Cracked M Bracket on Back of Pontoon and Leaking Water

[rzhuk]

Hi All!

Bought a used 2003 Bennington 207Si earlier this year. Changed the carpet out with woven vinyl, did some work to the 4 stroke 90 HP Yamaha.
Took it out for the first time last week, unscrewed the drain plugs from both pontoons and water came out of one (about 1 gallon). Started looking to where it would be coming from and noticed cracks and rewelds (that cracked again) on both side top M Brackets on the very rear of the pontoons.

Has anyone had these issues before? I can see that it has been rewelded before, but doesn't seem to be a permanent fix with it cracking again. Looks like there might be too much downforce from the motor when giving it full throttle and the bracket is pushing into the pontoon tube, causing it to crack? Possibly it might be when it is being trailered on a bumpy road?

Is there a great way to reinforce this area?
Would the structural lifetime warranty of Bennington help with any of this? (my immediate thoughts would this be a long shot but figured I would ask!).

Thank you in advance! If pictures are needed, I can get some taken and posted!
-Russ

 

[Vikingstaff]

Dang…have not heard of this issue before. I am at a loss, but very curious to see some pictures of the affected area if you post some up. Are there any other signs of distress or other damage/repairs near that area?

 

[rzhuk]

no other signs really, these are the only affected areas, both sides. Transom seems to all be okay with no issues. I didn't find any other damaged areas.
Adding some pictures now! As you can see, it has been rewelded several times already.

 

[Vikingstaff]

Have not seen that before. I see what you are saying though.

 

[mtudb24]

Actually yes.. Not sure when it occurred , but noticed a "swishing sound" last summer when getting the boat ready for the season. I ended up taking it to a local fabricator as my dealer couldn't get it to until fall and didn't want to miss the season (the whole COVID thing is why the dealer was backed up and they're 4 hours away)

Anyways, they found some very very small cracks where the M bracket is attached to the top of the tube. It was on both sides. Port side had about 2.5 gallons and starboard side about 6 gallons.
I have the rough water package so the M bracket is solid.
They re-welded the majority of the bracket inside and outside (had to pull side skirts and wave shield off)

Too make a long story short (and I'm sure the story is on the forum somewhere), the 1st or 2nd year I had the boat, my rear faux teak decking (and plywood) delaminated somehow. The 2 pieces of plywood somehow detached and my wave shield popped on boat sides just in front of the transom pod. Didn't hit anything as there was no damage below the deck or to the transom pod or toons (that they could find). They had the boat for 4 months replacing the 2 rear sheets of plywood and faux teak decking.

Now did the cracks to the M brackets also happen during that incident and it had taken all these years to have the water build up in the toons where I could finally hear it sloshing around? Don't know. When I pulled it last year, there was no water in them at all. They also installed drain plugs as well.

The following year (after the deck popped), the wave shield pieces popped again and Bennington Engineering determined a flaw in the design with the 32" eliptical's wave shield (too long of unsecured pieces and the water turbulence was so great, they were not supported enough to withstand the pressure) and sent my dealer new revised pieces (free of charge of course) that I had my local marina pop rivet in place.
Evidently the 32" elips were just introduced the year before or so from when I bought my 2011 and my dealer (Spicers in Houghton Lake) had never sold one or seen one prior to them ordering my boat

I have never had a problem with the wave shield since the new pieces were put in place

Sorry for the long post.
Todd

 

[mtudb24]

Actually yes.. Not sure when it occurred , but noticed a "swishing sound" last summer when getting the boat ready for the season. I ended up taking it to a local fabricator as my dealer couldn't get it to until fall and didn't want to miss the season (the whole COVID thing is why the dealer was backed up and they're 4 hours away)

Anyways, they found some very very small cracks where the M bracket is attached to the top of the tube. It was on both sides. Port side had about 2.5 gallons and starboard side about 6 gallons.
I have the rough water package so the M bracket is solid.
They re-welded the majority of the bracket inside and outside (had to pull side skirts and wave shield off)

Too make a long story short (and I'm sure the story is on the forum somewhere), the 1st or 2nd year I had the boat, my rear faux teak decking (and plywood) delaminated somehow. The 2 pieces of plywood somehow detached and my wave shield popped on boat sides just in front of the transom pod. Didn't hit anything as there was no damage below the deck or to the transom pod or toons (that they could find). They had the boat for 4 months replacing the 2 rear sheets of plywood and faux teak decking.

Now did the cracks to the M brackets also happen during that incident and it had taken all these years to have the water build up in the toons where I could finally hear it sloshing around? Don't know. When I pulled it last year, there was no water in them at all. They also installed drain plugs as well.

The following year (after the deck popped), the wave shield pieces popped again and Bennington Engineering determined a flaw in the design with the 32" eliptical's wave shield (too long of unsecured pieces and the water turbulence was so great, they were not supported enough to withstand the pressure) and sent my dealer new revised pieces (free of charge of course) that I had my local marina pop rivet in place.
Evidently the 32" elips were just introduced the year before or so from when I bought my 2011 and my dealer (Spicers in Houghton Lake) had never sold one or seen one prior to them ordering my boat

I have never had a problem with the wave shield since the new pieces were put in place

Sorry for the long post.
Todd

EDIT: It was 2012 when the incident happened (looked back on a thread I posted in the forum on this topic). Getting old sucks

 

[Vikingstaff]

Actually yes.. Not sure when it occurred , but noticed a "swishing sound" last summer when getting the boat ready for the season. I ended up taking it to a local fabricator as my dealer couldn't get it to until fall and didn't want to miss the season (the whole COVID thing is why the dealer was backed up and they're 4 hours away)

Anyways, they found some very very small cracks where the M bracket is attached to the top of the tube. It was on both sides. Port side had about 2.5 gallons and starboard side about 6 gallons.
I have the rough water package so the M bracket is solid.
They re-welded the majority of the bracket inside and outside (had to pull side skirts and wave shield off)

Too make a long story short (and I'm sure the story is on the forum somewhere), the 1st or 2nd year I had the boat, my rear faux teak decking (and plywood) delaminated somehow. The 2 pieces of plywood somehow detached and my wave shield popped on boat sides just in front of the transom pod. Didn't hit anything as there was no damage below the deck or to the transom pod or toons (that they could find). They had the boat for 4 months replacing the 2 rear sheets of plywood and faux teak decking.

Now did the cracks to the M brackets also happen during that incident and it had taken all these years to have the water build up in the toons where I could finally hear it sloshing around? Don't know. When I pulled it last year, there was no water in them at all. They also installed drain plugs as well.

The following year (after the deck popped), the wave shield pieces popped again and Bennington Engineering determined a flaw in the design with the 32" eliptical's wave shield (too long of unsecured pieces and the water turbulence was so great, they were not supported enough to withstand the pressure) and sent my dealer new revised pieces (free of charge of course) that I had my local marina pop rivet in place.
Evidently the 32" elips were just introduced the year before or so from when I bought my 2011 and my dealer (Spicers in Houghton Lake) had never sold one or seen one prior to them ordering my boat

I have never had a problem with the wave shield since the new pieces were put in place

Sorry for the long post.
Todd

We use the same dealer. Do you boat on HL or somewhere else near it?

 

[mtudb24]

We use the same dealer. Do you boat on HL or somewhere else near it?

No, I'm in the thumb and boat on Saginaw Bay / Lake Huron (Caseville area)
Had a great experience with Spicers. They bought my 1999 Wellcraft 25 center console fishing boat on trade for the Benny. Many of the options I spec'd out were firsts for Spicers ( 32" twin tubes with lifting strakes, underwater lights, side lights, cupholder lights etc). I think they were about as excited as I was to have that boat at their dealership

 

[sunedog]

I had the exact same problem with my first (Sylvan) or second (Suntracker) pontoon. It's been so long since I sold both of them I can't remember. A local welder with experience on this specific problem welded it up and I never had a problem with it again. Since you are having a continuing problem, I suppose the M brackets could be cut loose from the pontoon tubes and a reinforcing piece of aluminum inserted between the tube and the M brackets. But it would be an involved process.