Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm surprised how many pontoon owners don't know the answer to this.
I have a 18' Sweetwater (1996) with a playpen 13'3" x 8' and I need a mooring cover for it. This is apparently a rather short playpen and I can't find anyone that makes an exact fit cover for my model because of the age. I'm hoping to find other models with about the same dimensions to add to my search for an "off the shelf" cover that'll save me hundreds over having one custom-made.

I've spent hours searching for something close & have come up empty. I didn't think this would be so hard.

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u273 ... CT0064.jpg[/img]

You will need one of these if you don't want to pay to have one custom made. Mine works great on a 24 ftr.

https://www.pontoonstuff.com/collection ... oon-covers

I just replied but it got lost so I'll go from memory. Go to Apex Marine web site, They have many models that are 16,18 and 20 footers with various floorplans, For example the 820 LS Lanai cruise is 13'4" inside the playpen, If you order one make sure you tell them it's 8 feet wide, They come in 7.5' and 8'. All the floor plans have exact size inside the playpen if you click on the model.

I've been researching this extensively for the past week. The only company I found that makes playpen covers is Taylor Made. I actually just ordered one and it should be here tomorrow. Mine pontoon is a 20', but the playpen area is about 18'2"x102". They had one for 18'1"-19' so that's what I ordered. Now, I assume if it's a playpen cover, the dimensions are for the playpen and not the deck, but I'm not sure. My deck is actually 19', so I hope it will work either way. The smallest one they have is 15'1"-16' x96". But again, they say that's the centerline and beam width of the boat, and that's the deck size, but it's a playpen cover, so deck size is really irrelevant.

I can let you know how it's sized when mine comes in. Here's where I found was the cheapest to order.

https://www.wholesalemarine.com/pontoon ... -16ft.html

Atlanta Michigan, that's a couple hours north of me in Saginaw. Our lakefront house is in Gladwin, that's about an hour from you.

[quote="ron nh"]I just replied but it got lost so I'll go from memory. Go to Apex Marine web site, They have many models that are 16,18 and 20 footers with various floorplans, For example the 820 LS Lanai cruise is 13'4" inside the playpen, If you order one make sure you tell them it's 8 feet wide, They come in 7.5' and 8'. All the floor plans have exact size inside the playpen if you click on the model.[/quote]

Apex marine is Qwest pontoons. All I can find is new pontoon sales. Maybe it was another name?

[quote="curtiscapk"]You will need one of these if you don't want to pay to have one custom made. Mine works great on a 24 ftr.

Yeah, I actually ordered one like that and I'm sending it back. I'm looking for more of a mooring cover I can put on when the boat is docked, so going under the deck is almost impossible to reach from on top of the boat. That's the reason why I was researching playpen covers and just ordered one. I'm thinking I'll have to put some kind of hook on the sides of my playpen for the mooring cover to attach too, then a few poles inside so it stays tight. I'll post some pictures when mine comes in. I'm not sure if the original poster is in a similar situation and wants a playpen cover.

If the op is looking for something like Taylorjm, I agree, you won't find one off the shelf. If you buy another company's similar size mooring cover, you might be able to mickey mouse it, or a good fit could cost as much as a custom. I think I miss read what he's looking for....I bought a 20'er from overtons that's fine for mine,but It would suck to try to keep it on a moored boat.

[quote="taylorjm"][quote="ron nh"]I just replied but it got lost so I'll go from memory. Go to Apex Marine web site, They have many models that are 16,18 and 20 footers with various floorplans, For example the 820 LS Lanai cruise is 13'4" inside the playpen, If you order one make sure you tell them it's 8 feet wide, They come in 7.5' and 8'. All the floor plans have exact size inside the playpen if you click on the model.[/quote]

Apex marine is Qwest pontoons. All I can find is new pontoon sales. Maybe it was another name?[/quote]
No, That's it.. I thought he was looking for any mooring cover that was made for a 13'3"X 8' playpen so he could just buy it from them and fashion some way to attach it.

Apex marine is Qwest pontoons. All I can find is new pontoon sales. Maybe it was another name?[/quote]
No, That's it.. I thought he was looking for any mooring cover that was made for a 13'3"X 8' playpen so he could just buy it from them and fashion some way to attach it.[/quote]

Ahhh, I gotcha. Getting one custom made is probably as much as buying one from a dealer! Actually, I think most mooring covers that are from the dealer are made for a particular pontoon with snaps, so the snaps wouldn't line up, unless he puts snaps on the pontoon in the right place, which is a possibility. Although, everyone I know that has a snap down cover hates it because the material shrinks and it ends up nearly impossible to get it snapped down.

I bought a snap button tool a few years ago and I use it often enough that it is worth having. Like this one, https://www.amazon.com/Ironwood-Pacific ... tener+tool There are also other styles more and less expensive.
We buy a big cover(we use at least 660 denier) and we cut it down to fit and install snaps where needed. The wife does all the sewing, they work well and we save lots of $.

That being said, crawling under in mid summer to place poles got too hot for me. So we only make covers for the furniture now. Cut a piece from a new cover, fit, and attach them with snaps.

Great tool for the price.

I'm guessing that tool works good to get enough leverage. Except I hate it because you can see it's just a snap set welded with a big gob of weld on vice grips and I would refuse to pay for it when I could do the same thing.

[quote="taylorjm"]Apex marine is Qwest pontoons. All I can find is new pontoon sales. Maybe it was another name?[/quote]
No, That's it.. I thought he was looking for any mooring cover that was made for a 13'3"X 8' playpen so he could just buy it from them and fashion some way to attach it.[/quote]

Ahhh, I gotcha. Getting one custom made is probably as much as buying one from a dealer! Actually, I think most mooring covers that are from the dealer are made for a particular pontoon with snaps, so the snaps wouldn't line up, unless he puts snaps on the pontoon in the right place, which is a possibility. Although, everyone I know that has a snap down cover hates it because the material shrinks and it ends up nearly impossible to get it snapped down.[/quote]

I actually like the snap covers.

I've owned several over the years (have one now that came with the boat, which is an '05), and all have fit well, both when new, and "later on.". Even the very first one, which I had to install the snaps on (the boat) myself.

To clarify my OP: Yes I'm looking for a "close enough" mooring cover that ONLY covers the playpen.
Websites & catalogs are really vague on actual dimensions to the seams of their covers. Ebay sellers are even worse. Like "taylorjim" posted--he bought a cover and really won't know til he gets it if the listed dimensions are for the deck or the playpen.

I currently have a storage cover like in post #2 but it looks awful, is constantly beating on the seats & railings when the wind blows (90% of the time on the lake), and is a PITA to install & remove when on the water.

Several makers have covers to fit certain model pontoons and they don't list the dimensions so I thought I'd try that approach to finding one that's dimensionally close to my boat. But I need your help in providing the dimensions.

And indeed I have browsed the Apex website because I'm aware that they make more short 'toons than other companies, AND their floorplans and dimensions are actually useful. Problem is their info is only available for current models and nearly all 'toons now have large-radius corners in the front. I'm worried that my small-radius corners would rip through the wider corners of the cover.

Mine won't be in for a few more days now. I'll let you know how it fits and try to figure out what dimensions they are listing. The playpen, or the deck.

Jeff