Building a $50 Raft
When I got home today, Chad told me his crazy idea to build a pontoon raft. At first I thought the idea insane, but figured it wouldn't hurt to at least do a drawing and make plans for it. Based off some horribly dirty math, I decided that 16 feet of 6" PVC pipe would hold the two of us and our raft above water. But how much does pipe that big cost? We couldn't find it on the Home Depot or Lowe's web sites, so we went to Home Depot, which is only a few minutes down the road. Turns out 6" is hard to find. We found 4" but that would have required using a lot more, plus it was expensive too. The PVC pontoons just weren't going to happen. We did, however, find some under-the-bed storage bins. At 20 gallons each, I calculated, in my head, that four of them would give us enough support for over 600 pounds. Chad and I, along with the raft, were estimated at 400 pounds, assuming a very heavy raft. Yes, we ourselves are very light.
Up to this point I was by no means commited to the idea. Our biggest problem was the board that would form the basis of the raft. We initially discussed plywood, but then realized it was horrible and that for only a few dollars more, we could get substantially higher quality MDF board. A 3/4" sheet was under $20. That's all good and well, but a sheet is 4 by 8 feet. Chad drives a Civic. We sat around for a while thinking about it. Finally commiting to it, Chad called a friend with a truck and asked if he could borrow it. We bought the plastic bins, plus a cordless drill/driver, which we needed anyway.
We then picked up his friend's truck, went back to the Home Depot, and bought the board, some screws, and two broomsticks. Eventually we could add some dustpans to them for oars, but since tonight's test voyage was to be strictly in shallow water, sticks were enough. Chad said we needed a name for the raft. I threw out, jokingly, the SS Duchess Montana; it stuck. We got it all home and set up shop in the garage. I predrilled holes in the lip of the bins. We applied a layer of sealant to the bins and more or less glued them in place, then screwed them in. We then lifted up our surprisingly heavy raft and carried it down the hill to the creek that runs behind our apartment. This creek, however, is by no means remote. It's right down the middle our our apartment complex, flanked on both sides by rows of apartments. Thankfully it was dark and the creek is down low in a valley. We put the raft in the water and it actually floated. I stepped on; so far so good. Chad got on. Yes, water poured across the top, but it still floated. As long as we kept balanced, the top was mostly above water.
The building process was filmed, and we took photos of most of the entire project. Tomorrow, maybe, we'll have a friend over to actually film us on the raft.