Water in my pontoon log

[Jversace]

I have a technical question/issue with my ’99 Premier Alante pontoon boat…

I hit a rock on the lake bottom last year and punctured a small hole in the bottom of the nosecone section of the pontoon and the pontoon log filled half up with water. I took it to the dealer and they fixed the hole with a weld and drained the pontoon by installing drain plugs in the lower rear section of the pontoon logs. It worked, but after storing the pontoon over the winter, the weld where they fixed the hole burst outward due to some water freezing that was still in the nosecone section of the pontoon.

Here’s my question:

I believe the pontoon logs have baffles in them to connect each section of the log (connecting the nosecone to the main log, etc.). Does each baffle have a drain hole at the bottom to allow water to drain to the rear of the pontoon log and out the drain plug? Or do I need to drill a drain hole in each pontoon section and drain each section separately? If there is a drain hole near the bottom of each baffle, is it possible the drain hole is blocked? Is there some sort of water drainage system built in to the pontoon log on my ’99 Premier Alante? What do you think?

[lakerunner]

My Tracker has sealed sections. My nosecone leaks also but such a small amount I use a SS screw with a rubber washer. On top of logs are screw plugs that can be used with a small tube and shop vac.

[ROBBSRACINGENGINES]

I had the same exact problem with mine. No matter how hard I tried to get all the water out of the lower part of the front nosecone some would stay in there and freeze and crack. Now I pour a half gallon of RV antifreeze in each front section in the fall and then drain it back out in the spring. Problem solved.

[Jversace]

Thanks Robsracingengines! That's a great idea. But how did you get the antifreeze in the tube? Did you have to drill a hole in the top of the nosecone? If so, how did you plug that hole?

Also, I called the manufacturer (Premier) they were nice enough to let me talk to one of their pontoon builders back on their manufacturing line. He did confirm they install a quarter sized drain hole/weep hole in the bottom of each baffle to let water drain to the back of the pontoon and out the plug hole if necessary. However, he's only been around 8 years. He could not confirm if they had a drain system way back in 1999 when my pontoon was built.

[ToonGuy]

That hole is not exactly on the bottom of the baffle. It's usually at least a half inch up. So unless you can really tilt your toon up in front it still leaves enough water to cover the bottom of the tube. Still, it seems odd freezing would produce a crack. Unless the tube is completely full of water, the small amount freezing has plenty of room to expand up

[Jversace]

Thanks Toonguy. I had them weld a "patch" on the top of hole this time around to add strength to the repair. I'm assuming just enough water got in the small weld to pop it... but I agree it's strange it happened. I have the ability to tilt the front end of the boat way up in the air to maximize the drain. I'll do that from now on when I pull it out of the water for the last time in the fall. Hopefully it'll be bone dry next September when I pull it out. If not, I've got more searching to do to find where it's leaking..