shortening a pontoon boat

[Frankphoto]

Here on my lake we have a maximun rated length of less than 17 feet for power boats
what problems or issues would there be in shorting a 18 foot pontoon boat to meet that criteria ? especially safety and any legal concerns in New Jersey. the boat was already purchased prior to the owner being aware of this length limit
thanks in advance

 

[mrbusdriver]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

I would just use what you have, are they going to put you in jail over a foot.

 

[Frankphoto]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

I would just use what you have, are they going to put you in jail over a foot.

No not jail but i am on the boat compliance commitee which approves boats for use on the lake, we have a set of by-laws which must be adhered to. Than theres all the other members who have already complied with those rules. We have a boat patrolman who has the authority to throw boats off the lake. So if it is not in compliance with said rules you cannot use the boat on the lake. This owner must buy a shorter boat or shorten the one he has.

 

[Frankphoto]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

What are the length of the tubes? If you have to cut them up and reweld I'd say sell it and buy a shorter boat.

I have not seen the boat but i believe it is an 18 foot boat. I well inspect it on Saturday for approval of use on the lake.
I guessing since that size boat is much more common locally he got a deal on the purchase.

 

[mrbusdriver]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

Ok didn't know, but I'm sure glad that I don't live on a lake then, I just haul it to any lake I want that's open to the public and then's it's fishing time. Enjoy the summer and safe boating.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

Frankphoto....

Just a question? Not trying to hammer you.....Is there a reason why the rules made a cut off at 17 feet?

The most common power boat is an 18 footer.

 

[Frankphoto]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

Frankphoto....

Just a question? Not trying to hammer you.....Is there a reason why the rules made a cut off at 17 feet?

The most common power boat is an 18 footer.

its gets complicated - a set of by laws written in the 50's before pontoon boats became popular, and not a very large lake 275 acres, about a mile long and 1/4 mile wide, where there are more 16 foot boats for water skiing , the cut off is 16 "rated" foot actually
so the law states the boat must be less than 17 so you could have a boat measuring 16'11".3/4 from tip to end of motor mount.
I guess you have to cut it off somewhere, you might say the length got determined by the ski boats on the lake and no other good reason, in fact there are some 18 foot pontoon boats grandfathered in on the lake before rules got enforced and things got better organized.

 

[Underblog]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

You could go and craft a custom tape measure and tell them that's what you used to check legality. . .

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

frankphoto thanks for the reply....

Not a very big lake and i see why they have the rule. Don't want to have a bunch of big boats running into each other!

Is this someone (the boat owner) you know really well or just someone getting their boat checked out?

I do like the custom tape idea.

You said there is a few 18 foot pontoons that have been grandfathered in, if it is a good friend why couldn't you submit for a rule change to allow up to an 18 foot pontoon boat only with a horsepower limit. Who knows there might be other board members that would allow it. Sounds like an older community with a nice little lake for leisure/family times.

Hope the guy doesn't have to chop his boat up!!!!!

Good luck!

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

its gets complicated - a set of by laws written in the 50's before pontoon boats became popular, and not a very large lake 275 acres, about a mile long and 1/4 mile wide, where there are more 16 foot boats for water skiing , the cut off is 16 "rated" foot actually
so the law states the boat must be less than 17 so you could have a boat measuring 16'11".3/4 from tip to end of motor mount.
I guess you have to cut it off somewhere, you might say the length got determined by the ski boats on the lake and no other good reason, in fact there are some 18 foot pontoon boats grandfathered in on the lake before rules got enforced and things got better organized.

With all due respect, if your lake has room for ski boats running around, it has room for an extra foot on pontoons.

As for your by-laws (not laws), amend them to classify boats, one classification being pontoon boats. I've served on several homeowners boards, so I know there is always at least one power drunk, stubborn a..h... (usually more than one) that won't cooperate, so I'm not saying it will be easy. But as you said, the by-law was written in 1950. Time for an update.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

i would sell the property and move.

 

[5150abf]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

To qualify my answer I have built or had something to do with building close to 100,000 pontoons, 200,000 tubes, over a 24 year career and am currently the supervisor of the tube shop at Bennington.

Even with all my experience I would have a hard time cutting a foot off a pontoon boat, changing the end cap is not really a big deal, I do that a few times a week and generally takes an hour, your problem would be that the brackets generally run right up to the back of the tube so you would have to cut them down which means you would have to shorten the deck, which would get into railings ect ect.

In other words buy another boat or vote to change the rules, 18' toons ar pretty common, 16' toons are not, people make them but there aren't many around.

So no, your average Joe isn't going to be able to shorten a toon.

 

[Frankphoto]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

i agree wholeheartedly about changing the rule, part of why i posted the ? is to gather poplar opinion and submit to the board that it is practical and a popular thing to change, we recently updated the small engine limit up to 10 horsepower from the previous 7.5 because the smaller motors were made without steering linkages and were no longer made in that size limit , and indeed there was still opposition to the change. so my agument so far will be that 16 feet is a unpopular size for a pontoon boat, there are difficult and uneconomical to convert, there would be many more opportunity's for homeowners to buy used boats of 18 feet. and they would be safer since they would be able to carry more weight. Now all i need is a 2/3's majority vote, and have to hear all the groans from the people who went to the trouble of getting 16 foot pontoons! change from our board is not easy the average age on the board is deceased.

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

Glad to hear you're going to try to change the rule. It seems the right thing to do. Good luck...

 

[Treker57]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

Sorry but at 275 acres that is not a lake, more like a pond, in most states thats what it would be called. If I were you I'd either get a different boat, or buy the 18 footer and go somewhere else. How many boats are on this lake already, not to be rude but I can't image a Saturday afternoon of boating there

 

[muskiemike12]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

No one asked for you opinion on the definition of a lake Trek! BTW most of your so called lakes down south are really reserviors, not lakes in my opinion.

 

[Treker57]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

At 275 acres I would think that HP size would be more imporant than the lenght of the vessel. 20 17' boats towing skiers with 115hp outboards, Whoa

 

[Treker57]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

No one asked for you opinion on the definition of a lake Trek! BTW most of your so called lakes down south are really reserviors, not lakes in my opinion.

Sorry to **** you off, as I just stated I would think that HP size would be more of a concern than the size of a vessel. And you should pull out an Atlas while they may be reserviors but the size is a lot larger that you think

 

[lncoop]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

Sorry but at 275 acres that is not a lake, more like a pond, in most states thats what it would be called. If I were you I'd either get a different boat, or buy the 18 footer and go somewhere else. How many boats are on this lake already, not to be rude but I can't image a Saturday afternoon of boating there

Treker, none of this an option. As stated in the original post the boat has already been purchased and not by the original poster. At this point he's just trying to figure out what the boat owner's options might be. I agree that an eighteen foot pontoon should not be an issue on a 275 acre lake, but I would also sympathize with anyone who made a special effort to get a sixteen footer being upset if it's allowed. In any case, shortening it is not a viable alternative. IMHO your best bet is to be a sweetheart at the next board meeting and try to get the rules changed. Sounds like they need to be any way. Good luck. It's a sticky situation.

 

[lncoop]

Re: shortening a pontoon boat

Easy fellers. We're all tooners here. We're 'posed to be laid back and full of love (although I did get my panties in a wad a while back, but that's different:redface. Let's leave the fussin' to those tightly wound glass guys.