Build Your Own PVC Johnboat for minimal cost and time.

Inspired by the PVC KAYAK, I thought I could build one up making it differently with a simple design that I have used previously in a small 1.5 foot boat which I built out of Plexiglas. I also plan on attaching a trolling motor with 34lbs or thrust to the rear of the boat. I ended up with a 55lbs thrust motor for not much more than a 34lb. Another thing that I wanted to make better was adding a good surface to the bottom of the entire boat. (To make a good fishing platform) I looked at a hard foam that seemed to be very sturdy, and I have also thought of using a very thin piece of plywood or both.

I will be updating this instructable more than a few times more in the next few days with additional pictures and better videos.

This video is from our first run out on the water at sunrise from being up all night. We cruised around for a few hours and she performed much better than expected. The only qualms we have is the rear frame bends too much for our likings when put on full power. We plan on adding support from the motor mounts to the floor supports. The camera died before we could get a video of the boat on full power to show what she can really do even with 2 people in it I don't notice a difference.

Second Video "I'm the one in the sunglasses":

Step 1: Dimensions and Conceptual design

I sketched out a general look and size that I would like to achieve while trying to think of any negative consequence or flaws before construction. My drawing abilities are not the greatest so bare with me. I did not end up using the exact design that I first drew up but it gave me a general idea of what to expect.

Comments

[zigzagchris]

What happens when i bring it on the oceon. I think it would be fun to build a kayak using the tarp and pvc frame idea. Be fun to just be able to bring places except my family owns 4 allready.

[SIRJAMES09]

awesome instructable!!

if the back flexes like you say, reinforce the back horizontily and add a piece of playwood accross the entire stern...maybe that will make it more rigid.


Personally, I would have used fibreglass instead of the tarp, but that's just me.

I think this is a great looking little boat, with a lot of potential water time in its future. :)

TY for sharing!!

[stumppuller71]

Hi there, I love the boat and I'm considering building one but I have an issue with the prices you list. You say you bought 130 feet of 3/4 inch pvc tubing for only 15 dollars. I live in Canada and all but a 10' piece of 3/4 inch pvc tubing goes for $9.59 at home depot. So I would need 13 of these correct? That would put the total JUST for the pvc at @ $130. Am i missing something or do you know a wicked place to get pvc tubing cheap? Please let me know where you bought your materials ok? Thanks

[SIRJAMES09]

Please do not take this the wrong way, but PVC in Canada is twice the cost of what it is in America...the costs he stated are the norm for America, but in Canada, the costs are outrageous for everything.

[zmatt]

I'm not sure why your PVC is so expensive, but its always cheap in the us.

[SIRJAMES09]

Maybe because we are the biggest supplier in the world for PVC & CPVC & most any other plastic pipe.

[danray35e]

try buying it in usa. I priced 1" pvc at $2.36 for a ten foot stick at lowes yesterday

[CybergothiChe]

yo yo stumppuller! I am here in the great land of Oz, and by the by, today is our national day (Australia Day), but yes, I found Zmatts prices for PVC pipe quite ridiculous, as here in Oz my 20mm PVC pipe cost around $2 - $3 a metre, leading to an ultimate cost of around about $150 - $200, then add another $100 for the T connectors, and the entire boat cost around $500 australian dollars, I should have just bought a aluminium (NOTE CORRECT SPELLING! alumin > I < um) dingy. Ahhhh well, you live and you learn.......or at least, you live.

[bassmasta1010]

you know what you just need to..............i'll be nice and quit talking now

[SIRJAMES09]

LOL

[cuchulain92]

aluminum is on the periodic table, al-you-min-yum isn't... heh...

[CybergothiChe]

ahhhh....you see that is an interesting concept...the original spelling of aluminium was indeed aluminum, but that spelling was changed, for some reason, and now (in a similar vein to *F and *C (Fareinheit and Celsius) and Metric (GO METRIC GO METRIC GO GO GO METRIC!) and Imperial) the United States is one of the few places left in the world that still uses the spelling aluminum...so you could say that both spellings, aluminium and aluminum are indeed correct, but one is more correct than the other...all depending on where you are on this orb of rock we call the Earth (and why Earth, we got ripped off in the planet naming stakes, you've got Jupiter, Mars, Venus, etc, and what do we get? Earth. I mean, we were naming the planets, so wht did we not give our planet a funky name, like, I don't know, Cool, Awesome, The Funky Third Planet? It would be cool, when we finally meet the aliens that we all know are out there, they would be like, "we are from the planet Nebulon Alpha" and we would be all like "Hey dudes, we're from the planet Awesome, come have a beer!" and the aliens would be all like "Do you think you could make that a light beer, we have to drive later, and you know how those hyperspace expressways are, damn Neptunions, always going warp 3 in the warp 9 lane" and then we would be all like, "yeah man, I'll get you a light beer, here's a Bud Lite" and we would crack the top off and give it to the aliens and they would drink their light beer and then be all like "OK, we have to go now, got to beat rush hour on the hyperspace expressway. It's been fun, you guys, let's all meet up for a beer another time, dudes. Bye!" And then the aliens would leave, travelling on the hyperspace expressway, back to their home planet of Nebulon Alpha. But no, our planet is called Earth...lame.) Aiiiiiiight! Laters...

[MatthewMetcalf]

Why not try putting fiberglass release agent over the tarp and then fiberglassing it? With the release agent you would be left with a fiberglass shell, then you could reinforce that with the frame. I think all the fiberglassing supplies are not too costly if I remember right.

[zmatt]

I personally don't have any experience with fiberglass but I've always wanted to learn, could you use small bendable pvc pipe to create a more fluid design and then fiberglass the hull?

[SIRJAMES09]

the thing about fiberglass is, if you screw up, hiding the mistake is easy. :)
to make the resin(the "glue" that holds it all together) you have a hardener & the resin itself. there are directions printed on every container on how to mix the resin. Just do it & you will learn as you go. it's not that hard really.

[Thaikarl]

i've done some fiber glassing... only against a rigid mold. but you certainly could fiberglass over a stretched plastic shape. problem would be keeping the thing nice and uniform- the fiberglass cloth and resin will have it's own weight which means it would want to bow out on the downsides, and cup in on the up sides until the resin set... so you'd have to have a way to compensate for that. once you have the first layer of glass/resin on, you would have a fairly rigid shape to apply more layers to.

[Lokisgodhi]

If you want to fiberglass, why bother with the pipe? Just make the hull out of sheets of (blue/pink) insulation board and fiberglass over that.  

[Aquadragon]

I must say, this Instructable intrigues me greatly!

 Though this design is more or less a bit "boxier" than I'd like to build myself, it is do-able.

 Here's my current issue: ( Warning- no explicit language, but a long-winded background story of  WHY I'm considering this option.)
 
 Quite simply, I am a fisherman.  I am a fisherman that has little money to even fish, much less pay huge prices for a small water craft to fish from. 
 For two years, I've searched High and Low for something suitable for me.

 My goals were to have a small boat, easily carried/ported. It would have to be big enough to carry two average size people , but small enough to be transported in the back of my full-size long bed truck. It would have to provide enough room for two to fish comfortably.

 I looked at the commercial alternatives in this area, both new and used.  I'm appalled at the prices for something INFLATABLE, and even the little "scamps", "Bass Buddies", and " Pelicans" are very costly new.  I have found many ( On craigslist ) in my area used, but most of those are very weather damaged, or have holes to patch... and economically speaking, still a bit too much for what I'd be paying for. I've probably looked at well over two-hundred of these in my area over the course of two years.

I made up my mind... I'm not going to buy someone's junk, for the price I could make a boat.  ( Cost wise, I ~could~ build a simple plywood jon boat for the same as a new plastic one. ) I'm just not very wood-working inclined, nor do I have the patience to stretch a project out over a week or two.

So, I'm looking at this project here, and thinking... this just ~might~ service my needs, and realatively cost effective.

 However...
I'm thinking on altering the design a bit.
As far as I could tell, the tarp was a great idea... but I am desiring something a bit sturdier.  I'm considering constructing panels on the outside of the frame-work of the foam insulation boards, giving each pieace and seam a heavy coating of duct-tape.  after the "hulls" has gotten assembled on the frame completely, giving extra layers of duct-tape from bow to stern ( at least 4-plys of it) to not only help hold it together, but to offer some puncture/abrasion resistance.

This will use alot of tape I'm sure. Somewhere around 10 rolls I hope or less.
For the interior, I will also use a sheet of plywood , cut down as a single floor piece. I plan on duct-taping this as well, to give it some sort of water protection. ( I will invest in marine grade ply-wood later on as funds allow.)

 I want some bench seats in my model... to raise one up for fishing, and I'm considering adding in simple spans of PVC pipe across the width, a thin ply-wood strip ( also duct-tape coated ) attached to them.

The interior hull walls... again more duct tape.
I'm guessing about 25 rolls of tape just to be sure... or I hope.

 My only questionable part of the design, is to provide a good stable stern-board for a trolling motor. Eventually I will buy one to put on it.

 But, if it will still be light wieght, portable, and cost-effective ( opposed to buying commercial out-right), and can be assebled with myself and a helper in a couple of weeks, I think it'll be  agreat little project, and will get me at least one or two summers of fun fishing.

 I will have to keep it out of the weather/sun when not in use, as Duct-tape degrades in UV light, and other elements.
 Any comments or suggestions on the idea?

[SIRJAMES09]

instead of duct tape, what about fiberglass?? that ismore durable than duct tape, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work with it....or canvas & fibreglass resin??

Just a thought

[solitary man]

Hi, Just a friendly suggestion, but with the plywood floor I bet you could use regular aluminum lawn chairs as opposed to bench seats. Greater portability and gives a variety of floor plans in case of multiple fisherman and gear.

[92033]

Let me know WHEN you're going to build this boat. I want to buy Stock in the Duct Tape Company first. :-) Seriously, though...why not fibreglass where your Duct Tape will go? Stronger and perhaps outlive both of us. Weather beats the heck out of Duct Tape, not counting the water elements on top of it.

[Aquadragon]

Actually I rather gave up the project a while back, while I could have done it easily enough, I just never found the time to get the project started. Fiberglass would work I suppose, though you need a supply of it, and know how to work with it , and I really don't know the first thing about fiberglass. I've been spending more time on the shallow clear creeks and rivers around my area anyways, most folks canoe them, but I find the class 1 and 2 waters more enjoyable floating using a river tube, and for fishing I simply just wade/walk where I want. This last weekend, I caught and released 40 creek chubs, a few redhorse sucker fish, lots of little sun perch ( green I think), and two nice sized small mouth bass that wound up in my freezer. On these waters I've been frequenting, which form up the Elk River in MO, even a inflatable raft is a bit awkward to navigate ( and I wonder about dragging the bottom of one in shallows), I see many canoes being ported/dragged frequently. So the Duct tape boat, I'm sure would be just as awkward as a inflatable raft. By raft, I mean the small 2-4 man inflatables Walmart sells. The main issue with both is the flat bottoms, with poor weight distribution, making it difficult to turn and guide the craft through swift narrow currents and small rapid areas. Plus many of these places have twigs and fallen trees the water flows around, and I would worry about the hull being compromised by a jabbing stick. I think duct tape if thick enough would be alright, but it is flexible and in my original idea, my hit hard enough to push a panel out of shape, or break it causing other problems. Now if I could just figure out a viable way to float my tube down river, and carry my fishing gear, and be able to navigate the flowing waters from rock bar to rock bar... I'd be very pleased. So far though, the tube is only for short float trips, and fishing is done by strenuous walking up and down the creeks.

[92033]

Thanks much for your unexpected reply. I agree with all you say about the light puncture proof floatables ('boats') and would never use one myself. Last summer I saw an oversized guy laying sideways across a one-man inflatable...legs over one side and shoulders over the other. Had a small electric put-put motor on it...not wearing a life preserver...going down the local Black River. Now, this thing is 50-feet deep where Lake Ships come in the channel to unload at the local wallboard manufacturing plant down river. He went way out past the Lighthouse on Lake Erie where the Lake is DEEP. Some guys have no brain at all. After laughing at him my thought was that I'd be seeing the idiot on the late night eleven o'clock news. Evidentily he had God on his side that day, eh? There's an area where red-eyed Rock Bass and sunfish are caught heavily. Watched a friend of mine last week catching them from offshore every thirty seconds after his line hit the water. Other guys weren't catching anything. He KNOWS HOW to fish...catches 10-pounder catfish and steelheads while sitting in his car reading or listening to the radio. The fish 'hook' themselves...he just reels them in. Thanks for sharing your fishing experiences...best of luck to you always. Take care. ~ ED

[Aquadragon]

True that! After thinking about it for a long time now, you really need any water-craft to service your needs on the bodies of water you intend to use them. The guys that did this project here, seemed to just want something they could float around on, be happy with having a time of it... it serviced what the needed, and maybe even out performed their expectations. I myself, only desire something to where I can get into these small lakes we have around here, where it isn't heavily fished. But, I need it to be stable, and dependable, and easily used, operated, and loaded by myself. Up here, we have two big lakes, a bajillion small lakes , and the clear creeks and rivers. I fish a bit at the big ones, usually bank fishing at night..which isn't very productive at all, but I don't have much of a desire to boat around them trying to beat the last trip fish-wise each time. So, I have no need for a "full sized" fishing boat... nor do I want to pay the UNGODLY amount for one, and the trailer, registration, insurance, accessories... ect. Getting one of those used... well, generally people don't or know how to take care of their boats. Buying one used, is 80% likely that you just dropped cash into someone's hands, and bought yourself a nice floating lemon. Some are decent still, and you can tell... the price will be almost as bad as a brand new one of the same variety... , I'm thinking... if I'm going to spend that much anyways, I'll go buy a new one with a warranty, let them find another sucker to buy it. As soon as the craft is put on a lot, most people don't know that the value drops by half when it leaves the FACTORY. Most styles and models of boats are mass produced only for a year or two at most. Same with the engines, regardless of outboard/inboard. So, it makes me laugh when I see an ad that says: " 16' Bassrider Fishing Boat for Sale, only a year old... less than 30 Hours on the water, comes with ( insert Blah, blah, blah )! ONLY $25,550! " Now the things wrong with that: 1- People are trying to return the investment they lost buying the boat new... I understand that, however... the craft isn't WORTH that price anymore. It will NOT appraise anywhere close to 1/2 the retail they paid for it... , and you'd be surprised at how many sellers know this fact, and still rely on uneducated public to remain ignorant. Honestly, if you buy a craft brand new, and go to resale it later on down the road for what-ever reasons, you should expect to do so at a whopping loss. People don't though... be it profitable greed, or just trying to cover what they lost. 2- The Boat Brand new the year it came out was already $27,000 retail. Knocking a few grand off the insane retail price , isn't really much of a bargain. For the average consumer... bargains start at 50%, or more.. not 5%, or measly 10-20% off. The boat now sits on a lot in the "Used' section, because it's model was replaced during the year, with the current year model... it's still brand new, and has a limited warranty, and it's retail price has dropped lower than the Seller's price in question. 3- The boat sits there, not maintained... in a driveway, or lot somewhere... because, well, lets face it... either no one wanted it to begin with, or... no one could afford it. So, they just sit there.. rotting more or less. That actually causes more issues with a water-craft, than anyone cares to know. Simple things like UV light from the sun, damage and compromise the boat's structures. Gas and Oils, tar up, sludge up... evaporate leaving chemical residues behind, hoses dry rot, vinyl cracks and mildews, clamps rust... ect... Now, I'm thinking... the craft REALLY isn't worth the Price, or even close to half of it, given the potential problems of non-maintenance has caused already. So, I was glad when I stopped the frustrating search of a "full sized" boat, as I had decided that I really didn't fish much, or have much of a desire to run across That big lake. "Bass-Buggies, two man Pontoon-like ABS jobs"... maybe a good alternative to small waters I'd use it for, but... again... the PRICES are UNGODLY, for what it is! It's PLASTIC from a mold, welded together, and has two seats, and maybe some MOLDED Cup holders in it! I know it doesn't cost hardly anything to MAKE one, so I seriously am under-joyed about paying close to a grand or more for one of these brand new. Used ones... usually are badly UV damaged, and Plastic boats always at some point... start accumulating water in their hollow hulls. They aren't made to last long... and the manuals tell you that in black and white too. And, if by chance one has a hole in it...or crack, it's difficult to find a decent repair. Even fiber-glass, JB weld, or other adhesives/tapes.. just don't stick to the ABS well to begin with, much less so when it's aged, and already water/sun damaged. A repair, can at that point cost more than it's worth. Now, maybe I'm just wrong n this... but, a thing designed not to last long sounds like it's " disposable" to me. I wouldn't pay $10.00 for a disposable razor, ... much less hundreds for a disposable boat. If they were more reasonably priced... sure I'd buy one or two every so often, and be happy as long as it lasted.. Canoes and kayaks... Again, way over priced... but this is more less a quality issue, than it is a very coveted item, retailers know hey can charge more, because people buy them. The more people that buy them in a year, the higher the price goes up. Business has it backwards now, and the populace lets it happen... It's gotten to where if you want to be healthy, eat better foods, and have more exercise/outdoor fun ( that's good for you), you will will pay higher prices to do so. Still canoes and Kayaks are for the most part good small crafts. Most generally, they are study, made well, and are made of materials that resist damaging elements. I still don't think they are worth the prices asked for them, ( as they are still MAN POWERED craft ), but they are.. for what they are designed for on the top of the list of well made crafts. Used varieties are usually in good shape, even if they seen heavy use. The only thing that bugs me is, buying one used... the people selling them think since they paid $400.00 for that Kayak, that $375.00 is the least they should take. So many people want to buy them, they too know they can get away with selling at ridiculous prices. My issue with them both: 1- Canoes are hard to control by yourself in flowing waters... it can be done, but the ideal situation is to have two people in the canoe. 2- Kayaks and canoes both, can roll, or tip over quite easily. 3- Both are difficult to "anchor" for still activities, such as working a good fishing hole, especially in flowing waters. 4- Most the time, your going to have to port them over or around obstacles. Even the light ones,this is a chore... too much work, and takes time away from the enjoyment. The more gear you carry, the more that has to be ported. 5- Especially in Kayaks... but canoes as well... comfortableness is an issue. I don't know about anyone else, but having my lower back hurt from sitting in those positions for long periods of time ( more than an hour ), greatly detracts from the relaxing enjoyment factor. Pain, stiff legs, and aching joints equals less fun in my opinion. 6- Limited space and cargo options. Ever hooked a nice small mouth from the back end of a canoe, and tried to not let it break the line, or get off the hook, while maintaining your balance, and trying to reach the net you brought, thats almost under the front seat? Reaching over the cooler, and tackle box, you had to tie in the middle, cause they just don't fit anywhere else? .. not very productive fun... ( your buddy up front also has to maintain balance while you are moving around, and even if he hands you the net you need, you are detracting from his relaxing time and fishing.) Now you got the net, and have the fish.. crud he swallowed the hook.. now you need the pliers...ARRGGG! So , while good crafts basically... not my ideal set up for my needs, even though they are more suitable craft for the waters I like to target. (Small lakes, and clear flowing waters. ) Then there are "inflatables"... inflatables to me, are a double edged sword in many ways. First off, they come in a nice variety of practical use models. You can find what you need, even for open-ocean waters. man powered, or motor driven... you name it! Small waters, white water, big waters... they have it covered! They are highly portable, light, and offer more comfortable room for both operators and gear. The draw backs: Good models/brands vrs cheaper economical brands- Both, way over priced. I mean WAY over priced! Good models, have stability and long lasting in mind... they offer runners and keels, and often some sort of removable flooring, along with abrasion and puncture resistant materials. Big and small, quality is generally on the good side, and they are easier to maneuver, and pretty much act like their larger "cousins" the "full sized boats". However... they come with a hefty price tag attached, some can run you as much as buying a couple of the above mention craft. Cheaper... economical ( what MOST average people can maybe afford ), aren't so well made. They have difficult maneuverability, somewhat questionable seams and materials used to make them, most aren't designed for heavy use. You have to be much more careful about abrasion and punctures, the slightest bit of damage, and you aren't doing anything but diving for your gear that just sank in a pool of deflated PVC Vinyl. In both cases though... it's the fact of damage of any sort, can compromise the use of the craft, cause deflation ... that I think makes the prices for these things utterly ridiculous! An inflatable... no matter how well made, is just a big thing of PVC vinyl ( sometimes a composite with canvas or nylon material ), filled with air. It's a big Inner tube, when you actually think about it. Again, it can't cost that much to make one. The base materials are very cheap, and I worked in a plastics/PVC factory long enough to know, these things don't cost but a mere fraction of the price asked for them to produce. It's unreasonable... and like the bass buddies, they aren't designed to last long. Better brands do last ~longer~ , and much of it depends on after-care and storage too. So, of course, when I seen this instructable, watched the vids, and had the thought of... building something to service my needs, do it cheap, and wouldn't take forever... I got all excited. Over the time though since I got my only reply from ED and then, I just re-assessed my needs, and found I could get away with alot less than I actually thought I needed before. For the creeks and small rivers, I decided it was better to hike up and down, and fish by wading, or bank/rock bar standing. I can move into and out of currents, creep up in overhangs and structure hanging over the waters... and have a look at the holes closely that I will fish in. of course, I'd like to be able to tube down for farther stretches, save some wear and fatigue on my legs a bit. ( Float down, find a good promising spot, pull up on the rock-bars, and resume fishing.) I simply don't have any wish for porting a canoe or kayak down these places... so, I do it like I've been doing it. For sure, I'd hate to pay these prices yet again, but I was considering one of those inflatable one man pontoons things. I'm still iffy about that at this point though. For the small lakes, I bit the bullet, and bought an inflatable. I got it big enough to hold me, my gear and buddy comfortably, it is portable... and an electric air pump ensures I can just take it anywhere I want, set up anywhere I want, and have a good time of relaxing fishing. My Model, came with a trolling motor... that helps with the maneuvering aspects when it's needed. It isn't by far... "perfect", and I HATED what I had to spend to get it, but when it boils down to it... it does service my needs fairly well. So, to conclude... I dropped the project, more or less because I didn't get around to it, before fixing my own craft needs. To be honest..., I never really got started beyond a few hand drawn diagrams. What it came down to was, needs vrs wants, and practical application. I still think the project above, and how I had thought can be done and be alright for what it is, and to use it for. I'm not sure how long it wold last... or exactly sure the over-all cost of doing it. It may have well been better price wise, for me to buy the inflatable, than to build the craft I had in mind... I simply could not honestly tell anyone, because I didn't really try.

[masleym]

great boat, just made my own itteration. get the videos back up for prroof!

[27222712]

nice job, im probably gonna do this myself.

[cool not lame]

cant u just use oars? if u can how do make space for the ruder?

[cool not lame]

hey man can u just row the thing ? cuz i dont see a need for a motor,but it is still cool!

[jefftippett]

Here mine is Total cost $95.00     Thanks for the Idea, it was fun.

[zmatt]

Thanks for posting the pictures, its cool to see another one. What do you plan of powering it with or have you used it yet? Mine has been outside for almost 3 years now and the tarp has degraded from the heat/sun.

[jefftippett]

I use mine quite often. i powered the boat with 2 old sunk pumps that sucks the water out of the lake then jets it out like a jet boat, I have a valve that switches the flow from left to right for steering it works great not real fast but gets you there with no problem, i can go right over the weeds to the fish. LOVE this boat and it was a blast to build

[eo1rbb45]

I finished and added my touch, this is without the deck board in place, working on getting motor or making trolling motor out of electric and gas weed eater parts. 52"x100"x17", camo tarps were 8x10,6x8 $20, inner PVC Coated Canvas was 9x12 $28, used 14-tubes 10ft, over 52-T's, 5-crosses, 10-90 degree angle, 3-45 degree angles, 30-extenders, zip ties and nylon twine, 4x8 foam...$80, all glued except canopy.

[zmatt]

How did it turn out on the water? what engine did you end up using?

[solitary man]

Thanks for this very cool instructable as I found it very inspiring and saved it to favorites. I now have boat building fever, thank you very much. I do have a few questions though, I didn't see any water pushing up against the tarp on the sides, how do you account for this? I figured water pressure wanting to come inside the boat would really push in on the the sides. Is there a trick to compensate? I know of a person who made a kayak frame wrapped it in blue tarp but the water pushed the tarp in through every area that wasn't bulwarked very well. Your design seems to remedy the problem. Do you have any advice on this? Thanks again for the great instructable. :)

[robotsuk]

will an petrol or gas outboard work on it????

[zmatt]

Yes, I would recommend a keel to keep the boat straight and maybe more support to the rear mount area.

[robotsuk]

ok, i would love to see twin 250HP's on that, i was thinking about building a console and putting it on the boat and have a teleflex cable running to the outboard, would be fun thanks kris

[Lokisgodhi]

 Sounds like you got yourself a plan. The PVC boat might actually slow down the twin 250s a bit as they sink to the bottom. 

Or you could just send me the money you were going to spend on buying the outboards. The results to you will be the same. I, on the other hand, could really use the money.

[jhvh.one]

i really like this instructable. i believe i'll build one of my own to explore some local bayous...in my neck of the woods we call these "bateaus" any ideas how this design will work scaled down? i want to fit into some tight spaces so i'm thinking 3'X6'

[Lokisgodhi]

The gators'll love this. They can go right through the side of the boat and grab a tasty snack. 

[eo1rbb45]

Alot of Ts and crosses with a staggered pattern, I would go with a 15"-17" in height, just have to go with 10" tubes for backbone and sides for the bottom, with crosses and T's should make 12"and 6 rows. And over a three foot span stagger tubes w/T's at 9" apart from center and sides. Don't forget the front to think of tube placement vertical or parallel.Good Luck!!!!

[dwipoop]

 Where did you buy the tarp?

[zmatt]

Home depot

[HisDivineShadow]

Neat, I plan on building his over summer... one thing first thoguh...
How much did this cost you?

[zmatt]

I think the total cost was around 90ish depending on what materials you have already. The battery and trolling motor can cost up to 200 alone if you buy new, look on craigs list.

[HisDivineShadow]

ai'ght thanks, ill be building this summer hopefully!

[bender.b.rodriguez]

Awesome plan. How well do you think it would handle in a slow river, or if it rubs on the bottom? Would putting 2 tarps just be redundant or worth it?

[eo1rbb45]

I would put three, one PVC Coated Canvas-google 9x12, Heavy duty tarp10x12-walmart, then a color or camo type poly tarp 9x12 or 10x12. I have two on my boat, 52"x100".

[bender.b.rodriguez]

Thanks, I'll give it a try, if you get water between the layers will it weigh you down faster?

[eo1rbb45]

both are waterproof, pvc coating canvas is waterproof, heavy duty tarp is waterproof....

[eo1rbb45]

thanks for the idea, made a some changes for sturdy frame.......this is my version.

[247]

this makes me want to make a mini 3x5 boat

[zmax]

Hey peoples, sry, i didnt read every post so i might be duplicating this. all of your standard pvc pipe is very easy to bend, all you have to do is heat it up and it will become very flexible and when it cools, it will retain whatever shape you bend it to. as an electrician, we use hot boxes to heat the pipe, just have a bucket of cold tap water handy with a towel, form the pipe to your desired bend and run the wet towel down it to help it cool faster, also, i have used propane torches and even a turkey fryer for the heat source, just keep rotating the pipe for even heat distribution and try not to scorch it.

[msolek]

great 5 stars :)

[hawk0120]

Man I got to tell ya that is awesome. most cost effective boat ive ever seen.

[joshhoyte]

what are the dimensions of the boat?

[CybergothiChe]

hey man, I live in Wavell Heights, in Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. I found your designs and instructable very interesting and am making one of my own. I am using 25/32 on an inch pipe, or as we say in Australia, 20mm, it is also pressure pipe, to increase structural integrity. It is also going to be powered under sail, and oar, should the need arise. it will also be collaspable, like into a backpack, or something. here are some photos of my first day of construction. thanks for the idea man. Ché

[CybergothiChe]

hey everybody, just an update. I built my boat as a collapsable boat, so it could be stored in a backpack sort of thing, but unfortunatly, when it was in the water it collapsed in on itself and I was left floating in a sea of tarp and pvc pipe. so, I guess a good observation of this tragety would be to advise you all out there in internetland that a collapsable version of this boat is not advisable, nor is taking it out onto the ocean.

[zmatt]

wow haha you took this out on the ocean? i'd love to see what this looked like or where exactly you put in at.

[CybergothiChe]

here are some more photos of my boat construction

[Seth Black]

...very nice modifications, crazypoop. I like the staggered floor supports idea. That rudder won't be of any use though. It needs to extend down well below the bottom of the boat, to effectively alter the boat's course. I'd love to see pictures of this boat, after it's completed.

[CybergothiChe]

I'm afraid there are no photographs of this boat when it was completed, as when I took it out on it's madien voyage it turned into a pile of PVC pipe and heavy duty tarp floating around me, it was so funny, I was just sort of floating around with my life preserver and laughing about how my boat had collapsed around me...I guess you had to be there...but then I had to drag this mass of PVC pipe and water filled tarp out of the water...then I walked away...walked away...

[static]

Yea we know what happened. You forgot to glue the loints, rather than admit that you created a story about how planned a collapsible boat.

[Seth Black]

...pity. I've done a little researching, and there are a couple of ways to improve your boat, so the pieces don't seperate: 1. Bungy Shock Cord: Inserted into the pipe and connectors, these will provide tension on the components, when assembled. 2. Snap Buttons: Inserted into the male end of the 3/4" pipe, these allow the pipe to snap and lock into the couplings.

[CybergothiChe]

I'm just kidding, you're great ZMATT

[zmatt]

Damn those are some expensive prices, you should just weld a steel boat together lol

[stumppuller71]

Hey ZMATT , do you know how much your boat weighs minus the plywood? Id like to know cause I found some central vacuum 2" 10' pvc for 6.50 each. Still not your price BUT it is doable. And with the bigger diameter you would think I would need less t's and connectors so it should work out pretty close to yours if built to the same size. Is your boat 5' wide or 4.5' BTW? Please let me know about the weight of your Yaught ok? Thanks man

[stumppuller71]

No doubt Zmatt, I cant believe you get pvc for almost 10 times less than I do....at a home depot no less!!!! You should give me their phone # and I'll have it shipped pronto lol! But I found 3 inch diameter sewer pvc at H.D for like almost the same price.....hmmm. I gotta make this boat but it looks like im gunna need to go with a bigger diameter tubing. I think its a good thing strength wise but we will have to see. I was originally considering a pvc pontoon boat but your design intrigues me as well. Im going to keep looking for that all illusive "cheap pvc" Just a little note here, I need this boat to be VERY stable because my stepson , who LOVES fishing BTW, is paralysed from the hips down so I need to make a boat that he can sit in his wheelchair with. I already have an air dinghy that can handle a trolling motor. I dont want or need that now . i want to stand up and fish like in your vid and let my son fish in the most comfort he can while having a boat i can still strap on top of a car or in the back of a pickup. Thank you so much for the instructable Zmatt , its going to help a handicapped child feel free on the water. And me too bud. P.S. RIGHT ON CRAZYPOOP keep up the good fight and get on the water bud!!!

[CybergothiChe]

it might not be so great to have a wider pipe, for at a certian width the pipe would become dangerously overstressed when put under tension and buckle...ya know, ay...

[stumppuller71]

Hey Crazypoop, Well Im not sure 2 inch is going to buckle, especially with reinforcement. I think It also depends how long you make the boat and how much reinforcement you have into the boat. Cheers

[Redneck2]

I loved your ible i wanted to make one but its the middle of winter. So after a while i made this model below with sail if i get enough response i will make a ible so if you like it pm me.

[soapbox derby car]

I'm planning to make two miniature ones of these- or three- with both ends raised, then have fasteners to connect all two/three end to end and have a hinged version. (have both front and back sloped) but with the ability to separate into three different little boats for my friends to do some float trips of the Colorado River in the summer. I'm thinking I'll go with 7-10 mil paint drop sheets- they have no holes like the tarps, which let some minuscule objects through. (I made that mistake on a hovercraft, won't do it again. Considering that one cubic foot of boat displacement lifts 60 pounds, (to see how I got this see below) I should be able to make a 5' (length)x 2' (width) x 1' (depth) model and avoid inwards spills. I would also probably have a greater slope on the front, but maybe not, strength might be too low otherwise. My 60 pounds per gallon figure was based on a lot of conversions, but 8 pounds per gallon, about 4 liters per gallon, 10 centimeters cubed is a liter, 10 centimeters is 4-ish inches, 27 4" square fit in a cubic foot, and so on. Feel free to check my work and reply with a more exact figure. I was more precise than this when I did my actual calculations.

[soapbox derby car]

I would definitely use sail and/or paddle power, river rafting/floating goes a lot better that way.

[Pumpkin$]

wow that's handy in a pinch XD great idea I'd use it for fishing

[mweston]

This is great, I will definitely build one, considering I HAVE A NEW FISHING MOTOR AND BATTERY! This is the perfect chance to use them

[moplate2003]

nice job built one myself keep up the good work did you have to register it with your State wildlife office ?

[zmatt]

So far i have only taken it on private lakes so no i haven't. How has yours been so far?

[nibbler125]

how much dud the tarp cost ?

[bodave2]

I built a boat using this idea yestorday and it workes better than I expected. I found all this 3/4in tubbing in my back yard so I only spent about $70 on fittings and tarp and wood.

[zmatt]

Thats awesome, great to see some other pictures I haven't taken mine out in a while.

[bodave2]

My sides were only 11 inches but other than that its very simular.

[abadfart]

I would suggest putting a few + joints on the top of the frame so you can put a cover on it so you can sleep in it on camping trips or for fun in the water ;)

[dlfynrdr]

I've never used those battery motors. How long will the battery last?

[zmatt]

The battery's usually have at least a 1 year warranty but they will last a lot longer than that if you take care of them.

[dlfynrdr]

Thanks for the quick reply, but I was asking about the charge. You can't tell me that it will run that motor for a year nonstop. :)

[golfcrazy91]

Hey I have built one of these amazing crafts and am happy to say that it works great. Instead of gluing the pieces i found that they still hold together rather well with out the glue. This allowed me to disassemble the boat after every use making it easy to take away and store at my house. I Also did not tie off the tarp to the pvc skeleton this i felt was no necessary to do. The reason being is that you can take the excess and use it to cover the open part of the boat making it closed in if need be. I enjoyed that feature because I slept on mine yes it also doubles as a house boat lol.

[zmatt]

nice i would love to see what yours looks like, glad to hear how much you like it

[golfcrazy91]

Yea I will try to get some pictures up soon I also did a CAD drawing of the boat it is like a 3-D model it might help with directions? Yea but great job on the idea. PVC submersible is next?

[zmatt]

Yeah either post them here or pm me for my email and ill throw them into the instructable, lol a submersible would be interesting not quite sure how you would do that though.

[speeddemon93]

I love this idea! I'm defiantly going to try it sometime. Maybe you could sew some pockets into the sides for fishing lures etc. next- The PVC whitewater kayak!(followed, of course with an identical boat--with a carbon fiber frame) Hey! Maybe a PVC paddle board? The future looks bright!

[8_up_fisherman]

Awesome instructable! I will be building this over the next couple weeks. I will be using pipe insulation on all the pvc (to avoid wear). Has anyone thought about trying the DIY truck bed liner as an external coating for duribility?

[speeddemon93]

My Dad was also thinking about coating his wooden kayak(still to be built) with bed liner. He was told that it would be feasible, but impractical because of a huge amount of added drag and weight.

[8_up_fisherman]

sorry forgot the link 1st time http://www.herculiner.com/

[zmatt]

once you spend the money on the bed liner your better off buying a metal boat. good luck and have fun on your project i would love to see it when its done

[juliogabriel14]

Nice Model... I'm planning on building one myself but I'm still in the designing phase... I was wondering if anyone has an idea on a replacement 4 the foam since I live in Puerto Rico and here we don't use insulation... thanks

[zmatt]

I'm in Florida, I'd check your store. And its not necessarily a requirement for the build it was only put in so the tarp would not scrape the plywood when bulging from the water pressure. Good luck with your build, hope to see some pictures.

[juliogabriel14]

I see... Thanks 4 the reply.. I was thinking about making the bow kind of pointed using 2 45 degree elbows... do you think the difference in the drag will be significant?

[zmatt]

most likely not, but its worth a try. it sits on the water fairly high so its not doing much cutting through the water. One thing which would help is having a keel so the boat will go straighter

[IdahoDavid]

Wow! Great project and an excellent Instructable. Reminds me of the old Native American bull boat with a modern twist. Since this rides so high, do you think the 17-inch high sides are necessary or could you get by with less height? How many people would you feel comfortable carrying? How much weight?

[Poppa Chubby]

Cool avatar.

[zmatt]

I calculated that at 400lbs of weight it would ride about 5 inches down in the water but we were both in the boat with the heavy marine battery and the heavy trolling motor i think we were just around 400 pounds in the boat and she was maybe 3 and a half inches in the rear and the front was less. I will have to check that next time out more closely. And yes if a second boat is built the sides will be lower I would think 10-11inches would work nicely, I think lower sides would add more strength to the hull as well. "I will let you know after using it more" I think that it would carry 4 people alright but it would get crowded epically if we were fishing. I will bring a scale out today maybe and figure out exactly how much weight we get in there and ill bring my video camera.

[dbell]

If you built it a little over the 4x8 of the bottom plywood (it looks like about 4.5x9, overall), you'll displace 218 pounds per inch of draft! Even at a net 4x8, it displaces 172 pounds per inch... Dave

[jimmyjo]

RU sure? Did you take into account of the weight of 1inch 4X8???

[dbell]

Well, yes and no: I realized later that I used the salt water weight, not fresh, so that makes a little difference. But the weight of the boat, plywood, etc. is sort of a constant. Adding about 200 pounds should only make it draw an *extra* inch.

Figure the area of the bottom of the boat, say 4x4=32 square feet. Each inch of draft gives you 1/12 * 32 cubic feet of displacement, times 62.4 pounds per cubic foot of (fresh) water., or 166 pounds...

(And he only used 3/8 inch plywood, by the way)

[dbell]

Duh - that's 4x8 feet, of course, not 4x4 ! Dave

[IdahoDavid]

Thanks. Great info. Good fishing.

[mervteck]

Oh and i forgot, YES IT FLOATS holds itself not even quarter inch under water and with myself (200lbs) and my friend kirsten (160lbs) only about an inch under, keeping in mind this is a 2 foot tall boat, Also on the front arch up, watch out with the 45 elbows, all 3 of mine ripped holes in the tarp ( DUCK TAPE! =D ) so just padd them between the tarp and the angle and you should be fine. Happy Boating! =D

[mervteck]

Heres my boat done with this instructable, Total cost was about 100 bucks without motor. Currently Making Oars out of pvc and some wood. Second picture is a cup holder in progress, but ran out of elbows so cant finish yet.
Used under 120 feet of pipe, but get 130 just to be safe anyone out there that wants to try this!
Lots of trial and error, also (not to knock this awesome instructable) as i did this instructable and looked at the pictures as they progressed, it looks like they changed the design a few times as they built? Not sure but heres my work! =] Thanks for the awesome instructable!

[egreen767]

I built a boat that is pretty much the same design, but constructed of plywood and framed with 2X4's. It is pretty hard to keep going straight.

[livingsky]

Put a keel and bottom ribs on it for stability

[wryce]

Thanks The boat looks great. Andy

[animallover040494]

Were did you get the supply's?

[zmatt]

The Home Depot, its just alot of basic home supply items. Lowes is cheaper on some things, and i got a few things from harbour freight like the grommits and rope.

[Thunderexpress]

I tried doing this, and I can tell you that if you live in Canada its not cheap.

[incorrigible packrat]

Nothing is cheap in Canada... Dammit...

[Pornostache]

ice is cheap.

[incorrigible packrat]

Only in winter.

[nave]

meds are

[incorrigible packrat]

Not unless you're on a drug plan. Also they make you crazier than you were before you took 'em! (at least the ones I was taking did that)

[psi3000]

I was thinking the same exact thing fosho. Or there is a instructional that shows how someone built a catamarand out of soda bottles, quite nice one too. I'm not sure how I would do that one. However, If I were to use 6" or 8" PVC, say 7-8' for the boyancy things (sorry not sure what they are called) and used metal pipeing in two places spaced about 5' apart. Then I could put up that cargo netting inbetween the two metal pipes add a mast, a sail and a rudder and walla. How does this sound to everyone? How much load do you think the two peices of PVC could take. Is there some sort of boyancy calculator? I want to make it hold up to 600lbs for like 2-3 people (safely). Any Ideas?

[thehellodonkey]

archimede's principle: the buoyancy force is equal to the weight of the water displaced.

[Pornostache]

I thought about that and checked it out. To float 600 lbs you have to displace 600 lbs of water. The math is easier in metric. 600 lbs = 272 155.422 grams. 1 cubic centimeter of water weighs 1 gram so you have to displace 272 155.422 cubic centimeters of water. With the 8" PVC, each centimeter of length has a volume of 324.13 cubic centimeters. So the length of 8" PVC needed to float 600 lbs (and the PVC itself would have to be part of that 600 lbs) is around 840cm or 27.56 feet. When calculating flotation its best to round this number up. I figured overbuilding it to 3, 10 foot lengths would give you a pretty little triple pontoon boat.

I would like to have a boat, but i live in a 1 bedroom apartment and don't have anywhere to keep one so i thought if it were collapsible it would a) fit in my car and b) be movable into and out of an apartment. I don't know if you've ever looked at a 10 foot length of 8" PVC pipe, but it's not exactly compact. I thought of using 5 foot lengths, all ripped in half along the length, that way the pontoon sections could nest into each other for transport and storage. I think though that pipes in general obtain a lot of their strength by virtue of the fully circular design. Has anyone tried this?

[zmatt]

I've often thought of building a catamaran for sailing since it would most likely be better suited for sailing over the simple "john boat" design. Your idea sounds very valid, i'd love it if you all would join this group Boat Builders and Mods, so we can discuss and draw up plans for this type of stuff. Kinda collect ideas together.

I'd love to see any pictures or sketches anyone has.

[newman12131213]

I just made a smaller version of yours mine is 6feet x 3.5 feet. it cost about $100 and we already had a 3.5 gas outboard which gets my boat cookin. i live in oregon and went out in the middle of the winter today for the maidin voyage. it worked great and floated really high in the water

[crazymatt]

This is a great instrucatable for a very cheap and manuverable boat. As Chwlo says this idea is very versatile and has a LOT of room for modifications. Great work, I gotta go to home depot now.

[Chwlo]

This is really a very versatile idea. Someone mentioned putting a small enclosure on it and I immediately thout of my uncle who loves to duck hunt from blinds on lakes, but he usually rents them because they are so heavy to transport. For very little weight and not much more in cost you could easily set up a frame and blind on this platform. Nice work!

[charlessenf-gm]

That's kewl.

[BIG JAMES]

hey where did you get the trolling motor from?

[carpespasm]

I think he said bass pro shops, but you could check any fishing store, some hardware stores, wal-marts, outdoor stores, and boat shops.

[proffesor cuddles]

does this boat need to be registered?

[zmatt]

Good question, depending on the state in Florida i believe the law is if there is a motor then it needs to be. This is a private lake i go on so i think i can slip through that.

[Whitezombie]

just like what smokehill said about raining i was thinking the same thing so im going to post a shade/awning that can be attached to the boat

[zmatt]

Has anyone built one that has pictures to share i would love to see them.

[Darkman]

This reminds me of the porta boat. I think that was what it was called. either way, it could be made in some similar way. Anyone have any ideas?

[smokehill]

I remember that boat -- they used to advertise in Popular Mechanics every month. I checked on them once and the price was amazingly high -- 800 to a thousand or so, I think, and that was decades ago. Excellent quality, but way out of my price range back then. I think it was rubberized canvas over a wooden frame. Can't remember the exact name, but it was something like Fol-boat, or Fold-boat.

[lemonie]

For something that looks rather flimsy initially, this turns out very good on the water. I am almost tempted to buld on myself: Would this hold together without glue (forces from water considered) How easy would this be to assemble from a kit (and disassemble afterwards)? I'm thinking of something that you might be able to carry on a motorbike ? L

[zmatt]

Well I think it would work if it was small "one person" held together with duct tape and zip ties to hold the tarp on or duct tape. But it would be very easy to assemble especially with a small one man sized frame. That might be a good little project to do next, a very small rowboat.

[smokehill]

I suspect it is possible to keep everything un-glued, for portabilty, but I'd be looking at maybe bungee cords to keep the PVC parts in place with tension. I know you can get spools of bungee material & make your own custom-length cords -- American Science & Surplus sometimes has them. Maybe one big loop going down each horizontal run of pipe, and some shorter cords every couple of feet to keep the vertical pipes together ... and of course doing something clever to keep those hook ends from becoming a problem with the tarp. Actually, if you looped the bungees so the hooks were on the inside of the pipe runs, and not right next to the tarps, it might not evn be much of a problem. You could probably get double duty out of some of the bungees by using them to hang stuff on for storage. Definite possiblities there for a clever person.

[The Renaissance Man]

I FINALLY GOT MY FIRST INSTRUCTABLES DONE!!!

[whitish]

where did you get the tarp at?i cant believe that huge thing was $22

[The Renaissance Man]

ugh... my mom made me nix the boat project until next summer... -_-"

[supermichael2]

is it possible to use a couple rolls of duct tape and make it into a sheet and use that as the skin of the boat instead of a tarp

[zmatt]

hahahaha anything is possible my friend.

[fosho4]

That would be A LOT of duck tape. I don't know if it would be cost effective.

[supermichael2]

yeah i know but it seems cheaper than the tarp and my boat is only going to be 7'x 3 1/2'.

[zmatt]

It wont be cheaper and you WILL have small leaks eventually if not right away.

[fosho4]

Yea. you will have to use a lot more duck tape than you think. At least 10 rolls probably more. Another alternative for a tarp would be clear vinyl from a store like joanne fabrics. It 56" wide and $6.00 per yard. There are different thicknesses but the thickest one seemed like it would hold up pretty well. You might want to consider it.

[supermichael2]

i think that might hold up better

[robotsuk]

What is the exact make and model of the motor u used Thanks Kris

[zmatt]

I think its the t55 model from bass pro shops, i was going to get a cheaper one but it was on sale so it was worth the money.

[hs4g]

Hey, I just built a very similar boat to yours in only two days by myself! Its a 9'x4' very similar hull design except my up front slopey bit is longer (pardon my lack of jargon) and the frame is made from spruce instead of pvc. It was actually because of your instructable I was able to finish. I took your skin/floor idea and used it for my boat. I'm also using a similar motor to yours... The only problem I found was the heavy duty tarp, despite being heavy duty, was no match for the driveway + weight of the frame... I ended up having to use duct tape on some pin hole leaks. Thanks guys this was just what I needed to complete my project.

[zmatt]

Awesome i'd love to see some pictures of your boat, how does she fare on the high seas? lol

[hs4g]

Well unfortunately, my choice of framing was not very rigid. I hit a basketball hoop someone had thrown into the river (what?!) and it tore a small hole in the tarp. I got a pinhole leak which took on about 2 gallons of water overnight. When I went to pull her out of the water, the frame completely collapsed. I'm going to do a refab with PVC and I thought of a skin re-inforcer... Tar paper for a roof! I figure, its probably as strong or stronger than a tarp and made to be waterproof. You can slap a layer on the bottom and another under the foam. Hopefully it will work out. Other than that, it was lots of fun tooling up and down the river till I hit the hoop.

[zmatt]

haha sounds like fun, i think i might go out on the lake today since my jetski dosent wanna spark up. So you have your boat docked?

[hs4g]

I did up until I took her out of the water to "fix the leak" now she's kind of a mess sitting just up on shore...

[zmatt]

What type of pipe did you use and what frame design did you use?

[zach911]

Can i drive this on inks lake in texas?!

[BIG JAMES]

hey dude i wiegh 260 and my boat is 1 1/2 pvc so will it hold me??? please reply thanks - BIG JAMES

[zmatt]

Well so long you spread the weight out with a pice of board I.e. Plywood, then yes it should hold you quite well. As you saw in the video we had over 500lbs in the boat and it was doing fine, that was using 3/4th inch pipe too. But if even we were to lay on top of the skeleton it would start to make bad noises so make sure you have a good board to spread out that weight. We picked up that trolling motor from bass pro shops on sale. Good Luck i'd love to see pics of your boat!

[cyberanarchist]

Hey guys. This is really ingenious. What a great way to make a lightweight, inexpensive boat.

[fosho4]

We are almost done with the one that my friend and I are building. We should be done by monday hopefully. Its takin a lot longer than it should have just because other project have gotten in the way. I just finished putting my computer into an old centiped arcade machine. haha.

[fosho4]

It is done! And it floats. We tested it in the neighborhood pool but have yet to test it in anything else.

[zmatt]

Awesome i hope to see a few pics

[psi3000]

I have looked all over the net for a catamaran type pvc boat to build. I like your boat the best and its not a catamaran. I am actually thinking of building the same exact thing with a sail. Anyone know any website for a good lightweight catamaran pvc boat?

[fosho4]

I don't know of a catamaran made out of pvc and i have looked around quite a bit. I don't think it would be to hard though. Check out the pvc kayak that this idea came from. I think you could make two smaller versions of the kayak and then attatch them together.

[Tronman]

This PVC boat design was a cleaver idea. I am constantly researching and thinking about various types of small boat building designs and alternative propulsion systems, if you have any other design thoughts I'd like to hear about them.

[The Renaissance Man]

I'm going to try building something like that, but longer, and with a a small house-like structure near the back...

[zmatt]

Yeah we were thinking about something like this using a billboard sign as the hull, my friend said that it would be a nice hull material and almost free. How big do you plan on making yours?

[The Renaissance Man]

Well, I used Power Point to draw out the plan, and I'm just going to build the rest based on your design. I'll take care of the rest when I get to it

[fosho4]

how much would a billboard sign cost?

[zmatt]

Well my buddy said he can get them from a guy he knows so i dunno how u could find one.

[fosho4]

That is a really good idea! It wouldn't really suit what I want to use mine for but thats a great idea. It should be relatively easy to make as well. Whats your budget going to be?

[The Renaissance Man]

I haven't really thought my budget yet. My rule is: buy and hope you don't run out of money.

[fosho4]

haha yea. the only thing that I was surprised by the cost were some of the pvc connectors. the cross pieces are 2.05 but you don't need very many of them which is good. the T pieces are only .27 so they are pretty cheap. Once your done can you post some pictures? I would really like to see it.

[smokehill]

Sometimes you can fudge the design to use two T pieces instead of a cross-piece, just by offsetting one of the "ribs" a wee bit. I've gotten by that way a couple of times on PVC benches or lawn stuff when I didn't have the exact connectors & didn't want to drive to the store just for that. One hint -- I always used the all-purpose glue (for PVC, ABS & CPVC), but when I started replumbing my basement in CPVC, a real plumber told me that you get a better bond if you use the specific glue for that type of plastic pipe. Might not be important in this case, but you can't go wrong with extra strength for no more money, I figure. I also read that you don't get maximum strength from the plastic bonding for 24 hrs. For most things it's good enough, but if you were going to head straight out, it'd be better not to be bumping over sand bars or running right up on the beach or shore at full speed ...at least not the first day. My gut feeling, too, is that if the cost weren't a killer, you'd have a hugely stronger skeleton by using 1" or one-and-a-half-inch PVC -- lots more glue area & overlap, much stronger pipe, and you could attach rod holders or drink holders more easily (pop rivets?). There is a buouyancy formula for figuring pontoons -- the guy who posted the instructable on a homemade pontoon boat out of soda bottles mentions a simple way of figuring it. My ancient old "Crawdad" pontoon boat is too small for all my fishing stuff, so I may do one like this next summer for my 1-acre pond. Either that or slap it together from plywood and fiberglass over it. Might be even cheaper that way, and no worries about tarp leaks from snagged lures, etc. If I do it, I'll post something. I think the real difference between your two tarps is that the leaky one was one of the cheap blue woven ones, which are water-resistant but a long way from waterproof. Your brown one looks like a regular PVC tarp, which is basically one piece of waterproof plastic, like Viscuine (sp?), instead of woven plastic crud. It'll be interesting to see how it lasts after running up on sandy beaches, or gravel. Hint: local authorities will usually fine you if you don't have one life preserver per person aboard. Some will insist on boat "registration" & numbers painted on it unless you personally own the pond .... though usually it's over 12 ft, I think. Might be good to check. And if you plan on getting further out than you can swim back, I'd invest 15 bucks in a cheap little plastic bilge pump (Rule 350 is my choice) in case of sudden tarp failure. A quick hookup to your 12v battery & it'll pump water out at 5 gal per minute, probably fast enough to get you back safely; beats bailing, for sure. Also good for getting out excess water that always splashed in, or when rain has turned yr boat into a wading pool. Nice idea of yours, and VERY good instructable.

[The Renaissance Man]

I'll try...

[zmatt]

How are all of you coming along with your projects?

[fosho4]

Mine is going pretty well. It is kinda at a standstill right now due to time and money. I got another project that I've moved on to, but tomorrow it will be done. I'm working on putting my computer into an arcade cabinet. Then I have to go on vacation. I should be done within 2 weeks though. Hopefully test it out with a two day float trip right after that.

[The Renaissance Man]

Sorry, don't have time to do anything these days...

[fosho4]

I'm starting to second guess the "skin" of the boat. The tarp. I'm sure it works well in deeper more slowly moving water such as a lake or intercoastal waterway but I'm just not sure if its suited for more shallow quickly moving water such as a small river. All of the hidden dangers such as sticks, gravel, and debris worry me. If we get a hole in the tarp our boat is done for a we are stuck somewhere along a river without a boat not to mention some if not all of our supplies. If the boat was salvageable then we could possible patch it with duck tape but it would not be a very permanent fix. I don't know if you are experienced in boat building outside of this one or maybe someone else is but I was trying to think of alternatives for the skin of the boat. They might cost more but if it means more reliability then I would have to consider it. So far I have the frame built and cemented so I would like to incorporate it into the design. My ideas for a different outer layer were wood, fiberglass, or some other type of tough waterproof fabric. If anyone has any suggestions or can help we way the pros and cons of each possibility it would be greatly appreciated.

[fosho4]

I'm sorry I keep on bugging you with questions but I have another one. Where did you buy all of your PVC? I know you can get it from Home Depot but it is quite a bit more expansive there than some of the stores I've looked at online.

[zmatt]

Yeah i bought most of the stuff at Homedepot because it made things alot more convent, you have any suggestions on websites to buy this stuff?

[fosho4]

Not really. I just saw a couple sites but they were poorly laid out and you had to buy in bulk. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't getting ripped off at home depot. I also looked at lowes and sears hardware for prices. Overall home depot is the way to go. I'm in the process of building mine with a friend. We have almost all of the frame built. The cross pieces are disproportionately more expensive than the t's. I also saw on another website that a guy who built one of the pvc kayaks posted where he used piping insulation to pad the bottom pipes of the frames instead of the blue foam. I'm not sure what we will go with: both options have their pros and cons. Overall, the build is going well. We have ran into a few small snags but not bad. I look forward to going down the river.

[zmatt]

Ahh yes i saw his kayak it was very nicely built i forgot about using the pipe insulation, The tarp is starting to wear in the corners so i need to devise a fix for that. I've been out on the lake quite a bit now, i love how easy to transport this is, I wish i had a saltwater trolling motor i'd go out on the innercostal and explore some islands.

[fosho4]

I was trying to brainstorm up an idea to fix the wear in the corners but all I could come up with is duck tape. If you come up with a better idea let me know because I'm sure I'll run into the same problem. Have you had any other problem that I should look out for? I wish I lived by an innercoastal or somewhere cool with lots of water. haha. That would be a lot of fun.

[zmatt]

The only other thing i can think of right now is to be carefull if you make new grommits not to put too much stress on them and have it start to rip. Disperse the strain from the ropes.

[kaos.rox]

Perhaps I missed it, but what is the total weight of it? I'm looking to build something my young son and I can manhandle without problems..

[zmatt]

I don't honestly know exactly what it weighs but it is very light for how big it is. I would suggest building something a bit smaller if you just want to row around with your son. I plan on building a VERY small 1 man boat just for fun soon. Please post pictures or anything if you or anyone else builds something!

[g0pher]

Almost done building mine :) i'll post up some pictures soon

[zmatt]

looking forward to seeing those pictures.

[Thunderexpress]

So you think it could hold like 3 people. Like 450 pounds +. Would I be able to make a sale and rudder some how. It looks like a cool boat.

[zmatt]

My brother was talking about this and I don't see why that wouldn't work, Im not sure what to make the centerboard out of so it doesn't slow down the boat too much. and yes the boat has held over 600 lbs so far i believe

[Thunderexpress]

I am looking to make one of these with the least amount of money possible. Other than the trolling motor what would I be able to cut out. If the boat doesn't survive with 3 people than it wouldn't be a big loss

[hamster ass]

HAHA! I thought this was an instructable for installing a pvc "john" in your boat, and was going to ask "what about the fish!?", but since it isn't... Well anyways, that's still really really cool. Cooler than pooping on fish's heads.

[Myself]

Cool project, though it baffles me why people use PVC for everything. The stuff has some skeletons in its closet with regard to dioxins and phthalates, and I'm surprised to see so much of it here on Instructables.

[fosho4]

Great instructable! very thorough. I just had a few questions. What did your final dimensions end up being? and its the first day of summer break for me, I'm thinking of building a boat very similar to the one you built but I want to take it on a two or three day river trip with a couple of my friends. It would be a very slow easy ride (no substantial rapids). I was wondering if you had any suggestions as far as making it more suitable for river boating. I also will not be putting a motor on it. We will just use paddles.

[zmatt]

The dimensions you see are aprox 11x4.5 i believe, Depending on how many friends you want to bring i sugest you all sit down somewhere and mark out how big it will need to be with you all in the place you plan on being in the boat to get an idea on how big to make it. And i would suggest on reinforcing the bottom with Styrofoam or a secondary layer if there are trees or branches in the water because i don't see that being good if you were to go over the top of that. Just do some testing before you glue to see if that frame is what you will want to use because the piping is the cheapest part so dont worry about that.

[fosho4]

Thanks. Yea I will try to get probably two other guys to come with me so hopefully soon we can get some money together and plan everything out. I came up with a few other question too. I drew out some plans(very tentative) and our boat would be 7.5ft. long, 3.5ft. wide, and 1ft. high. A little smaller than yours just for maneuverability in tight spots on the river. I was wondering if 650 lbs. of weight weight would be to much for this type of boat to handle? And if it can handle it how far down in the water would the boat sit

[dbell]

If you use a full 4x8 foot sheet of plywood on the bottom as zmatt suggested, and estimate the empty boat at 50 pounds, that's maybe 700 pounds, total. 700 pounds of fresh water is 11.22 cubic feet. One inch of draft with a 4x8 foot bottom is 2.666 cubic feet, so 11.22 cubic feet would be 4.2 inches of draft. Not very deep, at all! Now, whether the bottom can handle 650 pounds of live load is the question. I'd want to make sure it' s spread around evenly... Dave

[zmatt]

Id sugest making the boat the size of the plywood which i believe is 8x4ft unless you dont mind cutting it, and ill do that calculation later unless someone else beats it to me but i have to run to class now.

[fosho4]

I'm sorry I keep on bugging you with questions but I have another one. Where did you buy all of your PVC? I know you can get it from Home Depot but it is quite a bit more expansive there than some of the stores I've looked at online.

[gfixler]

Sounds like you guys might've ruptured a gas line in the second video! Hope everyone's safe. Great instructable, by the way. I'm very impressed. I envision an entire line of PVC planes, tanks, and motorcycles in our future.

[zmatt]

lol gas line? its an electric trolling motor run off 12volts but the noise you heard was the prop too high up in the water so it was picking up some air.

[gfixler]

I meant the comment about the G's pulling gas out of somewhere at the end of the video ;)

[zmatt]

hahahaha yeah my friends say some stupid stuff like you heard

[joejoerowley]

Thats Cool. Great instructable.

[boomersooner9133]

How much did it cost, you did a really good job on the instructable too

[zmatt]

The floating frame not including the battery or trolling motor cost 95 dollars, $15 - 130 feet of 3/4th tubing $4 - 90 angle connectors $11 - T connectors $8 - + connectors $2 -45 angle connectors $5 - primer and cement for pvc $8 - rope $10- styrofoam $10 - plywood $22 - tarp You can get away with alot less if your building one smaller or if you have some of the supplies all ready.

[cylver]

Wouldn't adding a second row of pipe around the top make it stiffer? And does the tarp balloon in on the sides when it's in the water?

[zmatt]

The top is stiff all ready and adding another row to the top wouldn't help anything really. And the boat never really rides low enough to cause that to happen even with 3 people, battery and motor. Im going to post the video from today later.

[trebuchet03]

Hrmm... That wouldn't happen to be lake picket would it? If not... where is that?

[zmatt]

Buck Lake Just south Of Geneva, were going fishing tomorrow probably. I'm looking forward to it.

[PKM]

Dang it, I was about to ask how close the lake was to Morzine as I'm going there in a couple of weeks.. but it's not that Geneva >_< Nice boat, simple design always a plus.

[cesar harada]

I love it ! and it moves very elegant and smoothly on the water, it's so light ! I wonder how the textile sides will behave if the boat was realy heavily loaded ... And what if you fish a BIG BIG BIG fish heheeh !!! Congrats !

[zmatt]

Haha well I was thinking of taking it out on the intercostal but I don't think this trolling motor is made for salt water, I will have more videos this week my camera died on me right after i turned it on this morning. It is very maneuverable surprisingly but the winds will move it around a bit because of the tall sides and light weight.

[heyzuphowsitgoin]

thats soooooo cool id make it, but i dont hav ne pvc pipe

[zmatt]

It only costs about $1.20 for 10 feet of 3/4th in pipe. Thats just about the cheapest part.

[theRIAA]

pretty sweet... makes me think though... whats the smallest boat you could make and put on a.. say, 100HP motor? some kind of 4 ft, one man, steel reinforced boat...

[Tool Using Animal]

Cool, and you're wearing a life jacket, you get a +