Pontoon Deck...what to use?

[swollencrappie]

So I have stripped my pontoon of everything and going to turn it into a catfishing/spoonbill boat. I have spent the last two nights reading so many reviews and getting ideas on what to use for the deck but have not made a decision yet. I want your opinions. The boat is 22' long and 8' wide. I have seen people say use marine in 3/4", 5/8" and 1/2". I have seen people use 1/8" and 1/4" aluminum sheeting, some use marine plywood, some use regular and coat with epoxy, or polyurethane or fiberglass, some use 1/4" and then put a layer of epoxy and then another sheet of 1/4" and change the direction of the grain from the last one. some say the boat is a lot lighter with aluminum, some say its not, some say aluminum gets extremely hot and some say not if you cover it with carpet or a coating like Tuff Coat. I am lost on what to do.

I am not going to put carpet back down, I am going with a product called Tuff Coat, that has to be sprayed or rolled on and I will put atleast 3 coats down. Also, I am debating on taking console and making it a center console so i can fish on all sides of pontoon, I have measured all wires and cables and I have plenty of room. If I do this, should I center the gas tank also, or leave it on a side and put batteries on other side?

Any help would be appreciated, I understand that each are opinions and I ask that all those who reply respect each others opinions.

[BoarBuster]

Personally I would go with a double layer of plywood. 3/4 first then put down a coat of epoxy and while it is still wet put a thinner layer of plywood topped with epoxy and finally your Tuff Coat. As far as your batteries and fuel go once you move to a center console I would mount the batteries in from of the console and te fuel behind the console. If you put one on one side and then one on the other side the weight will get out of balance as the fuel is burned. The weight of the battery weight is not going to change. One option would be to mount the batteries in the center and split the fuel tanks so that you have one on each side. Draw out of both at the same time to keep that part of the weight in balance. Just my

[Cray]

Figure your cost on ply,epoxy and labor. Then find a big truck trailer repair shop close to you. Find out how much it would cost for enough FRP- fiberglass reinforced plywood to do the job. That is the stuff a lot of the boxes on straight truck bodies and trailers is made of. Very strong,already sealed. If you had to cut all you would need is to seal the edges. Just lay it and coat it.

[bfish]

I would use some type of HDPE with a grid/checkered surface say Polymax from Farmtek. That way it is easy to spray out, cool to the touch, non-slip even with lots of fish slime.

[swollencrappie]

Thank you guys for your ideas and thoughts. will be checking into each of them.

[captankangaroo]

You may want to use star board or pvc board. It is more costly up front but you will not be replacing it a few years down the road. If you go with plywood get marine grade, it will last a bit longer. I`m getting ready to re-deck mine used ply last time got about 10 years out off it, with being glassed over. If you don`t lay glass both sides and edges it will not last a few years at best. Have seen a few done with pvc and starboard, they all say that they love it. easy to work with, little maintenance, and lighter.