Upgrade 23" Tube to 25"

pbxcomm

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
Messages
35
Ok folks.. Here's the "skinny"..
Sorry no pics,, yet, but there will be soon.
Great Lakes Skipper was a pleasure to do business with, very helpful, however, check your merchandise prior to leaving the premise or shipping. They were ready to load two different tubes on my trailer. Also, be sure you are clear on the condition of the pontoons, new or used and that they are priced accordingly. Skipper will be happy to work with you on this.
So, that all said and after much research (months). I've discovered and confirmed with engineer's that the optimal center of gravity is in fact the center of the pontoon boat WITHOUT THE MOTOR! With the motor installed the center of gravity is approx. 3 to 4 feet from the front of the motor (if the center of gravity was found to be in the center of the pontoon without a motor). So, in theory, if one was to launch the pontoon in the water without a motor, the pontoon should be level.
Additionally, the 25" Pontoons are substantially more weight that the 23". Two men can lift the 25" x 23' pontoon and its all the two men can handle.
The 25" tubes fit well to the deck, however, there was additional drilling and measuring necessary to align the secure the tubes. I did not elect to remove the deck due to the fact that I just replaced the decking two years ago with Sherwood XL PlyDek, so I had to install the 25" tubes with all the decking in place. It was a task, but far less work than removing the deck and re-installing. One more
 

pbxcomm

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
Messages
35
One more note: The 25" tubes are designed to fit the new 8' 6" wide pontoon boats. Be aware of this when you fit the 25" tubes to an older pontoon boat/deck. I spaced my new 25" tubes 8' 4" out so I'm under the legal width of 8" 6".
 

ahicks

Captain
Joined
Sep 16, 2013
Messages
3,957
Regarding spacing toons beyond the width of the deck, pretty sure they'll work great out on the water, but what about docking? Aren't the tubes going to be vulnerable to dents and scrapes when up against docks and pilings?
 

pbxcomm

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
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35
Not much choice.. The area available is limited .. If your current deck is 8' then upgrading will be a challenge of width.. The 25" tubes are 2" past the deck on each side (8' 4"). with the proper bumper size, this should be a non issue. I always throw the bumpers out before docking. I consider myself a professional boat docking captain, no exaggeration, as I have not one scratch on the deck edging or on the toons. Your right, however, I'll need some minor adjustments next year due to the extra two inches. The old 23" tubes were flush with the outside of the deck.
I would think that the new pontoons are also extended past the deck (perhaps not 2")? I'll research this..
 

Cat nip

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
288
I am probably going to undertake the same task the same way in the spring. And I was wondering about the with placement of the bigger logs on a 8" wide boat. Was there not enough room under the boat to mount them even with the sides? Or did you want more stability?
 

pbxcomm

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
Messages
35
Stability wasn't really one of my target/goals but its a positive from going to the larger tubes.
When all was said and done, the mounting brackets on the 25" tubes are 5 1/2" in from the edge of the deck on both sides. This equated to a total width of 8' 4" (just under legal). The 5 1/2" was a measurement I came up with after measuring the total width. Depending on what tubes are used, I'm sure this would vary. One particular I found was I could not mount the 25" tubes flush with the outside of the 8' deck. This would mount the tubes too far inward for the average pontoon trailer. As it is now, the inside width is correct for a trailer, however, as stated earlier, the pontoons are 2" out past the deck edge, which is a non issue.
 

pbxcomm

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
Messages
35
I can't speak for all, but my primary goal is performance (hence the lifting strakes and larger diameter tubes). More importantly was locating and defining the center of gravity. Too much forward, the tubes will plow with adults forward. Too much to the stern will cause drag from the cross members dragging on the surface.. At the end of the day, it appears that center of gravity is critical on a pontoon, or for any boat, but more so on a pontoon. Case in point, positive motor trim my offer a 1 MPH difference in top speed but real performance in a pontoon comes from very little positive trim or the motor straight up and down. This proves the theory of center of gravity.
 

Cat nip

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
288
Thanks for sharing all of this information. I/we really do appreciate it. How did you lift the deck off of the old logs and onto the new ones?
 

ahicks

Captain
Joined
Sep 16, 2013
Messages
3,957
RE: distance between toons required for trailer, and boat lifts designed for toons for that matter, I would never have thought of that until assembling the project. So this new issue you've run into now has me wondering. I know several manf's have been building 8' wide boats w/25" toons for a long time. Is it the lifting strakes on the inside of these new toons you bought that forced you to locate them outward?
 

pbxcomm

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
Messages
35
Great question.. after measuring and measuring again along with additional calculations, I discovered that the lifting strakes could be installed facing inward with enough room for trailer clearance on both sides. With that said, if one searches for lifting strake locations, one may find a 50/50 benefit of installing either outward or inward based on turning and side clearance. I chose to the outside, simply because I didn't want another area causing internal turbulence to enter into the prop. Outward seemed to be logical for maximum lift, however, the downside maybe clearance when approaching a dock and turning my be slightly affected, although I don't do many full throttle turns. I think I may have this figured out though with new deck edging and built in gunnel rail (rubber). It seems most new toons come with this new deck edging/rub rail and this catches the dock before any other surface.
 

pbxcomm

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
Messages
35
To answer Cat nip.. The idea of lifting the deck was not mine and I can't take credit. It was a simple solution from an engineer.. Pontoon Trailer! Yes, we wheeled a pontoon trailer under the pontoon, lined it up cranked up the pontoon until the weight was just off the Pontoons. I unbolted all the bolts on one side, slid the tube out and slid the new one in, repeated this on the other side. Most importantly, I purchased the Pontoon stands ($100.00 I think for 4) then set the stands on car dollies from Harbor freight. This made it very easy to roll the old tubes out, lift them off the stands, set the new ones on the stands and roll them in position. Turns out that was the easiest process. The most difficult was lining up the toons and marking all 52 holes.
 

Cat nip

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
288
Renting a scissor trailer dose seem like the easiest way to lift it and stands with dollies sounds slick. Drilling all the holes sounds fun, i have steel cross members hahaha.
 

Cat nip

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
288
So how did this work out. Sit higher? Better performance? How's the turning?
 
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