Shanty boat.

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by WetPlateShanty, Mar 18, 2014.

  1. messabout
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    messabout Senior Member

    A very intersting and perhaps useful book is Shantyboat by Harlan Hubbard. ISBN 0-8131-1359-8 Another is; Handmade Houseboats by Russel Conder ISBN 0-87742-307-5. Of considerable usefulness is the book; Tennessee River, Tenn-Tom Waterway, and Lower Tombigbee River. By Marian Thomas & W.J. Rumsey. ISBN 0-87742-259-1 This book is not about the waterway that you intend, but it is loaded with exceptional information about not getting yourself killed by collossal barge tows and other hazards along the river. Also about seasonal weather flood stages, and more stuff that you need to know.

    An honest shantyboat is built slowly and methodically from derelict materials at practically no cost, has no power but the river currents, is steered and managed by a huge sweep oar on the aft end of the boat. The occupants are in no hurry. They tie up along the river somewhere and with permission from landowners plant a spring crop of vegetables. They stay untill harvest, gather the bounty, and continue downstream. The couple in the Shantyboat book were both musicians who entertained themselves by playing Mozart, Brahms, etc, with their violin and cello.

    This is the stuff that some peoples dreams are made of.

    Paddlewheel NO! Outboards yes. More than one of them but not used at the same time. They need not be big ones, just reliable ones. You will meet some marvelous people on such a downriver odyssey. You will meet some miserably unfriendly people too. You will also encounter some life threatening river situations that demand advance planning and study.
     
  2. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Plenty of cheap diesels in the US -

    http://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-small-diesel-engines.html

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/YANMAR-L48E..._Accessories_Gear&hash=item2c725daefd&vxp=mtr


    Torquedos arnt that expensive, and easy to setup - a lot cheaper and more reliable than a secondhand ouboard
    http://www.torqeedo.com/us/electric...y-for-kayaks-and-canoes/features-and-benefits

    Petrol will ignite quicker than diesel. On a shantyboat, the risk of fire is greater, with wood and other stuff all over the place - not like a neat motorboat.
    I notice you didnt address the much better economy of diesel - important on a poormans home.

    PTO's for generators, auxiliary power for tools etc are easier to rig on an internal engine, and maintenance is easier on an internal engine, under cover, in the hull - different needs than a seagoing craft.
     
  3. DCockey
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    DCockey Senior Member

    Torquedo electric outboards less than gasoline outboard of same actual power - not what I've seen in the US.
     
  4. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    What I was meaning is that if you get say a second 20 to 50hp, for main propulsion you are looking about $4000 - $6000

    If you stick a Torquedo of a lot less HP up the front, or on the side like a bowthruster - for direction and small maneuvering , you are looking at about $1500 - $2000 and you can move it to suitable positions around the boat on the end of its cable. Being up the front, it gives all the luxury of a bowthruster.

    Going on say 2 x 25 HP, you are looking at say ~ $14000, and the second motor is just for better maneuvering .

    The idea I was proposing was say a 25HP $7000, Torquedo $1700 instead. I suppose you could also use the electric motor for a small tender or runabout as well more easily .

    If you are living on a boat, I was proposing that a small diesel would generate power more cheaply than a petrol engine. Outboards aren't all that good at charging.
     
  5. WetPlateShanty
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    WetPlateShanty Junior Member

    I read shanty boat by Harlen Hubbard. I live only a few miles from Payne Hollow. I don't see why having chickens on a boat is so inhumane. We aren't going to kill them, and they will be let out for a few hours a day to run around on land. They are just for a source of eggs. Plus the coop is going to be just as big as any other coop. They will be treated like any backyard chickens in a city. I am not really sure so much about the hydroponics idea as much. It was just a crazy thought that I wanted to research. If I need to add chemicals then I don't think that I want to go that route. I was going to cycle the water around and use it again. I think that using the grey water to water plants in large planters and a small raised bed would be a better idea. The boat is going to be build the same way that Harlen built his boat and shanty boaters like him built it. Except I am putting fiberglass over it after it seals itself possibly. I may not I am not sure. I thought that would just be good insurance. The desiel motor that you are talking about Mr. Watson would be exactly what I am looking for. I would possibly want to go that route just for the fact that I would get better fuel efficiency, as a bonus I would have a working paddle wheeler. I have considered not having a motor on the boat at all, but I am nervous about doing it. I am just afraid that I wont be able to get it out of the way or threw locks. Plus they guy I am going to do this with wants to be done in a month!!!! he wants to sell the boat at the end and move on to another journey. I would be happy doing it like Harlen, I know the guy who lives in his old house, and took care of him and Anna when they were getting to old to keep things up. I am going to buy the wood if I have to, but am going to try to use salvaged. There is a guy who is a very experienced boat builder near me. I am probably going to pay him to build it on his ramp. I am just messing with this idea as the time comes to start to see which direction to go now.
     
  6. WetPlateShanty
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    WetPlateShanty Junior Member

    Westfield I don't know why you make jabs like you do but I didn't come here for jokes about how creepy that you think my boat is going to be. I cam here for help. I appreciate all your information about the hydroponics. I am going to be living on this boat and I can't stop for a whole summer to grow a garden so I am trying to supplement that. I am not sure that eating fish out of the river is the best Idea so this is what I came up with that seems not to crazy.
     
  7. WetPlateShanty
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    WetPlateShanty Junior Member

    Petros, You are right about the paddle wheel. I still like the idea a good deal. It wouldn't much be in the way anymore than anything else on this boat. I really want to be self sustained. I am taking the chickens for that. I am sure we will buy some food at some point, but I don't really want to. I want to be able to say that I did that by the grace of god and that is all. Not spending money is something that I am trying to do. If anyone thinks it possible to make it with only a few long sweeps and a large rudder on the back then I am game.
     
  8. Westfield 11
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    Westfield 11 Senior Member

    Mr Watson: those cheap diesels are in China, not the US. Shipping seems to run from $800 to $1400 on top of the purchase price. Then one still needs to buy/build a shaft, shaft log, stuffing box, gearbox, fuel system, etc. then one needs a steering system as well and of course remote throttle and kill switch. In my experience, one can get a decent used outboard in the 10 to 20 HP range for under $1000 add a second and you are still under the cost of that Torqueedo thing with no batteries.
    You estimate $14000 for a couple of outboards when I suspect the total budget for the whole boat is less than that. I doubt that the OP has any intentions to buy much of anything for this project new if there is any other cheaper alternative: that's the whole point of a "shanty" boat. Scrounging, trading, using found materials, etc. are the traditional ways such craft are built. I never heard of a Goldplater shantyboat although I am sure that someone will post up a link, most are more latex housepaint as opposed to teak and stainless steel.
     
  9. Westfield 11
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    Westfield 11 Senior Member

    I don't think your boat is creepy, I think keeping animals in tiny cages is......
     
  10. WetPlateShanty
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    WetPlateShanty Junior Member

    Chickens have to be kept in some kind of a cage to keep them from being eaten, or from jumping into the river. Taking them out to graze for bugs in the afternoon and evening time on the shore. I don't think that is a bad life. Not much different than that of every chicken on a normal farm.
     
  11. WetPlateShanty
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    WetPlateShanty Junior Member

    I was planing on buying whatever i can not find by the time that I want to get it finished by. Most things will be bought I am sure because I am not the sort to want to just take things. If they are donated I won't refuse though.
     
  12. Westfield 11
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    Westfield 11 Senior Member

    Did not mean to imply you would take things that were not yours. To me found objects are those that are abandoned and then rescued and repurposed. Like shopping in a trash heap for useable stuff discarded by a consumer culture or salvaging 150 year old beams from a collapsed barn, or the time I built a utility trailer from a wrecked pickup dumped in the woods.
     
  13. Westfield 11
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    Westfield 11 Senior Member

    I agree, it's too bad that "normal farms" are getting so rare... Before I left Lower Slower Delaware I saw the local poultry business change from family farms to 10,000 Perdue broilers in a 100'x20 shed. Those poor birds never saw the sun, much less ate a bug...... And the farmers situation changed from independent self sufficient people of the land to harried sub-contractors squeezed for every penny by a soulless corporation. Cogs in a huge factory farm complex spread out over several states.
     
  14. Westfield 11
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    Westfield 11 Senior Member


  15. Petros
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    Petros Senior Member

    I have built many boats from salvaged materials, I always ask first. You can find most of what you need for little or no money if you are willing to hunt them down. Many times people were happy to have me haul off left over materials or stuff they did not need anymore. Garage sales, swap meets, flee markets, are also good sources of low cost building materials for those not so easy to salvage materials. Even left over quality paints and finishes can be had for free or next to nothing (check out paint stores mis-tint bins, many stores have to pay to have it haulded off and just as soon give it away). You can do it given enough time and some effort in gathering materials. You will need a pick-up or beater van to gather up the materials, so it will come at considerable time and effort, and some traveling expense.

    Many people have built boats without motors, particularly sailboats, but is seems kind of risky to not have a way to power a boat in some circumstances. An outboard is the simple thing to do. I had also considered building into the floor a bicycle arrangement that droves a large slow turning prop, but that likely would not work on a boat as large as you are considering. If you are in a current or stiff breeze and have to make it to a landing or safe harbor it will not be enough thrust to get you safely to port.

    Good luck.
     
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