Updated: 2009-10-21 The new pontoon drifter: What a delight!
The Outlaw Outfitter Triple XXX pontoon craft
North Fork Outdoors Ogden UT
IntroductionA couple years ago, I carelessly left my 16 ft canoe on the river bank (for 3-4 months) so eventually, someone walked off with it. (I hope they get good use from it … I sure did). Anyhow, I started looking for a canoe, freighter, boat … something to use here. My choices soon narrowed down to a couple options. I could get another canoe in the 17 ft range, a yak or a drift boat. A canoe was quickly discarded as I often have 2 visitors in the craft at one time. Not stable enough. Further, I’m getting too old to be cramped up for too long. A freighter is an option (that is, a 17-22 ft canoe, square tail, 3-4 passengers. I also put this option aside because of the class II – III rapids we have. I don’t want to have to rely on my passengers to paddle to be able to negotiate even the mildest of white water. So what I needed was a one man rowing position for multiple (2) passengers. Aha! … A drift boat. There are several wonderful products in the USA and I have piloted a few different makes and models in BC. Traditional glass or aluminum drift boats come in at around 300 to over 500 pounds. As I don’t usually have organized boat ramps, I need to “portage”, drag or carry the craft to the water in most situations. In comes the pontoon drift boat. A friend in Chicoutimi had bought a 2 man pontoon drifter from North Fork Outdoors in 2008. I gave it a good inspection and drilled him with many questions. I was sold on the quality and functionality. In November 2008 I ordered up a three man model. Here’s what I got, my impressions, the minor modifications I did and my (humble) recommendations. I actually ordered A McKenzie Drifter H2 X3, but since the pontoons were on back order, Dave Scadden had the new Outlaw Outfitter floats sent instead:   The McKenzie Drifter (left)- What I had ordered and the Outlaw Outfitter (right) What I actually got! (photos - http://www.northforkoutdoors.com/)
The packageThe shipped weight of the craft was about 133 lbs. Transport was about 9 days from Utah to Central Quebec. Shipping was 155$ (USD) plus customs on my side of the border. UPS takes care of all the paper work and sends you a bill if you are in Canada. In my case, Provincial taxes and broker fees came out to 486$ (CDN). Out of the box, came: (well, 2 boxes)
I also ordered at the same time:
Everything was there as ordered. SetupSetup was really a breeze. Because the pontoon is a one piece “U” shaped heat welded PVC (no liner), it sits flat on the floor. Aligning the frame to the pontoon is simple. With 2 independent pontoons, one has to measure, juggle and fiddle with the frame placement. Not a big deal, but with the new “Uni-Trac” one piece pontoon, it’s a snap. Something to think about if you set up and take down your craft often.
The instructions state that the set up can take from an hour to a day, depending on how well you read the instructions! Well, as I had already set up many many boats, the initial set up took about 2 hours, including hand pumping the 4 air chambers and fine tuning the strap placements. The aluminum frame and parts are powder coated and all the welds are top notch. The only screws are those to attach the seats to the frame. All the other connections are made with locking cotter pins. The instructions say to use a bit of paraffin to help the frame slide together. I didn’t do this and everything fit well. I believe that the one piece pontoon helps here as all the parts line up straight. I simply plugged the 3 frame assemblies together and placed it onto the pontoon. The RideI have taken the pontoon out on several runs. A few at home to test, as well as a few runs down my home waters. I needed a drift craft for multiple clients which could run class II to IV rapids without extra help. So far, I’ve been very impressed. Remember, the boat is actually a full 16 feet long from stem to stern. The uplifted (rockered) pontoon makes it very manoeuvrable. Further, because it has very soft chimes, transitioning across contradictory currents (seams), like crossing into a back eddy, is a breeze. This craft is NOT designed to be rowed UPSTREAM too much though. Many of my friends use their freighters and canoes to travel upstream. I can easily row upstream in mild current. In late June, an upstream wind help me go 2 miles against the current without effort … but I wouldn’t want to do this too often. I use the option wheel system to get the pontoon from the trailer to the beach. At home I use it to slide down the bank to the river with no problem at all. You can leave the wheel in while on the water. I take it off and strap it to the deck as some of the runs are very shallow here. The Outlaw Outfitter draughts about 3 inches. The beauty of this craft is the ease of manoeuvring. As with a drift boat, you row facing forward and use the traditional “backwards” rowing stroke to “back peddle” away from obstacles. Sounds weird, but it’s actually simple, efficient and an excellent way to keep clients and friends over fish for the maximum time possible. (more on this in a future article).  The Outlaw Outfitter is also a stable casting platform!! It is a BIG boat for the Ste-Marguerite River. The 7 ft stock oars do well here. On bigger water, I prefer 9 ft oars. Note, the stock 7 ft oars are just fine for calmly drifting slicks. Some say they don't dig enough. If they had bigger stiffer blades, the un-forgiving aluminum shafts would pull pretty hard into your lower back. The Outfitter is a very comfortable and stable boat. An 8 hour drift down my home waters with Lilane was very comfortable.
ModificationsAnchor pulleys(Addendum - After re-reading the instructions, this is pretty well the same setup that North Fork Outdoors proposes)
The first modification was done to the anchor system. Scadden pontoon boats came with a well thought out pulley system which runs the anchor rope inside the right hand side frame tube. Pulleys are built into the frame to run the rope through, then up to the cargo deck where a third pulley suspends the anchor. When we set up a Scadden boat with 3 stations (that is 3 frames for 3 passengers), the built in system can’t get the rope to the third pulley. This is mentioned in the instructions, but not on the web site. To correct this, I tried to run 2 more pulleys but found that there were too many 90 degree angles and it was too difficult to lift an appropriate anchor.
To correct this, I ran a new pulley off of the front frame, just in front of my rowing position:
  And moved the stock rope cleat to the left side (my preference, I could have done this right side)
From there, I run the outgoing anchor rope through an eye bolt …
off a second pulley …
then up and over the stock pulley mounted under the cargo deck.
Cargo deckThe cargo deck sits on the pontoons and is held in place by 2 cam straps. I set the deck so that the front edge of the deck rests on the rear of the third frame. In order to keep the cargo deck in place, I mounted 2 wooden pickets under the deck about one inch back from the edge.
This way, when I cinch down the deck, it sits level and snugly. After more than 12,000 miles on trailer and many drifts down the river, the deck has never moved.
Close up of the wooden picket I secured under the deck using stainless steel screws
Derek at North Fork Outdoors informed me that a bracket has been fabricated to do the same thing. This is probably worth looking into. Frame modificationThe curve on the “U” shaped pontoon seems to make the rear frame dig into the PVC fabric. I was concerned that, over time, the frame could wear into the pontoon. To correct this, I cut off 4 inches of aluminum tubing which was extending back from the seat cross member.
 This little bit of tube is used normally to insert a frame aft. Since this is my rear section, I figured I could do it. If I ever need to move the modified frame to replace the front frame, I can still insert the pieces properly. Just to be sure, I also glued a 3 inch round patch to the pontoon under the rub point. StrappingLast minor change I made was the strap which attaches the middle frame to the pontoon. Because the standing decks slide under the seat when not needed, you have to keep the inside frame tube free from obstructions. This is well illustrated in the instruction sheet.
 From the NFO web site: Correct positioning for the inside front D-Ring  From the NFO web site: The strap pulled tight
I prefer to keep all my straps pulling straight off the D-Rings (this is my personal preference and in no way did the folks at North Forks Outdoors tell me to do it this way). In order to get a straight pull off the inside middle D-Ring, I ran a longer cam strap through the D-Ring, up UNDER the inside frame tube and over the outside frame tube.
In this way, I got a straight pull off the D-Ring and
I didn’t block the inside frame tube so the sliding standing platform can run properly.
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