Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Inflatable boats?

Installing a Kasco floating display aerator in 1/2 acre neighborhood pond. There are no docks or boats. I'd like to get a simple, inexpensive inflatable boat to install and service the floating fountain as necessary, and otherwise collapse and store when it's not needed.

It's just gotta be sturdy enough to hold me, the fountain, and the two weights that anchor the fountain (maybe 300 pounds total) and not so flimsy that it tips over when I reach over the side to drop the weights, or take the fountain in and out of the water.

Any suggestions? I see some Intex inflatables on Amazon that cost around $50 and are rated to hold 2-3 people, 300+ pounds, and are 4' x 7' or larger.

I don't think those would work....

I bet you could get a king size air up mattress, couple sheets of thin plywood on top.... Poor mans barge. I have bought some of the twin size because they were cheaper than than a float pool float. They worked great and almost too stable for kids playing.

Good idea Brian! I didn't think the blow-up raft would be much fun to use as their bottoms lack stability/rigidity, but I didn't have a better "storable" solution. Mirak, don't forget to post pics of your adventure!

Sounds like someone needs to be videoing this deal! Has the makings of a viral video.... Lol

That's a Cracker Jack of an idea. Neat!

Why does the expression, "Hold my beer and watch this" come to mind ?

That's a good idea - but I don't think my neighborhood is gonna appreciate me paddling around on a plywood-topped air mattress lol. I might try one of these boats with a plywood cutout to set in the bottom if I need extra stability. I'd probably duct tape the edges of the plywood to avoid punctures. My biggest fear is tipping the thing by changing the weight distribution as I set weights etc. I suppose the bigger the boat the better.

I gotta side with Bing on this...To recap... got a rubber boat (or blowup mattress), plywood insert, duct tape, bigger the better....only thing missing is a gas powered leaf blower to propel it around the pond. Tim the Tool Man would be proud! (Even more proud if you dropped an inboard/outboard 289 with dual carbs in there)

Please take no offense Mirak, hope you have a sense of humor.

I have to disagree, Bill. A 289, dual carbs or not, would make a great anchor but a poor powerplant.

A properly executed 350 chevy, now THAT would scoot a boat right along!

I'm ok with that. I had a 68 Cutlass with the 350 and it was sweet! I think you will agree, can't go much bigger as it needs to be a small block or the mattress will need to be upsized to a KING!

Any consideration for a floating dock? Would allow you to use it as a barge when needed for servicing the fountain as well as any other pond work. Could be used for other purposes at the shore line as well.

How heavy are the weights and of what type?

I agree with basslover. About 8 blue barrels, some 2x8's and plywood.

Once again, In our area you can buy old discarded bass boats with even a trailer and no motor for a couple hundred bucks. Stick a $50 garage sale trolling motor on it and off you go.

Right Flame. A friend of mine is a boat/motor repair guy. He often winds up with boats that I haul to the recycle yards and pay $50 to get them off the trailer.

The funny thing is, these little Intex inflatables have optional attachments for little outboard motors. There are YouTube vids of people using them. I think the oars will suffice for me.

I just don't have anywhere to store an actual boat and our HOA is really particular about "keeping up appearances."

I'm gonna give this a try with a plywood insert for the bottom. Could stow those away easily enough in pool house when not in use. Apparently it's 30 gauge PVC which is pretty thick!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Intex-4-Person-Explorer-Pro-Boat-Set/47423694

Oh and the weights for the fountain are 2 cinderblocks attached to the fountain in a wide V to prevent the fountain from twisting in the water. That'll be the trickiest part of the installation.

Went with a Kasco 4400vfx display aerator. There's not a lot of info on this board about fountains so I'll be sure to post my experience with it.

I think your idea of the inflatable with plywood bottom is perfect. I would go for it.

mirak, thank you for posting about these inflatables. As soon as I get back to In I'm gonna order an Explorer 200. I have always used a 17' canoe for chores (mostly unwinding a large hooked fish from tangles). For $13 the grandkids will get that much fun out of it in one weekend. I've been buying those one man rafts for $3 that are about as durable as wet tissue paper. If this 200 will hold up for one summer it will put me in the + category.
DoubleD(man I love sayin that but even enjoy seein it more), that's cheap, up here the landfills/dumps charge $175. I've got a hilljack neighbor that about twice a summer will burn one. I've reported him three times and the local vfd comes out and writes him a $50 ticket. He is still $125 ahead and so continues. Ya can't believe the awful black sootie smoke one 16' boat puts out. Got another one eyebrow inbred neighbor that has a so called "auto garage" that burns a pile of tires every fall. Sorry about the rant but can't stand self interest idiots that are making this planet harder and harder to live on. Everyone, please don't hijack this thread telling about your ignorant, moronic neighbors. Maybe start a new thread entitled "the Phil's of America".

Bob, just when I think I'm the only one remaining, you come along and post something that gives me hope. I feel better.

You might consider sinking your cinder blocks first, and then attaching the fountain.

Depending on the depth, you could run your attachment through the cinder block, sink it, then repeat the process for the other cinder block. Then you've got them where you want them without having to wrestle with the fountain. Then just attach the fountain.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but here was my plan: first mark the middle of the pond by running a rope, marked at the halfway point, taut across the pond with an equal amount of excess on both banks. This rope will also come in handy to secure my little raft and fountain as I work. I'll attach fountain to midpoint with a bit of tape, head over to one side to drop the first anchor and line, then attach the anchor line taut at fountain. Then head over to other side and repeat.

The inflatable boat has passed its sea trials!

Bought an Intex Explorer 400 for a whopping $40 at Wal-Mart. Includes two surprisingly sturdy plastic oars and a hand pump. This is "4 person" boat but, like tents, cut that in half for adults. This will hold two average size people pretty comfortably.

The boat feels very light (as would be expected), but also fairly well made. The 30 gauge PVC feels substantial. I was a little nervous boarding the boat because we have riprap on our pond banks, but the rock did not puncture the boat.

This boat has three chambers to inflate. I used the hand pump because my electric one is apparently broken. Took about 15 minutes and some not insignificant elbow grease to get it pumped up with the hand pump. I left it inflated overnight to see how well it holds air. Does not appear to have an appreciable amount overnight.

The hardest part of the whole process was cutting out a piece of plywood to fit the bottom. Even that wasn't too tough and I got a pretty good fit. I've seen people wrap the plywood with outdoor carpet, but for now I just wrapped the edges with duct tape to avoid any punctures.

I'd say the plywood bottom is essential unless you plan to just use the boat as a big pool toy. If you want to sit up in the boat, an adult is going to need the hard bottom.

On the water, the boat feels stable. It is rated up to about 700 pounds, but I seriously doubt it can manage that. No problem for the 250 pounds between myself and my child.

All in all, I am extremely satisfied with my purchase. This is going to be a very good, inexpensive solution for installing and periodically servicing our floating fountain, and then stowing away when not in use.

Tomorrow I install the fountain. I think I'll start a new thread for that.

Thank you for the update. This post is probably going to help several/many fellow pondmiesters with a solution for getting on water chores accomplished without buying a small boat. Many folks don't have lots of extra storage space.

Another alternative would be a portabote https://www.porta-bote.com/



They're very light, low draft and fold down for storage if you want. We have one on our HOA pond and it works pretty well. If you ever find that the inflatable isn't fitting the bill it might be worth looking into.

I'll relate my story here as well. My wife bought me a petal boat from Bass Pro. I kinda wish now that I had picked the Bass Buster type. Anyways, the one I got is the typical 5 person petal boat with canopy. It's made more for 2 adults and 2 real small kids. Here's things I didn't like about it. If one person is in it, it kinda sinks to that side. It fills up with water and you need to drain it pretty often or it gets too heavy to lift. Next thing I didn't care for was the petal system was not very well made and you had to work yourself to death to go anywhere. My pond is only 300 feet or so long and it wore me out to go down and back. A trolling motor would be much more better. The white color of the boat got dirty/nasty quick, but in fairness cleaned up pretty easily with a plastic brush and dawn soap. I wouldn't buy another one.