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FOURTH UPDATE: The Incredible Soda Bottle Pontoon Boat is gone, no more, nada. It's at the dump in pieces or recycled. Watch for a new build in the spring. Sleeker, lighter, svelter, cooler. Drawing on what I've learned.
THIRD UPDATE: So, the boat has as of this writing been in the water for 7 years. It's never been pulled out just beached and left outside in winter. I noticed a few pieces of plywood coming loose and the batteries are nearing end of useful life. When you deep charge/discharge marine batteries over and over they eventually lose their ability to hold a full charge.
The third picture you see below is ugly. It's the final pictures before total and complete dismantling of the Incredible Soda Bottle Pontoon Boat. In the spring I'll start again. this one will be different. Basically sleaker, lighter, faster. and simpler. I consider the first one a prototype. I learned a lot and I found out what works and what doesn't. I had lots of fun and many, many pleasant hours cruising, fishing, and fielding questions from people on lake from the banking and from boats.
This is the end of the ISBPB. Tomorrow it's a date with the sledgehammer.
SECOND UPDATE: I have had problems with burning out switches with the high current. I have recently installed 4 automobile solenoids. Wired properly they act like a DPDT switch. I have one small three position toggle switch for a control now. Forward-off-reverse. I might have to replace two of them with continuous duty solenoids though I don't know how long the intemittent ones will hold up going long periods in forward. I'll post pictures of the set-up when I get the chance.
UPDATE PARAGRAPH: Below is the barge, as it's called now, 4 years later. The one without the canopy is the original launched picture. The canopy is a rather expensive but impervious to weather material called 'sunbrulla'. The pipes are galvanized 1" electrical conduit. Other changes: the seats didn't weather well so they were covered with latex sheeting. An American flag and holder, Oh, and a new pier I welded up.
I made a soda bottle raft a few years ago. It was just 940 two liter bottles enclosed on all sides with a deck. Later on I decided to make a pontoon boat. A sort of movable raft or barge out of soda bottles and materials from Home Depot. When I'm making a boat suddenly all stores carry boat making materials. It's fun to improvise with what's available.
The boat is basically wood pontoons with 2400 soda bottles filling them. It's electric and has become a wonderful place to spend an afternoon to glide silently on the water or to fish. It's big, 20' by 12' and heavy, I'd estimate about a ton. but it moves nicely even in a stiff wind, rolls with waves but doesn't overly rock, and is highly maneuverable. It just isn't very fast but here in Maine that the way we like it. A BBQ grill, a tall Moxie, a fishing pole and you've got it made on the water on the incredible soda bottle pontoon boat (alias the Pahty bahge). You need to pronounce that with a Maine accent,no R's allowed.
THIRD UPDATE: So, the boat has as of this writing been in the water for 7 years. It's never been pulled out just beached and left outside in winter. I noticed a few pieces of plywood coming loose and the batteries are nearing end of useful life. When you deep charge/discharge marine batteries over and over they eventually lose their ability to hold a full charge.
The third picture you see below is ugly. It's the final pictures before total and complete dismantling of the Incredible Soda Bottle Pontoon Boat. In the spring I'll start again. this one will be different. Basically sleaker, lighter, faster. and simpler. I consider the first one a prototype. I learned a lot and I found out what works and what doesn't. I had lots of fun and many, many pleasant hours cruising, fishing, and fielding questions from people on lake from the banking and from boats.
This is the end of the ISBPB. Tomorrow it's a date with the sledgehammer.
SECOND UPDATE: I have had problems with burning out switches with the high current. I have recently installed 4 automobile solenoids. Wired properly they act like a DPDT switch. I have one small three position toggle switch for a control now. Forward-off-reverse. I might have to replace two of them with continuous duty solenoids though I don't know how long the intemittent ones will hold up going long periods in forward. I'll post pictures of the set-up when I get the chance.
UPDATE PARAGRAPH: Below is the barge, as it's called now, 4 years later. The one without the canopy is the original launched picture. The canopy is a rather expensive but impervious to weather material called 'sunbrulla'. The pipes are galvanized 1" electrical conduit. Other changes: the seats didn't weather well so they were covered with latex sheeting. An American flag and holder, Oh, and a new pier I welded up.
I made a soda bottle raft a few years ago. It was just 940 two liter bottles enclosed on all sides with a deck. Later on I decided to make a pontoon boat. A sort of movable raft or barge out of soda bottles and materials from Home Depot. When I'm making a boat suddenly all stores carry boat making materials. It's fun to improvise with what's available.
The boat is basically wood pontoons with 2400 soda bottles filling them. It's electric and has become a wonderful place to spend an afternoon to glide silently on the water or to fish. It's big, 20' by 12' and heavy, I'd estimate about a ton. but it moves nicely even in a stiff wind, rolls with waves but doesn't overly rock, and is highly maneuverable. It just isn't very fast but here in Maine that the way we like it. A BBQ grill, a tall Moxie, a fishing pole and you've got it made on the water on the incredible soda bottle pontoon boat (alias the Pahty bahge). You need to pronounce that with a Maine accent,no R's allowed.
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Signing UpStep 1Framing it up
Materials are mostly from Home Depot. Pressure treated lumber is used for the skeleton. and yes, most of it is the non toxic kind. I don't know if it will stand up in the water as well as the old stuff used to though.
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A 20 footer should be enough to pahty on & catch fish with as well. 8=D
And if I get REALLY bored, I just might end up with a home made houseboat.
I loved reading how you did this, gives me lots of ideas!!
as far as water in the barrels, that might work....kind of like a counter balance thingy...there's a 64 million dollar name for it, but I have no idea what that name is. :)
TY both for the input. Much apreciated. 8)
As for the PVC pipe:
The PVC pipe (one 6"x10ft) would buoy about 100 lbs of wt. would be insterted underneath a pipe skeleton framework so they wouldn't really be support structures. Also, if you bundled about 5-6 of them with straps they'd be pretty strong.
Well done.
Thanks!
One of the motors was under the head, the other in the rear. connected two extensions coming out each side of the vertical motor pipe. Then I connected the front to the back motors with stainless cable. If you cross them when you turn the rear motor to the left the front one turns to the right so each end of the boat turns in the right direction. If that didn't make much sense, Think of the old downhill buggies we used to make with carriage wheels. we hooked two ropes on the front to pull the wheels left or right. This is the same principle except that the rope connects the front and back motors (The other two motors are stationary)
Modifications of motors? I cut the shaft off and hardwired them so they are either on or off. the original heads had 5 speeds. The speed isn't that great with all 4 wide open but you can control the speed by turning on any combination of the 1 to 4 motors.
P.S. What was the white sheeting that you put above the waterline on the sides of the pontoons?
Sincerely,
Freezing in negative degree Minnesota weather
How long did it take in total and what is the total cost?
Pontoon boats are not so good here as the canals are small and the bridges are low.
A narrow boat is a typical 1600mm (5 feet) air draught.
I am working on a topside that can go up and down to accommodate this.