Ok, so I was looking for a way to build a boat, and came across a thread on survivalistboards.com about homemade kayaks/canoes. Looks like these people mostly build pontoon houses, but somebody mentioned making a boat from PVC. My brain got to going into overload and I started doing some research, and found this: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xRTbFVrx_1SZGCG7G9JqiA. That got me to thinking about all kinds of possibilities. Obviously that one would be for recreation only, can't really carry much on it. But, if you put a couple of pontoons on the sides, you could put some kind of shelf on the mounts that hold the side pontoons on put a tacklebox and a couple of poles on. Not something you'd want to use on a weekend camping trip or take into whitewater, but for small lake/creek fishing, I bet it'd do everything ya asked of it Ya'll are the yakers though, what are your thoughts?

Edit: Ok, if you lashed a couple of like 4" pieces of pipe perpindicular to the long 'toons to put a seat on, you could use those to slide a 3" or something pipe through to mount the side toons on, might look something like this:

why wouldnt you just buy a kayak. Easier, safer, nicer, faster, sturdier, etc.

I take fatherless youth out fishing and this might be something we could experiment with HMMMMM this could get interesting.

There's an idea. I haven't priced anything, but presumably it would cost all of $50 - $75 to build I'm guessing for the version that old lady is sitting on. You could probably fit several inside a truck bed. On that forum I mentioned, somebody did some math I remembered seeing in high school but wouldn't hope to do now, and they came up with "in fresh water, an 8-ft length of 8-in diameter PVC pipe can float 79 kg minus its own weight." So if you're building something for kids, you could make it even smaller since I only way about 80 or so kg myself.

I have very little extra money and am not looking to do anything I'd need a real kayak for. I mean, I was contemplating getting some sheet foam and filling up a pallet with it and make some kind of floating dock to paddle myself to somewhere I'm not looking to go camping for the weekend or take any 30 mile trips down a river or anything. I mean, I could always do this:
but I thought this pvc thing would be more creative

It is easier to go but one, but they are not studier,faster,safer or nicer.



I have banged off of rocks in the Brazos that would put a hole in most plastic boats. Unless it's a K-1 racing boat or similar it's sure not faster. Once you paddle a wood boat you will throw rocks at plastic.

if you want something cheap get an inflatable raft at walmart

i want something that a hook or a branch isn't gonna poke a hole in, cause i'm gonna be fishing small lakes and creeks that are full of those things. inflatable to me sounds like "fill me up with air so i can run out of it in the middle of the water"

I enjoy making stuff myself, even though it often ends up being more expensive and more work. It's a lot of fun to make something that you can play around with.

yup yup, i didn't post it, but i saw a canoe made with pvc and some sort of plastic (held on with duct tape)...would be cool to make that and instead of the plastic to keep the water out, i'd use plexiglass panels...to me that'd be really cool, but waaaay too much money for what it'd be worth lol, this seems like it'd turn out to be cheaper

saw this one for 250. i have one just like it. i take on trips . rides just as good as my malibu.great way to start out. no roof rack needed. fits in a bag

http://houston.craigslist.org/boa/1731430867.html

These are simple and easy to build, and light weight and just a nice little boat to be proud of and say you built it yourself.
http://www.unclejohns.com/boat/

Where can I find a Fiberglass/Composite Pirogue?My Pops bought one in Alex,LA while visiting family years ago.We caught a mess of fish in that scooter.When I turned 12,I weighed 140(Fatboy)No more tandem fishing after that;I weighed too much.Dig the flat bottoms.

Ok, I'm reviving my old thread, as I have a new idea. I found that the cost of the PVC purchased from Lowe's or Home Depot would cost about $300 to build the simple PVC kayak I originally posted about. I now have a different idea in mind. If PVC is too expensive, why not use what I have?

What I have is empty buckets that used to hold cat litter. They're about 4 or 5 gallons each. I was thinking, if it can be found cheap enough, fill with block styrofoam, leave a few inches near the top and fill the top with Great Stuf (foam in a can) That should keep it cheap, light, and water tight (mostly, if it leaks, that's why ya got all the foam). If block foam is too expensive, find or buy a bunch of the cheapo ice chests or minnow buckets and fill with those. Then attach the kitty litter pontoons to a wooden frame and off ya go!

Let me explain my reasoning behind this. I'm divorced and paying 50% of my income to my ex. So I have very little money to spend on extras. But, I still want to have fun, so I have to find a way to do it cheaply. Finding a cheap john boat with a trailer would be too expensive and too much hassle. This should be light enough to put into or on top of my SUV by myself, and I should be able to launch it anywhere, no boat ramp needed Only problem I have is, now that I live in Oklahoma, I have to have it inspected and register it

Having used pour in foam, I can tell you it is not the greatest stuff. They claim 95% closed cells, but the 5% open is at the bottom of the pour. The worst possible place. The foam in a can does not fill smoothly and will not be cost efficient at any rate. The cheapest boat you could build would be plywood. There are numerous plywood designs. Luan underlayement is the cheapest plywood but it needs to be glassed inside and out or it will fall apart is less than 1 year. That much glass and epoxy is going to cost you at least 200 bucks. 1/4 ACX would be a little better but is kinda heavy. And marine grade plywood is just not cheap.
I designed and built a kayak here a while back from Sheet Styrofoam. It is light and strong an relatively inexpensive and it does not have the problem with falling apart like luan if it gets wet. It is pretty much impervious to water. But again it does need to glassed inside and out. Total cost for a 14 foot, sheet Styrofoam / Fiberglass kayak fully outfitted would be a little over 300 bucks and it will last for years.
Those cheapie inflatables at Walmart would get you on the water, but I wouldn't recommend them.
Buying a used kayak would probably be the cheapest and easiest way to get on the water. You could probably find something in the neighborhood of 200 bucks with some judicious shopping. You should keep in mind that going cheap may not be the best way to go. Might be better off saving and then get what you really want.