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97' Sylvan SE Center Toon Addition |
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Scott011422 
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Joined: 04/23/2018 Location: Sycamore Status: Offline Points: 16 |
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 Topic: 97' Sylvan SE Center Toon AdditionPosted: 04/23/2018 at 5:55pm |
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Hey all My father and I purchased a 1997 24ft long Sylvan pontoon two years ago. It gets most of it use up on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin which can be quite wavy, especially on the weekends. So this year we decided we were going to add a third pontoon for more flotation and a better ride. I figured I would post everything up in case it could help someone with their conversion in the future. This is the best photo I have of the boat. Since then, We have redone the seats, electrical, outboard, lighting, added a staircase to the trailer and started revamping the playpen skin.  IMAG0021 by scott011422, on FlickrAnd a mockup:  Untitled by scott011422, on FlickrHad the Donor toon delivered from Great Lakes Skipper. Its a Bemmington 25.5ft oval toon.  Untitled by scott011422, on Flickr Untitled by scott011422, on FlickrThis toon is off a canceled special order. You can order any 2 toon boat with optional 32" oval logs. However, being its for a 2 toon boat, no integrated transom. So I purchased myself a TIG welder and am teaching myself to TIG Weld. Going to make my own transom. Since I'll be cutting off the back of the toon, its a good time to add a larger fuel tank too. We will be removing the factory 26 gallon tank off the deck which then gives us more storage space, and mounting a 49 gallon in the toon. To get the most out of this tool i am designing the transom to be 100% sealed for maximum flotation. All said and done, this should add roughly 1400 pounds of flotation on a normal outing with a maximum of 4000lbs when fully loaded. Here are my current designs:  Untitled by scott011422, on Flickr Untitled by scott011422, on Flickr Untitled by scott011422, on FlickrI will be using 3/16 Aluminum plate for the outer skin and 2"x 4" 1/4 wall tubing backing that up. I'll also have 3 1/4 thick plates that will be welded into the tubing and outer skin that will be welded onto the skin to help take up the stress from the outboard thrust.
Edited by Scott011422 - 05/16/2018 at 12:53pm |
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curtiscapk
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Joined: 01/30/2013 Location: OP KS \Truman Status: Offline Points: 985 |
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Posted: 04/23/2018 at 10:05pm |
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can't wait to see this! Great stuff!
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gerard143
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Joined: 07/20/2017 Location: NY Status: Offline Points: 58 |
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Posted: 05/13/2018 at 4:56am |
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ya excited to see where this goes.... keep us posted!
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Bansil
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Joined: 11/03/2016 Location: TN Status: Offline Points: 4 |
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Posted: 05/14/2018 at 8:56pm |
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I guess I am #3 to this party
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Scott011422
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Posted: 05/16/2018 at 12:48pm |
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Enough of the Fuel tank mount is designed, material ordered. Going to weld a frame to the bottom of the tube. There will be a lip sticking down on the far side of the tank mount that will slide under the tank frame so I can slide the mount onto the frame and then either bolt or weld the aft section of the mount to the frame.
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Scott011422
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Posted: 11/14/2018 at 12:37pm |
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So i finally got to work some on my toon. Was able to remove the engine and transom. Then slid the centertoon in for some mock ups before i cut her open.
Some creative strapping and a chain hoist make easy work: This is about how far it will stick out:
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curtiscapk
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Posted: 11/14/2018 at 9:37pm |
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Nice where'd you get the tube?
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curtiscapk
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Posted: 11/14/2018 at 9:38pm |
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Never mind helps to look up!
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Scott011422
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Posted: 02/19/2019 at 4:11pm |
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It has finally warmed up around here long enough to get some initial cutting done. After removing some of the factory brackets, we laid out lines every 10 degrees to measure back from to get our cut lines. Then shot a line laser from the side to make sure there were no glaring errors. Time to start cutting.
Also mostly finished the fuel tank design: |
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curtiscapk
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Posted: 02/21/2019 at 9:07pm |
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Nice!
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Scott011422
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Posted: 03/25/2019 at 3:35pm |
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So it turns out they don't make marine rated pre-bent 1.5 fuel hose, So we had to flip the tank around and fill it directly. Other than that, things are moving along. Cutting out Transom Bottom of Fuel Tank Frame: |
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Scott011422
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Posted: 04/22/2019 at 1:44pm |
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So the big weekend was at hand. We were able to install the fuel tank and attach the transom. Were able to get all the main inside mig welds in while we had access to a spool gun. Welds were not all fantastic due to space constraints. Added in some extra gussets because we could and still have to TIG weld the entire outside. Don't think its going anywhere. Also ended up back filling the fuel frame with 6# closed cell foam which will give the tank and toon some extra support. Also started fabbing the panel that all the hoses and filling will be done thru.
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Scott011422
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Posted: 04/22/2019 at 1:50pm |
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Wrong Picture
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curtiscapk
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Posted: 04/22/2019 at 7:15pm |
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wow amazing work!
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Scott011422
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Posted: 04/26/2019 at 2:31pm |
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Fuel Panel Mount done
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Scott011422
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Posted: 05/03/2019 at 6:04pm |
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Scott011422
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Posted: 05/29/2019 at 12:00pm |
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Getting really close to getting the boat out on the water. I unfortunately didn't think to get any pics of the mounting process. We ended up taking the aluminum mount frame back off the toon and clamping that to the boat. Then we drilled all the holes in the boat using the mounting frame as a drilling jig. Worked Great! We also had to pull the fuel level sensor, in my haste, i forgot that the RTV i had at home wasn't fuel rated. so replaced that and sealed up the access door with some 4200. Mounting Frame Work: Time to start sealing it up  Untitled by scott011422, on Flickr
In place on the Boat Also, I found this NOCO 8D Marine battery box to tidy everything up. Has enough room for 2 group 27 battery trays, distribution blocks, breakers and battery tender. |
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curtiscapk
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Posted: 05/29/2019 at 3:59pm |
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freaking awesome job!!!!!!!!!!!
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Scott011422
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Posted: 06/05/2019 at 5:01pm |
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Have the toon pretty much done now. Access ports are complete. The fuel panel is done and sealed. All the wires are ran to the Battery box. Should be mounting the outboard this weekend.
Edited by Scott011422 - 06/11/2019 at 1:36pm |
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Scott011422
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Posted: 06/10/2019 at 5:05pm |
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Time to finish this project up!
Time to see how she floats! About 7" higher!
Edited by Scott011422 - 06/11/2019 at 1:36pm |
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Barnmb7117
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Joined: 09/11/2012 Location: Chicago,IL Status: Offline Points: 504 |
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Posted: 06/15/2019 at 1:02pm |
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Wow. It came out really nice. How does it run?
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Mike
1993 Tracker fishing barge 21 2015 Evinrude pontoon series 90 hp Summer - On the wolf River Weyauwega, WI Winter- Chicago, IL |
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Scott011422
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Posted: 06/16/2019 at 10:39pm |
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Unfortunately, we couldn't really test it much. We ended the year in 2018 with an overheat we thought was due to excessive seaweed fowling. That ended up not being the case as the outboard overheated 30 seconds after going full throttle all morning. So we ordered all the components for the thermostat and poppet valve. They both looked to be original. Water pump is new and looks great.
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Scott011422
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Posted: 02/07/2020 at 7:14pm |
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So new year, New projects. We did end up getting the engine all worked out. Stupid Poppet valve. Boat sits much higher and carries people soooo much better! But the third toon killed my speed. Now I cant even get on plane with 6 people on the boat. The 75 just isn't going to cut it any longer. Ended up at roughly 52% slip on a 14x13 3 bladed prop at 5k rpm. I did order a 14x11 to get the rpm's up higher, which leads us to this years project. We found a great deal on a 2008 Optimax 150. Bigger motor, Bigger prop, Should be able to get on plane now. So to the point of this posting, I feel the 75 was mounted a little low. I mounted the cavitation plate even with the bottom of the center tube with the boat and motor level. As you can see from the pic, It ended up being low. MY question is, When I mount the 150, being they are both 20" outboards, Can I just automatically mount it one hole higher? Or is the extra speed going to play that large of a role on my outboard height?? Thanks for the help guys |
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River-Dave
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Joined: 08/24/2020 Location: Winfield Mo Status: Offline Points: 2 |
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Posted: 08/28/2020 at 11:11pm |
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did you get the 150 and how is it as far as the height you mounted it? I have a xr6 150 and I’m putting it on a 20 footer. Also was thinking about getting a hydraulic jack plate so I could raise or lower it.
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Scott011422
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Posted: 10/27/2020 at 1:44pm |
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We did get the 150 mounted. It was much later in the year due to covid, But i believe the +1 hole was good. We only really got out on the lake twice this season. had a short test run. had some engine problems and had to reprop. first real trip the engine ran great and still had to reprop. Last trip was pretty good. With 3 adults and 2 kids got up to 27mph with a 15.6 x 11 3 blade stainless prop. 8 to 13% slip. I'll update later this year with pics and specs.
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Scott011422
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Posted: 10/27/2020 at 2:56pm |
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Hey guys, figured i would do a post season update. Some of this is center toon related, Some is not. Between Covid and the odd weather this year we decided to knock out another boat project.
Adding the center toon moved the fuel from under the sun pad to the center toon. This allowed us to move our storage from the starboard side over to the port side of the sun pad. Which also allowed us to add that rear entry we always wanted without loosing any real space. We were able to swap a few seats around to gain a 14" entry way that only cost us an armrest: We also chopped the playpen and sun pad. We had to add in another hinge for the sunpad, but it worked out pretty good. We didn't finish it unfortunately. Gives us something to do in the winter. On our first trip to the lake to try everything out we ended up in too shallow of water and backed over the ladder, snapping it off. We were never happy with the build quality of that ladder anyway. Now I'll rebuild it out of thicker tubing, or solid bar. Once all the cutting and grinding was done, it was time to mount the engine. We did decide to mount it one hole higher than the 75 was. Overall I feel the Opti is a tad smaller than the 75 was. After spending a fair amount of time rerouting all the cables and wiring from the starboard side of the boat to the port side, i discovered that there is a kit to use a rigging tube on this Optimax. so we had to build a little box that the gland for the rigging tube would mount to. Once we were happy with the angles the box was welded solid and painted. With everything all rigged up we were ready to test it out. Once on the lake we had a hard time getting the engine started. Cranked over very hard. More on this later. Got it started and off we went. turns out the factory shift and throttle cables didnt like being moved and were stiff as *inappropriate language not permitted*. going to have to replace them, The stainless 4 bladed prop ended up way to aggressive for us, but we did top out at 30mph (@4600rpm). It had overheat problems though, so that was it for that trip. Never did get a handle on the crank issue. With an amp clamp we are pulling 245 amps at the starter with a 5.8v drop. I believe the Merc spec is only 170ish amps. Had the starter checked out. it was fine. we did find a little corrosion on the main battery switch. That dropped our voltage drop to .9 volts but still 245 amps. We had also just upgraded from our 7 year old farm and fleet batteries that came with the boat to some Interstate AGM batteries should have had plenty of power. All the cables were replaced last year and upgraded to 4awg. However if we run jumper cables from the battery to the starter, it does start easier, but still pulls 245 amps. Even the installation manual recommends 4awg at our length of roughly 12 feet. We did notice that the installation book specs out 1000 cranking amp batteries for the Opti. Our new Interstates are only 500. But tieing them together with the battery switch made no difference. So if its going to pull 250 amps, 4awg isn't good enough. So in the off season we need to replace the throttle and shift cables, replace our new 4awg wires with 2awg wires and finish up the rear entry. I'll post videos latter when i can get flicker to upload them. Thanks for reading guys
Edited by Scott011422 - 10/27/2020 at 3:00pm |
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curtiscapk
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Posted: 12/02/2020 at 7:52pm |
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I've been away awhile! Nice work!
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