Could possibly float boat
 

I am going to try to be eco-friendly and green and use recycled foam to build a boat. My dad gets foam by the truck loads (literally) when he unloads lumber trucks and it normally gets trashed and eventually ends up in a dump. Not cool. Its some kind of blue foam, usually 4x4 or 6x4 logs and are typically 8ft long.

My goal is to get a boat that will support 3 people or more (around 500lbs), have storage space, and be able to withstand Lake Michigan abuse. And my budget is about $50.

I should have updates tomorrow.

$50 budget?!:surprised:

haha you mean your gonna build a barge?:yes:

nah its foam whick means u can shape it however u want, you could build a pretty sweet boat with a good amount of hard foam i would make a rough form and carve it out. best of luck

Not really a barge, more like a jon boat, but bigger.

$50 is only a budget, if I have to, of course I will go over it. I get all my foam materials for free though. That will probably be the only material structure of the boat.

its probebly stuff called blue core.... its a high density foam sometimes used in RC planes....

would be good to see, are you going to work out how much you need? or are you just gunna through it all together and see what happens?

Well I am going to work out roughly how much I will need going across and then work my way up. The side of the hull will probably be pretty high and dense.

I am going to be looking at boat hull designs tonight to figure out what I want to shape it after and what would work best for me. Probably either a vee hull like on my jet ski or a catamaran. Both will offer tons of stablility.

id flat bottom it with a front curve just like a jon boat. will make it less tippy and help boyancy

I think I will but also give it a small vee slope to make it a little more controllable.

So far it looks like my dimensions are going to be 8' by 4' and a half. Id love to add a cab to it, and possibly a small storage cabin underneath. I will also have a rudder and possibly have it hooked up to a steering wheel.

are you goign to somehow seal the foam? i guess i just dont understand how dense this stuff is....do you tink itll push in with the weight of people on it?

Yeah the foam will be sealed. I might even go ahead and put a layer of fiberglass epoxy resin on it.

It shouldnt push in. The deck should be pretty thick by the time I am done. I will have a lot of foam built up in the hull.

What kind of adhesive are you going to use?

For the deck and possibly the outside, you might want to consider skining it to aleviate potential damage from beach rocks, shoes, etc. Maybe some plywood for the deck, some kind of laminate for the outside (I guess the fiberglass would work there). Once you skin foam, its dang tough.

I am thinking I will use whatever works best. Maybe some kind of marine epoxy.

Whats skinning the foam?

i asume it means putting a protective layer on the foam.... like skin....

Yeah, you want to put at least 2 layes of fiberglass on the outside, and I would do the inside too. Basically foam core that way. FG is not cheap, but you will have a robust structure.

pedebasher... do whatever floats ya boat... sorry, i had to say that :P

how is it powerd? padels? and i asume your going to have a rudder right?

good luck on the project, and get some pics up after, would be great to see this... and maybe the "skin" could also be something recycles... thin aluminum maybe or some plastic sheet from something....