Pontoon boat railing

[bmorris]

I got a new to me pontoon boat this summer. It is pretty old and needs some restoration. I am considering redoing the railing on it. Right now the railing is made of wood with a layer of fiberglass over it with an aluminum top piece. I have been thinking about making the new railing out of steel instead of aluminum. The main reason is to save myself some money because I can do the steal fab myself. When finished I figured I would line-ex it to seal it up and keep it from rusting. I'm not going to do full railing like on most pontoon boats, just on the sides so I can fish off front and back of boat. Anyone see any reason not to make it out of steel. I really don't think weight will be an issue since I am stripping most of the fuirniture off anyway. any ideas or concerns anyone can think of let me know. Thanks

 

[EGlideRider]

Re: Pontoon boat railing

The main issues I see are the extra weight and maintenance of steel.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Pontoon boat railing

I can't imagine it would be a problem, especially if you're removing most of the furniture. I know nothing about fabrication so I'm not familiar with line-ex, but if that will prevent corrosion you should be fine, especially in Idaho.

 

[bmorris]

Re: Pontoon boat railing

Line ex is a spray in bed liner. Similar to rhino lining except that it completely hardens instead of feeling slightly rubbery. Also thought of using a good rust preventative primer like dp90 and painting. If I calculated right it should weigh about 150 lbs total for all the railing.

 

[BrianMc]

Re: Pontoon boat railing

If you have the means to fab out of steel you may be able to use stainless. You can use an arc welder with the right rod,a chopsaw and grinder to cut and fit,and a stainless wirewheel to buff the welds. No need for painting.

I'm considering a new shorter stainless railing for fishing,and having a narrow canvas made with plenty of eyes to use in place of that easy to dent and scratch aluminum sheeting. It'll be easier to fish over and catch less wind.

 

[likalar]

Re: Pontoon boat railing

Sounds like a great project! I can see no reason to not use steel; many of the workhorse commercial fishing boats are welded painted steel. Yea, there's some rust stains here and there (salt water, San Francisco area), but your Line-X should do the trick.
Be sure to engineer some strong bracing into your design. An adult can really throw some weight against a railing while coaxing a trophy aboard.
;-)

Larry

 

[jeeperman]

Re: Pontoon boat railing

Speaking of that easy to dent aluminum on the rails...............

I re-habed a hurricane salvage pontoon that had that sheet metal all boogered up.

I used plastic sheeting that is used on super-modified type stock cars.

http://laneautomotive.com/site/catalog-viewer?cat=34&loadord=17

Many colors.

Just screwed it to the inside side of the rail tubing with SS screws and ss flanged countersunk washers washers.

 

[bmorris]

Re: Pontoon boat railing

Bracing will definately be a must since it won't wrap around the front or the back. I have also seen all steel pontoon boats before which is why I figured it would be fine. I never thought of trying stainless though. Isn't it alot more expensive than steel also. Thanks for the input.

 

[lamac]

Re: Pontoon boat railing

Stainless is alot more expensive. Steel will work fine thats what they use on most of the boats and barges I've worked on offshore. Sounds like you have a good plan treat. Good luck and send us pictures.