18' pontoon sits to low no water

[Catmaster2018]

I just purchased a 1992 godfrey parti kraft pontoon. The model is the fisherman. Has all original equipment.
40hp yamaha 2 stroke outboard. Looks like a new floor was installed. Looks great. Has 3/4" plywood floor. Looks like marine grade. Original furniture. I have the brochure from when they purchased it. But it sits way low. 15 of the 19 inches of the tons are in the water. This is with the boat alone. With 5 people stays the same. If I walk up to the front I can put the whole toon in the water. We have pulled the boat out and did the break test. No water moving around. Inspected the tons no cracks. They are sealed tons. Trying to find a way to lift it out of the water more.

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard

the logs would have plugs on top to access and remove water if needed. requires a siphon tube

you may have a compartment in one of the 'toon logs completely full with the 'toon on the trailer, knock on the bottom of the logs, if you have one that has a full compartment, you will hear it with a different sound (more of a thud, and less of a ring)

the factory deck was most likely 1/2" or thinner. if the deck is now 3/4", that was changed in its past and is not helping your issue because its adding weight

the 19" logs also do not support as much weight as say a 21 or 23" diameter log.

 

[garbageguy]

Might there be anything else loading your boat with water weight such as wet materials? (floor wood, furniture, etc)

 

[HotTommy]

I don't guarantee my back-of-the-envelope math, but based on your facts I calculate your boat weighs about 7,000 pounds! That seems a lot for an 18' pontoon boat. Something is full of water or something else.

 

[5150abf]

I could see it siting that low in that back with battery, gas and engine but the whole thing shouldn't be that low I wouldn't think, even with 19'' tubes.

The only thing that could make it sit that low is water in the toons, pretty sure 3/4 marine is pretty standard industry wide.

does it list to one side or the other?

Normally only one section of the 4 will take water.

See if you can locate a local welder and see what he would charge to fill 4- 1/4" holes, if youa re agreeable drill a 1/4'' hole at the back of each section, so 1/2 behind the middle seam then another 1/2'' in front of the end cap.

That is the only way to tell for sure if there is water and where the water is, I wouldn't think it could be more than 30-40 bux.

As Scott said the tubes have plugs on top, you can get air in them and spray them with dish soap and water to find any leaks, just watch going over 4-5 psi

 

[Scott Danforth]

drop a piece of 1/4" tygon hose to the bottom. use the blow nozzle and your hand to seal up the hole. just a slight bit of pressure will get the siphon flowing while a buddy checks for leaks. no need to drill holes. however if your leaking, it usually is at the M brackets where they are welded to the logs

 

[Catmaster2018]

I will check after the storms clear. Yes there are top jugs. I did go out and hit them all sounded empty. I'll use my electric fuel pump to siphon. The boat is pretty light I can pick the front part up my self. And two of us can left to back part up pretty easy when I miss the trailer board just a bit so we can center them

 

[HotTommy]

Yeah, my math was off by a factor of two. Weight is about 3,500 pounds.

 

[Catmaster2018]

I just found a deal on some toones. A guy has 2 25" toons and was wondering if this would make a big difference if I switched toones. I was about to look at a center tub with transom bracket. Then found these two toones and they are cheaper than a center toon

 

[ahicks]

25" toons will make an incredible difference.......

 

[Catmaster2018]

Oh went out with a camer I borrowed for engines and no water

 

[Catmaster2018]

Awsome wonder if my outboard would be out of water the cavitation plate is even with the bottom of the toons now

 

[HotTommy]

When you starting changing logs, you may as well look at engine pods at the same time. I bought mine used from a local salvage guy.

 

[Catmaster2018]

I'm not sure what a engine pod is

 

[HotTommy]

It's that thing with the transom on the back:

 

[ahicks]

If your cavitation plate is even with the bottom of your existing 'toons, I would think you'll be fine there. Worst case is you might have to drop the engine a bit, requiring you to trim the top of the transom.

If your engine pod/transom looks anything like the one in Tommy's oic, thinking it's fine as well. Unfortunately, many in that era are made using angle iron, which isn't bad by itself, but some were really crummy designs.

 

[Catmaster2018]

Oh ok dang that's another 1500. Wow

 

[Catmaster2018]

This o e is just like the picture

 

[Cableguy1977]

I have a 06 Harris royal heritage 250, a big girl I know, with a Verado 225, heavy girl I know. I can’t get the butt out of the water, it sits low when still, so much so that I replaced the 20 inch shaft motor with a 25 so I could mount it all the way up to keep the motor out of the water. She drags her tail though when moving, enough to throw rooster tails about 4-5 feet up from the gaps between the toons. The center toon only runs about 2 thirds of the way back, but replacing it with a full log would mean a lot of work moving gas tank ect. I had all 3 toons drill on the bottom in all sections - no water came out - and welded. Any advice to add bounancy in the rear? I have thought of trying some trim tabs between the toons, but would need a lot of fab work