I am shopping. Hoping for an M-7 235,,, but who knows what I may have to settle for..
Anyway float operations is my main thing.. and you would not believe how many sellers have NO idea if their plane is float capable....

Anyway, what is the quick and dirty of how to tell if the plane is float-kit capable, ( besides existing float fittings)

Run the serial # by Maule they should have a build log for each one as it was when it left the factory.

Were all the M7s float ready to some degree or are they a mixed bag??

Basically all M7 are float capable.
There are different attach systems for different floats
In later years Maule developed a weld on system as an option to the bolt on system
Over the years for the M7 there are Edo, Aqua, Bauman, and Wipaire floats available each having its pros and cons so one must compromise as in all aviation stuff.
There are two different ventral fins also.
Some of the floats have had upgrades in struts, rigging, rudders, hatches, and structure over the years.

I am so used to Cessna's where I can tell just by driving past the plane without stopping the truck.

I have played the pork-chop shuffle with various brands of floats. Especially the darn PKs who insisted on being dissimilar in as many ways possible.

Too bad Baumann went out of business.

Floatpilot, I pm'd you. Yes, none of the various Maule floats interchange the struts and/or attach brackets. Some of the M5s don't have the fuselage float reinforcement built in the fuselage though it can be retrofitted.

So if a Maule had Edo 2440s mounted on it at one time, the mounting points on the plane would not work for Aqua 2400s???

The front struts attach to the oleo gear mounting lugs with the appropriate bracket for the float make used.
The rear struts are attached to the airframe tubes lower longeron cluster halfway along rear double door opening with again the bracket of the float manufacturer.
The airframe must have Maule’s reinforcement kit to be able to mount any of the various floats. PK, Edo, Aqua, Fiberfloat, Bauman, Wipline, Capre, or tha Canadian make for M4.
Most Maules after 1978 have the kit but not all so the airframe must be examined for the parts which are shown on the drawings.
A triangular steel plate with lightening holes welded to the inside of the airframe from doorpost to rear bulkhead is the main feature.

I was using my phone last night after a 11.5 hour round trip up to Anchorage and back to look at an M5, so I was rather vague.

I was talking about the rear mounting block . On Cessnas it is always the same location of course and some floats other than EDO will work with the EDO rear block. Then you have floats like the PeeKays which have the same spacing, but their pork-chops and blocks have nothing at all to do with any other float. Even the pump out cups are a different size. The PK firewall mounts for 172s/175 are extremely different from the EDO mounts that came on factory seaplane.

I do not think I have ever looked at the rear mount for Aquas on a Maule. Well at least I never paid any attention to them... There are not exactly a whole lot of Aqua floats around here. Oddly enough there is an old set of Fiber Floats rotting in the grass down by my tie-down. You don't see those every day.

I was contemplating putting Aquas on a Maule which previously had EDOS, and still has the rear mounting block ( attach point) in place. And I admittedly know nothing much about Maules. Yet...

Nope, a buddy just sent me a photo of his Aqua rear mount.... Not at all similar to the EDO mount, very very different. That answers that question...

When you buy floats, they “shouldâ€￾ come with all struts and strut brackets and pulley mounts, cables, retract handle, rudder bar extension, floor tube, and Ventral Fin.
Sometimes this stuff gets left on an airplane for sold separately or canibslized

Lots of bits and pieces going on around here.

My last plane was a factory seaplane that had never been on floats.

The floats I bought came from a Marina down in Washington state.
The firewall mounting blocks for PK floats came from a box of assorted parts from Anchorage. The tube style rear mounts came from another guy.
I made up all the cables and pullies, and installed the cable pulley brackets.
FAA said I had to stop flying it with the ventral fin....So then I had to order the Ventral Fin from PK when they were out of business and Keith Strange made one for me and mailed it in a box he made from 1x4s and paneling.

The plane before that was almost the same thing..

i don't know a lot about the edo 2440. but when i recovered my M5 i installed the maule weld on float fittings and i really like them compared to the old bolt on deals. the bolt on seem like they can crush the tubing, and create a point of entry for moisture and corrosion. the weld on fittings are much cleaner and much stronger. they did require a different length rear strut. which was fine for me because i had the old 2530lb gross struts and was switching to the 2750 lb gross struts. all easily purchased new from aqua float company.
i haven't had to buy any aqua parts recently... does anyone know if terry and helen are still around? or did someone else take over?