On Oct 21, 8:07*pm, JohnH wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:19:20 -0700 (PDT), Tim wrote:
OK, I've given in to using my 115 evinrude which would be the
practical way. and so I'm thinking of decking material seeing its
really soft that is, what wood is still there.

I'm not against the idea of using Marine ply, but I've always wondered
why composite wod wouldn't be a better selection.

I got tired of my front porch rotting away ever 5 years, because the
treated pine couldn't hold up against the brunt of weather and baking
sun because out house faces the west. and the summer sun hits it hard.
So I bit the bullet and went with composite decking material (Trex) I
lvoe it! *It was easy to work with, and no maintenance, painting, and
it doesn't rot.

so I did a bit of looking around and found this:

http://www.nauticexpo.com/prod/teck-...ng-synthetic-t...

I see they have used it for teak replacement and it looks pretty good.
Of course I might not be able to use it practically speaking, because
it would mean reinforcing with a couple extra floor joints (I suppose
that's what you'd call them) But I do like the idea of it lasting for
absolutely years.

I'm also wondering why pontoon and boat mfg's don't use more of these
products. especially in stringer construction.

Cost maybe? Is that stuff cheap? Have you considered exterior plywood
covered with a fancy linoleum?

(Hee, hee!)
--
A Harry Krause truism:

"It's not a *baby* kicking, beautiful bride, it's just a fetus!"
*[A Narcissistic Hypocrite]

LOL!

Well, not really. And no it's not cheap, but really, neither is
exterior or marine plywood.

On Oct 21, 10:30*pm, wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:37:51 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:





On Oct 21, 8:07*pm, JohnH wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:19:20 -0700 (PDT), Tim wrote:
OK, I've given in to using my 115 evinrude which would be the
practical way. and so I'm thinking of decking material seeing its
really soft that is, what wood is still there.

I'm not against the idea of using Marine ply, but I've always wondered
why composite wod wouldn't be a better selection.

I got tired of my front porch rotting away ever 5 years, because the
treated pine couldn't hold up against the brunt of weather and baking
sun because out house faces the west. and the summer sun hits it hard..
So I bit the bullet and went with composite decking material (Trex) I
lvoe it! *It was easy to work with, and no maintenance, painting, and
it doesn't rot.

so I did a bit of looking around and found this:

http://www.nauticexpo.com/prod/teck-...ng-synthetic-t....

I see they have used it for teak replacement and it looks pretty good..
Of course I might not be able to use it practically speaking, because
it would mean reinforcing with a couple extra floor joints (I suppose
that's what you'd call them) But I do like the idea of it lasting for
absolutely years.

I'm also wondering why pontoon and boat mfg's don't use more of these
products. especially in stringer construction.

Cost maybe? Is that stuff cheap? Have you considered exterior plywood
covered with a fancy linoleum?

(Hee, hee!)
--
A Harry Krause truism:

"It's not a *baby* kicking, beautiful bride, it's just a fetus!"
*[A Narcissistic Hypocrite]

LOL!

Well, not really. *And no it's not cheap, but really, neither is
exterior or marine plywood.

One of the functions of the plywood is to stiffen up the structure.
Planking would have to be run fore and aft and probably should be 24'
long (about as much deck as you get on a 28) You still would have the
racking problem if you didn't have diagonal members in the design.
In a chop or boat wake a pontoon gets a lot of flexing stress. The
plywood damps this.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yep, that's called a diaphram. Same way roof deck works on structures
with bar joists.