Bent Nose Cone- completly my fault.

[TXfloater]

So, The Admiral and I are out on the lake having a wonderfull time. Didn't gas up before we left because the gauge showed half a tank. (Mistake number 1) The wind starts to pickup and as the toon comes off of a swell, it kind of jolts into the next one. I guess that bump shook the gauge loose, because it suddenly dropped to about an 8th of a tank. My home lake isn't huge, but we were on the far side from the trailer and I am very resistant to paying lake gas prices if I can avoid it. So I scramble back to the dock in increasingly big swells. The bad weather means I can't get on a plane and I feel that I can see the gas gauge dropping to E as I plow through the water. We make it, but now I am pretty frazzled (mistake 2) and I really dont want to run out of juice 50 ft from the ramp waiting on my girl to back the trailer in. (Absolutly nothing against her. She is a dead eye backing that trailer in. First shot almost everytime.) She gets it backed and I line the toon up on the trailer. Im still in a hurry (mistake 3), there is a crosswind, and I don't have a ton of experiance. I hit the trailer wrong, broke a bunk, and dented the nose cone of my right toon. It's not a scratch and I cannot see any gouges on the Alum. The only differance is that where the sides of the cone normally curves outward (convex like the nose of a v- hull) it now curves inward (concave like the top of a poorly erected pup tent). Both sides of that cone are now curved inward. I checked and the other two cones are curved outward. I had it sitting still in the water for about an hour while fixing the bunks (replaced them all) and I cannot find any evidence of water inside the toons, so I dont think I busted any of the welds.

The question in all of this is, should I get this fixed? Do you think it will do any more damage if I use a dent puller ?

I tried to get some pictures, but the damage could not be seen so didnt post them.

Sorry for the rambling post. I dont post often and felt the need to write alot for some reason.

[spurhunter]

Sorry for the luck, been there, done that. I would not bother fixing it unless you are a stickler about speed.

[rbiederwolf]

Fist or second time out I dented the outside of the left nosecone. I almost cried. Tried to pull it out, couldn't. After about a month I got use to the dent and stopped noticing it. Does not affect the performance of the boat at all.

I would check all the welds as best you can, and if they are intact, then I would not worry about it. Tough if not impossible to pull out those dents due to the curvature of the pontoon.

As for getting your boat on the trailer, DO you have proper vertical alignment guides on the inside of both bunks ( 2 per bunk). And if so are they adjusted properly - about 2 inches from the inside of each pontoon?

I know when I got my trailer the guides were not adjusted properly. Once I adjusted them, putting the boat on the trailer was 100% easier. Also do you have the front gate open when you put boat on trailer? Just some tips that have helped me.

[ronb]

If this is just in the nose cone, isn't that just welded on to the round tube? If so, even if it had a hole in it, the whole tube wouldn't fill with water, it would just be that front peice. Also if this is just the nose, I assume once you are up on a plane it is completely out of the water and will have NO affect on top speed performance. I'd leave it, you can't get behind it, you can't hit it with a hammer and pound it out, you could try suction, but sucking on a flat/bent peice of .120 or .090 aluminum isn't going to get you much in the way of 'repair'.. I suppose you could try using a uni-spot welder and attatching some studs to it and then trying a slide hammer to pull the dent (or drill holes and use a J-hook on the inside with the same slide hammer) but you will have to repair the damage (welds/holes) that you make while trying to fix it.

Unless you find structural damage, I wouldn't touch it. Chalk one up to "learning" and move on...
-ron

[WILD MAN]

I've removed small dents on aircraft skin with dry ice it may be worth a try it won't do any damage.
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4796742_re ... y-ice.html

[deerslayer]

If not leaking and you can live with the look then leave it and wait on the next dent to happen

[Bryden24shp]

If you lived in Iowa, you could say a deer swam out in front of you and your insurance company would pay for it! Works on just about every car that gets a door ding or too much ! Tons of deer hit scams! No not me, yet. Anyway...

Really, sorry to about the dent. I know how you feel, I got a small one in my nosecone from somewhere... I noticed it when pulling the boat home Sunday night, while looking into the trucks drivers side mirror. Then of course I got all dis combobulated and well, you know! Ends up, I smacked the bottom of the nosecone with a dead blow BFH and it popped out, most of the way. I'm happier than I was!

[ROLAND]

txfloater... sorry to hear about your mishap with the toon..... To start with I think most of us have been out on the lake and all of a sudden realized we have a lot less fuel than we thought we did... I had the same experience last summer and I was sure we were going to run out.. needle was below "e" when I got her up on the trailer... now at 1/2 tank I fill up.. as for damaging the toon loading the boat... My bunk trailer has the guides built on the inside of the bunks, but I added these 48" pvc trailer guides and they really help me loading the boat..There's about a 2" gap between the side of the toon and the trailer guide...so when i'm approaching the trailer I just line up the right side of the boat just inside the trailer guide and as long as your headed in straight, it pretty much lines up perfectly... just something to think about..




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[TXfloater]

Thanks for the advice, guys. After some contemplation of your posts, I'm thinking it is better to just leave the cone as it is. Ill just keep an eye and ear out for leaks.

Roland, Ive seen those outside guides before and have put serious thought into getting me a couple. Is that some that you fabbed up yourself or is it a commercial part? If it commercial, who has good deals on them?

Wolf, I THINK my guides are pretty much in the right place. I have looked closely and am thinking about moving them a little closer to the toons. The back end of my toon never seems to sit just right on the bunks. Maybe Im just being obsesive about it. The toons are on the bunks, just not seated all the way in the "V".

[Mosnowman]

I agree with Roland.....I'm a newb that just couldn't get my tritoon lined up with waves and wind. I bought a set of the pvc outside guides ( bass pro brand) at Bass Pro for around $60. Next time I came in it took one time to hit the trailer perectly with these guides. I actually mounted mine closer to the front than Rolands and I watch the right side and get as close as I can and it works like a charm! I really think I could just have on on the right side only and it ould work great. I dont even look at the other guide. Mine are about 2 inches of clearance. Good luck and I know these dents are inevitable.....

Ps......mine are straight up not bent outward like Rolands

[Rhinohio]

I back the trailer in and my wife brings her in. Brush Creek (our ramp) has an unpredictable current and sometimes getting the boat straight on the bunks is a challenge. I put some of those guides on my trailer and now it's a one shot deal every time. The centering guides on the inside are too short to see and don’t grab the tubes until your nearly out of the water. As long as the boat is between the two PVC pipes, it will find its center on the trailer once you begin winching. Not sure why everyone doesn't have a set... I paid about a hundred bucks for mine. I can't put a value on the arguments that didn't ensue because of this accessory.

Mike

[ROLAND]

Roland, Ive seen those outside guides before and have put serious thought into getting me a couple. Is that some that you fabbed up yourself or is it a commercial part? If it commercial, who has good deals on them?

.

They were as my grandfather used to say " store bought". Don't remember the web site I purchased them from but I believe they were somewhere between 60 and 80 bucks. My son liked them so much that I bought him a set for his boat as well... just google 48" trailer guides and they'll be plenty to choose from. I noticed that some of them run straight up and down from the bracket on the trailer, mine kinda angle outward...

[GregF]

I noticed that some of them run straight up and down from the bracket on the trailer, mine kinda angle outward...

Usually you want the vertical ones for a pontoon. If they angle out, you are probably too wide to be on the road without a permit.

YMMV on that depending on your state law and how big a prick the cop is.

[ROLAND]

I noticed that some of them run straight up and down from the bracket on the trailer, mine kinda angle outward...

Usually you want the vertical ones for a pontoon. If they angle out, you are probably too wide to be on the road without a permit.

YMMV on that depending on your state law and how big a prick the cop is.

I've heard that before Greg... guess I've just been lucky. Actually when I bought my first set I actually asked a water cop I saw at the launch one day about whether or not they were legal... he said I was fine... having said that, I have not actually read the law on it.. been using them for over a year and no problems with 5 oh..... but I;ll be honest when I'm driving down a 2 lane hiway and have a vehicle coming at me, I do hang to the right just a bit more "just to be safe ".

[Woody]

... having said that, I have not actually read the law on it.. .

Anything over 8.5 feet would be illegal in your state, and most others, not to mention a tight fit in places. Most modern toons are 8.5 feet by their self. This is why most toon trailers have the guides on the insides of the toons. Like Greg said though, depending on your local fuz, it may never be an issue.