Built a barge lately

[mx5guy]

I will be constructing a barge, so I can move my Kioti CK27 back and forth from Cottage lot when I want rather than wait for the lake to ice over.

Has anyone built one yet? Tractor weights 5000Lbs, how overbuilt should it be, 10,000 Lbs?

Thanks for your input.
Larry

 

[77bronco]

Have you thought about modifying an existing pontoon boat instead of starting from scratch?

 

[Johndeere3720]

Sounds like a fun project.

 

[studor]

I think the issue will be getting it on and off, not floating it. I seem to remember somebody on here with some pictures of a tractor being offloded and destroing the carrier in the process -- in the safety forum maybe?

 

[wvpolekat]

I think for what you will have in building this, you could just buy another tractor.

 

[Coolnorth]

Hey Larry,

Not having done a project of this nature, but knowing what a boat or floating device may do relative to the load upon it, I would venture to an experiment first.

If you use small items, even some scrap lumber 2x4, 2x6, etc. (for the barge) and a block of metal (tractor), see how the barge should be relatively larger surface area compared to the tractor. Try this in the rain barrel or what have you. The larger floating surface will give stability for loading/unloading as studor mentioned. To go smaller surface area on the barge, it needs to have taller sides to support the weight (displacement rule) without taking water, but the stability is lessened.

Graham

 

[Treemonkey1000]

What ever floats your boat (or tractor). Just watch the load and unload process as that will get pretty hairy. I would think wide enough and long enough to give you a stable ride especially if there is a bit of wind. Your landing and launch spots need a shallow spot so that you don't sink into the mud. Or a long enough set of ramps to put you onto a hard enough bit of soil.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/trailers-transportation/128658-how-unload-tractor-pontoon.html

 

[CurlyDave]

This actually doesn't sound nearly as hard as it is being made out to be.

A 55 gallon drum provides over 400 lbs of flotation. Our local feed store sells used ones, with clamp on lids for ~$20. They already have threaded bungs.

20 drums under a pressure treated platform would seem to provide enough lift for the tractor.

If I were doing this I would fasten the drums under a wooden platform with appropriate venting and plumbing so that the barge could be floated into a prepared loading area with a hard bottom next to shore. Sink the barge onto the bottom by venting the drums and drive the tractor up onto it. Push the water out of the drums with a high volume air blower (you only need 24" of water head to force the water out of the drums), and the barge re-floats with the tractor aboard.

Tow it across the lake and reverse the process.

At a guess, everything needed could be bought for $3-4 k. Maybe a lot less if you are a good scrounger.

Definitely want to wait for the right weather.

Test the whole thing with a big pile of dirt or rock loaded onto the barge by the tractor before committing the tractor.

 

[lostcause]

i helped my father build one many years ago to haul small equipment and building materials across about a mile of water. it is built on the principle of a strip canoe. the top deck of the barge is roughly 12'x28'. the deck is rough 2x8 (might be 2x6 - i can't rememember) at 2' oc with 2 layers of 3/4" plywood.

the deck is supported by two u-shaped pontoons, 3' wide and deep. they were made like wooden strip canoes, with a couple differences. with a strip canoe, you remove the finished canoe from the forms, but with this one, the canoe was left on the 3/4" plywood forms and the ladder type frame, which was boxed in and fiber glassed. the strips are 1"x1/2" to help add a little strength. the boat has certainly seen it's share of leaks over the last 10 or so years, but most seem to occur from putting it in and pulling it out of the water for winter storage.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Might I suggest something that is pretty insinkable... Styrofoam. It is what is now used in Houseboats to keep them afloat (I should say homes that are floating on the water, not the houseboats you rent to go out on the lake).

A simple box, and get large close cell foam. Won't spring a leak, shouldn't abosrb water.