Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

[luckyjr]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

Well close, I married one. Native Texan but call Prairieville, LA home now. Rooster if I am not mistaken Wendell is the only SouthBay dealer around these parts. To answer your question, I have twin 4stroke 135 Verados that you hardly know are back there.

Boogie, I knew it. What I like about canjuns is they work hard , play real hard and Eat even better.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

That's really a neat concept. Is this the pontoon boat on on UTube that folds up on one side and will fit on a trailer?

It's almost like a floating party island. You really should consider turning it into a big tiki-hut with a bar in the middle--and a thatched roof. You could have torches along the rails.

You are truly what we fondly call a "mad scientist." At least your project boat works.

 

[BoogieBarge]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

Thanks everyone. The proof of concept on YouTube was the result of about 150 hours of engineering before the first cut. As you can imagine, the hinge mechanism is the most important parts. Each wing adds over 6ft of beam when extended. The deck space is basically like having more than two boats side by side.

I was worried about overall manuverability but I have to admit, with dual motors I show off turning it around on a dime in the marina. As far as how it rides on the water, check out this vedio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4CyCkhlCCg&feature=related

it is like riding on a tennis court because you feel very little wave action.

 

[Snowfish]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

you feel very little wave action.

Looks smooth as silk. But that's practically calm water. Next time out, in some two footers, shoot another video for kicks. I'm confident it will be fine.

But please don't try to go 35mph.

Awesome design!

 

[wagnerz]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

Why not just buy a 32 foot pontoon?

 

[Blank-N-Ship]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

Why not just buy a 32 foot pontoon?

32' long x 8.5' wide = 272 sq. ft of space
28' long x 21' wide = 588 sq. ft of space

 

[wagnerz]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

There is no way that thing is 28 feet long. Have you looked at it?

 

[BoogieBarge]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

WAGNERZ is right, per the registration it is 26'8" In conversation I give the total length, from the edge of the anchor to the ladder off the back or the space needed to park it. But I didn't consider a measurement at the waterline or anything like that. So actually from the eye of the center pontoon to the back end of the side pontoon is the 26'8" length. For illustration:



Since we are down in the details the beam is more like 21'5" but the total "usable deck area" is less than the 588 figure above.

 

[BoogieBarge]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

First pictures for me of the 2012 season. This was taken in my boat slip on Toledo Bend lake. Starboard engine Mercury 4stroke 135 had problems would only idle for a few seconds. Same thing happen to the port engine last year with a bad float that was replaced under warrenty. Should be ready to parasail in a couple of weeks!

 

[lncoop]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

Can we get that Boogie Barge up to lake Ouachita this summer? That'd be a big hit at the get together.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

Did you try to sell this idea to a major pontoon producer?

If not you aren't the only one with this idea, I saw this same thing probably 5-6 years ago.

 

[BoogieBarge]

Re: Meet the Boogie Barge (21ft wide X 28ft long) folding pontoon boat

Incoop I would love to, but I see you are in Little Rock! The trip to Toledo Bend from Baton Rouge amounted to $200 in diesel ONE WAY! I would have to take out a second mortgage to get up there. I don't know where I should be more disgusted, the fuel prices or the crappy fuel economy that my 6.4 gets...

The idea for this came to me after looking for something similar, namely the RollingBarge out of Oregan. Phill was super helpful and didn't miss a beat when I told him that I decided to build my own instead of going with his product. I was able to reduce the effort to launch the boat to one man in 5 minutes. I get two engines with top speed of 36mph, and a platform for parasailing. I did lose the bathroom, and little deskspace though.

So I am not saying this is the one and only folding pontoon on the water, but going from my sketches to a design to a working proof of concept, it was a fun project and even better now. There is a ways to go before any manufacture can put something like this in production. Tell them to come see me...