pontoon

[daveedka]

Dad bought himself a raft yesterday, needs a lot of clean-up and a little work to be ready for fishing. I plan to help him out getting it ready as much as possible. it's a late 70's model 20' river cruiser. pontoons and deck are in great shape, needs a gas motor and some trailer tires and TLC. Has a canopy and a good trailer. Furniture is decent but really really dirty right now. We could fish on it now, but it's equipped with tandem electric motors and I'm not sure they'll serve us well on the big lakes we usually fish. Dad says we can take the 25 Horse off his 16 foot striker and put it on the pontoon when we want, but I see the conversion from tiller steering to wheel steering as too much of a hassle. I'm going to start looking for a good used 40 horse somewhere. Either way I'm excited, we should have it ready for the fall camping trip with the grandkids, and then be able to take it to Santee next Spring for our cat trip there.
Dave

[mastercatter]

Sounds like a very good investment as well as a good project for you and Larry>

[daveedka]

Looks like we'll be picking up the boat this Friday, we are going straight to the carwash with it, I plan to get some Aluminum cleaner at the truck stop this week so we can shine up the tubes while we are cleaning the rest of the boat. After the clean-up I'll figure out what it takes to get it in the water. we could fish in it now, but I get the feeling Dad is going to find a 50 or 60 horse motor ASAP so we have it powered properly. I'm the Wiring guy, and really look forward to having something as easy to work with as a pontoon. I plan to do a series of before and after pics and will post them here if anyone is interested.
Dave

[dsmith]

would love to see pics

[olhillbilly]

Ya, I'd like ta see some pics. I always wanted one. Used to want a big one. Now I'd settle for a 16 or 18 footer. Just sumpthin I can walk around on an not worry bout tippin over. I spose outriggers on the canoe mite be as close as I'll ever get.