Easiest raft ever, it seems.

Hello, here's another type of raft I've built for small explorations, this time for the purpose of exploring islands in the rivers north of Montréal.  Both rafts took only an hour or so to make and were totally fine for short little journeys.  It is not the most seaworthy design, but would be totally good for paddling around in a lake or calm river.  These first pictures are of the smaller raft, the S.S.Tabarnak!  It was made from two 33 gallon barrels, some broken hinges, and about five feet of an old 2x4.  It was technically the better raft, but I don't usually find those 33 gallon barrels.  Good for at least 320 pounds, seems like it could take some more tho'.

Step 1: Second go

So the Tabarnak was eventually lost, thrown down the river by someone I suppose, no biggy as it didn't cost me anything.  I wanted to try again and started with two 55 gallon plastic barrels.  Yeah, it's sideways...

Comments

[MR. Mysterious]

Without sinking and keeping enough buoyancy to float

[MR. Mysterious]

I am making a raft like yours except it has a deck and is lightweight and I wondered how much weight a single 4" PVC pipe could withstand

[blodefood]

S.S.Tabarnak, LOL! Great 'ible!

[Master Beorn]

You need a deeper keel for the canoe style to stay upright and not capsize.

[ducktape.mac]

forgot to mention... i'm on a tight budget...where can you get them for like under 20 bucks... or free?

[Marcaine Art]

Check local car washes. That's where I get mine. Most of the time they are happy to get rid of them without having to pay. Some that want to make a quick buck will say they could sell you some for varying amounts of money.

[SIRJAMES09]

good luck. I have been looking for months & found nothing.

if you find a place that sells cheap or free, pls post

[JCO72]

Try Coke or Pepsi plants. The syrup comes in them. Sometimes they give them away for free.

[ducktape.mac]

and how can you contact them/ pick up the barrels?

[JCO72]

call, number is in the phone book, or online

[ducktape.mac]

thanks!!

[lukev2]

try craigslist 4 those plastic drums....................

[SIRJAMES09]

they say there is a VERY thin line between lunacy & genius....I'm not going any further on that one, but yeah, this is a nice idea. :)

TY for sharing

[dragonsniper]

maybe for the canoe design u could try attaching a weight underneath it so it doesn't roll

[ktirdil]

how would you launch a 10x12 barrel raft?

[jenericperson]

10x12 barrels?!?! 120 55 gallon barrels? each can lift about 400 lbs what are you lifting that is 48000 lbs?!?!

[dragonsniper]

10x12 is the size of it not the number of barrels
=(l)

[fiddleman2007]

Exable ble? Oh you don't like it when people talk giberish? Me either! AMERICA!

[ducktape.mac]

where do you get the 55 gallon barrels?

[EnigmaMax]

I find them all the time in junk yards, and even the side of the highway.

[Philthy.Sohoza]

maybe try taking a, say 6inch wide band from the center of the 55s to make them more oval or add a 33 as an out-rigger. just some thoughts

[bigpig]

Just a thought, but perhaps the wooden keel was too bouyant?

[MN218]

I'm thinkingit was just too top heavy, as my brother said when I sent a link to this instructable "for clues to why this didn't work, please consult your local physics textbook."  Smartass...

[runcdm]

tested it.  i think it's a hobbit design.  there is no way anyone over 5feet tall can fit in those barrells for more than 10 minutes.  ended up building my own from 6 barrells 8 ft x 12 ft, carried 1200 pounds down a river for 3 days

[MN218]

I agree, it's really just for getting to islands not too far from shore,

[dung0beetle]

add a keel to each barrel, that should fix the waddle.

[MN218]

each barrel has a keel, they might should be larger tho'

[gmoon]

Me like :-)

If you separated the two barrels, the second one might act as an outrigger. Should be more stable for going solo...

It also might effect the tracking negatively...but I doubt it tracks well anyway.

[MN218]

I made one where the barrels were further apart, thing sucked real bad.  It's actually not sketchy unstable in solo mode, it's sketchy bad tracking, you just sort of waddle, but you can get around if you're patient.

[gmoon]

I guess that the barrels spread apart just tracked in a circle...

[ve2vfd]

Le SS Tabarnak? :) 

[MN218]

c'est a cause de la croix en bois.