Anything welding

Anyone have experience welding a crack in an aluminum pontoon? Anything I need to know that relates specifically to it? I was thinking groove the crack and maybe go 4-5 inches past the crack on both sides and fill it up.

 

Definitely need to get a groove/bevel

Drill a relief hole at each end

Other than that, I've never messed with a pontoon boat to know how thick/thin it is

 

It's .100 and relief hole to prevent the crack from spreading I assume? Would that be better than grinding past the crack?

 

Yeah unless you see deformation past the crack at each end I'd just find a logical place to drill a hole at each end and inspect it to see if you really got the end of it.

 

This one is .100"

 

Always a relief hole at the end of each crack to stop it from spreading, yes

 

10-4

 

Yeah I suppose you don't take those in sketchy areas usually so it just has to hold up the boat against the outer pressure.

 

Supposedly it's thicker than the "industry standard" according to their website. I guess typically it's .07, again according to the website

 

I mean, after prepping (and cleaning it) it's a simple TIG job

 

Thats what I figured, I'll make it easier and use the alumpro

 

Make sure that area is super clean too though, being in lake water along with algae etc. might be in the aluminum itself after years of growth in the pores.

This video had some good advice. I was going to say you won't be able to clean the inside of the pontoon and and there could be a bunch of water, algae and dirt in the pores. He said he uses heat to remove as many contaminents / water as possible and then welds / grinds / welds to get a good fill of conaminent free aluminum despite junk on / in the inside of the material .

https://youtu.be/cGX-sa2xr60?si=fQvHwim_Nc99L8tu

 

I'll look into that! Thanks!

 

The hardest part will be getting things clean enough to get a good weld.

Welding weather exposed aluminum sucks.

A vent of some sort to release the expanding gas in the pontoon.

Good luck!

 

Made myself a ballast weight for my Kubota at work the other day. Have to do projects for myself once in a while.

 

What does it weigh? I've been considering making one myself, but coming up with the materials is an issue. I'm tired of using my brushhog it just to long, and I'd like the counterweight to be heavier.

 

I never put it on the scale but calculated it out around 450lbs.

I was in the same boat using my land plane as a counter. Just got old watching where the rear was swinging.

 

Same here, I'm wanting something about 1000# for my tractor. I've been thinking about welding a 3pt hitch into a 55gal drum and filling it with concrete. As I don't think I can come up with enough steel for a box on the cheap.

 

Did you guys fill your rear tires? I'm kicking around going that route. I had that done on my last Kubota and it helped quite a bit.

 

Yep, I did that a few years ago. I went with the beet juice option and it added about 500#, which helps but not nearly enough to reach the full potential of the loader. I unloading a few pallets last week that weighed about 1300#. The finishing mower was already on the back of the tractor so I used it. It weighs about 500#, and that was almost not enough to unload the pallets. The back end was just barely making contact with the ground. Luckily I didn't have to go far with them. The brush hog weighs about 750# and I can lift around 1500# with it, but it sticks out so far it is a PITA. I would be tickled pink if had a 1000+# CW that was only 2-3 feet long on the back.