# Jon boat pontoons



## whiskerfrisker (May 12, 2014)

Has anyone ever added pontoons to their tinboats for added stability? If so how did you attach them, what were they made of, and is it worth it?


----------



## amateurhour (May 12, 2014)

I've been looking into this for the 12ft flat bottom I recently picked up. There's very little online for people that have done this or kept it after they've done it and the general consensus seems to be "if you're having stability issues, get a bigger boat" : ( 

There's one good video on YouTube where a guy put two 10 foot 8 inch capped pvc pipes on the sides of his boat, drilling holes into the sides (above and below the waterline!) and used straps to keep it attached. 

I've seen a few forum posts on iboats and a few other places where people did the math and 8-10 foot pvc about 6-8 inches in diameter would net you roughly 150-200 lbs of extra floatation, at the cost of moving through the water like a brick I'm sure. 

The alternative if you don't want to drill holes is to rig up outriggers. these are REALLY popular among kayak and canoe paddlers (like me) because they're removable and add some extra stability. I haven't seen a lot of good pictures of them online but a friend and I used google sketch to draw up some pvc locks similar to vertical rod holders that would mount on the boat and use locking pins to keep the outriggers in place off the side of the boat. 

Basically strapping a couple of water tight pvc pipes to the side of your boat will definitely add stability, but it looks ridiculous and the fact that in 10 years of tinboats and iboats there's like maybe six posts between them where people have done it, and I've never seen it on a lake I've fished, I'm guessing there's a lot of drawbacks. 

Lastly, you can look into sponsons (the beavertail bolt on/weld on) pods that attach to the back of your boat which will add some stability if you're using a bigger motor. 

That's everything I've found after about two weeks of google searches. Hope it helps.


----------



## BlakeRauch (May 12, 2014)

I dig mine.
C-clamp, metal plate, slotted angle iron, hose clamp, 4 inch PVC, PVC sealant. 
It's very stable. You're gonna want them either right on the water, or above the water though. Otherwise you WILL move like a brick, and water WILL come in your boat, and you WILL see your life flash before your eyes... trust me. 

They are removable & adjustable


They are now painted camo



Honestly, unless you are extremely clumsy, you will be fine in your boat. I do however recommend outriggers above the waterline just in case you try to tip a little too far. It's like having insurance on all your fishing gear.


----------



## XtremeAngler17 (May 14, 2014)

I am thinking of a design right now! Im looking for some ideas as well! I will try to stay active on this thread! I wish there was a notification center.


----------



## onthewater102 (May 15, 2014)

If you displace a cubic foot of water you will gain ~62lbs of buoyancy less the weight of your outriggers - so if you use a 10' piece of 6" PVC cut to equal 5' lengths (capping each end) you would gain roughly 487 lbs of buoyancy before subtracting the weight of your rig (so approx. 470 lbs of net additional support.). 

As far as how to attach them - the cleanest setup I've seen so far was a pair of 1" aluminum tubes (1/8" thickness material) spanning the boat perpendicularly set about 2' apart each with a .75" aluminum angle (again, 1/8 thickness material) set inside the tube and riveted to the top and forward facing sides to add rigidity. These were bolted to speednuts





set into the gunwales and a pair of U Bolts anchored the PVC to the tubing using wing-nuts. The tubes were offset approximately 8" from either side of the boat. It was installed across the bow of the boat so when the boat was on the plane the pontoons were in the air, but if you were on the front casting deck the boat was loaded up enough in the front to partially submerge them (thus benefiting from them being there in the first place.)

You really need to use 6" PVC - the same design using only 4" will give you an additional net 200 lbs of buoyancy which sounds like it would be enough but you really don't feel it much on the water (dampens the instability rather than resists it outright if that makes sense.)

I've also seen the U bolts set through the side of the hull with a generous amount of sealant applied and no barring spanning the gunwales. This was nice in that it looked pretty (actually it looked like the jon had torpedo's strapped to its sides) but when you got on the gas motor the pontoons sprayed water up something fierce. Granted - the leading edges of the tubes were capped - had they been contoured tapering from the inside edge to the outside edge (perhaps making an offset fiberglass cone for each) they might have avoided this performance issue.

I was considering adding them down the line to my 1436 - first I have to see how it feels on the water and I'm not yet done with my build.


----------



## amateurhour (May 15, 2014)

I was thinking of doing the 10 foot 6 inch pvc down the sides of my boat, using the u-bolt style where it's just attached to the side of the boat. 

Do I need to put them above or below the waterline? Like what's the proper placement for those? 

Also yeah I definitely plan to either cap the fronts using fiberglass to give it a better shape in the water.


----------



## onthewater102 (May 15, 2014)

Preferably right at the water line to get benefit of the buoyancy - they don't support anything until they displace water - ie you don't get the max 470lbs of buoyancy unless they're totally submerged - however they will create a lot of drag when you're under way if you set them totally submerged - even if you get the contour of the cone such that it doesn't spray up in your face the whole time - so it's a trade-off. I'd set them so when the boat is sitting in the water without a load in it they're not much more than 2 or 3 inches in the water. This way the more you load the boat the more they support.

Your boat sides aren't parallel over the full 10' run of the pipe - but you should be able to soften the pvc with a torch carefully and contour it to the side of the boat using indirect heat - wrap the PVC tightly with a heavy aluminum foil (you'll need a hose clamp or two to hold it on) then apply the heat from a distance to the foil. Probably need a 2nd person to apply pressure to the end of the pipe to get it to bend. Once you have it in place while it's still warm spray it with a garden hose to get it to hold the shape. Trick is to not overheat it.


----------

