Diving board on front of pontoon

spingley

Seaman
Joined
Jun 17, 2009
Messages
58
Several years ago I saw a pontoon on a lake that had a shorter diving board sticking out of the front, well now that I have bought a used 24' I remember that and was wondering if it would be hard to put one on this boat. Anyone else ever seen it done before, and how hard would it be ? I am thinking it would have to slide underneath the front of the boat when not in use.
 

samm835

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 12, 2006
Messages
575
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

I am by no means an expert any any type of construction...but I was thinking about this and how it might work. First wouldn't this be putting a huge amount of pressure on your cross stringers when the diving board was used? Even if a small adult (145lbs) used it, that pressure would more than likely warp the bow very quickly unless you put more and stronger cross members up front(maybe also a third tune). If you did all that work and then once completed you made sure you had people towards the back when someone was diving it could probably work. But even at that point, I know my bow is maybe what two or two and half feet outta the water(maybe a little more), but the dive doesn't seem that it would be high enough to produce any fun.....maybe for young kids it could be to make someone "walk the plank" though. I am going to search you tube and see if I can find something like this in use....love to see it, good luck with and let us know how it turns out if you decide to.
 

SeanT

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 8, 2009
Messages
661
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

My old man has a pontoon and assuming you had a solid way of attaching the "plank" to the floor, I would have zero hull/floor stress issues. Maybe on a smaller boat, but 24' no way. Especally if its a newer boat, that thing is solid.

Also, my immediate reaction to the "Diving board" suggestion was that its a bad idea, yet I'm having trouble coming up with a why. My kids like to take a running jump off the front of the boat, so this wouldn't be much different. Approaching the dock might be a challenge with it though, unless it could be folded up or easily removed.
 

77GALAXIE

Cadet
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
22
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

First question I have is. Do you have Insurance? Dont want to rain on your picnic but this has "Murphy's Law" written all over it.

Maybe you could put a slide too. Haven't seen that one yet.
 

SeanT

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Jul 8, 2009
Messages
661
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

I think when I started seeing BBQ's bolted on to pontoons, all bets were off....
 

samm835

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 12, 2006
Messages
575
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

My 24ft pontoon is big enough to handle the "plank" but I would be money that the standard toon would flex a bunch in the front if you didn't reinforce the cross stringers. My toons are large also........I have a buddy that has a party hut, his does have a slide off the back, it was factory made and is very secure. Let us know what you decide and if you do any kind of structure reinforcment.
 

Jeep Man

Commander
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Messages
2,803
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

First question I have is. Do you have Insurance? Dont want to rain on your picnic but this has "Murphy's Law" written all over it.

Maybe you could put a slide too. Haven't seen that one yet.

Some larger toons with a solid upper deck have a slide option. Looks pretty cool.
 

phipps

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
385
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

Overton's has a blow up slide that attaches to the side rails of a pontoon. Looks like a lot of fun!!
 

Toonah

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Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
15
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

I have a 93 24' pontoon that has one, the 3 - 4' deck is open in the front where it sits off to one side. It was an option back then on either sea nymph or lowe boats. It is all one piece and distributes the weight to the deck as it's mounting is all alluminum and 1 nice little package easy to remove from the boat if you didn't want it. You maybe able to ask Lowe who puchased sea nymph if they have any specs on it or know where you could purchase. Our deck is wood and no issues. I have to say it's not much better than diving or jumping off the front bow you do get a little more hight but it's not like something mounted to the ground and doesn't move. If you get one be mind full of on coming waves as people will loose footing easily... it's fun though. Best of luck in your search.

If this loads here is a picture of mine though it looks like springs are on the deck they are not there is a whole support frame.
 
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droptine77

Cadet
Joined
Nov 17, 2007
Messages
12
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

I say give it a shot. Please make sure you take a video camera. lol
 

rentprop1

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 30, 2008
Messages
358
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

from a pool owner looking to replace a broken diving board, I can tell you new they run about $ 1300 and up depending, don't know about a used one, couldn't find one.........just can tell you a small crack soon will be a bad break in the board, check it over before you buy
 

cribber

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Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,338
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

I've seen a water slide on a toon but never a diving board... I like the spring mounted diving platform, looks like fun!!!
 

mniact

Cadet
Joined
Sep 11, 2008
Messages
12
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

I saw this on Minneapolis Craigslist:

This is a diving board that is designed to go on just about any lake toy or your pool, but because of its short dimensions is designed more for lake toys such as your pontoon, swimming raft, or dock. It has a metal plate that mounts to the underside of your chosen location, then the heavy duty "U" shaped spring section sets on the top of your location and the two connect together with large bolts. This is the only diving board I have seen of its kind, everything else seems to be larger and designed for a pool where you have more room. The diving board itself measures 29" long by 15" wide and has a very solid metal "U" shaped spring design. Overall good condition. Slight sun fading and a small scratched section in the front corner. I removed it from a swimming raft that I was redoing but ended up selling the raft before I got a chance to ever put the board back on. As you'll see in the pictures, I left it attached to a portion of the old wood flooring that was on the raft so that you can see how to reinstall it.
 

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Toonah

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Jul 12, 2009
Messages
15
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

Nice board! Not sure about the mount for distribution of the load on a wood deck but looks like it would be fine for metal deck. The one I have from mfg is a wood board covered with carpet and is mounted using all alum and distributes load well. Nice!
 

Ann Schaub

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Joined
Aug 16, 2013
Messages
2
Re: Diving board on front of pontoon

LilliPad Diving Boards has invented a diving board for a pontoon boat that addresses all of the concerns in this thread! Check it out at LilliPadDivingBoards.com

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