Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

[samo_ott]

So I had my garage collapse under the snow load in the winter on my old pontoon boat. I just got the entire thing apart to investigate the damage. One pontoon is perfect. The other is not. I have included pics. It was a small 16'er, 8' wide. I only had an Evinrude 18hp on it so it's not a powerfully boat by any means. We just putter around in it mostly at idle speed on a small protected river. I tell you this as it wont be pounding the surf on any big water at all so it doesn't have to be rock solid when fixed.

So my question is, can I cut top hatches in each section and pound it out from the inside or will it stress it and crack it? Are they any other ideas or methods that I could try? As it's useless now and a write off I have nothing to lose so am open to any ideas, wacky or not I also have a MIG with a spool gun for aluminum welding if need be. Thanks for looking

 

[EGlideRider]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

I'm sure 5150 will soon provide expert answers to your question, but IMHO, I would sell what you have for scrap aluminum, sell the motor, and invest in a newer used boat.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

I already have another 24'er so there's no rush. Don't want to scrap it, want to try and fix it.

 

[EGlideRider]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

OK. 5150 will be here soon to offer you expert advice.

Good luck.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Sorry to see your trouble Steve. As I've stated before, my toon suffered the same fate. I was able to repair the rails and upholstery but the tubes I left as is. They were not nearly as bad as yours. With the creases in yours, your in for a world of work. The metal is thicker than you think. Did you have insurance coverage? Personally, I would make a call to U-Fab Boats in Smiths Falls and ask if they have any seconds. They are close enough to you to pick up. Good luck!

 

[5150abf]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Here I am!!!

Picture 3 tells the story, anytime you have a sharp crease you are done, the metal is actually folded over itself so I would be really suprised if you could get it anywhere close to right without it cracking on the fold and the dent is the length of the tube.

The good news(?) is it is already trashed so you can no longer hurt it so if you want to open it up and try to pound it out you can but like I said,the metal is pretty thick and once you bend it that much it isn't coming back and instead of one humongous dent you will have 100 smaller ones and you will need to seal the tube back up air tight after you operate.

Air leaks on the top are the worst because they let water displace the air and sink faster if you do get a hole.

Your other option is to use it as is, as long as it doesn't leak it will still float fine, might sit a little low on that side because you lost some volume but it should be fine and you only have an 18 on so you aren't going to go fast anyhow.

I am tight as a drum so I would personally just use it as is if it were my boat.

 

[luckyjr]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Fixing it. 5051 is right but here is a suggestion if you want to try. Get you a Come a Long and secure the pontoon and what the CAL is attached to. Tacweld a fixture to the toon. Attach and Pull out straight slowly, not at a angle. Cut you a swipe of the radius of your toon for checking radius. Get it close then use bondo to original radius. Keep aluminum warm. Bend a aluminum can and heat it and work for an idea what is going to happen. Sorry for your loss . Happy Holiday

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

you could hammer and dolly it back. not sure if it is worth it

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Is a dolly a curved piece of metal on the inside as backing? I was wondering about that also.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Here I am!!!

Picture 3 tells the story, anytime you have a sharp crease you are done, the metal is actually folded over itself so I would be really suprised if you could get it anywhere close to right without it cracking on the fold and the dent is the length of the tube.

The good news(?) is it is already trashed so you can no longer hurt it so if you want to open it up and try to pound it out you can but like I said,the metal is pretty thick and once you bend it that much it isn't coming back and instead of one humongous dent you will have 100 smaller ones and you will need to seal the tube back up air tight after you operate.

Air leaks on the top are the worst because they let water displace the air and sink faster if you do get a hole.

Your other option is to use it as is, as long as it doesn't leak it will still float fine, might sit a little low on that side because you lost some volume but it should be fine and you only have an 18 on so you aren't going to go fast anyhow.

I am tight as a drum so I would personally just use it as is if it were my boat.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately is is not usable as is as there are a few small holes along the cracks on it now... Starting to sound worse huh!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Is a dolly a curved piece of metal on the inside as backing? I was wondering about that also.

http://www.google.com/search?q=hamm....,cf.osb&fp=2c8694c936a4e7a7&biw=1143&bih=672

Dollys come in various shapes and sizes. Hammers are specialized for stretching or shrinking. people have been bashing metal with a hammer and dolly since metal was first created.

 

[Alwhite00]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

If you have the aluminum welder could you just cut out the bad & weld in a new piece that has been rolled?

LK

 

[luckyjr]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

5150, what if, we fill that section with water and then apply air. Bring it to up to yikes pressure. Heat the damanged area only and make it the path of least resistance. The worst that would happen is it would break and he would get wet. What is that white stuff on the ground?

 

[5150abf]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

I don't think you could ever get it hot with it being full of water, the aluminum is a heat dump and being full of water would make it even harder and as I said , with it being creased it will just crack well before it si straight.

The hammer and dolly thing is a way long shot too because you would have to be inside the tube to do that which means removing the entire top of the tube and I really doubt you could get it welded back air tight and the metal is really thick, it isn't like a car fender.

The come along is out to, you would need to have 2 dozen attachment points to get that to work because it only pulls at the attachment point and again once you get so far it will crack, I have used a dent puller quite a bit on small dents, anything bigger than 1'' 1 1/4'' you need 2 hole and it goes up from there.

And welding a new section in is prett easy to say but a wole different ball game doing it, I have welded in a storage cut out that came from the same tube and even that is a real challenge so to try an entire bottom of a tube is just not going to happen.

I am afraid it is dead Sam.

 

[vergil]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

alright , what kind of toon is it. you could possibly get a donor pontoon cheap off craigslist (one that needs redone), then rob the toons sell the trailer, and scrape or save the rest for parts.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

No idea what kind it is. There's no markings.

What about this method?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9moYO-WWhaQ

The metal is thinner and he has full access to the inside are the big differences I see.

 

[vergil]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Can you post pics of the whole boat, and the back of the toons? But they look alost identical to an old riveria cruiser pontoon, if thats the case you could find a donor replacement and possibly cheap, I took a second look, but that is an old riviera cruiser toon, they were one of the very few that did the rear of the toons to a point. If I aint mistaken they were made in michigan, and here in ky they bring about 2,000+ depending on shape, i bought mine for next to nothing needing restored, but with a great motor.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Here's the best pic I could find of it before it got squished. I was told it was homemade. So it could be. There were no data plates.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Steve, I doubt it's homemade, but it was modified, even more so recently. (Sorry,I couldn't help myself). It has the same pontoons and style as my Lavigne, which was manufactured in Quebec.
Did you have any luck finding anything at U-Fab?

 

[5150abf]

Re: Mangled pontoon. Is it fixable?

Had a tube the other day with a dent that I was trying to save and I almost threw some heat on it to see what I could do but couldn't find the time so I just ran another one.

I will give it a shot at some point, always playing around with new repair techniques, my average cost on a tube without labor is @ $350-$400 so throwing them away sucks.

If you discovery anything new let me know, of coarse when I am done with my repair it needs to be sellable retail so my bar is probably a little huigher than yours is Sam.