water from one pontoon...

[yardbird]

End of season. Pulled boat out of the water. Do normal end of season junk... then... pull the plugs on both pontoons...

I got maybe 10 gallons (maybe 8 gallons.... but more than I wanted to see) of water out of the starboard pontoon. Absolutely nothing out of the other one. Port side dry as a fart.

I have an old Landau. U-shaped pontoons. Flat tops. About 21 inches top to bottom and 19 or 19 and a half wide. The boat has been in the water for like... 2 months. It never looked like it was listing at all.

I didn't check this BEFORE we launched it (we just bought the boat this summer). I just looked at it every couple or 3 days and it looked like it was sitting fine. No real change from week to week that I could tell. Is it possible the water's been in there a while? Whatever...

Next year, I'll have a new 4-stroke on it. I told the wife we should pull it once a month just to clean the algae and junk off it (because I'm sore from scrubbing 2 months worth off). Now, I know we'd like to have NO water in the toons... but how bad is 8 or 10 gallons in 2 months? Should I launch next year and just plan on watching it periodically?

I have a compressor. How much to you pressurize a toon looking for leaks? I would assume just a few pounds.

And.... teflon tape on the plugs to reinstall? Or plumber's pipe dope? (TFE paste)

[teecro]

10 gallons in a couple of months is not the end of the world as long as you know where it is coming from as it could change...

With U shaped toons I would absolutely not go above 2 psi in looking for the leak...

On the plugs I'd use either alum or solid plastic plugs with a very healthy coating of teflon and/or Gasoila Soft-Set Pipe Thread Sealant with PTFE Paste...

BTW while there are 1,000's of pipe dopes out there, Gasoila is simply my favorite...

[Bamaman]

U Shaped toons are filled with foam, and they won't take on as much water as a round toon boat without foam. I am not sure, but I believe U Toons have thinner aluminum sheeting and it uses the foam for structure.

You do need to put low pressure to the toon and go over the welds with soapy water looking for bubbles. It can be done with a wet/dry vac blowing out air--4-5 lbs.I

I still have my old Starcraft 24' pontoon with U Toons, and it was the best performing and riding 2 toon boat I ever rode in. It would be a good project boat for someone.

[teecro]

Are all U shaped toons filled with foam or only certain brands?

[rancherlee]

every one I've seen is filled with foam, it's definitely needed (required?) for strength. The G3 tube I bought from Bill's for building my center tube was pretty flimsy when I pulled all the foam blocks out before doing some internal welding for the transom supports and that's with thick .100 aluminum.

[yardbird]

Hmmm... you're right about the foam. I got a flashlight and looked in the plug hole. There's about an inch and a half of air space below the foam but they're definitely foam filled. So... basically... it can't fill a pontoon and sink, right?

I do have to hunt down some new plugs though. I don't like the look of these. Don't plastic plugs break? I mean... these were in so hard I had to put a cheater bar on the allen wrench to get one of them out.

[steve1313]

[quote="teecro"]10 gallons in a couple of months is not the end of the world as long as you know where it is coming from as it could change...

...[/quote]

Why would ANY water in any pontoon ever be OK? A leak is a leak and that's never a good thing on a boat!

[teecro]

[quote="steve1313"][quote="teecro"]10 gallons in a couple of months is not the end of the world as long as you know where it is coming from as it could change...

...[/quote]

Why would ANY water in any pontoon ever be OK? A leak is a leak and that's never a good thing on a boat![/quote]

And where did I say it was simply ok? My comment is valid in that you need to know where and why it is coming in. Many pontoons develop leaks both above and below the waterline, knowing where it is coming from allows an owner to make an educated judgement call on how and when it is dealt with...

BTW this comment was typed while I'm least 10 foot under the waterline...

[Bamaman]

Most toons will leak where there has been welding. Check the welds and along the keel first.

Of course, any aluminum boat can get a cut in it, but that's not as often seen.