52' Steel Pontoons for a houseboat

[awsmiles]

I'm new here so I apologize if I screw something up but I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. My family and I own a 52' houseboat that we keep at Bullfrog Marina in Lake Powell. Yesterday we received a call from the marina saying that the houseboat was sinking, luckily one of the owners was able to get out there and get it out of the water before it became a catastrophe but now we have a boat that doesn't float. We have steel pontoons on the boat and they were full of water. Offshore Marina will weld the holes and do what they can to repair the pontoons so they work for the remainder of the season (two more trips to go yet) but we are thinking it is time to find some new pontoons. The boat is at least 25 years old and while we maintain it as best as we can it seems that there are multiple holes in the pontoons and that makes me think they are preparing to fail completely. Looking on line I have not been able to find any used steel pontoons for sale but I am sure there must be boat parts out there somewhere. Having new ones fabricated is most likely out of our budget right now. Do any of you have an idea of where I might find used pontoons that we could look at to see if they are in better condition than ours currently are? Thanks for any help and advice!

 

[MaPaHa]

Re: 52' Steel Pontoons for a houseboat

I’m thinking about building a house boat on a tri-toon in the 40-50 foot range x 12 or so feet wide and I know I've seen some aluminum pontoons in that size but can't remember the site. One thing you might have the welding shop look at is putting bilge pumps in those pontoons. There may be obstacles there and it may not be feasible but it’s just a thought. If I build one it will surely have some way of pumping out water because there’s too many people posting about leaking pontoons and I’ve got a 24 foot tri-toon that I’m fighting leaks on now.

 

[lakegeorge]

Re: 52' Steel Pontoons for a houseboat

If your not running the houseboat but just using it as a cottage why not put 4 smaller pontoons on it? They will do the job and probably be a lot cheaper & easier to find.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: 52' Steel Pontoons for a houseboat

Or you can foam fill them

 

[awsmiles]

Re: 52' Steel Pontoons for a houseboat

Thanks for the quick replies. We do run the boat, we keep it on a buoy in the summer and then run it up and down the lake for each trip staying in different places so 4 smaller pontoons isn't an option. The previous owner put large foam blocks inside the pontoons and that seems to be part of the problem because they are maintaining moisture inside and causing rust to continue no matter how much we sand, weld and paint the outside. I like the idea of a bilge pump for the pontoons, I will have the shop take a look and let me know if that would be an option. If we had to get new pontoons does anyone have a suggestion of a good place to get them or a good shop for fabrication? We live in Colorado and are happy to transport new ones to Utah.

 

[MaPaHa]

Re: 52' Steel Pontoons for a houseboat

look up usapontoon.com It looks like they have all sizes. I talked to them a couple of years ago about a center toon for my 24 footer but I found one a few hours away. I was impressed with what they did and their knowledge but have not done business with them.

If I remember right they have a method of shipping.