LIFTING STAKES ON U SHAPED TUBES

[A.F.C. 8511]

I just purchased a project build. 24ft pontoon, U shaped tubes. I want to easily pull tubers and such. So Im looking to increase performance on boat. Would lifting stakes help?
If so, how much to purchase, where? And idea on instalation.
Thank you
A.F.C. 8511

 

[Scott Danforth]

pontoons are for tooling around and drinking beer from. Some are for fishing from

not the best boat for water sports.

tri-toons with lifting strakes have the best chance of being used for water sports

you will most likely have to make them, and have them welded. if your pontoon logs are foam filled (many of the u-shapped logs are) then you have to pull the foam out to weld, and then re-foam. (way more work and cost than simply buying what you want in the first place)

 

[HotTommy]

AFC,
I bought an old 24' two log with u-shaped toons (no strakes) on it about six years ago. I use if for family, tubing, knee board and occasionally one skier. It's powered by a 115 outboard and can tube at around 21 MPH. I (and everyone else who has bought an old boat to save money) had the exact same thoughts as you. Save yourself some time, money and effort and use the boat as is. In my experience the key to an exciting ride on the tube is waves. Hitting a wave from a passing wake boat at 20 MPH is more exciting than zipping along at 30 MPH. And hitting a wave at 30 MPH can be downright dangerous for the riders. .... The two best upgrades I made to my boat were a reliable engine that starts every time and always gets me home, and a really large top to keep the sun off.

 

[ahicks]

I'm with Tommy here. Lifting strakes would be cool, and make for a great tubing/beginning skiing platform, but unless you possess the necessary skill set to design a set, then fasten them, it's an idea best thought of as not practical. Hold that thought for the next boat!

 

[A.F.C. 8511]

Thanks guys. Good advise. Its gonna be a complete restoration project. Looking forward to sound advice, and maybe share some pictures of progress along the way.

Any thoughts on HYDROLIC vs CABLE steering on an old 24ft barge with a Merc 115?

 

[ahicks]

As the engines get bigger they start pulling in one direction at speed. The faster you go the worse they pull. Hydraulic steering cancels all that, but they really don't push that until you get up into the 150hp range. My 90 is barely noticeable unless accelerated hard in mid range. You can even feel the back of the boat scooting sideways a little bit at that point (prop walking). You'll notice it pulling for sure then, but as soon as it stops accelerating, it's back to neutral pretty much.

 

[HotTommy]

On my boat, I used an anode/trim tab just behind the prop to take out most of the pull. I can take out the rest by adjusting the motor trim slightly depending on the speed and power setting. .... I briefly looked at hydraulic steering during my renovation, but now that I've used my boat, I find it wouldn't have been worth the expense for me.

 

[MaPaHa]

A.F.C.
You've probably already decided on adding strakes or not by now but I'll tell you my experience anyway. I built an '83 model twin round toon a few years ago and did a little of everything to it. I started out by adding a "pontoon water glide" for more speed and turning and it did both well. I should have stopped there but the Tim Taylor in me kicked in so I removed it and added a center toon with strakes on it and an inboard fuel tank and storage. No extra speed but love the storage and got rid of the external tanks. Couldn't leave well enough alone so I bought some strakes for the old outter toons from the same guy in south west MO. and that's where the trouble began. A local shop welded them on and burned holes in the old thin toons behind the strakes and it leaked and there was no way to weld up the holes. Long story short, I replaced the outer toons with two that had factory strakes already on them that I got from the same guy. It's great now and I've probably got 5-6 K or so in three new toons and a lot of time. I'm running a Johnson 150 and it will run upper 30's MPH and does everything we want it to do. It turns good for tubing and runs fast enough for skiing and cruises great with a load.
Strakes can be done on old toons that are not thin and brittle but the guy doing it has to be good. I didn't worry about the foam inside and it didn't cause a problem. Toons are welded all the time for repairs. My old ones were just too old to work with.
Mark