They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

[chrisg]

As I stated in another thread, I had the marina remove the water from my logs ( now that I know what the correct term is). Well, they drilled holes in front of each weld and put those plugs that you see in a small boat. ( brass with a rubber part that expands when you push the lever over) you would think they could have put the holes on the inside so you don?t see them, or get to them when in the water. I hope they are air tight, but it would be a pain if someone comes along when it?s at a public dock, and pull these plugs out! It also now looks silly with these plugs all over my logs. ( and they missed one log and there is still water inside ? so the wife said). I could have drilled my own holes to get the water out, I figured they would open the plugs at the top of the logs.

Grrr

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

that sounds ridiculous,, guess even idiots have to work someplace.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

ditto!!!!!!!

 

[chrisg]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

Ya, I picked it up when they were closing up, so I just payed, hooked it up and left. They also somehow cut the wire harness on the tailer, so that had to be fixed.

Its now covered up and put away for winter, but now that I think about it, I should have argued. I was not told they were going to drill holes in it, if that was the case, I would have said no. ( actually I think I asked that question on another thread, and the answer was you don't want to do that).

Can these holes be closed up again?

Where are the 'chambers' in the logs? The plugs are installed on top, (at about the 1:00 position).

They put one plug in the 'cone' on one of the logs. then one right behind the weld ( So there are two plugs beside each other) then one behind the middle weld. On the other log , there is only one plug behind the cone weld (none in the cone area, or behind the middle weld). Is the cone partsealed off from the log?

Perhaps I'll replace the plugs with the type that needs a wrench to loosen, so it can't be casually taken off.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

I imagine that they could weld in threaded inserts and you could use pipe plugs like they use on most drains.
did they find out how the water got in them in the first place , maybe get the leaks welded at the same time.. you are taking this pretty good because I would be going homicidal with these people and insisting they pay to get the holes fixed .

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

did they even weld inserts, where they drilled? on just stick plugs in them?

 

[Kenny1970]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

I had a 1980 20 foot with 25 foot logs and it cam with drain plugs.
One on each log at the end.It was a half inch threaded pipe plug.
I was under the impression they all came with dran plugs.

If it were me and I had your boat I would take it to some one who can weld and have them weld in a nut and keep a bolt in it with lots of pipe sealing tape on it.

 

[5150abf]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

Just my personal pet peeve but, logs grow in the forest, tubes are built.

Been building pontoons for a long time and never liked that term.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

ok .that said,, what is your opinion on how they drilled holes in the aluminum pontoons??? is that the industry standard?? or a bad job??

 

[oldtortuga]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

I have a 30 + year old "Funtoon" pontoon 28 footer with aluminum deck.
It too sloshed in the tubes when I pulled her out of ther water last fall.
I took it to a professional welder (from what I was told you need to go to a welder who knows how to work with aluminum).
Cost about $400 to find and fix the leaks (stress cracks where the deck was welded to the tubes) and to install 4 drain plugs (one in each of the two compartments on both tubes). The plugs are standard pipe drain fitting 1/2 inch coarse thread. The welder drilled two holes in each of the tubes (one on the bottom of tube at the very end in the back and at one about the 5 oclock position on the bottom of the tube's front end where the tube is bow shaped).
He built up a weld bead around the female fittings where they passed through the tube skin. Whole deal sticks up about 1/4 inch above tube skin and is about 1 inch in diameter. Threaded plugs are the recessed type installed with a hex key.
He pressure tested his work and told me to use teflon tape on the plug threads when I reinstall them if I should take them out for any reason.
I did notice a drip from one of the fittings this spring before launch when the sun warmed the tubes up. Ran it back to the welder. No charge, no wait, drip fixed in 10 minutes (the female fitting weld bead was defective).
One season later no slosh, no leaks.
Oh, I also had the welder close up about 8 holes on the top of the tubes that were sealed up by screws with rubber gaskets. Just unscrewed the plugs and welded the hole shut.
No clue on what they were used for other then maybe to vent the tubes during fabrication.
Hope this info is useful to you.

 

[halmc]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

Your welder should be able to weld shut the holes you don't want and should be able to install aluminum bungs in the ones you do want. As another lister said, you should ensure that your welder is experienced with aluminum welding (most are nowadays) and your welder should be aware that many pontoon boats (maybe yours) have huge chunks of ploystyrene inside the tubes that can catch fire. The latter only becomes a problem if the welder doesn't know about it since he or she can take measures to avoid a whole lot of heat buildup.

Aluminum bungs are available cheap from on line Hot Rod shops e.g. Speedway. When you get the appropriate bung installed, use a nylon plug: if you use steel, bronze, brass, or even aluminum, you might as well weld it shut too.

 

[5150abf]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

In my 21 years in the industry I have seen all kinds of "repairs", I have seen this done but normally on the inside of the tubes, to do it on the outside of the tubes where it is visible is just plain lazy.

As far as industry standard at the dealer level maybe, they can only do what they can do, had it come to my shop it would have been air checked and fixxed and you would never know it was touched.

You don't say, did they find and fix the leak or just pump the water out?

If they didn't fix the leaks you are still at square one, maybe they were shooting to make it easier to pump them out all the time.

 

[chrisg]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

Yes and no ...............

Yes they are the standard 'expanding plug' that you push the lever over and it expands the rubber ( They did not weld any thread onto it).

And No, they only took the water out. I only wish they had put the plugs on the inside, where they won't be seen ( also, I could have done this myself). I have not looked close of they can be hit when the dock is hit.

As it stands now, my boats are all wrapped up for the winter. So I'll address it in the spring. ( hope the thing still floats!)

As far as calling these logs or tubes, what is the correct term? May as well ask, where did the name pontoon come from?

 

[chrisg]

Re: They drilled holes in the logs to get the water out!

So, should I rename the thread to " Don't allow this to be done to get water out"?