Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm a newby so please forgive me if I'm posting this question in the wrong place. I just purchased a 2003 Crest 18' Sport/Fisher for use at my cottage at Houghton Lake Michigan. I wanted to purchase a used covered hoist and found an older Shore Master. The previous owner used 2- 2X12's running from side to side about 7' apart. I've read here about guys who have used boards from front to back where the tube sits entirely on the board, but never heard about going side to side. Do you think this would harm the tubes? For $430.00 I can purchase a kit that places the wood between the tubes and sits on the center of the boat. Any advice would be appreciated.

The boards on my lift run bow to stern, however they do not support the tubes.
They are inside the tubes and support the decking.

Mine run bow to stern as well (just like the bunks on a trailer).

I cannot say that your current setup will harm/damage anything but personally, I would want bow to stern as it will distribute the weight evenly. Maybe some structural engineers will chime in with their opinion.

smltooner wrote:The boards on my lift run bow to stern, however they do not support the tubes.
They are inside the tubes and support the decking.

I wanted to do this as well, however when I called the factory, they said it would void the warrantee. So mine is on a "standard" bow to stern set of bunks.

Why don't you just attach bow to stern bunks to the 2 X 12's?

I don't think that boards going from side to side would cause any real damage to the toons, think about people you are working on their boat and have it sitting on a few boards to keep it off the ground. But I would have much concern with the boat being properly centered over these boards and how it would balance, too much weight hanging aft and you might find yourself in a peculiar position. I'd be much more inclined to convert the lift so that the pontoons are supported along their length.

smltooner wrote:The boards on my lift run bow to stern, however they do not support the tubes.
They are inside the tubes and support the decking.

Me Too

I spoke with the main dock builder / lift set up company on our lake ( same lake as Ted smltooner) when we converted from a V hull to the Tritoon a year ago. I specifically asked about doing the "bunk" set up under the logs, or doing the support the deck method, which I went with. He said by FAR, the most common, and easier to get your boat back in level, is to do the under deck method. Although Turner Lifts didn't put carpet on the boards, I did put it on last Spring.

I called our manufacturer and they said no problem, they move them around the factory at the end of the build with fork trucks which pick up under the deck.

My Bennie sits on two 2x6's under each toon running from the rear to the seam at the back of the nosecones--14' board and 4' board spliced together on a crossmember. The toons are fully supported.

Strake wrote:

smltooner wrote:The boards on my lift run bow to stern, however they do not support the tubes.
They are inside the tubes and support the decking.

Me Too

I spoke with the main dock builder / lift set up company on our lake ( same lake as Ted smltooner) when we converted from a V hull to the Tritoon a year ago. I specifically asked about doing the "bunk" set up under the logs, or doing the support the deck method, which I went with. He said by FAR, the most common, and easier to get your boat back in level, is to do the under deck method. Although Turner Lifts didn't put carpet on the boards, I did put it on last Spring.

I called our manufacturer and they said no problem, they move them around the factory at the end of the build with fork trucks which pick up under the deck.

I have done this on 2 lifts.....convert v-hull to pontoon.
The first was done by Turner and the second was done by Plyler.
They were exactly the same and work great.

this works on tri toons also?