I was at Fish lake (Spokane County) yesterday, and when I got back to shore, I noticed the side of the pontoon looked very peculiar. The outer canvas material apparently split open along the seam, allowing the rubber pontoon inside to bubble outwards. I'm not at home right now, else I'd attach a picture of what it looked like. Chances are, some of you have seen this. Is there any easy way to fix it? I have some heavy duty sewing stuff, but I'm not sure if this will work. Any ideas?
Brand? I don't think it has one. I bought it cheap for 99 bucks off of ebay. I've searched for the manufacturer on the internet and have yet to find it. I've since forgotten that manufacturer's name. Right now, I'm trying to sew it together. When I get a chance, I'll blow it up, and observe how many stitches pop out. Perhaps even a duct-tape reinforcement might be necessary. Looks like its time to quit school and save up for a water skeeter.
The canvas bag is obviously there to hold the inflatable bladder, so what I would do is to patch the bag from the inside. Use a similar material and fabric glue buy it at at the fabric store. Make the inner patch much larger than the separated area. When I bicycled a lot I repaired split tires with a folded dollar bill on the inside of the tire. Then repaired the tube and inflated. Rode 50 miles of hiway 101 in Oregon on a dollar bill repair. The same principle will work with the pontoon tube spread the inner fabric out glue and inflate. If in doubt carry a pfd. :rofl: :rofl: Blessings jesse clark
Is it one of the red and black ones? I got a couple off ebay for the same price range, one says "BassBug" on the side. Self repair is the only way to go for that price! Jesse has a good method. I'd reinforce with some stitching and then apply the patch from the inside. You have to make sure the stitches don't continue to unravel so get some glue on both side of the stitches that are separating to stop the run. Those were actually made by the same folks who make the TU's the Madison, etc. Other than some not perfect fits I've had no trouble with mine. Got them for the kids and only use them on lakes. Walmart sold them for around $350 and they dc'd them. Those are 7' tubes, not suitable for rivers. On the bright side they have a built in secondary chamber inside each bladder, just in case. still take a PFD, always.
Many thanks for all the tips. I ended up stitching the entire seam, then reinforcing the inside with duct tape, and dabbing some glue on the loose ends. And of course the PFD. Took it out to Amber last night and it held. :beer2:
I had the same problem on one of the first Bucks Bags ever made. I took it to one of those shops that make cavanas tops for boats and they did a fine job patching it up. Cost $5.00. It was ripped along the seam for about 3 feet. The first South Forks were made with a canvas/nylon top on the pontoons. Not like they are today. Jim
Well one thing for sure is you can't leave them sitting in the sun as the sun will weaken the stitching in the seams. My South Fork did the same thing. You have to be extra careful with the 'toons with the Nylon tops. Jim
bad rip! hope mine don't do that! Think I'll seam seal the stitches just in case. notice you got the bassin bug covered up, don't blame you. any toon will split if you cross a pass fully inflated. i've seen a couple of discarded ones in the trash at the top of coq pass in BC. i did it with a caddis float tube once and it ejected the valve core instead of splitting, but a year later the bladder leaked. only lasted that long because it was a truck tube. i bet. Even repaired you probably should not expect too much life from that toon.
No kidding. It's only a matter of time before the water degrades the thread I used for the stitches. Maybe I should start a Chris-needs-a-pontoon fund.
I think that if one is going to buy the cheaper 'toons one should expect this to happen. But when one buys the more costly ones the bladders have a habit of leaking. I don't think that it is a win,win thing at all. It is just the hype to get you to spend gobis amount of money on things that you think you need to fish with. That's why I ended up with a float tube. :hmmm: Jim
yeah those pontoons are constructed very much like float tubes. just heavy nylon on top and thicker on the bottom. i think this one just had some weak stitches that led to trouble. they really should be ok for lakes.
