Shipping Container "Shantyboat"?

[safewalrus]

Hey Ken theres an idea, get several old beat up containers, ship 'em to Indonesia, flog of expensively!

Use the money to finance a 'large expensive gin palace' and live happily ever after (if not a little bored 'cos you've done nothing) and gets us all as jealous as hell!

[Wellydeckhand]

Why GIN? it surpose to come out from a LAMP...........sinful chap

[sharpii2]

I like your basic design. I would suggest just one minor change. That would be cutting about a 1/3d to 1/2 meter radius in both the bow and stern ends to make it easier to move about. Such an effort would add little to the cost and add much to the utility.

Everything else seems much within reason.

This vessel would have high initial stability but low ultimate stability, so any ocean crossing it would do would have to be on the deck of a ship.

Hell, I would even consider adding sails and a leeboards to this rig. (of course, I like to do that with just about everything that floats)

Bob

[safewalrus]

Hey Sharpii does that include beer barrels, then you could die happy!

[jerryniff]

Well, of course it includes beer barrels ..... didn't you notice that he is from Michigan.
I like the initial idea but am still not sold on the idea of corrugated containers as the part below the water line. Other than that .... why not. Guy on the other side of the island lives in a VW van placed on top of an old wooden fishing boat. Works for him and works for the women in his life. So ... what is the problem?
Gerald

[Wellydeckhand]

Originally Posted by safewalrus

Hey Sharpii does that include beer barrels, then you could die happy!

What a waste of good aluminium.........doesnt mix well with container.

Should go around people's yard with permission of course ........ buying off cheap left over material .......That is more professional and economical in helping to buil the JUNK .........chinese boat or really bad term

Enviro Friendlio

WELIODEKIHANNA

[safewalrus]

Jerryniff, yeah as I've been saying all along nice box, nice house but not direct into the water put it onto a barge and we're laffing! Or sell the box to 'Welly' he'll buy anything! thenlive in the barge direct!

[Wellydeckhand]

Originally Posted by safewalrus

Jerryniff, yeah as I've been saying all along nice box, nice house but not direct into the water put it onto a barge and we're laffing! Or sell the box to 'Welly' he'll buy anything! thenlive in the barge direct!

Mmmmm............Walrus .....U wont get a piece of action in Borneo river on landside . The girls prefer protection of the river as a barrier. .... too many walrus snooping.........

WellyDeckerhander

P.S. Is walrus Stalking allowed in England.......

[SamSam]

One other problem with making a shipping container shantyboat, on the outside there is no bottom. The plywood floor on the inside is all there is besides the steel beams every foot or so that support it. Sam

[SheetWise]

Cut it in half (horizontally) -- 8x4x80, or 16x4x40. You've got at least two ready made bulkheads that are hinged!
Build something with less weight on top of it.

[gonzo]

We do learn. Reinventing the wheel is more expensive than buying a used one. The amount of work and money on cutting, welding and modifying a container is higher that buying a used barge or boat.

[ted655]

I'm not sure about the carbon content in the steel. Longevity might be shorter. I'd use coal tar epoxy for the coating.
Start with 2 8"-10" I beams longer than the container length. sit them on something cheap but smooth & flat for this will be the bottom of the boat. Plastic over graded clay (not sand), or 1/4" sheets of OSB. Weld from these the upturned frames for the bow & stern. Set them "in" 2' from the container edge. Add proper dross gracing between the 2 I beams add rebar & wire. Pour this space full of concrete fore to aft. Now you have a "ballast keel and a concrete bottom. Then add cross beams every 2' to the top of the beams & and fasten (bolt & weld) the container to them. This keeps the ballast weight LOW 7 Inboard from the edges of the container.
Inside, add 18' SUBFLOOR. sAME DRILL INSIDE. kEEP YOUR TANKS IN THE CENTER & AIR SPACE TOWARDS THE EDGES. eXTEND THE AFT STRAIGHT OUT FLAT ENOUGH TO MAKE THE ENGINES FIT THERE. tHEN SWEEP UP TO SUIT A PLEASENT LOOK. aDD THE RUDDER TUBE, DECK OVER AND MAKE IT SELF DRAINING. bOW GETS A CHAIN LOCKER & THE SAME LINES.
gIVE THE TOP A dUTCH BARGE OR FORWARD PILOT HOUSE CUT. rEMOVE THE REST, DECK OVER AND ADD RAILS. This helps the looks & that topheavy feel.
a LOVELY LITTLE DUCK ISN'T SHE!! yOU GOT ME ENTHUSED BUDDY, i'M INTO IT!(sorry, I hit the caps lock).

[ted655]

ted655@fastmail.fm
Hi Ken.
Hey, I'd like to kick this idea around. It's a great idea. So if you need a bud & want to bounce ideas back & forth, mail me.
I think it was you who posted on the shantyboat group. My wife & I are searching for canal boats right now. We may buy one used or a "sail away" (motorized shell) over there and stay and cruise awhile. BUT.. now I'm infected with this idea!
Thanks, Ted.

[Hammersmith]

I work with the crew of Scrapheap Challenge' (Junkyard Wars in the US) and they tell me the Chinese are building containers so cheap that it's not worth shipping them back empty from the UK. Tilbury has over 10,000 laying around the yards, and the price is at scrap, (under 400 pounds sterling). If a way could be found to coat them with old car tyres and power them with discarded mobile phones we could be on to a winner!

Richard
db Gideon, Hammersmith UK

[ted655]

No kidding, thats for sure. Disposable diapers could figure in there somewhere. lol.