Keene Marlex pontoons

[russau]

well ive had enough of getting water into my pontoons and sinking my dredge or close to it. monday im bringing my pontoons over to a business that sprays foam for insulation.this foam is the high density (2%) closed cell foam. this will do several things for me. 1) keep the water out. 2) strengthen my pontoons (some what)the marlex pontoons are getting to show their age like me, so i thought this would keep them around awhile longer.3) protect my investment in these so i wont have to buy new pontoons incase i slam them into a tree or a rock in the creek and ripping a big hole in them. he has to see my pontoons before he will give me a firm price on it but he said it would be under $100. im hopeing for $50. he said if i could leave them there for a week or so the cost would be lower. i told him ,no rush! he wants todo these when another job comes in so theres no setup fee. i dont think itll add much weight (foam is light) to the pontoons but i will ask monday when i drop them off.any thoughts??

[Hoser John]

Many kinds of expanding foam and always ascertain the weight in square feet X the cubic feet inside the pontoons before adding. There is also open cell (sucks water like a sponge) and righteous closed cell like Precision has used for many years,look ma no submarines no mo'-tons a au 2 u 2 Russau bud-John

[russau]

i droped them off today and i hope i didnt make a mistake by doing so! he said i wouldnt sink them again! i think i can prove him wrong! but i hope i dont!

[Gravel Hog]

I will never buy or use foam filled again, just too darn HEAVY!

[russau]

yep this could become a problem if it is heavy.

[Gravelwasher]

Start saving your two liter plastic bottles..lol Gravelwasher

[russau]

I will never buy or use foam filled again, just too darn HEAVY!

as it turns out, you and Hoser is correct on the weight issue. this closed cell foam at 2 % weights 2 lbs. per cuft. so figureing approx.6 cuft per float is adding 24 lbs to my overall weight. i decided to cancell this modification and replace my alum. o/u sluice with a ABS o/u sluice and flaire. ive worked with ABS plastic before . but now ive got to do some weighing of my alum sluice minus the innerards,and see what a sheet of 1/8 in.ABS weights and costs. the only problem i have with ABS is that it can be enviromentally warped by the ultraviolet light from the sun.so i would have to intergrate some reinforcement to the portions that would be affected. welding this ABS isnt a problem once you learned how to do it. and the ABS adheasive is super stuff.itll NEVER come apart once cured!!ive made 2 flairs with this so far and the only problem ive had with the 3/32 inch thick stuff was when someone helped me move my dredge and picked up on the end of the flaire and cracked it at the mounting point of the sluice. i fixed that easily.but maybe i ought to go back to using the 1/8 inch stuff that i used on my 5 inch.heavier but stouter!2 and 1/2 months before i can maybe try it out....

[Jason in Enid]

Russ, why not use some 5 gallon size barrels under the center section help with bouyancy? Weight is less than a pound per container, but would add over 30 pounds of flotation.

Ask at your local fire station if they have any empty "foam concentrate" buckets.

[russau]

i found where the water was getting into my pontoons. throught the upper mounting holes that hold the frame to the pontoon. i had to replace a few of the 1/4-20 anchors into the marlex and i sealed them. now im going to lighten up my dredge by makeing a new ABS O/U sluice that should really help out on the weight issue, so no additional floats would be needed.im going to be weighting everything so ill know how much i saved and if it was worth it!ive already made several ABS flairs ,so i know how to work this ABS plastic.

[russau]

well the ABS over/under sluice is done. the aluminum o/u sluice weighted in at 60 lbs. with all the miners moss and screens/riffels/flair on it. way to heavy for this ole man! the new ABS sluice with everything weights in at 30lbs. and its setup much better than the old sluice. the stainless steel punch plate that allows water/material into the lower section has a latch to open for quick inspections of the lower sluice and the upper riffel section is hindged and has 2 s.s. tension latchs to open it up.all the hardware for this is stainless steel.im waiting on the actuall carpet i want to use in this but ive used some other old carpet for mockup (same thickness)so i could mount my hindge/tension latchs.it dont look to bad! i only hope itll work like i want it to!! im haveing computor problems and i dont remember how to post pictures. sorry

[Gravel Hog]

Sounds Great, Russ.

Now to give it a test, getting closer to time for Douglas Creek.

[63bkpkr]

My little 2 inch dredge pontoons are rotary molded polyethylene. They do not pack small nor do they fold up, they are a turd to carry in but with the bicycle tube valves in them you just use a hand pump to inflate them more. They are quite tough. Course this dredge is small and does not do many yards in a day. Good luck with your various modifications as I understand the desire to loose weight and I mean on the dredge as well. Someday I might get to use it again as I will not use it with the ban on.

63bkpkr

[russau]

Sounds Great, Russ.

Now to give it a test, getting closer to time for Douglas Creek.

yep i may have to contact Chuck Lassiter and goto Indiana to give it a tryout. maybe closer due to the gas prices! but anyway you look at it, the last week of June im headed for DC in Wyoming(dry camping at the flats) for a couple of weeks dredgeing starting July1 for their dredge season.