In this episode, I show you how I built my homemade pontoon boat using 55 gallon drums. It was only $200 and it turn out great! Thanks for watching and please consider sharing.
Please consider joining "homemade barrel boats" on facebook. There are a bunch on there and yes, perfect for lake fishing. Thanks so much and thanks for watching.
Aren't there alligators in those waters? I'm just curious how dare it is to be swimming there in that area. It's all I could think about while watching. Looks like amazing fun tho, could you provide some clarification as to the dangers of swimming there? I'd appreciate some insight. Thank you! And May God Protect and Bless You and Your Family
Well im impressed hell half of my enjoyment was seeing a man enjoying life with his family wished more family's would do thing's together thanks for sharing this clip Stay safe God bless....
I love your homemade ingenuity! I always want to do projects like this myself, but there's always someone trying to stop you from using your invention, so I usually don't proceed with the idea. One project I've dreamed about for years is converting a school bus into a camper (schoolie) but now I hear that some campgrounds are banning them. Probably someone pissed that they spent hundreds of thousands and don't have the ingenuity to make a camper to suit them. When I retire, I'm planning on taking the gas motor off my pontoon and putting solar panels on the roof and a large battery bank to power the craft. I'm sure someone will try to ban me from the lake.
I have been wanting to do a school bus camper for years now, but the checking out and buying an old bus is a big deal to me. I don't know what to look for in a retired bus. You electric boat sound cool. Thanks for watching.
Wait until you see parts 2 and 3, I hope they are in you near future... And today, for part 4, I put some angles on in front of the barrels to cut through the water better. That video should be out next week. Thanks for watching and for the kind words.
I wish my principal felt the same way, she is not rehiring me next year..., but that is another story. Maybe I can do RU-vid full time. BTW, I took the boat back to the springs today, video coming soon. I hope you will check it out and thanks for watching.
i like it! today i actually started building one the same size, i framed up a 6ft x 12ft platform. i will likely make a video next week or whenever i get the pontoons. thumbs up
Thanks so much for the awesome comment. I was expecting the word pollution or nasty, like so many others have left. Thanks for watching and I hope you will also watch parts 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Watched a few videos now on ppl making these rafts with the plastic drums, last one I watched the fella was having and issue with the drums deforming under different water temps.... watching you make this 1 now has reminded me of a bloke I meet a awhile ago who made a homemade house boat using these drums, he mentioned he pressurized his drums using tubeless tire valves.. so if ever have that issue, keep that in mind
I am in the beginning phases of build boat #2 and I am brainstorming how I want to pressurize mine. I don't really want 8 valve stems, but we will see. thanks for watching.
I love this, i love more the fact you are showing your family the "do it yourself" mentality. I think i might give this a go since its cheap, easy and something my nephews can help me with since all they do is bury their faces in their ipads. You should be proud and i hope you and your family are in good health! Cheers from New Zealand 🇳🇿👍🏼😋
Cheap, no mixing oil, air cooled, plus everything you said, just not as fast as the 2 stroke. I am thinking of adding some gears to make it faster. thanks for watching.
We had a blast! There are actually 10 episodes of fun and each new one seems better than the one before it. I hope you will check out some of those too. Thanks so much for watching.
could you give a list of building materials and tools? i’m gonna be a first time builder this summer and i think your boat is the best budget one on youtube!
Awsome. Maybe I'm going at this wrong. I want a smaller but stable boat miss my pontoon. I could make one my trailer well ide need another one. But that's perfect side will handle my wheel chair. If I can't have a pontoon boat again. Build one. Good deal. Ok on to number 2. God bless
I was wondering if you could build me that pontoon boat that you made in the video My email is James sellers 53 at yahoo.com the way you made it is perfect except for could you only put the trolling motor. I don't need it to move fast I like the trolling motor because it'll be quiet because where we fish at are a lot of houseboats
@@AwesomeDocumentary I was thinking the same thing with nosecones...I'd use thin ductwork sheet metal to form a funnel shape and then flare the edges to screw to the end of the front barrels. Use expanding foam to fill it maybe even between and inside the barrels but that would add up $$. If the intention is to use small kicker motors doing 3mph it it probably doesn't matter either way!
Love hearing that, be ready for a great time, lots of people commenting and taking pictures, and cheap fun. thanks for watching and I hope to build #3 real soon. Have you check out my "Homemade Barrel Boats" group on Facebook? It might give you more ideas.
Put you a fold up board on it, use those 4 wheels you have to roll the boat into the water, then pull them up so they don't catch on anything in the water (logs, branches, etc)
When working with the "outdoors" (Exterior Rated) type wood, you might consider making joints with Liquid Nails-Exterior Grade. But first, sand the area with a very coarse grinder/sander at the joining area, to get to the "real wood". Just another Random Thought, from an Old Fart (who's been on the water for nearly 70 years!). Haha!
I built a raft four years ago using barrels you will want to silicone the barrel plugs because even though they have seals they seem to leak even if they are tight. I used four 30 gallon drums and the raft measured 6x8 feet and we had 17 people on it and it was still above water. That water was nasty brown, looked like sewage water.
Great idea and thanks for watching. My most recent build was much better, 55 gallon drums homemade barrel pontoon boat. Hope you have checked it out too. Thanks for watching.
HEY good man reduce reuse and recycle you are my kind of people. As we say here in Ireland tóg go bog é sounds like tug go buggy which means Take it easy don't try and do all in the one day
Aluminum is very expensive. Good, but expensive. You can take "affordable" out of the equation when thinking aluminum. Even if you're only talking about aluminum for framing such as "C channel" or "hat channel". For example, price a galvanized boat trailer vs the same trailer made of aluminum. But of course the aluminum is superior to galvanized for less weight and durability to the elements, such as salt water.
I have thought about that and it would probably work... But it would be a bunch of work, too heavy for the car to tow, and a disaster if it didn't work... I could build another with 3 rows of barrels and it would be a possibility. I would love to camp in Fanning Springs with is crystal clear water and wake up through out the night and look for gators... Thanks for watching and I might put that on my wish list for next summer. Thanks for watching.
chud327 if I could I would make myself a tiny home on top of a barge to live in it over the ocean I just wish I could make it did you make the tiny home if you did do you have a video showing how you did it you're welcome I love watching your videos
Thanks so much! I have actually built 2 tiny houses. One is the little one in this video. There are 5 build videos and one camping video. I hope you will check out. The bigger has 36 episodes on its build...
Yes agreed! It doesn't have to be fast, just enough to get you up onto a bank halfway through an adventure! I just blackjacked my frame and have 4/6 butts collected.
That would be a cool video, but I will need a bigger boat and a smaller mini house. I actually mentioned this in episode #8 from last Saturday. I hope you will check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks for watching.
Your welcome really enjoyed video first time I've seen someone do this. I think me and my brother are going to try now after showing him this. It just seems in some instances that a impact drill would serve you better. But to each there own.
I would think putting a couple sloped ends on the front of the front barrels, i'm not sure what they are called, but they divert the water around the barrel so there's a lot less resistance, you should be able to cut a barrel diagonally to get both sides, they don't have to be water tight since you seem to have more than enough floatation, but it would help with a little speed and fuel economy if the boat isn't pushing a wall of water in front of it, cool build and it makes me want to build my own homemade pontoon boat
Believe me. I have been brainstorming how to do exactly what you are describing... maybe I can make it happen soon in a future update. Thanks for watching.
Find a well shaped canoe of the right size. Cover the end with a very thin plastic sheeting. Then, use burlap and a cement slurry to overlay it and make a female mold . Use this mold to lay up 4 fiberglass ends. You want back end also.
Jump in that water? Don't you folks in FL have alligators and/or crocodiles? None up here in WA. How do you handle this? P.S. One creature we do share is the bull shark. Lives in both salt and fresh water.
I know there are gators, but you never see them during the day. You try not to think about them as you swim, you know they have to be somewhere during the day... Thanks for watching.
That's right Jack. Jump in the water??? No thanks. I'm a California guy and I simply don't understand how people go swimming in any body of water down there. I wouldn't put my big toe in. But then again, I'm a surfer and I have to contend with sharks in the ocean, but they usually don't come into the surf line and/or shallows. The dolphins are surfers friends and sharks don't like dolphins. So....
Most alligators are scared of humans. The big ones are the ones you need to look out for. Tannins in the river water make it harder for them to see you unless their head is above the water, in which case you can see them. In cooler weather months they tend to find a sunny spot on river banks to warm up during the day. If you keep you're eyes open and use a little common sense you'll be alright. Been swimming in these dark waters in Florida all my life, had many different experiences with alligators. Never really been scared, I guess living on a river when you see them all the time makes you used to it. My dad hit big one water skiing and I've even accidentally ran one over with the station wagon at night near my house.
I went to the DMV and told them I had a homemade boat and they charged me $32. This got me registered and a title, it took about 30 minutes for them to figure out what to do and for me to fill out some paperwork, but all and all it was not bad. Thanks for watching.
