# Anybody ever though about making a pontoon boat



## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Ive been thinking of building a personal sized pontoon boat if I can find something pre-made to use as pontoons. Im thinking about sealed PVC pipe but not sure of how it would work. Ive seen videos on youtube about making a sailcat with PVC pipe so I think it can be done if I dont find anything else. I seen somebody at the reservoir with one of the larger sized factory made personal pontoon boats with what looks to be inflatable pontoons , the PVC pipes may be much heavier I dont know. building a frame onto the pontoons should be pretty simple and could be a lot of fun. I need to make one thats atleast 10 feet long to be legal in the Findlay reservoir and I need to keep it as light as possible to possibly avoid needing a trailer to haul it. As with lots of other things I know you get the best value for the money just buying a factory made one but seems like making one could be cheaper and a cool simple project if something to use as pontoons can be found. Any other ideas for simple and affordable pontoons ?


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## junkyardbass (Mar 19, 2006)

Some else has had this idea.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Had a bud build one out of plastic 30 gallon drums from a hospital.
He later bought two aluminum wingtip tanks off an airplane about 12 feet long. He never finished the project, I inherited the tanks.


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

Plastic drums. That's typically what they make floating docks with. In fact, I saw someone locally that sold them. If I can remember exactly where, I'll shoot you a pm.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

junkyardbass said:


> Some else has had this idea.


Haha! that ones funny. I want to make a nice looking and functional one though.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

creekcrawler said:


> Had a bud build one out of plastic 30 gallon drums from a hospital.
> He later bought two aluminum wingtip tanks off an airplane about 12 feet long. He never finished the project, I inherited the tanks.


I read those tanks make the best ones if they are a good size. The plastic drums make good stationary platforms but will really be a pain moving through the water. If you were closer I would ask how much you want for the tanks.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Something like this shouldnt be hard to make , assuming I can locate or make adequate pontoons. Just attach an aluminum frame and a seat , oar locks and a place to mount a trolling motor. The key is to have pontoons that are aerodynamic enough to move through the water with as little resistence as possible.


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

yonderfishin said:


> Ive been thinking of building a personal sized pontoon boat if I can find something pre-made to use as pontoons. Im thinking about sealed PVC pipe but not sure of how it would work. Ive seen videos on youtube about making a sailcat with PVC pipe so I think it can be done if I dont find anything else. I seen somebody at the reservoir with one of the larger sized factory made personal pontoon boats with what looks to be inflatable pontoons , the PVC pipes may be much heavier I dont know. building a frame onto the pontoons should be pretty simple and could be a lot of fun. I need to make one thats atleast 10 feet long to be legal in the Findlay reservoir and I need to keep it as light as possible to possibly avoid needing a trailer to haul it. As with lots of other things I know you get the best value for the money just buying a factory made one but seems like making one could be cheaper and a cool simple project if something to use as pontoons can be found. Any other ideas for simple and affordable pontoons ?


From someone who built there first boat from an empty hull (16 ft aluminum tiller) your better off just buying one it'll be nicer, neater and probably work better and you won't have to figure out any dynamic's of weight disstribution etc.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

K gonefishin said:


> From someone who built there first boat from an empty hull (16 ft aluminum tiller) your better off just buying one it'll be nicer, neater and probably work better and you won't have to figure out any dynamic's of weight disstribution etc.


Yeah I agree with ya about it being better to buy one , but too pricey especially for one 10 ft.+ But weight distrubution wont be a problem for a one person craft with such a simple design , its basically a raft with a seat , but could really be decked out cool with some imagination.


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## Jigging Jim (Apr 3, 2010)

I saw one from a distance in NY that looked to have been built with large styrofoam blocks and 4 or 5 inch PVC piping and elbows. I watched the guy fish with it in calm waters on the Saint Lawrence River. It worked for him.


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## Fish_Heads (Jun 2, 2008)

Here's one & it comes already stocked !


http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/boa/1876976318.html


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## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

I built a stabilizer for my canoe out of thin wall PVC. It actually floats better than I thought it would. I used 45 degree joints for the ends, and put a clean out cap on one end of each to drain any water that might get in. My guess is, since it's 10 feet long, you could use 3 or 4 joints of 6" and get pretty good floatation out of it. Maybe even put a sheet of 1/2" plywood on it for a deck.

Also, if you do a search for bending PVC, you can find some pretty neat things people have built, mostly patio furniture.

I always wanted to get a plastic welder, and weld 15 or so plastic 55 gallon drums in a triangle, mount a Chevy 350 in the middle, and, uh, never mind......

I love the craigslist ad. I really like the paddles. They look like brooms covered with plastic bags.


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## Ripley (May 10, 2010)

a friend of mine's uncle built one out of schedule 40 pvc piping.... if i remember right... it's been 25 years ago... filled the piping with some kind of foam .... it doesn't absorb water.... he did that because if the pipe got a hole in it ... the thing wouldn't sink...it looked good and floated well.... but... it wasn't the same as the little ones you can buy...

however if you look online there are plans on how to build just about any kind of boat,little speedsters, kat, yak, canoe, house,....etc,etc....


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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

i seen a guy with 2 kayaks bolted together and a 9.9 on the back. they were testing it out at the cuyahoga river. you could make the toons out of 4inch pink foam sheets glued together with liquid nails.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

I found these , they are way out of my budget but for anybody else that has an interest in building your own these are available. Other sizes can be found by doing a google search for " cataraft tubes".


http://cgi.ebay.com/13FT-SATURN-INF...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b3df4186


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## ress (Jan 1, 2008)

Yonder, several years ago my boys and a few of their freinds made a pontoon. I was able to get 30 gallon steel drums from a place in Lima that refurbishes them. They duct taped them together,ha, but it workrd for about a half hour. If a person could weld them together and then seal the crap out of it , maybe! They would need to be balanced, I think thats the hard part of figuring it out.


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## bassattacker (Mar 14, 2007)

dont know if this will help but they sell their toons separate for people who want to design and build their own.

http://www.protatch.com/PontoonFloats.htm


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## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

why not make the pontoons from plywood. I think they'd be prety easy to make in 1/4" plywood then cover with fiberglass cloth and resin. could Probably build somthing decent and inexpensive in a weekend or so.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

boss302 said:


> why not make the pontoons from plywood. I think they'd be prety easy to make in 1/4" plywood then cover with fiberglass cloth and resin. could Probably build somthing decent and inexpensive in a weekend or so.


I am considering that and also using construction styrofoam sheets stacked on top of each other to thickness and then cutting the pontoons from that and covering with fiberglass. Either way its looking more and more like I am not gonna be able to do it without spending more than I wanted to.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

ress said:


> Yonder, several years ago my boys and a few of their freinds made a pontoon. I was able to get 30 gallon steel drums from a place in Lima that refurbishes them. They duct taped them together,ha, but it workrd for about a half hour. If a person could weld them together and then seal the crap out of it , maybe! They would need to be balanced, I think thats the hard part of figuring it out.


That would definately work , but maneuverability would be terrible. Seems like it would go through the water like a brick. For ease of movement it would have to be more streamlined.


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