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07-28-2011, 06:12 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Trailer: U-Haul VT16
Posts: 987
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Egg Houseboats?
I saw that Scamp/barge photo awhile back, but has anyone else seen fiberglass RVs used as houseboats? It seems like with the construction of some Burros and U-Hauls being 95% fiberglass that they could conceivably be modified into pontoon boats or somesuch.
Heck, you could probably launch Lil' Snoozy just the way it is!
Regards,
Matt
__________________
Planning our next Escape!
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07-28-2011, 06:23 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2004 13 ft Scamp Custom Deluxe
Posts: 8,520
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt in SV
I saw that Scamp/barge photo awhile back, but has anyone else seen fiberglass RVs used as houseboats? It seems like with the construction of some Burros and U-Hauls being 95% fiberglass that they could conceivably be modified into pontoon boats or somesuch.
Heck, you could probably launch Lil' Snoozy just the way it is!
Regards,
Matt
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here's a couple, one from a Scamp brochure...
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07-28-2011, 06:31 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Trailer: 1988 16 ft Scamp Deluxe
Posts: 25,707
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I think it was prior to the hack, but there was/is a picture of a Scamp 13 on a river barge. The crew uses it for a rest area. I think if I was going to float a molded trailer, it would be something completely tubbed like a Casita, (some years of) Trillium, Oliver or an Escape!
__________________
Donna D.
Ten Forward - 2014 Escape 5.0 TA
Double Yolk - 1988 16' Scamp Deluxe
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07-28-2011, 06:35 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2004 13 ft Scamp Custom Deluxe
Posts: 8,520
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donna D.
I think it was prior to the hack, but there was/is a picture of a Scamp 13 on a river barge. The crew uses it for a rest area. I think if I was going to float a molded trailer, it would be something completely tubbed like a Casita, (some years of) Trillium, Oliver or an Escape!
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I'm trying to upload my archived photo from the Scamp brochure Here it goes again
nevermind it looks like it worked , but in a different form!
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07-28-2011, 06:41 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Trailer: 1988 16 ft Scamp Deluxe
Posts: 25,707
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Here Floyd, let me help
__________________
Donna D.
Ten Forward - 2014 Escape 5.0 TA
Double Yolk - 1988 16' Scamp Deluxe
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07-28-2011, 08:01 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Name: Charlie
Trailer: '83 Burro
Virginia
Posts: 405
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donna D.
Here Floyd, let me help
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Oh my goodness, I wanna, needa, gotta have one!!!
I wonder whether I could have a pontoon boat like that made/modified to carry my '83 Burro. Heaven on Earth!
Froggie
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07-28-2011, 10:12 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2004 13 ft Scamp Custom Deluxe
Posts: 8,520
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Frog
Oh my goodness, I wanna, needa, gotta have one!!!
I wonder whether I could have a pontoon boat like that made/modified to carry my '83 Burro. Heaven on Earth!
Froggie
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The caption below the picture read...
"You can even convert your SCAMP Travel Trailer into a houseboat. A customized 29' aluminum pontoon boat can easily handle the SCAMP 13."
The quote and the photo are from the Scamp sales brochure Circa 1983.
BTW , thanks once again for your help Donna D.
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07-29-2011, 09:32 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
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Or you can skip the pontoon bit and just build the trailer so it floats. Here is the amphibian Creighton Gull:
Or, if you can stand the voiceover here it is on video: Caraboat
The Creighton Gull morphed into the more rational Caraboat, which has an active forum here in Britain: The Caraboat Club
The flags are for a trailer-boat festival! You can just see the coupler on the end of the folded-up tongue in the last photo.
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07-29-2011, 10:14 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2004 13 ft Scamp Custom Deluxe
Posts: 8,520
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WOOOOW!
Those are really cool! Dreamboats you might say!
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07-30-2011, 04:50 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Name: Francesca Knowles
Trailer: '78 Trillium 4500
Jefferson County, Washington State, U.S.A.
Posts: 4,669
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We've actually talked quite a bit about fitting pontoons to the Trillium .
Most popular idea is using inflatable bladders like they use to raise boats, etc. combined with some kind of framework that deploys for "launching".
We always get hung up by the (self-imposed) necessity of keeping the trailer functionally similar to the way it is now.
I'd be real interested in hearing others' ideas on the topic, perhaps beginning with how much flotation would be needed to support 2,000 lbs.
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07-31-2011, 06:09 AM
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#11
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Senior Member
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As a naval architect (ship/boat designer) in a former life, that's like a red rag to a bull....
We want to float 2000 lbs. Let's say the floatation device(s) and support(s) will weigh 500 lbs and we want a further 1500 lbs reserve buoyancy - not enough for the sea, but good for calm lakes and rivers - so we need 4000 lbs total buoyancy.
This could be achieved by two pontoons 12 feet long by either 20" square or 24" diameter - they would be maybe 15 feet long overall with a bit of taper on the ends. Add three or four cross-beams that fit under the egg's frame and you've got a practical solution, with a cross-section like the attachment (each bar at the bottom is one foot).
The floats/pontoons have to be mounted so that the egg floor isn't underwater when the 'boat' is heeled over - but in fact getting the floats/pontoons low enough that the door will open over them is actually what sets their height. Remember, extra height means less stability and even on a calm lake you want some stability!
The red line show where the whole 'boat' floats, so only the bottom of the wheels/tyres are in the water, and rust damage shouldn't be a problem.
The circular pontoons look a better option since they can be inflatable and transported in the back of a truck that also carries the (aluminium?) cross-beams on its roof.
But..... the killer question is: how does it get into the water? The floats/pontoons are well below ground level when the trailer is still on its wheels, so they can't be set-up/inflated on dry land.
Some sort of hinging mechanism in the cross-beams so the floats/pontoons can be wound down once afloat could be arranged but that still probably lets water into the trailer while launching.
It might be possible to design the cross-beams and floats/pontoons so that the whole 'boat' could be picked up in the slings of a boat hoist and put in the water - but that then rules out secluded lakes and means only busy waterways can be visited.
So, not ideal. Any suggestions?
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07-31-2011, 06:36 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Name: Charlie
Trailer: '83 Burro
Virginia
Posts: 405
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I'm not a nautical engineer (and don't even play one on TV) but my idea was more along the lines of a glorified ferry... I was thinking that if the egg could be backed down a ramp onto the deck of the waiting pontoon boat, then secured in place with its normal leveling devices/locations and perhaps some straps on the wheels like are frequently used on land based car-carrying trailers. The boat would be a bit larger, necessarily, but it could operate independently and the camper could be driven onto or off of it pretty quickly and easily. Now the deck would have to be high enough and/or broad enough for the door to open freely, and if the floats extend up very high so the deck would be wider, it would have to be extra wide to make the camper be centered. It's probably a pipe dream anyway, but it is fun to dream.
Froggy
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07-31-2011, 09:39 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Name: Francesca Knowles
Trailer: '78 Trillium 4500
Jefferson County, Washington State, U.S.A.
Posts: 4,669
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Thanks, Guys!
But-
Before we go any further, I'd like to get this out of the way:
Q: How do you make a Trillium float?
A: To each glass of root beer, add two scoops of Trillium.
We now return us to the subject at hand...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Gibbens
As a naval architect (ship/boat designer) in a former life, that's like a red rag to a bull....
We want to float 2000 lbs. Let's say the floatation device(s) and support(s) will weigh 500 lbs and we want a further 1500 lbs reserve buoyancy - not enough for the sea, but good for calm lakes and rivers - so we need 4000 lbs total buoyancy.
This could be achieved by two pontoons 12 feet long by either 20" square or 24" diameter - they would be maybe 15 feet long overall with a bit of taper on the ends. Add three or four cross-beams that fit under the egg's frame and you've got a practical solution, with a cross-section like the attachment (each bar at the bottom is one foot).
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I'm glad the ol' "wave a red flag" maneuver worked!
It works on my engineer husband, too- it's just that in his case, he answers so very thoroughly.
While I may come away with a better understanding of some principle of physics,
I'm so distracted by the details that even I can't remember what my original question was.
Those numbers are exactly what I'm looking for as a practical starting point!
And the drawing is very much how I (hazily) pictured the pontoons to be.
We got started on this subject due partly to the fact that we own several (small) pontoon boats of the type in Scott's picture, and seeing them leaning up against the Trillium....
Well, you know how it is!
It's actually beginning to seem a lot simpler than it sounds.
A framework that perhaps pushes in to receivers on the trailer frame, with inflatable pontoons attached upon arrival.
I wonder if one could back in to the water and then inflate the pontoons, raising the trailer clear of the waterline...
Thanks!
Francesca
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07-31-2011, 01:02 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
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Froggy, please see the attached snips from a 1937 Modern Mechanix plans book. If anyone wants the whole of these plans as a PDF, then pm me - but remember to give your email address as the 2.7Mb PDF is too large to send via this forum.
And please notice in the second illustration how the lady is waving wildly on the deck - this is because her husband who is supposed to be steering the outboard round the back has sat down in the lawn chair to read the sports pages.....
Backing the trailer into the water and then adding the floats/pontoons doesn't work well - the water needs to be more than 15" deep for the pontoons to float so by then water is coming in the trailer door and all the chassis has been soaked.
One rather impractical idea that I had to get round this is:
- reverse trailer down slope into water until just the tyres (and not the brake electrics...) are in the water;
- put on thigh waders and walk into water;
- set up axle stands in the water;
- put long planks on seabed behind wheels with ends on the axle stands;
- reverse trailer wheels along planks to end;
- add pontoons as trailer is now in deep water.
Not reversing off the side or the end of the planks would be a stylish addition to this procedure.
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07-31-2011, 01:31 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Name: Francesca Knowles
Trailer: '78 Trillium 4500
Jefferson County, Washington State, U.S.A.
Posts: 4,669
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Hmmmm
Are the brake electrics a major concern? It seems like those could be waterproofed somehow...
I'm surprised and impressed by the British unit- It looks so tall for its width. I thought we'd need to spread out more for stability's sake. That whole bottom of the trailer must be a flotation chamber.
Flotation under the Trillium could be the answer...
By the way, I loved the narrator of the video on the subject of the brakes:
".....just a bit of grease on the brakepads, and off you go! (into the water)"
I think that's the first time I've ever heard anyone say to put grease on brakepads!
thanks!
Francesca
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08-01-2011, 10:38 AM
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#18
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Senior Member
Name: Francesca Knowles
Trailer: '78 Trillium 4500
Jefferson County, Washington State, U.S.A.
Posts: 4,669
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Thanks, Floyd!
I tried to order one, but they're a little behind in production.
Guess I'll have to keep trying to make a Trillium Float...
I've made some progress with the propulsion system!
What do you think?
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Francesca
__________________
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08-01-2011, 10:42 AM
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#19
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Senior Member
Name: Norm and Ginny
Trailer: Scamp 16
Florida
Posts: 7,517
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Mississippi Caravan
There used to be a caravan trip where you put your rig on a river barge and traveled down the Mississippi, stopping at various places along the way. Unfortunately it's been discontinued or it would be my first caravan trip.
Norm
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08-01-2011, 11:57 AM
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#20
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2004 13 ft Scamp Custom Deluxe
Posts: 8,520
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles
Thanks, Floyd!
I tried to order one, but they're a little behind in production.
Guess I'll have to keep trying to make a Trillium Float...
I've made some progress with the propulsion system!
What do you think?
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Francesca
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Stop over, we'll cut the handle off that sucker and mount a Small Block Chevy!
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