Fireboat project

[dadmire]

Finally got a good start on the tear-down/deconstruction of the pontoon boat that is going to be re-purposed into a fireboat for my local volunteer fire department.

To date we've got the forward fences off and benches, removed an old non-working pump and began a clean up.

Before:

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After:

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There were 3 deck chairs on the bow. Any suggestions of patching or plugging those holes?
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The aft fence is welded to the boat - otherwise I would have pulled it off too.
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The deck is in decent shape - good thing because it is riveted down!
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Next step is to treat the deck with some sort of non-skid paint. We're also in the process of buying a pump, lights, winch etc.

We are also going to construct box(es) on the forward part of the boat for hose, PFD, equipment etc storage.

More to come!!

[teecro]

That's the strangest set of pontoons I've yet to see. They look like a pair of slender planing V-hulls....

[crookedlaker]

Where i grew up in the UP of Michigan, my family had a lake house on a good sized lake
a retired contractor built a community fire boat, as the local volunteer fire department was about 20 miles away
their typical response time was about a hour or so.
He used a stripped down pontoon boat.
They had hose racks on the front, hooked to a gas powered pump at the rear.
They would beach the pontoon at the shore and drop the suction line off the back.
They had a cage built around the end of the suction line to keep it off the bottom and to keep debris out.
I am not sure if they ever put out a fire with it, but it sure kept everyone busy with "training"
it was kept at the owners dock with the keys in the ignition and anyone that was trained on it, could use it
if there was a fire.
as i remember it worked pretty good

[tuned]

Haven't been around for awhile, but I LOVE popping in and checking the build threads.
To plug your holes, hopefully you have access underneath.
1. Take a hole saw and cut a plug the same diameter and thickness of your hole.
2. Cut a chunk of scrap wood several inches larger than your hole. Mount this under the deck hole using screws (preferably flat head bolts).
3. Glue and/or screw your plug in=et voila! Strong repair that can take traffic and gear.

Good luck on the build. This looks like a GREAT one!

[JEB]

I could be wrong however, I don't think those are rivets. They look an awful lot like what my deck was kept in place with. It is a pin that goes through the cross member, like a rivet except the bottom side is not compressed. My plywood lifted right up. Dumb-ass design, but makes it easy to remove. I thought the same thing, wondering how many drills and bits i was going to go through drilling out all the rivets. Then, I went to pull up the carpet in the bow and had a 12"X 8' piece of plywood in my hands. Long story not so short, I will be screwing the new deck down.

[Big Fish Little Fish]

What material was on the floor when you started. The plywood looks good. Was there carpet or some other product. I don't see any glue residue on the plywood.

[dadmire]

What material was on the floor when you started. The plywood looks good. Was there carpet or some other product. I don't see any glue residue on the plywood.

Yes, there was carpet on the deck. Funny thing - it pulled right up like it wasn't glued down at all, with no residue left behind whatsoever.

Yesterday I ordered Pettit EZ-Deck non-skid to paint the deck. More to come!