trailerable unfolding houseboat

Putting a RV on a set of pontoons, is simply asking to have things rust and rot very quickly. As previously mentioned, establish a solid SOR and contact a profession that's capable.

 

Hi Myark
I guess you tow the folding barge behind the camper van.
My question is, how do you get the camper van onto the barge when you get to the water?

Poida

 

That’s silly to compare when there are millions of vehicles worldwide that back into the sea water to unload their boat, in fact some have to go deep to get the water to float their boat off, Myark folding trailer barge is the trailer and uses shallow water and the towing vehicles does not go into water when launching and the ramps start at the edge of water, but even so what’s the big deal, my favourite is remote lakes or drifting down a fresh water river, say the likes of the Mississippi, and then when come to a dam, can fold up and go to other side, another favourite is landing the camper van on a remote paradise island or river bank and using the pontoon as a jetty or a speed boat to explore.
Also the camper van does not touch the water when on top of deck, it’s dry as toast and well out of the water and not like the amphibians that are submerged in the water.
By the way I have built many boats to full marine survey, one sold to the USA as well as many trailers to a certified standard which is no big deal but may be to a wooden boat builder.


Picture shows two Myark folding trailer barges at the Americas cup village in NZ with camper vans well above the water on decks.

 

Do you have to register it as both a trailer license plate and a motorized boat registration number too?

 

The future Myark folding trailer barges will have a built in ramps like the one I made 10 years ago that's folds into 4, I donated this to poor people in Senegal living on a remote island that it was actually designed to fit on the back of a 4x4 Toyota ute, the removable torsions suspension and wheels are an extra I did to finish of the engineering challenge.
The future Myark folding trailer barges are much more advanced and very light, lower in height, that open or shut in seconds like a garage door with the built in ramps like in the pictures below.

 

Myark, you should speak what you know, which isn't much, unless you happen to live in a third world country, where most everything is left up to the poor suckers, that have to tolerate it.

Backing a tow vehicle into the water isn't the same thing as spending weeks at a time on the water with an RV and any engineer will tell you the same thing, less of course you'd prefer to believe to the ridiculousness of Mylark.

The OP would be advised to have a good look at the motives of Myark. In this short 17 post long thread, Mylark has dominated (once again) by his third world ideas and concepts. His sole goal is to plug himself and promote less than regulatory compliant vessels and contrivances. To prove my point, the OP has made two posts on this thread, I, until this one 3, yet Mylark has made 9, of course mentioning his "Myark" contrivances dozens of times in the process. I guess this is how he jacks his interweb "hits".

Humanscale, contact me by email (click on my icon) and I'll point you in the appropriate direction in your area.

 

You could stow additional 33' ramps on each side to reach further.

 

One thing with the Motorhome on a barge concept is you can buy a used motorhome and sell it every few years. Pick high mileage vehicles, let them rust and mold in hidden places and sell and buy another before the deterioration becomes noticeable.

 

http://www.admiraldrive.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Lw6OuOaXM

I registered as a trailer for a warrant of fitness in NZ because did not have boat registered back then and if you have to register as boat like a car then cannot see the problem.
Each country has different rules such as Australia where you also need a boat licence in some states and others do not, also the towing weight rules vary.
It comes down to common sense, check out the companies that make self trailer boats in your region such as http://www.admiraldrive.com/ as it’s not like reinvention of the wheel.

 

I think the original sketch is a big deal to have it work well and hold up. What you posted is a completely different concept and simpler. The original sketch is for 710 square feet of floor area and 21.5' wide. That's a big floor area and you won't get it from a motorhome. The big deals I see are that it has to fold up a 30' x 6' hull 10' out. It has to be dampened so it doesn't damage itself or become a big crash event every time. It has to be balanced so it doesn't threaten to tip over. It has to be rigid enough that the walls and roof don't work apart. Or it has to have a flexible membrane joint that works well to allow movement without lots of noise or leaks between floors, walls, and roof panels. I see a stove indicated. It might need some insulation which means bigger panels. If there are windows or opening windows on the folding or assembled wall panels those have to be solid enough that windows don't jam or break. Is it gong to be anchored out from shore or beached for months? That could also cause a lot of force causing things to bind up or misalign over time. I missed reading on the sketch that the beds were inflatable. That makes teardown easier. There's still the big sofa and the hottub shell should be moved to a non-foldable section and centered on the main hull so you don't have to deal with all the weight tipping it. All the things that need to be worked out carefully will be months of design work in my opinion.

 

I agree with all the loading furniture but otherwise a box design is no big deal for example in the picture I have attached is a very strong structure that took each barge two weeks to build.
As you may see stalkers are coming out as normal, it’s always the same few but I take no notice of them,
There are of course many better ways to achieve the end result but the main problem is to have someone build a custom design as they will charge big time and most likely have no idea as in NZ it’s not viable and are not interested
Most people do not think outside the box and are stuck in their conventional ways.

 

I see two barges there. What is the largest folding section that you've unfolded on the water though? I see the original sketch as larger and more difficult to handle and make. It's more complicated because there are walls that need to fold or be stored and then assembled. There are roof panels that need to slide out or be stored. Instead of one hinged joint the original sketch could have 2 floor panel hinges, 2 or 4 wall panel hinges, and a sliding roof system that all has to lock together and not bind or warp while it's being used as a cabin. And this big folding cabin has to be manageable on the water or it will be miserable to use it.

 

A very simple design like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEMQmWbNveY may give some ideas with some changes as the hulls are manually folded up with one person also the cost should be lower.

 

Kailina states
I see two barges there. What is the largest folding section that you've unfolded on the water though? I see the original sketch as larger and more difficult to handle and make. It's more complicated because there are walls that need to fold or be stored and then assembled. There are roof panels that need to slide out or be stored. Instead of one hinged joint the original sketch could have 2 floor panel hinges, 2 or 4 wall panel hinges, and a sliding roof system that all has to lock together and not bind or warp while it's being used as a cabin. And this big folding cabin has to be manageable on the water or it will be miserable to use it.




I agree with you as there is a lot better ways of course and are giving some versions, like you say it takes too long to assemble but the structures are OK if designed correctly, example my larger Myark folding trailer bare pictured is out of date by 18 years so of course a much better model will be released eventually that is lower to the ground, much lighter, wheels do not have to come off if wanted, opens and shuts like a garage door, also as I said built in ramps so no time wasted.
I have studied every folding boat structure going back 100 years as I have patented several ideas and need to do extent patent search, also I need to make sure when I patent idea it’s not been done before.
I am going to write book called 101 ways to design a folding water craft structure which all are viable but at the moment have other projects been prepare for a web site called www.kickstarter.com

 

I see advantages to the small modules. When there is a problem it will be much more manageable to fix one small panel on the water than a massive 13' x 33' folding section. This boat isn't going to be fast or low drag anyway.

I also see advantages to the symmetry of this one. All the heavy objects could be in the center section in the central 4'. The sides could fold down and have a folding half wall that hinges up. Then the roof could have two 6' sliding panels that have a row window section that snaps on. Or foam panel wall inserts could be stored and drop into the sides in place of the canvas sections in the video.