Any one out there ever build a pontoon boat?

[coinarian]

Hi All,
I ran across a fellow some time back that has a couple aluminum drop tanks that look plumb perfect for building a small pontoon boat 16-18 foot. I am in AZ so pontoons are really good for the lakes around here. Trouble is that most of pontoons around are slugs. Now I also saw a fellow put some fins on the bottom of his `toons and he called it a "planing kit", said he could get the boat up on plane and it was just the cats meow. BTW, I have a `68 75hp Johnson Super Seahorse and a 4 cyl Mercruiser (chevy II) laying around. I also have an older Volvo Penta outdrive unit that I believe came off the same boat that the 4banger Merc did.

Now I guess what I am wondering is :anyone here ever build a pontoon and have any advice on doing so? These drop tanks a good or bad idea? I can buy them for like $400 for the pair and they are in good shape. Any thoughts on the "planing kit" idea (sounds neat to me) Also what do you think of the feasability of using the I/O drive train? Having the engine up in the middle of the boat for weight and balance really appeals to me. Most of the `toons I see on the lakes are waaaayyy stern heavy and like a said before, slugs. The thought of having a pontoon boat that I could get up on plane and ski behind really appeals to me. And lastly, Am I just nuts? Feel free to be honest.. Like I have said before, I am just a dumb and broke auto mechanic and I need all the good sense advice I can get. Thanks in advance, David Chapman.

[BigDadys94xj]

Good luck with this one. I guess the first thing you should look at is how much money do you want to invest? I think once you are done with all the fabrication and building you probably could buy one already done. The accuale building of a pontoon boat is relativly easy. go look at some at a dealer and you will notice how "cheaply" they are built. As far as your drive train the easiest and cheapest way to go is with an outboard but do to the nature of most pontoon boats you will never really get one to plane unless you have a ton of power. I have only driven one pontoon that would come close to planing and it was powered with twin Merc 225 optimaxs. I have seen i/o powered pontoons but they werent much better than one with an outboard. To do what you were talking about with placing the engine toward the center of the boat you would need to run a long jack shaft to the out drive. After placing the engine in the center of the boat and running some sort of shaft to the drive you have just put a huge center pod running right between the pontoons that because of driveline angles will hang pretty low and would be a problem as far as possible drag through the water and possible water intrusion into the engine . I really think for easy of your build go with an outboard. If you build it strong enough you could put some monster power on it and get it on top of the water. As far as a planing kit of some sort I would be very careful . Pontoons are not considered "planing type" hulls so you need alot of power to get them on top but once on top of the water it would be very skidish to drive meaning that because the surface of the pontoon is so wide and slick that it will be like driving around on ice. this can be cured somewhat by running a full length skeg of some sort the lenghth of each pontoon but still wouldnt be great. Again I think once you get a rough idea of how much money you will need to put into something like this you could probably buy one off the lot. Good luck.

[pyro]

Out here, there's all kinds of pontoons with V-6's on them. They sure do plane out, it's ugly, but they get up nd go. There's one that a guy runs at Hardy Dam, maybe an 18 footer, with a 150 Promax, that baby airs out and goes! It's funny as hell seeing an aired out pontton throwing roost. It really turns heads. But, they'e got terrible fuel economy on plane, and all the problems mentioned above. A Hurricane-style deckboat is a better bet, its designed to plane, and has the pontoon-style deck.

[hsbob]

seen some where the speed record for a pontoon is over 80mph.

[j.iverson]

They make toons designed to plane--I have one. The Premiere PTX is a triple toon with lifting strakes and a pod shaped center tube. Surprising, it banks nice in corners and carries weight well.

[Tango]

These are the guys you want to get in touch with. They build an awesome product. They can custom make anything you need or already have it in stock.

My friend built a 28' toon with twin Merc 200's on it... with a plenty of alcohol injected driver, it went 55 before the wife threw something at him.

Best part is the design of how they attach the engine brackets. All toons are bulkheaded and can be pressurized.

http://custompontoonboatkitsetc.com/

[Matt Gent]

Tango - got any pics? How well did the build go? Did he assemble it or them?

I've been thinking about going with these guys for a custom pontoon.

[Tango]

We lost all the pics as his wife thought the camera was something she could use IN the pool! He has since gone to Iraq and the boat is in Savannah. So i can get some pics of it when I go that way, but for now all I can share what I remember.

The guys at Custom toon kits can help you get the basic structure together so that it can be loaded to a trailer they sell. Then, get it home and finish all the stuff you want to add. Its MUCH cheaper that way and you are insured that everything is straight.

I would build one and find two 200s if I weren't buying a Hayabusa with my toy money.