Pontoon rebuild need help finding materials

[ShawnFord1121]

I'd been looking for a decent Pontoon with a $10k budget, repairs / improvements included, when I found a 1987 24' SunTracker Party Barge with a excellent condition 87' Mercury 35 HP motor on it for under $1k. The Rails, logs and cross members are all in excellent condition; the deck was a complete disaster. It appears that the owner purchased this boat last year from a guy that had just redecked it. Unfortunately he used standard 1/2" 4'x8' plywood and it was falling apart. Basically I got it for cheap and now have a heck of a project on my hands which is exactly what I wanted.

I intend to widen the deck from 8' to 8.5', add a third log to use as transom & gas tank, and install underdeck storage.

I've heard a lot of people recommend not adding the extra 6" to the boat width, but I located and purchased a complete seating set. The rear seating is made for the wider deck, and the front seating folds out make a sun pad as well and all for under $1.5k. So I'm stuck with the wider deck plan. I have ordered the Dryply decking & Vinyl flooring and now need to find a "few" items to complete my build.

(a). Z-Bar cross members
(b). Center pontoon log

I'm able to do the welding myself, I would just rather have solid piece cross members than trying to add an aluminum L angle the length of the pontoon on both sides. Does anyone know of a Z-bar supplier near the Western Kentucky area? Same for the Pontoon Log. I'd be willing to drive up to 250 miles to pick up materials or pay for freight. St. Louis & Nashville are in the driving range.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[1983 ercoa 21']

I pm you a number to a place in mo that has alot of factory overstock and blems

 

[MaPaHa]

I'm not sure about the 8.5' cross members but the center toon will help with flotation. With the 35 hp it will make a nice boat to putter around in but not a power house to do water sports. If you get the transom built into the center tube it would allow for more motor in the future if that's what you want. When I added my center toon I had the inboard fuel tank added along with a large storage compartment. I'll also send you a pm on where I got it but probably the same as 1983 ercoa 21'.

 

[ShawnFord1121]

Thanks everyone! I contacted your recommendation and he has exactly what I need. I intend to do a power upgrade on the engine, going up to a 90hp, 150hp or something in between.

Thanks again!

 

[1983 ercoa 21']

Go with the 150 . My pontoon started with 25 ,70,115 I change it to a tri toon and ran the 115 it was ok till you put a little load . Now running a 150 and love it top end is 43 with a 15 pitch prop could probably do better with a 17 pitch. Loaded with four people live well's full with all the jug line gear on board it runs 38 top end and runs 33 @5\8 throttle which is what I wanted and uses the same amount of fuel as the 115 because I was having to run it full or 7/8 throttle to get upper 20s with a load . By the way welcome to the group here at iboats we are glad we can help.

 

[MaPaHa]

I agree with the 150. I had an old crank rated 140 (about 125 real hp) and it was a little shy of what I wanted. Switched to the 150 prop rated motor and that did the trick. I'm around 40 top end and it also cruses real well at 1/2 - 3/4 throttle and stays on plane. All three tubes have strakes. At one point the center toon was the only toon that had strakes and with the old 140 it did pretty good. If you have the option to get strakes on your new center toon I'd do it for the future even though it's somewhat pointless with the 35hp.

 

[MH Hawker]

you should be able to find any thing you need around summerset ky