New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

[Dunaruna]

Hi all, it has been way too long since i have had a boating project but that is all about to change. My wife and I have a houseboat which we have enjoyed for many years and now we need a tender. My wife is in the middle of a cancer battle and she is now in a wheelchair 90% of the time. To make life a little easier for her, we need something that is wheelchair friendly. The project begins - It will be a custom built aluminium pontoon boat with 3 access gates (wide enough for a wheelchair or 4 wheel motorbike) and a 800 mm wide access plank, 3 metres long. The boat will be powered by a 30 hp EFI merc. All other fittings will be custom built as required such as seating and console.

Although i am proficient at welding aluminium, i am not an expert. With that in mind, i have employed the services of a friend who lives and breathes alloy welding. Together, last weekend we began the pontoons/floor. pontoon material is 5052 grade 4mm sheet aluminium rolled, welded and then a cover strap is tacked on (purely for aesthetics). Instead of compartments, we have chosen to use sealed 20 litre round plastic containers. Each pontoon has 10 containers. The bow is strengthened with 10mm tube for beaching abrasion and a small flare is installed for splash protection. The motor well will be a very basic wet bath made from 50 x 100 mm x 10 mm hollow section. In the pic below the motor well is not in it's final resting place.

 

[kodibass]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Best wishes to you wife's recovery, Please keep us up-to-date on this project I want / need to do about the same, ps nice shop

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

That looks great. It should served you both just fine.

Funny thing about our friends from OZ but it looks upside down

 

[archbuilder]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Very nice work, looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Funny thing about our friends from OZ but it looks upside down

Not anymore! Turned it right way up yesterday and installed barriers and gates. Fitted motor today and got measurements for cables. Console is made but not fitted yet.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

for some reason your pics aren't showing up.

 

[JDA1975]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Do not want you or the wife to take any offense to my first question....How much does she weigh, and how much does her manual chair (assuming on a boat youd want the light-weight maneuverable chair) weigh?

This lift I use in my truck, could surely be adapted to a pontoon deck, built for all weather use. could be adapted to lift a platform with her and chair on it, or if she is capable of boarding, just the chair.

It is rated for 350lbs, runs off standard battery in vehicle

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

for some reason your pics aren't showing up.

Fixed.

JDA, you have a PM.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Put in half a day of hard labor today. Installed the console, steering, control box and gate stays. Next step is the wiring and then some fancy decals. A folding canopy has been ordered and should be ready next week.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Wow that was a high speed build! Looking good!

 

[herefishy]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Did you build the fence/bend the square tube, and the console yourself?

Beautiful work!

~Fishy

 

[zopperman]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

This is fantastic project. Best of luck to you both.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Did you build the fence/bend the square tube, and the console yourself?

Beautiful work!

~Fishy

Thank you.
My welder friend has access to a full workshop which includes guillotines and bending machines. he made everything. The white panelling is a commercial product that is delivered pre-cut to our specifications (sizes). The only other thing we could not do was the pontoon radius, we cut the sheets and then sent them to a workshop that made the circle and then sent them back to us for welding.

 

[Don S]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

My welder friend has access to a full workshop which includes guillotines and bending machines.

I know you meant a sheet metal shear, but when you mention the guillotine, here is what my mind sees up here in the northern hemisphere.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Hi Don, must be a cultural thing, we call a manual 'shear' a shear but anything that is motorised (hydraulic or electric) we call a guillotine.

Well it has been a very hectic few weeks. As well as a full schedule of doctors and scans/tests, and Christmas preparations, we managed to finish the boat. The launch was yesterday with all the fanfare of a cruise liner! A drop or 2 of champagne was sacrificed for the good of the sea gods . The motor ran faultlessly and although the boat was a little stern heavy, we managed to cruise level with 10 people onboard. The only hiccup was the tachometer, it refused to work. There is an issue with these 30hp mercs, the grey wire is as dead as a doornail. Any merc tech-head know the modification to get a faria tachometer/hourmeter working?

 

[archbuilder]

Re: New wheelchair friendly tender pontoon boat

Glad to see you got her in the water, that was a fast ground up boat build! Looks like she turned out great!