Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

As you can see, I hit something a little hard when loading the boat back up, at the boat ramp. Not real sure what it was. But my main question here is, what should I do about this? Is it worthy of addressing? As I've heard many times, pontoons are going to get dents and damage, that is just the way of things. I just don't know if this is enough damage to warrant a trip to my local aluminum welding shop. So what do I do? Ignore it? Or take it to have it fixed at the welding shop?

Next question. Do the toons have any pressurized air in them? I could have sworn I heard that air leaking hiss sound, when I got home and was inspecting the damage. Wasn't sure, so I just thought I'd ask.





<a href="http://s1070.photobucket.com/user/wayco ... 5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u48 ... 140435.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20160920_140435.jpg"/></a>


Not sure why this is happening. Are you guys seeing pics? I posted the img code as well as the HTML code and to me it just looks like the code, and no pics. Anyone know what is going on? (photobucket)

No pics. Something wrong

Something wrong on the Forum side. No pictures displayed. Even signature pics are wonked up.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u48 ... 140439.jpg

One of your links works okay. I would say not to worry but a close inspection would be good. How about the other side? May have contacted trailer cross bar.

This is a reminder of why you bought a toon and not a fiberglass boat. Assuming there are no leaks, I wouldn't bother with it.

Nice at least that the link works... are you able to scroll through those pics? Or are you only allowed to look at that one pic that appears in the link you posted?

Other side doesn't seem to be damaged.

I'll try posting a few more links like that one, for people to look at:


http://s1070.photobucket.com/user/wayco ... g.html?o=0


http://s1070.photobucket.com/user/wayco ... g.html?o=0


http://s1070.photobucket.com/user/wayco ... g.html?o=0


http://s1070.photobucket.com/user/wayco ... g.html?o=0

As you can see from the first pic, the metal is mooshed up pretty good, on the lip there.

Take a file and knock off those hang nails before you rip the carpet off your bunk. Hard to tell if you've got carpet though, or destroy your bunk with those burrs.

walter wrote:Take a file and knock off those hang nails before you rip the carpet off your bunk. Hard to tell if you've got carpet though, or destroy your bunk with those burrs.

Good point, will do. Didn't think about that. Its not carpet its some kind of grey rubber.

Regarding a leak though, is there some way to test it before going out on the lake? For obvious reasons I'd like to know before I got out on the water lol


(looks like the forum is even butchering quotes)

photonfanatic wrote:

walter wrote:Take a file and knock off those hang nails before you rip the carpet off your bunk. Hard to tell if you've got carpet though, or destroy your bunk with those burrs.

Good point, will do. Didn't think about that. Its not carpet its some kind of grey rubber.

Regarding a leak though, is there some way to test it before going out on the lake? For obvious reasons I'd like to know before I got out on the water lol


(looks like the forum is even butchering quotes)

should be a shrader valve on the back of your toons. Press in the little button, if air comes out, your toon isn't leaking. No sound, then there could be a leak, or the pressure is low from temperature etc. Some fill them with air and see if it holds. But from what i've read, never more than 3 PSI - aim for 2PSI. Walk around and listen for whistles. Wait a while and hit the valve and see if the air gets out.

When you get pressure on the pontoons spray them with soapy water and you will see bubbles if you have a leak. No more than 3 psi or you can explode that pontoon.

Looks like there aren't any shrader valves, but just some screwed in metal squares with that white pipe thread tape on them. Not real sure what they're for, unless maybe they're just placeholders for whatever you may want to install in there, such as a shrader valve.

photonfanatic wrote:Looks like there aren't any shrader valves, but just some screwed in metal squares with that white pipe thread tape on them. Not real sure what they're for, unless maybe they're just placeholders for whatever you may want to install in there, such as a shrader valve.

Those are the plugs and you can pull those out and put threaded shrader valves in them. If you want to test, take one of the plugs out and go to an auto parts store to get a threaded tire valve and then go to the hardware store and get an adapter to go from that to the plug thread. Only put a couple of PSI in them if you do test them.

My thoughts are knock the burrs off and keep on trucking. That's a reinforced keel that most manufacturers put on now and most that is added after the pontoons are sealed and you should be good go to, but it's hard to tell from the pictures and not inspecting in person. There should be a weld below that that actually seals the toons. If you are that rough on them go to Academy Sports if you have one nearby and get a keelguard kit, cut it in half, and apply. It's thick rubber and will absorb the impact.

Thanks didn't know about the keel guard kit. I will buy one today. Good reply.

I swear I heard some hissing noise when I got home. In fact, I know I heard it. I just couldn't determine where it was coming from. I put my ear right up to the damage, but it sounded like it was coming from several feet behind the actual damage. I almost thought it was a trailer tire, but they don't appear to have lost any air.

photonfanatic wrote:Looks like there aren't any shrader valves, but just some screwed in metal squares with that white pipe thread tape on them. Not real sure what they're for, unless maybe they're just placeholders for whatever you may want to install in there, such as a shrader valve.

How many of those bungs do you have? If you have several on each log, you have sealed chambered logs. If that is the case here is what I would do. Wait till the hottest part of the day and open each one. (If your in cold weather already , this may not work). You should have a swoosh sound on each one. If one doesn't, that one has a hole somewhere.
After, Wait till the coolest part of the day (morning usually) and put the plugs back in. Repeat test, just in case.

**NO MORE THAN 3PSI in the tubes when you pressure test them. You only need to test the nose cone that has the damage. A good gauge to use is the secondary side gauge on an acetylene rig. They max out at 15psi so the scale is easy to read. Most other gauges are scaled for much higher pressures. I would also suggest using a hand pump like for a bicycle tire. Then soap it down. Any leak will show right away.