PONTOON LIVEWELL INSTALLATION - Full Under-Seat Installation HOW TO

[@luisaraujo4708]

Tom, another superb how-to video. I have a question and a suggestion… With regard to invasive species mitigation, how do you completely drain the live well? If you add a 1” lip to the perimeter of the inside of the top edge of the aluminum box it’ll keep water from sloshing out into the seat box and still allow room to add or remove fish.

[@tomspontoons]

Definitely could use a hinge lid or something like you mentioned for splash. Pulling the drain tube will allow for complete drainage of the livewell.

[@mikesmith4764]

How does the water not slosh out while the boat is moving?

[@tomspontoons]

Never heard of it being an issue from this customer. Any sloshed water would drain out of the seat base though!! Pontoon Stuff now has a drop on livewell kit for this 28” bench seat. I’ll be doing an install video on that soon.

[@faronmastin8683]

Nice job they do make a 90 degree drill bit holder for those type of spots.

[@tomspontoons]

I’ve got a couple 90 degree bit adapters in my toolbox at all times!

[@joshholman3988]

You explained everything I needed to know to a tee on how to and what I need to install a livewell on my pontoon...thanks a bunch..

[@tomspontoons]

Thanks for watching, and glad it was helpful!! Best of luck on your project!

[@braddeland6859]

Bad ass brother

[@tomspontoons]

It turned out pretty great. Thanks for watching!!

[@braddeland6859]

I have a prefabricated fiberglass base that I will have to do some trimming on the base and the tub to get it to fit right .... question where did you get all that tubing from ?

[@tomspontoons]

@@braddeland6859 I've had to work with those to reuse them as well which is why i went to an aluminum fabricated option for new installs. No more cutting the seat bases to make fiberglass or other plastic options fit. It's all from a local marina who sells it by the foot. Should be able to find it on Amazon or West Marine too. It's livewell or bilge hose. There are a couple different diameters, so just make sure your hoses and fittings match up!

[@davidmedina6492]

Great idea and video. Very helpful to see the install process

[@tomspontoons]

Thank you. That's what we're here to do...break things down so that all the folks at home can tackle the same sort of projects!

[@anthonybass7851]

Great video Tom. Looking to do this on my boat. Please send me the info for the drain tub and thru hull fitting? And where you got it. Thank you.

[@tomspontoons]

I bought everything through T-H Marine. thmarinesupplies.com/collections/plumbing-drain

[@davidcobb4527]

Hey Tom, I want to add a wet well utilizing one of my new seats. Do I need to make this aluminum box or can I just utilize the whole void beneath the seat cushion? Thanks

[@tomspontoons]

Pontoon Stuff has a livewell kit that would work great for that too. The seat bases have drain holes in them, so you'd have to seal those up if you wanted to fill the seat base with water.

[@kimfeldt6319]

@@tomspontoons You can put the drain in the bottom of the seat box just like you did with the tank and save a lot of money on metal and welding. That is what I did and it works great.

[@tomspontoons]

@@kimfeldt6319I’ve heard of folks doing that. They now have their livewell insert at Pontoon Stuff that’s really convenient!

[@filnguyen]

This is cool idea / design, I would’ve personally insulated the outside of the livewell with maybe foam since it looks like you have space to help maintain the water temperature/ also maybe act as a cooler. That is my game plan when the time comes. Regardless good stuff keep it up.

[@tomspontoons]

Thanks! I like that idea a ton because there’s definitely room around most of it to stick some insulation to. And I could potentially build one that’s double walled on the outside to use spray foam to insulate…it would look great and function very well! Thanks for watching and for your idea!!

[@johnzager1999]

This is great. First time on. Wonderful info, but Tom's head looks like it belongs on another body. LOL-OK wait, he stood up now. Must have been the angle. Insta-subscribe as I try to create a working man's fishing pontoon for under a zillion dollars.

[@tomspontoons]

I dunno if that’s a good thing or bad, but I’m not getting a head or body transplant so I’ll keep living with what I’ve got 😂 Thanks for watching, and best of luck with your project!!!

[@roccolococo5543]

Where can a guy buy a tank built for a specific sized seat?

[@tomspontoons]

This was built by a local metal/fabrication shop. 1/8” aluminum welded to the specifications we gave. Search your local area!

[@folk8839]

Can you post a link to your pontoon seats. Thanks

[@tomspontoons]

These are Deckmate Seats, but they were from a small initial production of their luxury line that hasn’t been fully released. It should be out in the coming months on their website and at PontoonStuff.com

[@shanehenderson9626]

Why put a box in a box? Could you just the entire seat as the live well instead of the aluminum box. I was thinking of doing this. And use an overflow system that dumps the water overboard instead of a bilge pump as well.

[@tomspontoons]

You could absolutely use the entire seat base like you’re saying, but there are drain holes that would need to be plugged, and the seat base is quite large, so if you needed to grab a fish to release (or show off) it would make it quite challenging if full of water. Also, the aluminum live well will be a quick clean out/wipe down in the fall before storage.