Covering Pontoon at the dock

[koby42]

Lookin for a revolutionary idea from one of your great pontoon minds.

i have a 21 foot pontoon. no cover. I keep it at my dock all summer. Last year I covered it with an old cover i got from a neighbor that had quiet a few holes and it needed to be strapped down to a trailer to be fit properly. This didnt work so hot since I just float it next to the dock.

is there any good way to cover my pontoon without spending a grand on a custom made snap down cover?

thanks for your help

 

[WaterDR]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

You pretty much need a custom cover. Not sure why they would be a grand though.

 

[MinUph]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

I wouldn't want to deal with a full cover everytime I put the boat at the slip. I have seat covers for all the seats and console, two biminis and leave it at that. The floor gets some pine needles on it but the broom fixes that. Canvas tends to be more like work than pleasure.

 

[dls322]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

You pretty much need a custom cover. Not sure why they would be a grand though.

Custom covers are expensive...plus now is their busy season.
The mooring cover that i had made a couple years ago for my 22' bayliner was $900 and that was after calling around for quotes.

I picked up a Vortex Direct cover on ebay....they had some good reviews but haven't had a chance to use it yet...price was right...even if i need to replace it in a couple years.

 

[belairbrian]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

I was lucky enough to get a custom cover with my Fisher 200 when I bought it used. Since the boat is a 99 I think it was built just before tracker took over fisher?

Both the trailer and cover say Tracker on them. The cover is an exact fit right down to the locations and flaps for doors, reinforcements for the console and gas tank filler, and bimini mounts.

I had to patch it around one pole location, but beats paying over $900 to replace

 

[TurboM700]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

I paid 800 for my custom cover for my 24' pontoon.

If you got this way and need to trailer it with the cover on make sure you ask them if it will hold up.

I found out that most wont warranty them if they are being pulled down the highway.

Here's mine. I can put it on in the water or out of the water makes no difference. Take me no more then 10mins each way.

 

[newcomlr]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

Custom mooring/playpen cover quotes for my 25' toon range from $1200 - $1400. I have a vortex storage cover and have used it as a mooring cover, but unless you have dock on three sides of your slip, it's not really practical as a mooring cover.

You might want to consider a playpen cover from Tumacs. I've been talking with them and will be ordering from them in the next week or two. They have patterns for most toons. They make them to order and you have to install the snaps. $400 to $500 less than custom. The camping enclosure that came with my toon was made by Tumacs and it looks to be good.

 

[BobGinCO]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

I tend to keep the camper on, both when moored, and when parked in the driveway (when there isn't a foot of snow on it!)

 

[koby42]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

this looks awesome(vortex direct)...$144 bucks...anybody got a better idea? i like this one

Custom covers are expensive...plus now is their busy season.
The mooring cover that i had made a couple years ago for my 22' bayliner was $900 and that was after calling around for quotes.

I picked up a Vortex Direct cover on ebay....they had some good reviews but haven't had a chance to use it yet...price was right...even if i need to replace it in a couple years.

 

[Old Screwball]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

I usually leave the 'toon in the garage, but when we are in town It is left in the Marina, a week or two at a time. Being extremely cheap, I bought a vinyl 10 X 20 tarp. I use 12 2 liter bottles (Plastic) filled with water and tied to the eyelets down the sides of the tarp. I also have a 1" PVC pipe as a tent pole in the middle for rain run off. All in total about 30 bucks. At the end of the year I throw it away and buy a new one.

 

[newcomlr]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

this looks awesome(vortex direct)...$144 bucks...anybody got a better idea? i like this one

I have one of those covers too. The issues in using as a mooring cover are 1) unless you add snaps to it, it is held on by cinching all the way around below the deck. Or you have to strap it down. No easy to do if your slip space doesn't have dock to walk on all the way around three sides. 2) It takes up quite a bit of room in your boat if you can't leave it on the dock when you take the boat on the water. 3) you have to build some type of support system to keep the cover from allowing ponds to form.

Also keep in mind that cover isn't completely water proof. If a pond forms where there is a seam, it will drip water in.

I'm convinced a good playpen cover is the way to go. Then use the vortex cover to protect all in off season,

 

[dls322]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

i just installed mine yesterday and i was very happy with the vortex. It's allot of cover for the money in my opinion. Only time will tell if it holds up. It was difficult to setup by myself, seeign that i did it as it was starting to rain and i just got it out of the bag and had no idea what was front or back. I might add snaps to it because it might be tough to secure without them and it was on the trailer..would be allot harder at the dock
I went to lowes and picked up 5 10' 1" section of pvc and some end caps and a "t" fitting and made a pretty neat support system for $25.
Again designed, cut and assembled it in the rain in a hurry so i was amazed it actually worked out well...if you don't support it you will just make a nice pool for water on top of your boat and ruin the cover and be worse for the boat.

 

[hossy]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

Does anyone have a recommendation for a double-decker pontoon cover for the area that is not covered by the top deck? I have called around for custom covers, and they are indeed expensive (between 2-3k!) for my boat. It is a 30 ft, and I have an old custom cover already, it just has a lot of tears and none of the zippers work anymore. Am I SOL when it comes to a real cover, and have to spend the $ on a custom? I'm in Atlanta, the boat is on Lake Hartwell if anyone has a local recommendation too.

Thanks!

 

[Silver Eagle]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

I bought a custom cover from Iboats .com It cost me Around $500.00 for it Any color I wanted..The only problem I have, It's a pain in the rear to put on the boat. It weighs too much. And I have to put it on by my self. The boat is 24.ft long.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

I had a custom snap on made last year, and its EZ on and off.

 

[dls322]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

I came up with an idea for my votrex cover. I built a pvc support last week that worked great. But it was thinking about adding a couple inches to the height of the supports (easy fix..cut a small section and add a coupler) That would raise how the cover sits on the boat. Then i was going to just pick up 10 or so small eye bolts and attach them to the lower rails where it lines up with the tabs attached to the cover. Then i am going to buy 10 or so caribeners, that way i can just clip the cover to the eye hook and the pvc support will keep everything taunt....no need to install snaps...and i will leave the caribeners attached to the cover so it will store easy and look clean baot when not attached. If you put a label or so on your caribener then you know which goes where for super easy recovering.

Just a thought...I'm going to try it this weekend, sounds good in my head

 

[newcomlr]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

Just so everyone knows, the Vortex 3-in-1 covers are NOT waterproof. I don't believe they are even water resistant. If you build a structure to raise the center and pitch to the side rails, most of the water will roll off....but that would happen if you used a bed sheet too.

If water sits on the Vortex cover, the water will be in your boat. If you added snaps to create a tight topped tent like pitch, that may keep most of the water off, but don't expect complete dryness underneath...unless you figure out a way to treat the entire cover to make it at least more water proof. The seams are especially leaky.

I bought a vortex last year and used it as a mooring cover with an understructure to create about a 4' center pitch the length of the toon. The Vortex seems sturdy made and has a purpose, as long as you understand it is not water resistant.

Decided to buy a traditional Playpen cover this year. Should be in next week.

 

[MinUph]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

Newcomer,
Did you ever try spraying it with 303?

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

The only easy way to cover a boat at the dock is a snap on cover with the vent and support poles, its that simple, you can do a lot of other things to avoid the cost but it is what it is.

 

[WaterDR]

Re: Covering Pontoon at the dock

The only easy way to cover a boat at the dock is a snap on cover with the vent and support poles, its that simple, you can do a lot of other things to avoid the cost but it is what it is.

What he said