Building a small work barge with plywood

Now we are possibly thinking of doubling the internal plywood framework to avoid weak spots at the plywood joints. We had already decided to double the sides of the barge for strength and durability purposes. Although that would add some more weight and cost, it would probably increase the strength a lot. Not sure if it is necessary though.

 

Your original idea of" Egg crate "structure is valid. You might consider changing the dimesions of your rig to accomodate 4x 8 sheet goods , avoid waste and complex joints, engineering. .any luck with a superior lumberyard pressure treated ply sheet ?

 

And what would they lift?

Again, go to the Atkin plans if commercial work is your requirement.
Do not listen to the yachties opinions. You do not need opinions.

Can you weld it for a decent amount?
Is timber chaeper than steel?
Do you need more than 25 years of service life?
Are your craftsman better on wood, or on steel?

All not too difficult to sort out.

Would you please stop telling valuable members, in search of a professional advice, what your grandma was thinking about the topic at hand?

Regards
Richard

 

Propane Tank Floats...

:idea:

To give you a little insight to the propane tank float concept. I simply called one of the propane businesses that is on 100 miles away from me in a town of only 15,000 people. He has 88 used 500 gallon tanks and about 30 1000 gallon ones sitting in his yard. He just sent two truck loads of 40 of them to the scrap recycler at $75 each. If this is one little town and only one propane business, how many used tanks are out there???

IN my case he has convinced me to use the 500 gal ones instead of the 1000 gal ones ( which would actually make more sense, fewer floats, easier to connect and so on )for several reasons: The 500 gal ones he has are caught up in a new law limbo over pressure and cannot be refilled so they are not uncertifiable by means of rust, leaks or damage. They are all from the same manufacturer so they are all indentical in size. The 1000 gal ones do get bought more often for fuel storage, oil and so on and garner more money $500 each is usual price. The big advantage in going 500 is also the fact that they only weight 800 lbs as apposed to 1,800 and can be moved by small crane trucks and forklifts, the 1000 need big equipment to move them around. The last thought is more of a question, the 500 gal tanks are 3 foot by 10 foot, the 1000 gal ones are 3 foot by 16 foot. Not double the size as one would think. Does this do us better in displacement because the 500 ones, doubled up to 1000, are actually about 20 % bigger??
http://seasteading.org/interact/forums/engineering/structure-designs/recycled-propane-tank-floats?page=2

....lots of interesting material HERE:
http://seasteading.org/forums/engineering/structure-designs

 

It is not.

The egg crate costs twice the material needed.

Brian,

all nice,....

and all senseless! This is a commercial approach!

Your toys would not stand one week of commercial use.

Sorry, reality.......

Richard

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we are talking a LOW BUDGET work barge. In that vein I'm suggesting low budget floatation.

And these are steel tanks capabile of containing some sizable pressures...more so than many steel floations.

 

HEY FOLKS!!
I might be new to this forum but I started this thread in search of ideas and information for our project. So far I have received a wealth of information, some usable and some not but that is the reason for this discussion and others like it. The more information on the table the better informed anyone can be for this or any project. If you have something negative to say, keep it to yourself. If you have a comment that is opposite to another persons view, explain your side and end it at that. No derogatory comments needed. One may have an untested idea that has some merit but may also have some flaws but that is how we work. I am quite sure that everyone participating in this forum is not a professional engineer but you don't need to be. As far as I am concerned, anyone's comments are openly accepted as long as they somehow apply to the topic.

Thank You and please continue to pour out your ideas or information.

 

You are right in general.
But you will not get me in line with a recommendation of a camping craft!

Are you a pro, or a camper?

So, sort it out,
you got all you wanted:
amateurs drivel,
idiotic comments,
and campers opinions,

feel free to choose......

and don´t hesitate to ask us, how a reliable setup in timber might be executed.
But do not wait until the last wiiling pro has choosen to leave the field.

Richard

 

Nonsense as usual.

Yea Brian,

low budget, and working...


and where is your recommendation at least close to that?

 

No Brian,

that is working barge, we are talking.

That has nothing to do with minimal or maximal flotation, or the equivalent of buoyancy.

A WORKING ENVIRONMENT, all clear? Your recommended floatsam is destroyed in one day, if it lasts that long.


Regards
Richard

 

Please remember that althlough this will be a working barge, it will not be used everyday and not for extremely heavy loads. Remember that an 8' X 20' heavly built dock section floating on 16, 55 gallon plastic barrels modified with a well in the middle and an A frame gantry installed had worked for 25 years. We are a seasonal operation in fresh water. It will most likely be used in fairly calm weather but you never know. We are on a tight budget and being cost effective will difinetly play into the construction but something out of the ordinary is not out of the question. It will be removed from the lake and stored upland in the winter and treated as a boat and covered. Use of the egg crate designwill allow us to perform a great deal of the pre-assembly work indoors in our shop. Our other shop has supports 10 feet apart so final assembly will have to be done elsewhere or outdoors in the spring. We are investigating both steel and wood construction. I just recieved a preliminary quote for one constructed out of aluminum for $25,000.00. I think i have a photo of the old one

 

Excuse me, are you familar with a 500 gal steel propane tank...not exactly something that will be destroyed in one day. In addition they are built to withstand at minimum 150 to 200 psi. Certainly MUCH stronger than his previous barge's floation. It's not as though he's going offshore with construction jobs, he is on a lake.

http://www.missiongas.com/500gallontank.htm

 

Brian
We had also looked at this kind of flotation in our ideas. Chick was looking at the 275 gallon fuel oil tanks(new). The propane tanks would be far better due to their heavy construction. They are also more heavily built not necessarily for the pressure but they are designed to be buried underground also. I also saw a barge that was constructed out of a large tank of unknown origin and cut down the middle and decked over. Then the two halves were placed side by side and a structure placed across the end which also made it so it could be folded up and more easily trucked.

 

This was our barge during its early years almost 30 years ago. Shortly after this picture we added a 2 X 2 lifting well 4 feet back from the bow and added a steel A frame and 8000# electric winch. The dock section is pretty well build with a lot of internal frame work that cant be seen all bolted together. I don't know how this image is going to show up. Please excuse my friend for the bird.
After the addition of the well and a frame and a storage box and some other junk, the little barge got pretty cluttered.

 

Sorry, don't know where the picture went. Trying again. seems its a odd file type. need to work on that