Fishing Forum

Just wondering how to store my pontoon. Last night i got some bike hooks and i figured i would use 3 of them to hang it up on the ceiling of my garage. My main concern is the toons. Should i leave them partially inflated on the frame or should i remove them from the frame, completely deflate and fold them up? Im just trying to get the longest life out of them that i can. i wont do anything till the lakes freeze but im just getting ready in advance.
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There are a few ways that the pontoon can be stored safely and help improve the longevity of the craft. Of course the wrong way would be to store it fully inflated.

Rather than break down the whole frame, which can be tedious and time consuming to re-assemble, the frame can be hung by itself from your rafters or from the hooks that you described or attached to the wall of your garage somewhere.

The chambers are best to be rolled up or carefully folded and store them in an area that is free of excess moisture. Many tooners will store the chambers in an airtight box. Tote bins will also suffice for your storage needs.[cool]
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I store my pontoon deflated, folded, and strapped to the broken down frame. From this starting point, out of the trunk, I can be in the water in about 10 minutes or so using a rechargeable pump to get bulk inflation then a couple of minutes on the hand pump to top-off.

Here's a pic of my 'toon and tube in "trunk mode":



I did buy a double pulley ceiling mounting system for a bike to stick it to the ceiling of the garage mostly inflated, but I figure since I have to fully break it down to get it back into my car, I end up breaking it all the way down every time.

I DO fully re-inflate, wash, dry, and carefully fold and pack my 'toon after every trip though. It's a ritual to keep the gear looking fresh and new. I love a tidy boat!

_SHig
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My pontoon is going on 10 years and no leaks....EVER.
I was storing them slightly deflated, on the frame raised into the rafters of a large garage. Last year, they were completely deflated and folded loosly around frame.
Mine are Urethane bladders. If you have Vinyl, I would go with everything Steve said, don't FOLD the bladders, roll them, as creases can cause holes in vinyl.

Question for you Steve, I don't leave my toons fully inflated, but in the winter, what would be the problem with them being fully inflated?
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So what you are saying is that i should take the bladders (chambers) out of the pontoons, roll them up and put them in an storage tote?

If so is it ok to store the pontoon shells on the frame once the bladders are removed? Or should i take them off roll them up and put them in a tote also? Or maybe you ment to leave the bladders in the pontoon shells and roll them up together? Sorry for all the questions i just wanna do this right.

Thanks for all the help! Just from what you told me so far i would have been storing my pontoon wrong [unimpressed]. I was just gonna leave it all together inflate it half way and hang it from my garage celing. WRONG! lol.
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I don't think what you were going to do is wrong at all. If you have the room to leave it in one piece, then by all means, go for it.
I am also sure Steve meant to roll the whole pontoon up, but you do stand a chance of the zipper pinching the bladder.
Personally, I think the best storage IS to leave them put together with a little less air in them, but again, we are talking WINTER, so I don't see how fully inflated could be a problem. The colder it gets, it will appear to loose air.
I know, even hanging ours in the garage inflated, one out of the four pontoons (two boats) will get a little limp, but not the same one each time.
Nothing to be alarmed with.
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I am going on 9 years with my South Fork II and my Alpine. I leave both partially inflated on a rack in my garage. I have never had any problems. I figure the less I have to do when I want to throw them in my truck the better. My garage is insulated so it does not get extremely cold.

Windriver
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Well thats good then, that makes it easy! i will just leave some air out of my toons (just to be safe) and hang it on the ceiling!

Winters in PA can be nasty but i dont plan on storing the pontoon for no more than 3 to 4 months. I figure i will stop using it at the end of december and start using it round the start of april, or whenever ice out comes, might have to wait till the middle of April. That is always a crappy time of year lol waiting for ice out [mad].
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Cold storage of partially inflated is no problem as long as there was no moisture content occurring from the inflation.

Against all recommendations, some people will still use an electric or even a gas station compressor to inflate their crafts. The lines form these contain moisture which will eventually rot the bladders.

I meant to clarify the storage process of the bladders. While removed from the shell, it is important to roll them and not fold them as was aforementioned. (thanks for clarifying)

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My valves on my pontoon are connected to the Outer cover as well and obvious the bladder. To pull the bladder I would have to undo the Halkey valve. I figure that is just asking for trouble, so, I don't remove bladders on any of my boats.

Didn't think of the moisture in the air lines cause I use a Hand Pump or my LVM which there is no water involved.
If you choose to fill you boat with gas station compressor air, I think you are begging for trouble. Even at 11 1/2' long, it takes maybe 5 minutes to inflate mine by hand, and no chance at moisture or over inflation.
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The valves on my toon are he same way yours are flygoddess, and i understand where you are coming from. If you take those valves out to much you could end up with a leak and possibly damage the bladders after a while.

The pump I use is a 2-way coleman hand pump, just like the one dave scadden sells on his site. I can have both toons inflated in about 5min too. I think if u use a compressor at a gas station or one similar to that at home you are just asking for a blow out.

Im just gonna hang the boat from the ceiling with low pressure in the toons and call it a winter!

Thanks for all the help guys, now i feel safe and i should get many years out of my bladders.


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Low pressure storage is fine for the cold weather. The overall volume will just get smaller anyways with the colder air. High temp storage would require more air being removed from the bladder as well.

My toon has a separate internal bladder as a safety measure in case of a rupture in the outer bladder. In this case, both the internal and external bladders must be deflated.[cool]
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are you talking about your cimmaron.. and how do you deflate that second "backup" bladder??

MacFly
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There is a second inflation port inside the top pockets. It uses a different adapter to inflate or deflate it.[cool]
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hmmmmm maybe santa will buy me one of those so I can see of what you speak.. []

MacFly [cool]
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