Pontoon maintenance and tips

One of the great things about owning a pontoon is how little of maintenance is involved, however there are always little things you can do annually or as you see fit to keep your pontoon in tip top shape. Below we will go through the list of things you can do at home in under 10 minutes

Brackets, bushes and rollers

On every pontoon there will be a number of brackets, like the one that fixes the walkway to your mooring block or retaining wall, these can sometimes get a little bit of a squeaking noise if they become dry and dirty. The best thing here is to purchase some Inox Lanox from your local Supercheap Auto, BCF or similar store and spray each end of the walkway brackets and there bushes. The same goes for the pile bracket rollers, spraying the pins and outer edges of these will minimize noise when passing traffic moves the pontoon about.

Cleaning and maintaining pontoon carpet

We quiet often get asked how to remove mould and other funky growths from the carpet of pontoons and to be honest we are yet to find the perfect solution but some clients have had success by getting a bottle of mineral turps and spreading over the moldy area of the carpet and leaving for about 5 minutes. After this time hose the area off with a high pressure gerni or hose. Using the turps has slowed down the growth from returning and in some cases stopped it all together.

Cleaning aluminium walkway and frames

Is your aluminium looking cloudy and dirty, there is a great product made for cleaning walkways, whaler and roller systems called Ali Brite, simply dilute with water into a spray bottle and spray over aluminium areas minimizing the amount spilt onto carpets and fender, it is best to wet the carpet and fender with soapy water before using the Ali Brite to potentially stop any damage to these during the cleaning process.

Pontoon fender and chaffing

Pontoon fenders like Profender that have carpet chaffing are best cleaned in the way you would clean your boat, with soapy water  and a broom along with a powerful hose. Simply give the fender a light scrub with the broom and soapy water then rinse off using the hose. Not washing the carpet chaffing on the fender can sometimes build up dried saltwater particles which can act like sand paper scratching outter areas of the boats painted surface. We recommend doing this monthly if you are in a high traffic/wash area and 6 monthly if you are in a quiet canal or lake.

Aqua Pontoons also have a maintenance team available to carry out all of the above and more, so if you need a service, repair or any other work please visit this section for more information.