Rescued @ Sea

[DonAndersen]

Folks,

 

This is an ugly story and one you may become part of.

 

Over the past 2 weeks, between 3 friends, we have now had 3 pontoon frames break. My boat frame had been previously broken and re-welded. The other boats were less than 3 years old. We are not weekend warriors. We use our boats a lot.

 

All the frames were made of aluminum. My frame lasted the longest as it suffered generation one construction and was built heavier than the frames of today. In each case, the frames were held together with the back frame system. Some boats are not equipped with them and you will be in the water.

 

The boat is impossible to row with the frame broken. We were lucky as we were wearing fins and had others to help us but for those that don't - WELL - it's gonna get ugly.

 

So what do you do - check out the welds on the seat crossbars to the side frames. Look underneath. That is where the frame will start to crack. Aluminum doesn't rust - look for hair line cracks with a strong light. If cracks are found, you have minutes>hours till you too join the dump in the lake/river group. Even if cracks cannot be seen, that doesn't mean that they don't exist. You may still be @ risk.

 

The boats were of various manufacturers none of which were Outcast boats. I replaced my frame with an Outcast steel frame.

 

What we have done is go to steel frames on the 3 boats that failed. Steel bends letting you know that disaster is coming. Aluminum just dumps you W/O warning.

 

regards,

 

 

Don

[bigbowtrout]

I'm glad you all are ok and thanks for the heads up.

[rusty]

Don,

 

Would love to know which manufacturers - any Outcast PACs in that bunch?

[cheeler]

For a better idea on aluminum cracks, you might want to try liquid penetrant inspection. It will find the cracks long before they're visible.

 

http://www.ndt-ed.org/EducationResources/C.../commonuses.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye_penetrant_inspection

 

For a job as small as a pontoon boat, you could probably learn to do it yourself in a couple hours. With steel frames you could also do magnetic particle inspection, but it takes more equipment.

 

I wonder if any manufacturers do NDT or fatigue testing on their frames when they're designing them?

[DonAndersen]

Rusty,

 

See edited #1 post.

 

 

Don

 

Cheeler,

 

Mag particle tests or dyes work just fine if the paint is removed. The paint may have enough "stretch" to hide the crack.

 

Don

 

 

And thank God for cane rods. My rod, pressed against the seat back, when the frame broke kept the tube from rotating completely around. I'd suspect that a Sage would've been garbage.

[cheeler]

You don't necessarily have to take the paint off for MPI (I've got a ticket) but why not build a bamboo pontoon?

[DonAndersen]

cheeler,

 

Could do that - you bet - takes about 70 hours to make one rod @ 0.375" OD - wonder what I'd be doing the rest of my life @ 18"*2.

 

When we did mag particles in my previous life, we always removed surface scale and paint. I didn't realize that it could be done "dirty".

 

Don

[Tungsten]

Don,

Are you packing these boats into remote lakes?Or are these lakes accessible by truck?If its the ladder then WHY is an accomplished angler such as yourself not fishing out of a Pram or Jon?

I'm 42 and if my truck can get to the lake then the hell with the pontoon,I'm bringing something a little more comfortable and apparently safer.

 

Just wondering thats all.

 

[DonAndersen]

Tungsten,

 

I like the pontoon boat for it's ability to be moved readily while following fish. Not only that, but I can anchor and fish that way. Plus, of course, the fun I have drifting rivers that would sink a regular boat.

While I've thought about a pram, we now have 5 boats for a 2 person household. Running out of places to store them.

 

regards,

 

 

Don