Re: Repair dented pontoons
First of all, I am really delighted I have dent brothers out there. We love our 94 21' Sun Tracker Party Barge. In the warm season, we are enjoying it every weekend. Lots of our runs are down the Chattahoochee River where you can find every stump, log and gator in the river. I hit a slightly submerged olf channel marker once and rammed a basketbal size dent in the front pontoon nose section. That took some bucks and my local metal fabricator's help. There was no doing it myself on that one, but an education is an expensive thing. Like my dent brothers, I bought the boat used with some dents in the rear pontoon sections. Believe it or not, a trailer with flemsy bunk boards can do a number on your toons. Hitting a bump in the road casued the boat to slam hard on the trailer and if the bunk boards dont support the entire length of the pontoon well, where the boards flex is where you will dent the toons. My dents started here before I bought the boat. I saw this right away and replaced the bunk boards with really stought pressure treated ones covered in good weather proof carpet from the big box store. Other dents were inflicted by me on the river and lakes we run. You need to find the top plugs on your 4 pontoon sections. They take a little reaching, but come out with a 7/16" open end wrench or small adjustable. When you open them up, you should hear a woosh of air as the inner air and outer air equalize. Heat from the sun causes the inner pontoon pressure to increase. If you hear no woosh, guess what? You have a leak and you should have seen some dripping from the trailer bunk noards for a while after you last came out of the water. Anyway, I have a small tap set, I use a 1/4",so I drilled with the right size drill bit at the very bottom of the rear circle or the back pontoons. The back pontoons take the most beating because they are the most submerged in the water from the motor, gas, batteries, my tiny swimmers physique and the cooler. When you drill it, do it like you clean your eyeballs, very carefully, so the hole is true and small. When you pull the bit out, the water you thought you heard will begin to flow freely because the tp plug is out. once it drains, tap the hole with the tap and then plug it with the right thread count 1/4" bolt with a tiny black O-ring fitted on it to the shoulder. Snug, but don't muscle it it or you will strip the threads. If you do, you will only have to go to a larger size hole to tap of plug the hole with monster strong epoxy. Now you can drain it any time you worry about it, just be careful with the threads. I did this on both of my rear tanks and the front nose referenced warlier that I bashed in and had a metal fab shop repair for me. That way I can keep tabs on their welding seal quality. There I made a very small drill hole and uesed a small self tapping metal screw as a plug. No leaks. Meanwhile, you can worry, like I do, about how to do a real fix. Patching cracks on the outside is futile. I have a long story from another pontoon boat about that one. The air pressure, in my experience, is always much greater inside the pontoon. This means air always triesto push outward, not inward, so the seal will fail from the high pressure air trying to escape. Then high pressure water from running the loaded boat well spray into the pontoon while you are on the water. Outside patching may work for a run or two, but you'll be doing it again and again. You have to jack the boat off the trailer to get to the suspected crack anyway. You have to seal the leak by welding or sealant from the inside of the pontoon. Liquid sealant poured with a tube down the top vent hold will work. I drilled a 1/2" hole in my deck to get to it straight down, then used a furnature plug to plug the hole in the deck. Looks fine. Look for, google, marine or gas tank sealant on line. Rig up a funnel and big box store plastic tube and pour a few quarts, up to a gallon, of sealant into the tank and then take the boat for a ride on the trailer for an hour or so. The more hills and driveways up and down the better to slosh the sealant all through the pontoon. Do it allot until you feel good about how well you have sloshed the sealant around inside the toon. Then let it set. You may even see some sealant drip out on your trailer bunks, thats a good thing cause you know the sealant found the crack(s) causing the leak(s). Put the top plugs back in and drive it around some more. Then open a top plug and listen. You know the deal, the air should woosh out meaning you have a tight sealon the cracks. Then you can save your beer and tooth fairy money, she doesn't need lingere and jewlery anymore either, heck, she know you adore her by now. The go find you a good metal fab shop and just hang out there for a while getting to know the guys who may, someday, get intimate with you baby, the boat silly. The super dent removal and crack welding repair that you have been waking up in the middle of the night in cold sweats worring about may be in the cards. But that's just me. I'm obsessed with a good performing boat. The new souped up motor I bought from i-boats and my loving care, she will be fine. I have some ideas on quality dent repair as well, but I have run on way long enough for now. Email me If you care to bounce some thought off one another. It's December now and I am stuck doing honey do's for the winter. God speed me to warmer weather around March.
Chuck, Columbus, Ga
