Pontoons cracking

[Florida22]

Lowe 2007 ss225 pontoon boat with factory-installed 115 mercury 4 stroke, pontoons are cracking around m brackets at stern of boat. I think it's to much engine, have had them welded but they keep cracking. Are there any ideas on how to strengthen this area.

 

[HotTommy]

A picture would help. It doesn't have to be your boat, just an Internet picture similar to yours.

Assuming your boat has two toons and and engine pod, I'm guessing that the cracks you describe are in the engine pod. If that is the case, it is possible to locate new or used engine pods to replace the broken one. When I went to a much larger engine on my pontoon boat, I replaced the original engine pod with a much stronger one from another boat. Of course I had to add cross beams between the toons to provide more support for the heavier engine pod and engine.

 

[Scott Danforth]

are these the M brackets tying the deck structure to the logs?

 

[Florida22]

Yes the m brackets tye the toons to the structure, the cracks are where there welded to the toons. There are 3 beams at the back where the engine pod bolts to. As the 1st response mentioned maybe adding an extra beam could help. The pod itself is pretty sturdy, but only has 3 bolts on each side. 6 total to hold it to the 3 beams.

 

[Scott Danforth]

unfortunately every 'toon I have been on with M-brackets has been welded back up (many get welded every few years). the logs are stiffer than the structure. didnt matter if it was a 30hp motor or a 150 hp motor. its the flexing of the pontoon over waves as much as it force on the engine pod.

I agree with HotTommy that adding a few beams will help a bit to remove some of the flex.

there are hundreds of mobile welding services that cater to welding pontoons that exist solely because these brackets fatigue and crack. im going to guess your crack is probably where the M meets the log

 

[ahicks]

Just to provide some balance, I've owned and been around pontoons for over 40 years, and never experienced a failure in the area of the M brackets. Spray deflectors (front and rear) seem to deliver our most frequent problems/get all the abuse on the boats I've been around. That said, all of these boats, other than one, have been 50hp or less, and used solely on inland lakes.

 

[lncoop]

Just to provide some balance, I've owned and been around pontoons for over 40 years, and never experienced a failure in the area of the M brackets. Spray deflectors (front and rear) seem to deliver our most frequent problems/get all the abuse on the boats I've been around. That said, all of these boats, other than one, have been 50hp or less, and used solely on inland lakes.

Agreed. They especially shouldn't fail on a nine year old boat. If you bought it new I'd contact Lowe and see if it's under warranty.