Show me your pond boats. I had the pleasure of fishing at Lakes of Danbury when I was learning to fly fish and they had a pontoon-like barge boat that was perfect for fly fishing. It was basically a floating barge with a trolling motor. I would like to add a seat or two but was great because your line wouldn't get caught on anything in the boat. I have since tried to find one but with no luck. Would love to see what everyone uses in their pond/lake.

I recommend Hotwoods pontoon boats. They will give you all the information you could ever want to ask. There webpage is loaded with pics of happy customers...

Here is my Hotwoods 716 mini-pontoon.

day,

You might check the websites for some of the big auctioneers in your area.

I frequently see "beat up" pontoon boats for sale at cheap prices. I wouldn't take them out on a large windy reservoir with my family. However, you could strip the deck down to just your needs, and certainly be safe on a small pond.

You could also salvage the pontoons and make your own top deck.


Question to add to thread:

Is it feasible to repair aluminum? For example, aluminum pontoons with a puncture or an aluminum jon boat?

Yep that is what I was also thinking. It can't be too hard to find some old pontoons and build a deck. Put down some outdoor carpet and you are good to go. Pontoons would catch some wind on a windy day but with big enough trolling motor you would be good.

The Hotwoods looks great though.

I've been looking for an old bass tracker style with no motor to refurb to a pond boat & put a trolling motor on. If anyone has something like that out in the weeds let me know. Those pontoons are really cool ! Thanks

Yes, if it's a seam or weld split, or a puncture. Corrosion repair would probably require a thin aluminum plate, and would be dependent on the location. Or, you can just turn a cheap aluminum jon boat into a big planter box like I did. My old jon boat didn't play nice with Cutrine.

Down here, most high end horse trailers are aluminum, and they can require repairs. Check fab shops for experienced tig guys that do that, and you should be good to go.

Thanks Fire!

Are prices to weld an aluminum patch roughly equal to the same job on steel?

Or do we need to add a multiplier like x2?

I'd be interested in the answer too.

Readers who don't 'know' FireIsHot (Al) must realize that Al has an odd fear of either boating in general, or boating at night time with friends who have been drinking. Thus blaming his jon-boat's demise on Cutrine is rather suspicious.

No clue on the money part, but I'd think it's more expensive. I just bought a dedicated tig welder, and won't play with aluminum until I get a tad better.

Scott, you were a full time welder and have the equipment to weld aluminum, what would you charge?

Crap, now I have to dig out the camera.

This thread is going to be a train wreck of epic proportions.

My Cutrine killed tin boat/planter. Geraniums for fall color, succulents for deer, and bird baths for birds and squirrels.




No fear, just very active spidey-senses. 10 aluminum chairs with 20 people on a 12' aluminum pontoon boat had me throwing my keys and wallet on the dock. Long walk from Nebraska to Texas.

There were (4) of us on the boat!!!

Yeah, but they were big boned.

I have heard rumors of alcohol making people see double.

I have never heard of a liquor that can make 4 people appear to be 20 people!

However, if the recipe and franchise rights are available, then I think I will be able to come up with the $100,000,000 to buy "Lake Pond Boss" in 2-3 years.

Don't worry, y'all will be welcome at the lake anytime!

BTW, Al, your repurposed jon-boat is set finely on the line between pure Texas Red Neck and Dallas Metrosexual Country Weekender. Knowing you wear your hair a bit longer, I go more with the latter.

Al wasn't actually drinking that evening a few years back, so his 'heroism' kind of frames out as a watchful friend looking out for other friends who may be subjected to electrical hazard. He was fleet of foot.

O.K. Why can't I get this to load onto the forum? Jesus, took 4 tries.

Al, never a full time welder, at least not at the primary job, we built race cars after work for many people (some pros) and did a lot of TIG welding. I'm seeing prices of $70-$100/hour here. That's shop rate, I know of no mobile aluminum welding services that are even remotely local.

Choo Choo!!! All aboard!!

Heck, I was at the top of the bluff and I could hear the girlie screams when the boat left the dock (well it tried, it was still tied by one line. OR was that one extension cord?). LOL. As to how many people were on the boat, I believe I can name 3 for sure. I believe the initials are BC, SC and SR. Al was ready to hop on but backed out at the last minute. I can't believe TJ and Josh both stayed on shore with me.

FirelsHot, cutrine ate up the aluminum?

Very funny thread from you guys!

My wife, Vicki, was on board too. Al was too busy doing the horizontal mambo...

Now that is true. I fired up my Matrix type levitation to save the plugged in battery charger. Once it hit the water, I didn't care quite as much.

I'm NOT a welder but...isn't heliarc still around for welding alluminum?

I believe both helium or argon can be used. Maybe Pat W or other welders will know. I do know that back in the 70's heliarcing was used on our chrome moly motorcycle frames.

I have heard horror stories of trying to patch old aluminum boats, especially if the aluminum is corroded to the point of being brittle.
They literally fall apart as soon as you strike an arc.

They make some specialized low heat rods that may be more suitable and I don't think you need a fancy machine to use them either. More like soldering than welding.

Heliarc is an older term for TIG welding if I recall correctly. Good for aluminum if the aluminum is still sound enough for welding.

Anyone else with pond boats to show. I think this thread went of topic a bit. LOL

We have a paddle pontoon boat which we installed a trolling motor on. We got two paddle pontoon boats from the State of Oklahoma surplus auction.

Mine is a 12 ft Jon boat that, in 25+ years, I’ve used 3 or 4 times. Seen one, you’ve seen them all.

Good to see you posting again

Mine stays in the water year round. Makes for much less hassle when wanting to take it out. I have a group24 deep cycle battery and an automatic bilge pump. I charge the battery once every 2-4 weeks depending on usage.

I need to dig through some pictures and post them here about the upgrades we did to our dock.

I also browse on my lunch break. I have lurked for a long while.

I have a similar setup but took it a step further and bought a solar battery charger for it, now when I get a chance to slip off to the pond, which is 25 min away from the house, the boat is all charged up and ready to go. till some asshole steals the whole setup.

I'm looking for a decent pond boat or two if anyone has anything to sell? An old alum bass tracker would be perfect. Just want to rig up a trolling motor, automatic bilge, and solar charger setup like gehajake above.

Fortunate for me, my pond is right at 100' from the back door