# 37 foot towable barge build with photos



## Hoodoo Valley

It's actually my bosses project but I'm the welder! We do docks on Priest Lake which is a fairly large lake to the North of myself, but my boss wants to get on Lake Pend Orrielle which is a much larger lake with a fairly large river and lots of dock business. The company I worked for for 4 years prior was a bunch of idiot stoners who ripped off customers and their employees. They are fixing to go bankrupt and now I get to help them get there faster, by building this barge to compete on their turf!

Just briefly, this barge is going to have a fork lift mast for the pile driver. My boss wants to have that mast attached to an excavator, but not sure if this is immediately in the budget. So this barge that you see which is in the very early stages, will be self propelled by a large Kubota diesel that we already have, with 2 outdrives some engineering and fabrication will be needed) The barge shown is 12 feet by 37 feet and will have 2 pontoons that will be 24 feet long by 5 feet wide. The material for that is in the first photo, highlighted. The portion you see is comprised of 5 pieces of 1/4 inch plate. Our local steel supplier turned that bottom edge. Everything else, including the front was welded by myself. About 6 hours of welding. My boss has a Miller 211 and went out and bought a large Lincoln 350. It went 4 hours then quit altogether. The Lincoln you see here, is a loner till we get ours back!

So today, New years eve 2015 / 2016, I began welding the trusses. You can see one up against the front of the barge. 19 in all need to be built, I did 8 today, and these will be spaced on 2 foot centers. After all of them are fabbed, we're going to place one truss every 6 feet. Each truss will have about an 1/8 inch gap at all points of contact so that rust inhibitor can be applied without voids. These trusses will have 2 inch stitch welds at 1 foot centers. At that point (installation of the 6 foot centered trusses) the barge portion you see here, will be flipped over inside the shop, so that I can weld the other side of the seems in the hull, then apply 4 rows of 2X6 channel front to rear, that will act as a circulation system for engine coolant and to strengthen the hull laterally........... I'll explain more after I get caught up with what I've explained thus far. We're still designing the attachment of the pontoons which will be removable for transport of the barge.


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## bbirder

Big project. That's a lot of welding for an old fellow! 

Oh! :drums: :bd:


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## Thomas

That's one heck of project you got going there TB.
Take it your only welder,fresh air need pads must be high on the list doing such work?
Are the pontoons aluminum?
How much you'll think going to way when said and done?
Does it have to be state inspected?

Keep the updates coming.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Everything, including the 5 foot pontoons are 1/4 inch steel. The intention is to put an 18,000 pound excavator on it, and the steel pile I'm starting out with at this point is over 12 tons. We still have the power plant to factor in along with a large portable welder, the derrick as well as the pile driver. We have an engineer figuring the load capacity based on the water displacement. Eventually I'll be getting into the deck frame which will sit atop the trusses and then the deck itself which will be a lot of over head welding. This thing is going to have a lot of welds to it! There will be some form of inspection on it yes.


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## wjjones

Just remember balance grasshopper. Thats some mighty fine work Chris.


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## rdbrumfield

Quite the project. As a deck engineer on dredges from Washington to Alaska, I sure would like to see what the finished plans look like.

Are you going to use steel pipe for anchorage or just anchors and winches for stablility? Just curious, with a 17000lb rig sitting on it will take some good pontoons for sure.


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## Hoodoo Valley

rdbrumfield said:


> Quite the project. As a deck engineer on dredges from Washington to Alaska, I sure would like to see what the finished plans look like.
> 
> Are you going to use steel pipe for anchorage or just anchors and winches for stablility? Just curious, with a 17000lb rig sitting on it will take some good pontoons for sure.


We're going to use steel pipe as spuds. This will allow us to level the rig and help in positioning. We ran the numbers for displaced water and roughly. it will hold close to 50 tons handily. More photos coming tomorrow!


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## Hoodoo Valley

So here we go.....

Truss weldout............ and a stack of trusses ready for installation. These are 2X3 X 1/4. welded in hardwire. Take it easy on my welds critics! :lmao:


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## Hoodoo Valley

Trusses welded in place. We stuck every other truss in to stiffen things up for the flip over. The layout is 24 inch o/c.


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## Hoodoo Valley

So this is the flip over. Our fork lift is rated at 8,000 pound but the back end was coming up so we brought in our excavator to assist.


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## Hoodoo Valley

We solicited the shop across the highway for help and they brought over their forklift and a couple extra guys. The photos don't really do it justice but the two guys who work on chip trucks gasped when they saw our barge. These photos show the lowering to upside down, for access to welding the bottom seams, and install 2x4 channel for circulating engine coolant and reinforcing the bottom for rock and boulder hits during beachings.


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## Thomas

Son of gun now that's indeed project. 

Yellow fork lift would that be Towmotor make?

Keep the updates coming.


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## Cublover

I used to have one like the yellow one. Mine was a Clark


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## Hoodoo Valley

No, actually it's an Allis Chalmers. It's old though!


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## wjjones

Nice job so far Chris. Keep us updated.


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## Hoodoo Valley

I'm throwing down 2X4 channel runners on the underside right now. Almost 400 feet of continuous weld on those alone. These runners will be the cooling system for the engine and also serve as support if the barge hits rockage. Photos of the completed assembly coming soon!


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## Thomas

How many hours a day are you hot gluing/welding on this project Chris?


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## Hoodoo Valley

8 hour days but sometimes I'm out on the lake like last Friday for a 25 minute excursion with no windshield at 35 miles per hour with a heavily over loaded boat! BRRRR! I've got about 40 hours in the barge thus far.


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## wjjones

tractor beam said:


> 8 hour days but sometimes I'm out on the lake like last Friday for a 25 minute excursion with no windshield at 35 miles per hour with a heavily over loaded boat! BRRRR! I've got about 40 hours in the barge thus far.



Has the feeling come back in your face yet Chris? lol


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## Thomas

How's the project coming long TB.


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## wjjones

Thomas said:


> How's the project coming long TB.



I was wondering the same thing he must be busy up to his ears maybe he will catch us up soon.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Sorry Fellas! Been swamped. Really swamped. Bringing this thread up to date, I installed the rest of the trusses and welded them in, then we flipped the barge over on to its top so that I could weld those protective 4 inch wide channel to the bottom to protect things in shallow water. Some of that channel was dammed off to isolate it for the cooling system for the Kubota diesel. On the inside, not photo'd yet, is a crossover manifold to transfer the water from one channel line to the other for return back to the engine. This week, I started on the connections for mounting the removable pontoons. These are fabricated from 3/4 X 8 inch straps, 24 inches long. The tabs are welded 3 passes each side except for the in between welds which are 2 passes and had to be long arced on account of not being able to get the gun in between. of course, as you look at the triple passes that I threw down, I had to put a heavy bevel (chamfer) on each side to accept the multiple passes. Tomorrow, the crew and my boss hit the lake again to finish a pier, while I stay at the shop and weld those connection assemblies to the bottom of the barge, with the non bent straps being set to the side until the pontoons are built probably starting Friday. I also need to get the main barge up on my saw horses so that I can install 2 baffles separating the flotation into three spaces in case there's ever a breach and water comes in. This way the engines will be protected to a certain extent, and it will be more difficult to sing the barge. Speaking of difficult, I get to weld those baffles in overhead with hardwire. Yay! "Christopher Hardwire Gandhi" is up to the task but I'll be wearing full leathers that day! 

The photos!


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## Hoodoo Valley

Just a continuation of the photos........ Third picture is the 1/4 sheet metal for the pontoons. The 2X3 X 1/4 angle for the pontoon trusses is on the floor out of the frame.


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## Hoodoo Valley

So, in these photos are our vertical lath and of course a horizontal lathe and our shop cat Marty who doesn't eat a thing and keeps to himself real well. Hardly even know he's there most of the time.


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## Thomas

DANG..indeed you have been busy.

Pace yourself if you can Chris.


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## wjjones

What kind of sealing/ paint are they going to throw on it?


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## Thomas

About how rolls of wire use so far?


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## Hoodoo Valley

wjjones said:


> What kind of sealing/ paint are they going to throw on it?


It gets media blasted this week, then a fella that has a boat repair and storage business on Priest Lake will be coming in to epoxy coat it with some very expensive paint, then.............. we drop it in the water to check for leaks. No leaks? I then start on the deck framing and sheathing, then the pontoons and associated trusses etc. I already welded those attachment brackets on the main portion with the pontoon brackets on the side while they get fabbed. Pictures coming soon of the brackets attached and the pontoons as I start on them.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Thomas said:


> About how rolls of wire use so far?


Loaded the 3rd roll of 0.45 last Monday and on my 3rd bottle of gas.


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## Thomas

Now thats lot of hot glueing.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Roll 4 went in today, about 140 pounds of wire thus far.


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## Thomas

Lot better than stick welding.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Thomas said:


> Lot better than stick welding.


Oh, brutal for sure. Here's more photos......... First photo is the connections for the pontoons which I began today until the Lincoln quit again. Trigger kept sticking then stopped altogether. Earlier, it was the main power lug wasn't tightened and it stopped then emitted sparks. I've had to fall back to the little Miller 211 a couple times now!


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## Hoodoo Valley

The main portion is on a 24 ton 5th wheel. We put it on the trailer over the weekend. Today, we pulled it outside for the sandblaster guy. This will take a few days to complete.


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## Thomas

...even outside it looks BIG.


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## cviola2005

Just curious why you spaced the middle two bottom runners closer together than the outer two? Does that have anything to do with engine support?


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## Hoodoo Valley

cviola2005 said:


> Just curious why you spaced the middle two bottom runners closer together than the outer two? Does that have anything to do with engine support?


No, there's a welded seam running front to rear and the boss wanted one of the pieces of channel to cover the seam in case my weld fails!

It makes sense to run a channel over the seam though!


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## cviola2005

tractor beam said:


> No, there's a welded seam running front to rear and the boss wanted one of the pieces of channel to cover the seam in case my weld fails!
> 
> It makes sense to run a channel over the seam though!


Oh ok!! I remember seeing that seam, but didn't put two and two together.

Looks good!


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## Hoodoo Valley

cviola2005 said:


> Oh ok!! I remember seeing that seam, but didn't put two and two together.
> 
> Looks good!


My boss welds but really has difficulty and misses the target and quite often the weld looks like a turd sitting atop the steel. 

I'm very confident in my welds but when we first dump this in the water, well, it'll be a nail biter for me largely on account of the fact that structurally, this project has not been looked over by an engineer. I have a little bit of engineering background and there is a couple things that concern me. We'll see. This could be a very expensive fish habitat!:lmao:


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## wjjones

What timline of a finish date are you looking at Chris?


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## Hoodoo Valley

wjjones said:


> What timline of a finish date are you looking at Chris?


What time is it? :lmao: Well, we're shooting for Memorial weekend getting it on the lake making money. Might not be finished by then. Might be still fabbing as it's steaming across the lake..........Pend Oreille, check it out some time. Fairly large lake which gets pretty darn rough at times. It's deep enough to have a Navel submarine station there. No fooling!


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## wjjones

I gotta see it on the water when your done the suspense is killing me.


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## wjjones

https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&source=android-browser&q=pend+oreille+lake

Foxtrotalpha is there.


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## Thomas

Bet there some good fishing.


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## Hoodoo Valley

wjjones said:


> https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&source=android-browser&q=pend+oreille+lake
> 
> Foxtrotalpha is there.


Yep Yep! Google earth Farragut state park and you can see the buildings on the lake that house the subs. Farragut state part used to be the Navy training grounds. You can still see the diving bells there. Lots of buildings got carted off the complex including a small church here that is now our local store.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Thomas said:


> Bet there some good fishing.


I've seen some monsters come out of there. Last summer a fellow caught a 44 incher. I can't remember what it was but I saw it when he brought it off his boat and flopped it on his tailgate. I think they said it was 26 pounds.


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## wjjones

tractor beam said:


> I've seen some monsters come out of there. Last summer a fellow caught a 44 incher. I can't remember what it was but I saw it when he brought it off his boat and flopped it on his tailgate. I think they said it was 26 pounds.



Thats a big fish.


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## Hoodoo Valley

wjjones said:


> Thats a big fish.


I was installing a dock that we built, so unbiased here and I'm not exaggerating but it was huge!. If I'm ever at that part of the lake this Spring, I'll hit the guy up for some photos.


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## cviola2005

How's the project going?


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## Hoodoo Valley

cviola2005 said:


> How's the project going?


Funny that you ask because I have more pictures today of us flipping it over after the bottom was epoxied 3 times. Now, with it on the trailer, I begin the deck and associated framing, then it gets painted inside and out, that's my co worker. Then we put it outside for the time being while I fabricate the 5 foot wide pontoons. Then we outfit the rig with all the fittings.

That's the welder in the background. My friends phone makes me look fat. Not cool!


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## Thomas

Thats lot BIGGER than I thought it was.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Thomas said:


> Thats lot BIGGER than I thought it was.


That's just the middle section too! We start the pontoons soon. 

Today I dropped in the baffles. Tomorrow, I weld those out then off to the floor!


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## Thomas

Keep the updates coming. :thumbsup:


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## wjjones

Whats that thing going to scale out at? Thats alot os steel.


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## Hoodoo Valley

wjjones said:


> Whats that thing going to scale out at? Thats alot os steel.


With the pontoons but not including the pile driver or associated mechanism, not including the engine nor outdrive, it will be around 13 tons and at that point it's figured mathematically to sit 7 inches in the water. It's essentially 39 inches tall not including the channel runners on the bottom. The excavator would not pick it up off the trailer laying flat, so we had to grab just one side to roll it up. That trailer is rated for 24 tons and so thus far, we're not even stressing it yet!


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## wjjones

Would you care to guess at a rating for flotation weight?


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## wjjones

Persons, equipment, and engine are 3 of the factors. I found a few buoyancy/ flotation calculators online.


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## wjjones

Any updates Chris?


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## Thomas

Don't leave us hanging to long w/out updates.:drinkin:


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## TraderMark

I'm following this with great interest.


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## Hoodoo Valley

I'm sorry guys, I've been so busy lately and the head gasket went on one my trucks so been playing the used car lot game.....Geeze. Horrible. Anyways, I attached the support rails for the tops of the pontoons. These have holes that are sleeved for the pins that will connect to the bottom tabs shown earlier in this thread. A similar attachment rail for each pontoon also sleeved, are sitting on the floor waiting for the pontoon assemblies to be completed. Over the weekend, I began the deck. I decided to build it upside down to cut down on the over head welds since I'm using hard wire. The deck framing is 3 inch channel with the exception of the two lengths of box that will also serve as a pathway for the hydraulic lines and electrical etc. The perimeter rests on 1/4 inch angle already welded in place. When this section is completed, we'll flip it over and build the rest of the of deck also upside down, then I hop inside for attaching the 3 inch channel stringers to the trusses. Also not the hatches framed in for access to the engines, the other will house the welder / generator, then on the next side of the first baffle, is another hatch, not framed at the time of pictures, for access to the center portion of the hull, and fuel tanks. The forward hold will have a very small inspection port that is partially framed in. Have to use a great deal of caution not to warp that deck! Already have a small warp right now, which I've put down a hell of a lot more stitch welds since these photos. I'll take the kamera tomorrow!


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## Hoodoo Valley

Thomas said:


> Lot better than stick welding.


Hell yeah! I'm half way through the 6th roll right now, and just put on the 6th tank of stargon, keeping in mind that I'm running between 15 and 20 pounds of pressure so long as the doors stay closed!

Are there any welders in the house?


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## Cublover

(Are there any welders in the house? ) not of YOUR caliber!

It's a good thing I'm good with body work. That's the best way to make my welds look good!


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## Thomas

"Are there any welders in the house? "
6011 & 7018 rods I putter with.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Cublover said:


> (Are there any welders in the house? ) not of YOUR caliber!
> 
> It's a good thing I'm good with body work. That's the best way to make my welds look good!


I bristled just then! Truly honored! Thank you Jerry!  Here's another photo. There's a hatch at the far end and middle but hard to see with the poor lighting in the shop. The two hatches at the rear are 6 foot by 3 foot each. This photo is behind as the deck underside was painted and today we flipped it. It's late, so I'll give you the "crap your pants" story behind that maneuver on Friday along with more photos!


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## farmertim

Calling all Welders.
Three of the best six months of my life was spent TIG welding stainless steel tube at a paper pulp factory.


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## Hoodoo Valley

farmertim said:


> Calling all Welders.
> Three of the best six months of my life was spent TIG welding stainless steel tube at a paper pulp factory.


I'll be welding some stainless here in a few days. Small project. I'll be using rod. First time with stainless.


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## Thomas

:twoonone: Updates???


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## wjjones

[No message]


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## Hoodoo Valley




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## Thomas

Damn that's a lot of metal.


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## Thomas

And the end results where.


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## Hoodoo Valley

So, I visited the shop today. No photos but the owner hired another welder that knows what's going on. The barge is outfitted with an aluminum wheel house that had some horrible welds (mig) and I'm not sure who performed that. The barge is outfitted with a big Detroit with hydraulics that run two hydraulic motors at the screws. He mounted up the spuds and the forklift mast. They've floated it and ran it through trials. It's in the shop now getting some tool boxes added. This thing really is impressive and I enjoyed putting it together.


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