Homemade Boat's and rafts (Share what you have built)

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swampratt

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Now No pictures just stories.
Uncle built one from 2 old Buick (I think) car hoods.
The kind that are pointy in the front and have tall sides like 40's stuff or something.

Wide bottom and very stable.

In my teens I floated in a pond in a wash tub used a push stick to maneuver.

Another homemade was 2 36" wooden doors with styrofoam sandwiched in between them.

Buddy made a PVC frame and a wood frame canoe and stretched canvas around the bottom and painted with house paint.

They were slow but floated.

2nd cousin took 3 truck inner tubes and mounted plywood on top of them.
One in the front of the boat and 2 in the rear.
4x8 sheet of plywood and it floated very well and he had a battery and trolling motor on it.

Fished for striper often from it on the lower Illinois river.

I made a raft from empty 30 lb R12 refrigerant cans. Like a pontoon boat.
That one was a fail. Plywood on top and 2x4's down the sides to form a channel for the steel cans to stay in.
The wood and boards and myself was too much weight and it would keep your ankles dry but your feet were in water.
It was all free and I was about 12 at the time I made that one.

Now fast forward to today.
Canoes do not need a title in OK.

I have Sheet metal from buildings like R Panel.
I have often thought 2 of those put together and point a nose up like a canoe and you would have the start to a cheap boat.

Or just a bit of flat thin metal you could do the same thing.
I would take top rail for chain link fence and make rails along the top for it.
Some more for cross bracing and I would probably not go with a mounted seat just some throw able life cushions for a seat.

Just some thoughts.
Something small that you could toss on top of a car or back of a pickup.
Light enough you could toss it over your head and go with it would be a plus.
 

RickN

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Growing up on the TX gulf coast we built a few. The best was a flat bottom made with 2x4s for the frame and plywood. Worst was a raft made with 55 gallon steel drums. It worked but was almost impossible for a bunch of preteens to move around. Paddle all day and move 100 feet it seemed.
 

swampratt

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I have brought home 3 of those dock styrofaom blocks I got from lake shores and rivers.
The majority of them are water logged.
Some of it is good and I usually cut them with an old fashioned hand saw.
My jug lines are made from them and i have cut chunks for Bow practice and for flotation under the seats of a Canoe I had.
 

dennishoddy

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We had a piece of dock foam that was 4' X 6' that was used at the farm pond.
UV ate it up pretty quick.
Back in the day we had a charity event where people would make rafts, float/paddle about 7 miles down the Arkansas river while competing for prizes. There were some impressive water float designs in that event.
 

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