After 20 years or so of owning a 40 Ft houseboat, these are some of the suggestions I would incorporate into building a Houseboat or Floating Camper! 1) Fill your Pontoons to 80% capacity with expanding foam. 2) Slow speed on a Houseboat is excellent for sight seeing while travelling the lakes and rivers, but having speed and power in case of emergencies, like major storms, is very beneficial, and if you are caught in a very bad wind storm, you will know what I mean. I would use your little electric motor for emergencies in case you have problems with your main motor, nothing worse than your motor dying on you, and you are floating aimlessly on the lake! 3) try to keep your mechanical and electrical all in 1 area that's easy to get to and work on! 3) DO NOT make the Houseboat top heavy, from the top of the deck to the top of the roof, should be kept to about 6.5 Ft. but under 7 Ft, and try t use as much light weight material as you can. We live on a River in Ontario Canada, and I named our Houseboat, "Sir Roses Of The River" lol I hope it all turned out for you, and that you and your family enjoy it as much as we enjoyed ours! Good Luck!
Well you can call your new project as" Amphibious Home" Its a bit cliche but suits the project on hand. That been said i love your projects and videos, keep up the great work and thank you for providing such amazing ideas.
I over loaded my boat trailer every time I went camping ,I had up grade the spindles bearings and races, for long distance travel . The factory parts were junk. I would add more foam to compensate for the extra weight, that stuff looks dried out it loses buoyancy , you don't have to use spray foam , maybe be some high density foam blocks carved to fit the wells.
I've seen a few youtube videos where they recommend swimming noodles as flotation for fishing boats. I do plan to add more like you said that old stuff doesn't look like it will do the job.
Have to wonder about the structure after removal of those massive fore-aft beams and all the cross bracing. Looks like you might have created a weak center that will flex up and down as well as twist. Probably going to have to make up for it with some additional structure, perhaps built into your superstructure (houseboat frame). I totally understand wanting to get the floor lower though. Hope it works out and will be curious to know (perhaps when I catch up on the build vids) how it performs once it's in the water re the hull stiffness or lack of.
I hope you're going to add that structure support back in to the cabin area. I'd be concerned about a large battery bank in the stern, maybe run them up each side tunnel to help distribute the weight
I see your concerns but most of that structure was to support the deck. Now its like an overbuilt jon boat. Probably will need to move some weight up front unless I can get some tesla batteries.
Boaterhome is good. I personally like Floaterhome. It has a laid back implication which seems to fit your idea. You will probably want more motor than you realize. While you may not be trying to go fast, you will have a lot of surface area for the wind to push against. Without enough power, on a windy day you could get into a dangerous situation if you can't overcome the wind... Just a thought. Either way, looks like a fun project.
Before you attach the floor on the lower level I would look into some type of insulation to go into the spaces you uncovered. I would see what Boston Whaler uses and put it in your boat
If I remember the formula displacement speed ( hull speed ). Root of waterline length times 1.34. Or root of 18' (guess)= 4.2426406 x 1.34 = 5.685 knots. Your guess of 6 MPH may be right on. It is a great candidate for electric drive and 1KW of solar should give you more than enough power. But you may have to add an axle with added batteries and all the build out to make it a houseboat. the old guy Bert
Is that formula good for both planing hulls and displacement hulls? Probably dosen't matter since I am just gong to use it like a displacement hull anyway. I'm still working on answering your comment on my first video, you gave me a lot to think about. It would be really cool to replace sail with solar. Not even sure that is possible.
That formula is for displacement hulls. To recess the hull you are going to have to cut into those longitudinal stringers. That will weaken the hull. The stringers will need to stiffened. If you cut them in half, (long ways), maybe to can use the cut half to sister up to the part still in the hull and bond the two together, (weld, bolts?). Otherwise you are stuck with the current deck level. Make the deck stiff as you will be attaching what ever you build to it and you don't want the cabin tearing off. The water is unforgiving. So is making water tight bonds. a small flaw in one place result in you chasing a leak someplace else and you'll never know how to stop it. Boat building is 90% thinking, 10% doing!! Take your time and do it right.
You're right but he wanted an estimate when running at displacement speed. As for the cutting of the stringers he will need to pick up those cut off stringers with say a bulkhead. Then double up two remaining stringers . Aluminum pop rivets might be the right choice. I would add a ridged rim joist of PT of 2x12 or 3x2x 1/4 aluminum angle to build his house on. Also gusseting to replace the shearing strength that was provided by the plywood deck. Sections of the deck joists will have to go back to keep his gunnel from flexing and stress cracking. But we will have to wait until he has developed what he would like for the house design then work out how to put the structure back. You can bet they did not put in a pound more aluminum than was need to meet specs. the old guy Bert
Campy McBoatyface? :) I've seen quite a few videos now with small boats just using solar panels to move around. Since solar panels are so cheap building a big flat roof out of them for enough energy during sunny days should be relatively cheap. Solar houseboats seem to be perfect, you can travel with them plus you have enough surface area for full energy independence. Plus no regulations or taxes or costs if you shove off your mooring place.
JYDOG you are right this is going to be fun to watch I have a 32ft cruiser have you thought about making your own flooring with marine ply and fiberglass
I have but I thought it might be more cost effective to use salvaged FRP from a box truck box. The problem is finding one. If I can't locate one I'll use the marine ply and glass. What kind of 32ft cruiser?
I have viewed 13 videos for the boat camper. Am I missing some? I do not see a finished product. I have identical boat. Do you believe it is safe to use 10' posts. I'd like loft sleepers. Thank you.
Hull weight is 1800lbs unloaded no motor and max loaded weight is 1730 persons motor and gear. So 3530LBS should be my max without the trailer. I should have some wiggle room after removing all of the stuff on the deck and not using the 130hp motor.
I had that same boat back in the late 90's. You can check the load rating on the axle if you can find some identifying numbers on it. Many of these axles are rated for a #3500 load, not #5000. I would surely check it out. Pontoon boats around this size usually weigh about #1600 dry without the motor and are rated to carry a max weight load of about #1900 of people, fuel, motors and miscellaneous supplies. You can see samples of these specs on several manufacturer websites, for example: www.marathonboat.com/journey/j1885lc.asp
@@justindrake6161 I was just kidding. It's still in my back yard I haven't given up on it but everything in life has gotten in the way of making progress. The dream is still alive
To find out what your hull speed with be, take the square root of the waterline length and multiply it by 1.3 will give you the hull speed. I'm going to guess your WLL is 20 feet the square root is 4.47 then multiply it by 1.3 give us 5.8 Knots that works out to about 6.7 mph. The closer you get to hull speed the more power it's going to take to push the hull in the water. If you can get your hand on one of the high thrust outboards you will be a lot happier then just using any old outboard. The reason is they have a bigger propeller so it bite the water better so you get more push for your horsepower. You have the right idea about keeping the boat light, but I would want to keep the whole package under 3000 pounds if there are no brakes on the trailer. On that venue why not make your own wall panels with sheet aluminum with a foam core with a light plywood skin inside. If you want to go really light look at coroplast sheets.
Yeah, a high thrust 9.9 would probably be perfect. I have surge brakes on the trailer. Boat should come in at 3500lbs and trailer about 1000 give or take. I'll think about your aluminum / foam and ply composite. Looking for the most durable cost effective and best insulation setup I can afford.
After you strip out the hull take it to a scale and get a weight on it. It's a good idea to look at the USCG tag on the boat. This will give you a good idea of a safe max weight for that hull is.
After 20 years or so of owning a 40 Ft houseboat, these are some of the suggestions I would incorporate into building a Houseboat or Floating Camper! 1) Fill your Pontoons to 80% capacity with expanding foam. 2) Slow speed on a Houseboat is excellent for sight seeing while travelling the lakes and rivers, but having speed and power in case of emergencies, like major storms, is very beneficial, and if you are caught in a very bad wind storm, you will know what I mean. I would use your little electric motor for emergencies in case you have problems with your main motor, nothing worse than your motor dying on you, and you are floating aimlessly on the lake! 3) try to keep your mechanical and electrical all in 1 area that's easy to get to and work on! 3) DO NOT make the Houseboat top heavy, from the top of the deck to the top of the roof, should be kept to about 6.5 Ft. but under 7 Ft, and try t use as much light weight material as you can. We live on a River in Ontario Canada, and I named our Houseboat, "Sir Roses Of The River" lol I hope it all turned out for you, and that you and your family enjoy it as much as we enjoyed ours! Good Luck!
Boaterhome seem like a great name.
Boat-A-Home is already taken by a very similar commercial project though.
Off to a good start I can't wait see it finished.
for super lite. cabinets. walls, foam core fabric covered, urithaned. saw on ytube van build very easy and frugal to build.
Well you can call your new project as" Amphibious Home" Its a bit cliche but suits the project on hand. That been said i love your projects and videos, keep up the great work and thank you for providing such amazing ideas.
Love the idea! Even with todays DIY electric technology this should be a definite possibly! Looking forward to your hybrid build!
great start! can't wait to see the progress as you move forward with this project.
Floaterhome. That’s a steal 1600 great job on the start.
I over loaded my boat trailer every time I went camping ,I had up grade the spindles bearings and races, for long distance travel . The factory parts were junk. I would add more foam to compensate for the extra weight, that stuff looks dried out it loses buoyancy , you don't have to use spray foam , maybe be some high density foam blocks carved to fit the wells.
I've seen a few youtube videos where they recommend swimming noodles as flotation for fishing boats. I do plan to add more like you said that old stuff doesn't look like it will do the job.
Have to wonder about the structure after removal of those massive fore-aft beams and all the cross bracing. Looks like you might have created a weak center that will flex up and down as well as twist. Probably going to have to make up for it with some additional structure, perhaps built into your superstructure (houseboat frame).
I totally understand wanting to get the floor lower though.
Hope it works out and will be curious to know (perhaps when I catch up on the build vids) how it performs once it's in the water re the hull stiffness or lack of.
I hope you're going to add that structure support back in to the cabin area. I'd be concerned about a large battery bank in the stern, maybe run them up each side tunnel to help distribute the weight
I see your concerns but most of that structure was to support the deck. Now its like an overbuilt jon boat. Probably will need to move some weight up front unless I can get some tesla batteries.
Boaterhome is good. I personally like Floaterhome. It has a laid back implication which seems to fit your idea.
You will probably want more motor than you realize. While you may not be trying to go fast, you will have a lot of surface area for the wind to push against. Without enough power, on a windy day you could get into a dangerous situation if you can't overcome the wind... Just a thought.
Either way, looks like a fun project.
You are amazing. Love watching your thought process.
Before you attach the floor on the lower level I would look into some type of insulation to go into the spaces you uncovered. I would see what Boston Whaler uses and put it in your boat
If I remember the formula displacement speed ( hull speed ). Root of waterline length times 1.34. Or root of 18' (guess)= 4.2426406 x 1.34 = 5.685 knots. Your guess of 6 MPH may be right on. It is a great candidate for electric drive and 1KW of solar should give you more than enough power. But you may have to add an axle with added batteries and all the build out to make it a houseboat. the old guy Bert
Is that formula good for both planing hulls and displacement hulls? Probably dosen't matter since I am just gong to use it like a displacement hull anyway. I'm still working on answering your comment on my first video, you gave me a lot to think about. It would be really cool to replace sail with solar. Not even sure that is possible.
Will send details if you e-mail me. See PM for address.
Also have some concerns with your stringer cut away; will e-mail some idea's for a solution.
That formula is for displacement hulls.
To recess the hull you are going to have to cut into those longitudinal stringers. That will weaken the hull. The stringers will need to stiffened. If you cut them in half, (long ways), maybe to can use the cut half to sister up to the part still in the hull and bond the two together, (weld, bolts?).
Otherwise you are stuck with the current deck level. Make the deck stiff as you will be attaching what ever you build to it and you don't want the cabin tearing off.
The water is unforgiving. So is making water tight bonds. a small flaw in one place result in you chasing a leak someplace else and you'll never know how to stop it.
Boat building is 90% thinking, 10% doing!! Take your time and do it right.
You're right but he wanted an estimate when running at displacement speed. As for the cutting of the stringers he will need to pick up those cut off stringers with say a bulkhead. Then double up two remaining stringers . Aluminum pop rivets might be the right choice. I would add a ridged rim joist of PT of 2x12 or 3x2x 1/4 aluminum angle to build his house on. Also gusseting to replace the shearing strength that was provided by the plywood deck. Sections of the deck joists will have to go back to keep his gunnel from flexing and stress cracking. But we will have to wait until he has developed what he would like for the house design then work out how to put the structure back. You can bet they did not put in a pound more aluminum than was need to meet specs. the old guy Bert
Home depot sells 4'X8' fiberglass panels that would work great for roofing and siding on your project.
That would definitely lighten it up. I wonder how well they handle the UV rays of the sun though.
They handle it good from my experience in using it for my boats.
Campy McBoatyface? :)
I've seen quite a few videos now with small boats just using solar panels to move around. Since solar panels are so cheap building a big flat roof out of them for enough energy during sunny days should be relatively cheap.
Solar houseboats seem to be perfect, you can travel with them plus you have enough surface area for full energy independence. Plus no regulations or taxes or costs if you shove off your mooring place.
I'd think you'd have to watch your weight distribution.. We don't want the back to heavy with batteries but I'm not sure..
True, but It did have a 400lb 90 hp johnson outboard on the rear before and is rated for 130hp.
JYDOG you are right this is going to be fun to watch I have a 32ft cruiser have you thought about making your own flooring with marine ply and fiberglass
I have but I thought it might be more cost effective to use salvaged FRP from a box truck box. The problem is finding one. If I can't locate one I'll use the marine ply and glass. What kind of 32ft cruiser?
JYDOG I have a carver 3207 it's older but a awesome boat plenty of room but I've always wanted something like what you are doing.
How many pounds of weight was boat originally destined to carry, in both passengers and cargo?
Hi, I am 6 years late to the party but I love your project how can I see the finished boat?
Howabout sail stream project or floating camper....?
I have viewed 13 videos for the boat camper. Am I missing some? I do not see a finished product. I have identical boat. Do you believe it is safe to use 10' posts. I'd like loft sleepers.
Thank you.
Home is where the float is
Find an old semi trailer. That should be plenty of materials for the job.
What does the hull tag say for max weight cap. , persons motor gear?
Hull weight is 1800lbs unloaded no motor and max loaded weight is 1730 persons motor and gear. So 3530LBS should be my max without the trailer. I should have some wiggle room after removing all of the stuff on the deck and not using the 130hp motor.
Yeah you should be in good shape.
I had that same boat back in the late 90's. You can check the load rating on the axle if you can find some identifying numbers on it. Many of these axles are rated for a #3500 load, not #5000. I would surely check it out. Pontoon boats around this size usually weigh about #1600 dry without the motor and are rated to carry a max weight load of about #1900 of people, fuel, motors and miscellaneous supplies. You can see samples of these specs on several manufacturer websites, for example: www.marathonboat.com/journey/j1885lc.asp
Kon-Tiki. Project could be the one !!
:) its got potential. Still working on the Box Truck Camper though.
call it the travel wave 2
NOTE !! Placement of water and waste tank. Weight!
"Mohydrohome" combined abbreviations for motorized hydro home.
Aquastream!
I like BoaterHome!
Call it a caraboat - caravan boat
Solar powered boat!!!!!!
EcoBuilt Cruiser!
Second the Boaterhome ;-)
cool!
The Streamer !
solar powered electric motor is idea i like with gas back up
“ SS Pipe Dream ”
Angel is this you? ( Angel is my wife)
No it’s not. I’ve always wanted to build a electric shanty boat.
@@justindrake6161 I was just kidding. It's still in my back yard I haven't given up on it but everything in life has gotten in the way of making progress. The dream is still alive
Put solar power electric drive
As for a tittle for your project. You said it yourself " another big project "
USS Mr.Boaty McBoat
Name: LEE-KI
name it, MOBILE BOAT
Oh no I'm gonna have to cancel u talking about electric powered u going green lmbo gotta booger u mark being new to channel lol
Boaterhome
DOGHOUSE BOAT
To find out what your hull speed with be, take the square root of the waterline length and multiply it by 1.3 will give you the hull speed.
I'm going to guess your WLL is 20 feet the square root is 4.47 then multiply it by 1.3 give us 5.8 Knots that works out to about 6.7 mph. The closer you get to hull speed the more power it's going to take to push the hull in the water.
If you can get your hand on one of the high thrust outboards you will be a lot happier then just using any old outboard. The reason is they have a bigger propeller so it bite the water better so you get more push for your horsepower.
You have the right idea about keeping the boat light, but I would want to keep the whole package under 3000 pounds if there are no brakes on the trailer.
On that venue why not make your own wall panels with sheet aluminum with a foam core with a light plywood skin inside. If you want to go really light look at coroplast sheets.
Yeah, a high thrust 9.9 would probably be perfect. I have surge brakes on the trailer. Boat should come in at 3500lbs and trailer about 1000 give or take. I'll think about your aluminum / foam and ply composite. Looking for the most durable cost effective and best insulation setup I can afford.
After you strip out the hull take it to a scale and get a weight on it. It's a good idea to look at the USCG tag on the boat. This will give you a good idea of a safe max weight for that hull is.