CHEAPEST WAY TO BUILD LOADING RAMPS

[texasranger556]

Will this thread make it to 100 replies before the first attempt at recovery is made? Stay tuned to find out!

Kidding...But seriously you need some pictures and videos of the recovery (attempt?) now that you have everyone interested!

 

[flyerdan]

Has anyone considered a gas (petrol) powered trash pump to drain the hulls? If it would be feasible to tee both hulls into the pump without losing the prime if one side goes dry first it should remove water faster than it comes in. Then, once the bottom suction breaks it should pop up and be loaded with little problem.

 

[Aussiebushman]

Probably should have provided this schematic in the first place to illustrate the angles involved.

Agree completely. Problem with hiring gear like a trash pump is the distance from nearest city to this property - a 3 hour round trip - once to collect and again to return it. My compressor is just a typical "handyman" shop version but more than adequate for filling tubes.

Also as stated earlier, tubes inside the hulls will not add much displacement because the hatch access is quite small and the hull volume at that point is very limited. I also agree that outward pressure in not what the hulls were designed to take

The positive element is that angle of the boat means the hulls have 50% fill at most. Also, when floating normally the deck is only about 300 mm above the water line, so while sunk, tubes placed between the deck and the earth surface should be capable of lifting the aft ends high enough to allow pulling onto the ramps without doing damage. Once the boat reaches about the "half out" position, the angle will allow much of the water to drain.

That is the theory anyway!

 

[redman135]

Aussiebushman,do the load straps have to be 10m? The transport industry standard strap is 9m($37.00 - $44.00). I suggest you enquire price at a transport equipment company NOT Super Cheap Auto or auto parts store as they charge full price ($58.00 - $60.00) in NZ. I assume they will have a similar price policy in Oz as a lot of companys in New Zealnd are headquartered in Australia.

 

[Aussiebushman]

Thanks Redman - worth a try. The 5m strap I already have came from ARB and cost around $80 some years ago. I found 20 m of 17 mm double braid on Gumtree for only $25 so that is on the way. It will be fine for mooring lines etc after this job

 

[ak9]

I'm curious if you could raise the water level in the lake /pond ? If you could raise the water and float it a little higher up the bank and repeat maybe a time or two might get it in a better position? I've used 55gal. drums strapped together to lift sunk objects that and some creative Bowline/knot tying .... inter tubes might work better if placed in a netting of sorts to keep um from stress squiring where you don't want them to go ....

 

[Aussiebushman]

I'm curious if you could raise the water level in the lake /pond ? If you could raise the water and float it a little higher up the bank and repeat maybe a time or two might get it in a better position?

Even if it was feasible to raise the water level, it would only make things worse because the stern of the boat in on the bottom. I did think about drums but the inner tubes will be easier to lash to the underside of the deck - there should be plenty of lift from 2 tractor tubes

Everything is on hold again - the neighbor who was to help me had a near-heart attack and 4 stents later is out of action for several weeks. The other possible neighbor stepped off what he though was the bottom rung of a ladder and has a busted ankle!

This is what comes of living upside down trying not to fall off the planet

 

[TCJatko]

An interesting read. Hopefully this will all work out for you. Looking forward to positive results.

 

[rfc143]

Sorry to be a naysayer, but honestly....in less time than it takes one to read all the posts in this thread, you could have the boat out of the water and on the bank, and do it for less than $75 or $80 (US). Buy two "come-along" wire rope ratchet winches; attach with your straps or whatever you have to get to the rear winches; attach the other end to your trucks, tractor, tree, or whatever, and then just patiently ratchet it up onto the bank. I don't think you even need ramps. What everyone is missing is that doing this slowly, will allow the water level within the hulls to leave the same way it entered at the same rate you winch it. The boat will get lighter and lighter as you go. I've moved thousands of pounds of equipment using these with no problem at all (just a bit of time).
I'm really having a hard time understanding the problem here, along with all the elaborate recovery ideas. it's not like you're raising the Costa Concordia!

 

[DavesTractor]

Sorry to be a naysayer, but honestly....in less time than it takes one to read all the posts in this thread, you could have the boat out of the water and on the bank, and do it for less than $75 or $80 (US). Buy two "come-along" wire rope ratchet winches; attach with your straps or whatever you have to get to the rear winches; attach the other end to your trucks, tractor, tree, or whatever, and then just patiently ratchet it up onto the bank. I don't think you even need ramps. What everyone is missing is that doing this slowly, will allow the water level within the hulls to leave the same way it entered at the same rate you winch it. The boat will get lighter and lighter as you go. I've moved thousands of pounds of equipment using these with no problem at all (just a bit of time).
I'm really having a hard time understanding the problem here, along with all the elaborate recovery ideas. it's not like you're raising the Costa Concordia!

What you say is probably true, but it is sort of fun to banter back and forth regarding all sorts of possible solutions.

I hang out with and have quite a few family members that are engineers. Mechanical, chemical, electrical, and so forth. You ought to see us tackling the simplest problem at times. We get all sorts of great ideas, and no doubt as we sit and discuss and plan, we may well have been able to have tackled said project in the worst way possible and have been done before the best way possible plan was scrutinized and finalized. Generally someone will interrupt the plan with "ah guys, let's just hold that board up there, stick a level on it and hit it with the nail gun, we are building a closet, not a rocket". What, no lasers, not fancy trig, no ropes or pulleys?

So as I chuckle at this project, I chuckle at myself.