Built a barge lately

[RoyBrooks]

Check out this website seems to have a lot of info and ideas for a heavy duty easy build.

RollingBarge.com - Party and Utility Barges

 

[MikeD74T]

Check out the King of the Obsolete's website.Welcome to the King of Obsolete's Website The King has built barges from salvaged oil/propane tanks. MikeD74T

 

[bullbreaker]

Can't tell you much about building a barge.Heres some pics of my buddys"cattle barge".In these pics,where loading a Hummer and Mazda PU. truck on there to hunt on the other side of lake.On occasion we would ask ourselves what we would do if barge flipped/sunk with equipment onboard.
Boone

Please excuse poor quality of pics.I took pics of pics with my Cannon A495.A little $120 camera which I highley recommend.

 

[tboomz]

I will be constructing a barge, so I can move my Kioti CK27 back and forth from Cottage lot when I want rather than wait for the lake to ice over.

Has anyone built one yet? Tractor weights 5000Lbs, how overbuilt should it be, 10,000 Lbs?

A bit late for this perhaps.......but I would suggest you look into building your barge hull from ferro-cement. Basically it's portland cement, sand and wire mesh/expanded metal. Chicken wire works as well.

You build your design with the wire /metal. Reinforce it however you wish. And then trowel the cement mortar into it. The nice thing about it, is no welding. It's fireproof - even with the styrofoam inside. And from what I've read - it doesn't need to be water sealed, but it probably wouldn't hurt it if you did.



And following up on the styrofoam idea...yacht and houseboat hulls have been made with blocks of styrofoam encased in ferro-cement.

The military built WARSHIPS out of ferro-cement in WW1. And my dad said he'd worked [army] aboard a barge made of it [ used by the motor pool],...jeeps, trucks, whatever. Plenty of weight on it. They kept it moored to the dock. Dad said it was fairly stable - didn't rock much.

I believe you'll still need a sacrificial anode.

somewhere on internet I came article about how 3rd world countries like using the stuff because cheaper than full metal hull. Plus it doesn't take any skill to build a really big floating concrete shoebox.

A lot of colleges have annual competitions for student built ferro-cement. canoes.

 

[RobertBrown]

I think for what you will have in building this, you could just buy another tractor.

Good point!

 

[RobertBrown]

The lake I am on is Palmerston, closest town is Ompah Ontario, I now have my material so construction start probably tomorrow. Barge will be 12 feet by 24 feet, 2x8 construction plywood top.

Have considered stanchions from below deck to rest on the bottom, on the loading end only, to stabilize while loading? You would have to turn the barge around to unload.

 

[ElDorado]

I just spoke with a contractor the other day who is building a barge. It is going to be 10x32. One of the things he does is spray foam insulation for homes he builds or others build. His plan is to build a wooden structure and then fill the cavity with spray foam. I will be interested to see how it works out and yes if/when I see it I will post some pictures.

 

[mx5guy]

Should have taken more pictures but batteries died, it barely sits in the water more like on top, about a inch into the water, top & floats weights 1800 to 2000 Lbs. leaving 10000 lbs. to carry loads, is as stable as a rock, will test in spring, 12' wide 24' long, drove it up on pontoon trailer, handled very well, lots of concentration to keep it on my side of the road, had to get a special permit. It will get a good workout in the spring.:thumbsup: