Toon buying mistake and pending tube swap. Long post

[joakes]

Warning, when talking about boats, I get a little long winded. LOL
I stupidly bought a 74 aqua patio that had 19" tubes. Of course the guy lied to me and told me they didn't leak but maybe one half quart over a 3 day span using it every day in the the lake. Well one drained for seemed like forever, and the other drained for just a few seconds. So we alumi welded the cracks by the brackets. It fixed them for now, or maybe permanent IDK.

Anyway I am a large man, and as usual that causes some sort of problem for me. With the 19" tubes and me driving the boat, and anyone else gets in the very back seat ,It puts the very back of the log on my side under water a few inches. I had a Parti Kraft before that, and it had 22 or 24 inch tubes and we never had to worry about how we loaded or where anyone sat.I regret selling it every day, but at the time I didnt have time for it with work and family and really needed the money worse. Won't happen again if I can help it. Now after I made the mistake of buying this one instead of one that had the larger tubes, I want to fix it for my wants and needs. I really like the boat, besides the tubes, and a few other things that I knew I was going to have to fix. Like the flooring needs 2 panels out of the 5 replaced. Three of them look like new. I may replace all 5 anyway, just so I know they are new and I don't have to do it again in a few years and buy carpet again.

My plan is to replace the tubes with 24 inch diameter tubes. My boat has 20 foot logs, and a small playpen, like 14 feet. 4 foot front fishing deck and a little over a foot outside the back for the fuel tanks. I found a guy that has two sets of brand new 22 foot pontoon tubes that are 24 inches around. I can get them cheaper than replacing my entire boat. Cheaper than I have seen slightly damaged tubes for. Otherwise I would stay with trying to find a pair of good 20 foot ones. I want to eventually replace my lil 28 hp evinrude with something we can pull a tube with, maybe a 70 to 90 horse. So that will help me accomplish that too. Since the tubes are longer, I want to extend my deck the extra 2 feet, and make my playpen 2 feet longer. I would like to find some doors to put on each side since mine only has the front entrance and none on the side. That will about take care of making the playpen larger.

When I bought this one I still don't think I really got hurt. Even though I was intentionally lied to. Karma will get him. The PO bought it from the mayor of a town here in Ky. The mayor had put new seats in it and had some flunky put a floor and carpet in it. He left it in the lake all season. The guy I got it from put a brand new trailer under it and a new bimini top. It has a great running and sounding 28 spl evinrude on it. The boat looks 20 years newer with newer side panels and some two tone stripes. The outside looks better than the 96 parti Kraft I had. The seats need a few seams redone, the wife has a commercial grade singer and my momma taught her how to use it. So Some cleaning and repairs, and my rebuild may be farther ahead than some I could have bought.

So my questions are for the more experienced pontoon gurus that I have been lurking and reading about for a while now. Do you all see any flaws in my plans, besides putting money in an older boat? Anything I need to know or watch for? Some of the newer ones I have found were in worse shape and didn't look as good. That is what hooked me. If I had only listened to those voices telling me that the smaller toons was gonna suck I would probably still be searching.
I know without pics you all say it didn't happen. So maybe when I get started with this project, I'll put up pics of my progress.

[ToonGuy]

If you're comfortable with amount of work and money you will put it to it that's all that matters. The one thing I would stress would be while doing all those mods, replace ALL of your decking with Marine CCA decking and quality fasteners. If you're going to build it from the ground up don't skimp on the floor joists! BTW...where are you located?

[evinrude2stroke]

Before you start on a project like that make sure your transom will be able to accommodate & hold the larger engine. I wouldn't want to see you go thru all that work only to get stuck when you pop the engine on.

[ToonGuy]

Good point...I'm asuming he has a 20" shaft motor. Even so, some transom mods may be needed because of the added ride height.

[joakes]

Actually the shaft is a 25 on this motor I think. I will have to see. I am located in Irvine, KY.

[Bamaman]

You really look to see what you'll have after the proposed modifications are completed.

I really think you'll end up with a boat that's just not worth the investment. You'll still have an old styled boat with oversize pontoons.

I'd just hate to see you putting good money after bad.

You'd probably do better to find another used boat that better suits your needs. One that has a much larger motor.

[joakes]

Well an update on todays adventure to go buy my new 24" toons. The guy told me he had brand new 22 foot x 24" toons. Story above. Any way we get there and discover that two of the four are actually 20 foot, what I actually needed anyway. So I am excited about being the right length we look them over and they look pretty nice except for a few minor dings. We agree on a price, paid the man and get them loaded up. As we are strapping them down, I notice that one of the pontoon tubes is a little higher than the other. UH oH. So after putting a tape to them, we find that I have one 24" and one 26". The guy says that he was sorry. Well I went over and looked at the other two, the 22 ft ones. the sides that are facing up look really nice and I was gonna adapt them anyway in the first place. And then I am thinking he said sorry. ? ?? Hmm did he mean that I had already bought them and it was too bad. Well luckily he spoke up and eased my mind, said if I wanted the other two fine, or if I wanted my money back fine too. What a relief. Well we flipped the others over and both on the outside had a pretty good sized dent with a crease. So I just got my money back. He had them advertised and said he would only sell as a pair. Had several that he turned down just wanting one. Guess todays discovery changed that. I was afraid that my trailer wouldn't work anyway with the wider taller toons.
So I guess I am back to the drawing board. I looked on craigslist, nothing close that I found. Was asked if I would sell mine today. So maybe, I will sell and find me a better project to suit my needs. I told the interested guy why I was looking for another, he wasn't concerned about the smaller toons We been taking it fishing on the river and as long as we watch how its loaded its ok. So I will use it for now. I Found one that I could make work for me, but it is 5 and a half hours away in Indiana. I cant afford what I want and I would rather build than buy what someone else wanted. Always been like that, Cars, trucks, 4wheelers and now boats. At least then I know what i have and can put money in it as get it.
So anyway if anyone needs a 20' x24" or a 20 x 26" single toon I can get you hooked up. He also has a pair of 22'x24" toons that have some dents on them. Were suppose to be new but I think they are insurance take offs, these had a slight water line. The 20's looked new, with a few dings.