http://www.pdbmagazine.com/fusetalk/forum/index.cfm?forumid=3 FuseTalk Basic Edition http://www.pdbmagazine.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=90&threadid=24607 2010-09-01T15:48:13 -07.00 leonphelps 2
Recently made a ladder to get in and out of the water for my pontoon. I weigh 250 pounds and my pontoon is a little higher out of the water than most, so gambling the $300 on one that may work was not really an option for me.


This is made from 1" square tubing. I know the welds are not pretty, but they are solid.


I basically need to fasten this to the decking and be able to remove it when I get underway. I have given it the two tests, one getting in and out and the other running up the ladder for horseplay. Still need the end caps to cut down the risk of getting cut.

Any suggestions appreciated.




]]> http://www.pdbmagazine.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=90&threadid=24444 2010-03-28T11:23:15 -07.00 Moser 28
Bringing it home on my 10 foot long utility tralier was an adventure in itself, but it is sitting in the lot next to my boat. It is the same diameter as the stock logs on the Forester, 23 inches I believe.

I was originally going to take it to a local truck service place to have it fixed and shortened to 12 feet for under my 20 foot boat. My younger Bro works for Sheetz Inc. as a truck driver and has hooked me up with a fellow driver who worked for a Sheetz vendor in a tank fab shop but came over to the company as a driver for the steady work and benefits. This fellow has the skills and the tools to fix the log and shorten it for me, and will do it in his home shop for a flat rate of $20 per hour. I haven't entirely decided not to have a fuel tank and/or transom built into the log, that will be determined by the cost of those things. I have to take the log to the fab place, and put my head together with the guy to settle that. I think in the end I will leave the transom alone, and just add the 12 foot center log.

I have also come across a 70HP OMC, that the fellow was very unsure of the condition on and I eventually bought for a song. We pulled the plugs out yesterday and checked compression at 135# to 140# on all 3 cylinders. We put the plugs back in and shot a little 50 to 1 mix in the carbs and it seemed to not want to fire, for lack of spark. We had to stop to run change a flat tire for Cindy and her co-worker, and I told my Bro that God would reward us for being good samaritans, and danged if it didn't fire up and run like a champ on the first try after we wiggled a few wires and checked some fuses. I hooked a tank to it and pumped it up and started it again and it idled like a champ. I will change out the impeller and probably pull the carbs off and clean them before I hang it on the boat. It's not the prettiest thing right now in it's combination of Evinrude Green and Johnson Blue paint, but if it runs good I'll get it painted and put new decals on it.

I'm going to put the log on and see what it does with the 50 before I hang the new motor on. The new log will stop about 6 or 7 feet in front of the motor, even with the front of the transom pan which is about the right place to let the water flowing off of it also flow off the transom pan in a way that won't give me cavitation issues, I hope. I'm basing that on my observations of my other logs and the one other boat I've seen with a plain log down the center. I am going to discuss lifting strakes with the fab guy when I decide what to do with the new and or original logs. I don't expect a giant improvement in performance even with the new motor. I'm thinking my 20 mph boat will turn into about a 25mph boat. If everything works OK I will run it like this for a year and look next Spring for a 90 or 115 to hang on it.

I'll post some pics later and will post pics and updates of the progress (or setbacks). I'm open to all comments or suggestions, especially from anyone who might have seen a log only three log boat, or anyone who has added lifting strakes.

This is my third start on this project, an unfixable (by me) 88 SPL the first year and a lay off from work last year stopped me the other times. I'm determined to get this done this Spring, and thought you'd all like to follow along.

Cost to date:

Log: $85

'79? OMC 70: $150







]]> http://www.pdbmagazine.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=90&threadid=24406 2010-02-23T11:57:20 -07.00 1NavyCDRRet 15


Finished with this:
]]> http://www.pdbmagazine.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=90&threadid=24264 2010-01-10T14:15:14 -07.00 G8RCRAZY 4 I bought the boat cheap knowing it would be a big job but what the hey. I rebuilt my old Bass Buggy from the top to the toons so now I am repairing toons first.
I am using Marine Tex epoxy to fill the holes after extensive sanding with a 4.5" side grinder and very rough grit discs. I am not quite done due to winter catching up to me and being too cold to use the epoxy.
I have found another product I want to try and want to know if anyone has tried it and if so, their results. The product is by a company called alvin products and it is called Lab-Metal. It is supposed to have the same results as the Marine -Tex putty but I would like to here from anyone who has used it prior to committing to using it.
T he Lab-Metal is a single part air dry product and is less expensive than the Marine-tex 2 part epoxy.
Any info other than what I already got from the product web site would be helpful, Thanks,
Rick ]]> http://www.pdbmagazine.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=90&threadid=19516 2008-04-21T19:44:47 -07.00 WoodenPontoon 102  ..... Very Recent Progress!   Spent the day dry
fitting the Main Deck and the Sun Deck supports.  Also took
some measurements for the furniture.

    Put epoxy on the deck plates to seal them.
 While they were drying, mayflies kept landing on them ...
must have looked like water to them.  Now I have to sand them
out!!!!

    Still a great deal of work to go but at
least I don't have to step on the truss tops anymore!  Can't
wait to start cleaning up the "Under Construction" appearance!



It seems that I have deleted all of my previous pictures from this post. I'll try to put some of them back. I shouldn't try to clean things up anymore!!!!! ]]>