Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm new to the forum and starting a rebuild. Would appreciate any input on a few ideas. I purchased a 1988 Kennedy from an online auction. It was advertised as a 16' (which the deck was) but the toons are actually 20'. I would like to extend the deck to the full 20' or close to it but being as this is my first pontoon I'm worried it may not have enough floatation if I do. They are octagon and 19" from top to bottom at the back. Would adding the 4' make it too heavy?
I am also replacing the crossmembers since some of them, including the three most important ones that motor pod is mounted to, are bent. They are 3 1/2" high which is an oddball size and expensive. I would like to go the cheaper route and use 2" crossmembers but not sure if that will put the deck too close to the water. Any thoughts?

hello and welcome

i can't be of much help... I've never heard of that boat.....

it seems to me, lots of 'toons are 20", so perhaps some people with that size can chime in....

changing to the smaller cross members will drop the deck a bit, but i can't see how that'll make much difference. i guess it all depends on how heavy your motor and other load on the boat is...

good luck

I wouldn't plan on adding more deck space until I put it in the water and checked how it set now. Those toons are very small at 19" and I don't think they are going to have much flotation. Most newer boats have toons that are 24", 25", or 26". Good luck but I just don't see it working out for you.

I would be very carefull adding 4' to your deck based on 19" toons. You are already going to be close to the water. I would imagine you can see the scum lines on the side of the toons which will tell you how much freeboard you have at rest.

If they were over 23"'s I'd say you had a shot at it.

Thanks for the replies. I was kinda thinking along the same lines but wasn't sure. I'm not really sure how low it sits in the water because there were holes in both toons when I got it and the back sections had a substantial amount of water in them. Not sure it's going to be what I was hoping it would.
But on the bright side, it's worth as much in scrap as what I paid for it plus I'll have a running 40hp motor to boot!

Kennedy had 2 different size pontoons on the 20' models. mine has the small 16x19" octagon with individual risers. The larger ones are 19x23" and have full length risers. The larger ones are roughly 22.5" diameter equivalent and the small ones 19" equivalent. If you have the larger ones and plan on staying with the 40hp engine then it would be OK to stretch the deck the full length. PS, the tubes them selfs don't like being pushed by a 140hp motor @ 40mph