Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Well, the girlfriend bought an old fixer-upper (70's Harris) pontoon in July, and it was supposed to come with a hardtop, but it turned out to be MIA, so all we received are the upright/supports, which is better than nothing. It hasn't been very hot up here in MI so far, but I had an idea of building a trellis style roof using those uprights: the idea is that it will provide some shade when we want it, but not totally feel like we are under a roof- we would go inside if we wanted that! Our lake is small enough that rain protection is not a concern.

something similar to below: I would use 8 foot long 1x4 boards going lengthwise (fore/aft), mounted vertically, and hold it together sideways with 3-4 1x2's mounted on their side, to reduce windage. It wouldn't add up to much weight, and it is usually just her and I with the dog heading for a cruise around or 600 acre lake, and hanging out at the sandbar.

So: Is this a horrible idea? Am I missing something?

Weight is the problem with those old toons. Log dia. wasn't that big on them. How about a simple frame then use shade cloth you can get at Lowes pretty cheap.

YEP, the weight will make you top heavy

I could see also a prob. with wind.

Very, very bad idea. This guy was warned by everyone not to use that much wood on an older pontoon house boat with smaller diameter logs. One day, she went belly up, his wife got trapped under it (thankfully the hubby saved her in time) and he lost everything one board including 2 generators.

So he cleaned it up and they are back on the water with it. Only a matter of time before she flips again.





If it were mine, I'd build the cabin out of aluminum framing, use foam core laminate and a plywood upper deck covered with rubber membrane, same as most pontoon houseboats are built these days.

Or just get a bimni top, thats why their in common use.

BMR- I get frightened every time I see those pics...