remove the Styrofoam buy cutting off the back of the Pontoon at the weld, pull it out and weld it back? I have a buddy that own's a Feild welding shop, and he could weld it so it would not leak!
-I thought that only the U-Shaped Pontoons had Styrofoam in them?
-I don't think it has seperate air chambers that some of the round pontoons have, because I can't see any evidence of a weld on the outside, usually you can.
-What do you guy's think?

remove the foam and fill the sponsons with Helium
:cool:

:eek:
Let's think about this first....
#1 water is in the tanks now for the foam to get wet......WHY/HOW?
#2 If you remove the foam and water gets in, the pontoon sinks...alas, goodbye pontoon boat!

Removal of the foam , although possible is not the remedy unless the leak is found and the foam replaced. It may be cheaper & better for you to notify your insurance carrier of a leak in the pontoon & they will replace the pontoon at their cost, not yours. If you tamper with the pontoon, you may invalidate any possibility of insurance coverage! :eek: :eek: Bad deal. If you are not insured, maybe you should buy some coverage now from Farmers or State Farm or Allstate (pontoons are not that expensive to cover) and "discover" the leak at a later date????
Is that too devious?? No visible damage is necessary to have a claimable incident & if they fix it and cancel so what! Your fixed!

Their are also places to get the foam replaced and reweld/pressure test the tanks. Good luck!;)

There was a large hole or crack in one of the weld's back by the motor that I had fixed!
Then we pressure tested that side and found no other leaks!!

The other side pressure tested fine, but the foam feels heavy, but that is just what I can feel with a finger or stick through the drain plug hole! (That sounds kinda funny):rolleyes:

How about removing the old foam and filling it with urethane foam or the same product that Boston Whaler uses?

Styrofoam (sp) doesn't absorb water. :confused:
How could it feel heavy?

Troutly , I couldn't imagine creeping around a river with that thing looking for something to shoot.You can't even fit any girlies on that toy.maybe it's just me.
Funhome take your shotgun and aim it at your japanese "boat" and fire three times then report back to us about it's condition...Just joking..If the round pontoons are air tight then why refill them with foam??..have fun

I think you would be OK to take the foam out, however I would replace it with something else, more foam, rubber blatter?, :rolleyes:

I was thinking about a rubber bladder also!

Iggy, maybe somekind of styrofoam doesn't get waterlogged by the stuff in the pontoon does! It's kinda like the older white styrofoam used to float dock's on, it would get heavy as sh*t!!
What kind does Boston Whaler use? Is it sprayable?

cash, I know it's the only forien anything I own!! I got a real good deal on it! You are thinking like me, If it holds air then I'm good to go!!

Troutly, there's not any room for the cooler of beverage!! or girl's!
How cold is it up there? still got ice? we do on the river in places!

I have read that the key to foaming is getting closed cell foam. Apparently it can't soak up moisture.

We used to have boat with no flotation. We were going to have some sprayed in by a company that does the new spray-on house insulation. They said they can do both kinds, open and closed cell, that is. The boat sold before I got that far.

Basically, I have no hands on experience with this. I do like the idea of a camo pontoon. My uncle had one a LOTO. Used to fish from his.

Closed cell sounds like a good idea, anyone have any other leads on how to get ahold of some? I'll try the phone book for sprayon insulation, but I thought that was like the stuff you get from Home Depot and is kinda like groundup newspaper?

You must be talking about something more like "Great Stuff" in a can and can be sprayed into cracks and such!!

Thanks!

Wildfire- I thought a camo pontoon would work to hunt out of because it would be more stable and you would have more room, yet still get in the back of the coves! So far it's worked pretty good, we just need to do a better job on the blind!
(And get rid of some weight!)

check you mail

ADD MORE WATER, SINK IT AND PUT THE INSURANCE $$ TOWARDS GO FASTER MOTOR PARTS FOR YOUR REAL BOAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually any good shop with a mig set up for alum. can do what you need done. I have seen alot of guys weld in a small ID threaded fitting to be able to actually add a slight pressure to the sealed section of the tube. Also makes it easier to pressure test for the dreaded leak. For the foam the tighter the cell the less chance for water intake, but if sealed and pressure checked any type would work. What about the 2 part foam poured into alot of smaller boats under the floor for flotation. This stuff is made for the marine environment and expands to the size of its container. Try Jamestown distributers ( they are a supplier of materials to the boat mfg industry) I buy stuff from them all the time. 1-800-423-0030
www.jamestowndistributors.com
I still think you should sink it but good luck.

FOUND THE PART # TO ASK FOR FOR THE FOAM
FIB-5611 small size FIB-5614 LARGE SIZE ask them to calculate for the size void your filling. GOOD STUFF:D

Re: Pontoon Question?
 

I live off the St. Johns in Eustis FL and alot of people here are filling their tanks with expanding insulation foam. Seems to keep them on the water, can't say I endorse the practice, but check into that. But how did water get into the tanks? Seems a bit odd to me.

Re: Pontoon Question?
 

There are several different types of foam, but for boats to have Coast Guard approval the foam must be at least 95% closed cell. I believe the pour in Polyurathanes are 95% to 98% closed cell and the spray in's are 99% closed cell. Closed cell foams cannot become waterlogged where open cell foams, like styrofoam, can become waterlogged. If you do a search on closed cell foams you can find the best for your application. I am very surprised you would have open cell foam in your tubes.

Re: Pontoon Question?
 

He's had 4 and a half years to work on it.
Maybe we can get an update.

Pontoons have gotten popular since 2002. :D