Pontoon Repair advice needed

[Ladsm]

I have a friend in Fort Mohave that has a split in his pontoon. He has already taken it back to Bass Pro to fix it and it split again.

Who is the goto shop in Havasu area to get it fixed permanently??

 

[CSmith]

I know liberty prop shop formerly known as skips prop shop repairs toons. Might be worth giving them a shout.

 

[ltbaney1]

ive heard both Liberty and tank it can handle it. i have no direct experience with either of them.

 

[MagicMan]

My buddy is having liberty fix his with insurance claim. Looks like its gonna be a while. If no insurance involved he would’ve gone with tank it, he spoke to owner seemed like he would be able to get it done quickly.

 

[Melloyellovector]

Tank it or adrenaline trailers also does pontoon repairs

 

[Roosky01]

Seems like a perfect opportunity to slap on some Flex Seal!

 

[LibertyProps]

This is definitely something we can do. However, please keep in mind that pontoons are basically giant coke cans. They are constantly bending and flexing in the water, so sooner or later, they all crack. Theres technically no permanent fix and there's no real way of preventing it. The good news is, they can almost always be repaired and/or patched. Unfortunately, we are over a month out at this time but you are always welcome to call us and schedule an appointment! Hope you have a great day!

 

[CobraDave]

Man I swear a Mercenary mechanic, welder, dry Waller, mason, etc would make a killing in Havasu.

 

[CobraDave]

This is definitely something we can do. However, please keep in mind that pontoons are basically giant coke cans. They are constantly bending and flexing in the water, so sooner or later, they all crack. Theres technically no permanent fix and there's no real way of preventing it. The good news is, they can almost always be repaired and/or patched. Unfortunately, we are over a month out at this time but you are always welcome to call us and schedule an appointment! Hope you have a great day!

Just bought a pontoon boat and later noticed the center pontoon had some damage. Is this fixable?

 

[rivrrts429]

I’m sure they can pressurize the toon and with a little heat that will come out.

 

[dirtslinger2]

I’m sure they can pressurize the toon and with a little heat that will come out.

Holy Shit is this extremely dangerous!

 

[PlanB]

I’m sure they can pressurize the toon and with a little heat that will come out.

Might need a new nosecone.

 

[rivrrts429]

Might need a new nosecone.

Truth but good news is aluminum is easy to work with and repair.

 

[rivrrts429]

Holy Shit is this extremely dangerous!

I’ve seen way crazier lol. You race in Mexico don’t you? Ya this doesn’t even come close to dangerous from the repairs I’ve seen down there lmao

 

[dread Pirate]

I’ve seen way crazier lol. You race in Mexico don’t you? Ya this doesn’t even come close to dangerous from the repairs I’ve seen down there lmao

No different than a motorcycle gas tank repair. Just bigger.

 

[TPC]

What do you look for in a good reliable toon tube to help prevent this?
I know the Toothpaste tube design is step one,, but what make for a reliable, long lasting tube that can handle beaching and stress without splitting?

 

[riverroyal]

Start with a reputable brand. I believe the pontoon in this thread is the same manufacturer of a friend's new toon that's getting welded now.
Also the same manufacturer of a member here from a few summers back.

Some leaks are owner negligence. You cant drive a toon up a rock beach just because it's a toon.
Check tube wall thickness and actually look at the welds. There is also some structural things to note. If the boat flexes a lot that energy is going somewhere.
Aluminum does not stretch and flex like steel. It's tears and cracks.
The crack welds can be a acceptable weld but design is creating the issue.

In a nut shell you get what you pay for. Don't mistake that for 'go be poor some where else' please.
Pontoons are a lot like RVs, mass produced with quality often not the priority

My old neighbor has a Bennington. 150k ish. He has cracked all 3 logs from driving up beaches and hitting rock.

 

[dirtslinger2]

I’ve seen way crazier lol. You race in Mexico don’t you? Ya this doesn’t even come close to dangerous from the repairs I’ve seen down there lmao

The amount of stored energy with the volume of air in one of those pontoon's would be absolutely deadly within probably 20ft of it.

 

[dirtslinger2]

No different than a motorcycle gas tank repair. Just bigger.

bigger is the key word, the larger the volume, the larger the amount of stored energy. Look up some pneumatic large volume failures on the google.

I work in the Oil industry, and we avoid any type of pneumatic testing like the plague due to the potential for serious issues.

 

[riverroyal]

I've heard thd logs have a slight pressure in them. Although I'm not 100% sure. The pressure fluctuation from the trailer when its120 degrees to dropping in the water is massive.

 

[Icky]

I think that's gonna be a challenge since it's right on the weld seam, but its metal so everything is fixable.
I don't think pressurized air and heat will make the situation better.

Just bought a pontoon boat and later noticed the center pontoon had some damage. Is this fixable?

 

[rivrrts429]

bigger is the key word, the larger the volume, the larger the amount of stored energy. Look up some pneumatic large volume failures on the google.

I work in the Oil industry, and we avoid any type of pneumatic testing like the plague due to the potential for serious issues.

Fair enough but we can angry the toon can be fixed easily and safely. There is more than one way to skin this cat.

 

[LHC Kirby]

Just bought a pontoon boat and later noticed the center pontoon had some damage. Is this fixable?

You didn’t see that before you bought it ?

I’m sure it’s repairable… best of luck

 

[Outdrive1]

Both can handle it. I had two props at Liberty last week. My close friend owns Tank It though and they do excellent work. I’d use Tank it if it was up to me.

 

[CobraDave]

You didn’t see that before you bought it ?

I’m sure it’s repairable… best of luck

 

[lbhsbz]

While I'm no train driver, aluminum is a very difficult material to design with when the component has to do any sort of work....aluminum fatigues, and the welds are more to hold things together than support any structure. Whenever I design anything out of aluminum...I design it such that it will work without any welds, or such that the welds aren't under much stress. For example....I built a fuel tank a while back...just a big cube. I used large radius bends on as many "corners" as possible which limited my welding to only a few corners. Then I went over every edge with miter cut extruded aluminum angle and lap welded both edges and the miter cuts all the way around. The extrusion takes all of the load, not the weld....and now we have 2 welds and a bend or 3 welds on each edge, rather than 1, so they don't crack (like we've had happen in the parker enduro a few times). Most high end aluminum trailers use extrusion and all the critical joints bolted together for this reason. Formed aluminum is stressed, work hardened, and not real good IMO for dealing with cyclic loads unless several orders of overkill are build into the part. I try to keep bends on a radius of 4 or so times material thickness, rather than 2, which seems to be the standard.

I'm not really sure how to deal with the toons or how toons are constructed, but I'd say the best chance of survival would be to use an extruded pipe for the whole thing, then add a bunch of internal structure (ribbing) inside the nose "cone" and use a sleeve (to carry any loading) and weld to attach it to the front of the toon, then same thing with the back, if weld cracking is an issue. Lots more money, but should live a long life.

 

[RiverDave]

Holy Shit is this extremely dangerous!

I wouldn’t do it but I know people that have pressurized toons to crazy psi and heated them up to get them back to their original shape..

They told me what they did and I said “you realize that’s a bomb right?”

 

[lbhsbz]

I wouldn’t do it but I know people that have pressurized toons to crazy psi and heated them up to get them back to their original shape..

They told me what they did and I said “you realize that’s a bomb right?”

Fill it with water and then add little bit of air at high pressure....no stored energy, no real danger. I'd put some jackstands under the trailer on that side when you do this...

 

[TPC]

Fill it with water and then add little bit of air at high pressure....no stored energy, no real danger. I'd put some jackstands under the trailer on that side when you do this...

I'd wager theirs some guy someplace like Florida or Minnesota that has a small shop and is getting rich doing just that. Has it down. Cash, no receipt, hit-and-run-one-day-service.