Building Another Barge?

[waltwood]

I am starting construction of a 12' x 30' barge with the end goal of it becoming a houseboat. There are other possible commercial uses me or someone else could have for a barge only. If an opportunity presents itself before a house is built on it I may complete it as a barge only.

I have more than 100 hours in the design, however simple it might seem, and the method of construction. I am building it not as a deck barge but one that the house will be recessed in the hull. This is what the challenge has been for me. A barge might seem to be the most basic of boat construction but there is more to it than you might imagine. I have looked at many old barges in my area and they are pretty attractive for what they are. They have a low freeboard for easy loading and less windage and upswept rocker in the stern to make less turbulence when they are towed.

I am aware of every detail of how they were built and it would not be practical to copy this design because it would require way too much good quality lumber. They are heavily built. They are made of mostly pine which would rot very quickly if I used the pine available to me locally. I'm not sure whether they used longleaf pine but I am sure it was an old growth more rot resistant pine that I have access to now. These old barges were used to haul spat (seed oysters) and lumber and whatever else needed moving.

Pictures of the 1 to 7.5 scale model barge.

[waltwood]

Back to my barge. It will be built of treated pine framing and marine fir ply planking 'glassed over. We have completed the building jig which is quite heavily constructed out of repurposed timbers and lumber. The main part of the jig is 4 - 8"x 8" 16's that I used in the build of the last 29' barge that I also posted on this forum. I hope to use them again in future projects. A sturdy jig makes a project like this easier. It will hold the frames/floors and stringers at a good height. Later it will act as a large sled to move the hull out of the bowshed to turn it over.

The first thing we did was bolt the 8x8's together using these large 3/4" bolts that were left over from a house moving project. Next we attached them crossways with LVL's that are lag screwed. Then we leveled them in both directions which is more than a notion. We built 2' high walls to support the bottom framing of the barge. Starting to get materials for bottom framing.

[Roy Morford]

Oh, it really is a barge. At first glance I thought it said Argie!

[ulav8r]

Don't expect any comments from me, but will be watching every day for updates. Expect to enjoy this build as much as the first one.

[boat fan]

Excellent start there Walt !

It all looks , well , SOLID !

[wallacethegreenmonster]

Nice work Walt and thanks for sharing. Looks like a very solid setup.

[waltwood]

Thanks, I am ready to roll when some of the snow and ice melts!

[waltwood]

We got lumber, built the transom and starting scarfing the stringers.

The athwartship framing will be 3" X 10" at 4' on center. They are just sitting on jig and not in final location.





The transom is made of 3" X 6" and are half lapped at the joints.








All bolted together and placed on building jig

[Jamesh]

That's some timber Walt.
What is the bottom going to be clad in 2" seems appropriate for that size timbers.
Going to be one stout barge.
Cheers James

[waltwood]

The bottom is going to be 3/4" fir marine plywood.
I use the thicker material because 1 1/2" is just not strong enough for the floors and if I half-lapped it would not be enough material. The 3" lumber also allows better fastener placement and the edges of the ply will land on them.

[boat fan]

Off to a good start Walt.

Looking strong !

[waltwood]

Been working right along.

Scarfing jig for stringers which are 25' long.





Five stringers glued up.





Transom set up in final building location





Floors cut to length and angle of chine at their location.

[swoody126]

got the popcorn machine cranked up



and a large glass of SWEET TEA

MAY THE CHIPS FLY...

sw

[waltwood]

We cut the housings in the floors or awthartship framing and set them in final location. We stringlined the center housing as a reference point to line all the floors up with each other.




Then we fastened the 5 stringers in place.
Stern view




This is the bow view




Next we built the bow stringers out of 2 layers of 2X treated lumber. Because of the curve we made them up in sections.
I made a plywood pattern, cut out the sections slightly oversize and used a router with a top bearing flush cutting bit using the same ply pattern to assure they were all uniform. I like router jigs and make them for everything.
The sections are epoxied together and then bolted due to the concern of the epoxy letting go.

[waltwood]

The completed 3 bow stringers not in there final position.

[boat fan]

Nicely done Walt.

It all looks solid to say the least.

The light inside the bow shed is great.No dark or dinghy corners. Great space.

[waltwood]

Nicely done Walt.

It all looks solid to say the least.

The light inside the bow shed is great.No dark or dinghy corners. Great space.

It is a nice space but I am still getting used to the color inside. It is different than being outdoors. It is bright in here on cloudy days and darker on sunny days. I know that does not make sense but that is way it is.

[waltwood]

There has been very poor interest in this thread based on the number of views. The first day I posted I got 100 views while "how to say Hair is off" and "Hey should I put my boat on top of my car" threads got 800 views. Not saying they were not interesting but I thought the actual building of a boat would have garnered more interest. It did not improve after other posts.

This was a little different than some of the other projects featured on this forum giving it broader scope of projects. We also were getting very much done on the project instead of just talking about what we are going to do.

[boat fan]

There has been very poor interest in this thread based on the number of views. The first day I posted I got 100 views while "how to say Hair is off" and "Hey should I put my boat on top of my car" threads got 800 views. Not saying they were not interesting but I thought the actual building of a boat would have garnered more interest. It did not improve after other posts.

This was a little different than some of the other projects featured on this forum giving it broader scope of projects. We also were getting very much done on the project instead of just talking about what we are going to do.

Keep posting please Walt ...I was looking forward to the next progress pictures.

I sometimes think I am talking to myself too ......but I don`t care anymore.

If you decide to stop posting here ( and please don`t ) send me a pm with image hosting link , I will check it with interest.

[Thad]

Keep doing Walt and post if you can! Good boats and great to see! Thanks.

[Ian McColgin]

If you're sharing with only one, you're doing a service. Keep posting.

[VictorBravo]

If you're sharing with only one, you're doing a service. Keep posting.

I agree. I come from time to time to look at this thread. Looking at your hoop shed and clamp collection is enough to spur me on.

[waltwood]

Thanks for the encouragement but it was more about the ratio of views to other threads. My computer skills are very poor and the posting of pictures and even typing takes a bit of effort. My wife has to type the longer posts because I type 15 words a minute.

[Paul Denison]

I just came across this, don't know how I missed it. Please keep posting.

[boat fan]

Any pictures of them put in place Walt ?

Are you using stainless fasteners ?

[waltwood]

I am using galvanized bolts and I will post the progress later.

[Ian McColgin]

But waltwood, if you post more the practice will make you better at it. Especially at getting pix from your photohost to here.

[swoody126]

hey Walt, i guess some of us get impatient when we go a week ± w/o PICS

some of us, who subscribed to the thread, are along for VISUAL LEARNING ;-)

sw

[waltwood]

But waltwood, if you post more the practice will make you better at it. Especially at getting pix from your photohost to here.

You would think that but flickr changes something or I have computer problems.

[waltwood]

We have set up the bow stringers. They are fastened through a 2 x 12 that will be the forward most bow framing at deck height. We had to take it apart 2 times because it was not parallel to the forward most floor.









The 2 x 12 is a part the boat and the pieces below it are temporary support.




Here I am setting up temporary frames, tuning the bevels of the floors and establishing the chine. I wish I had plans to go by!

[jsjpd1]

Interesting build Walt. Thanks for letting us follow along.

Jim

[boat fan]

Here I am setting up temporary frames, tuning the bevels of the floors and establishing the chine. I wish I had plans to go by!

I have told myself that many many times .....except I could not find any.

Thanks for the pictures . Great.

[waltwood]

I have told myself that many many times .....except I could not find any.

Thanks for the pictures . Great.

The last one I did I set up molds and built around them. I thought this one was so simple that I could build it this way and it is more difficult. Once I install the chine logs and sheer clamp I will have it under control.

[BrianM]

You're providing fuel to my fire.... thanks!! (my 1/2 scale "James McKenna".) This one is 10' x 30', and sail powered.

[waltwood]

You're providing fuel to my fire.... thanks!! (my 1/2 scale "James McKenna".) This one is 10' x 30', and sail powered.

That is cool! The sailing part should be interesting. I hope you build it.