Poured concrete as ballast

[blackrose]

10 hours ago, BEngo said:

 

Maintain ballast?  Few do...

 

I get all the broken concrete slabs out from under the floorboards every year and clean them with a scrubbing brush. 😋

[Alan de Enfield]

4 hours ago, Peanut said:

I cannot find the Utube video, linked to above, only the introduction page.

 

 

 

[Tacet]

20 hours ago, MtB said:

 

 

Colloquially known as 'concrete cancer' IIRC. 

 

I see the Chiswick Flyover carrying the M4 into London is suffering from the same when I drive along the A4 section underneath it.

 

If they end up demolishing it, one or two of the Cray Brothers' victims might turn up. They were rumoured to favour disposing of the bodies by dropping them into the flyover abutments during the concrete pouring. No eye deer if it's true. 

 

 

 

 

One of my erstwhile colleagues had the unenviable task of acquiring and demolishing the then Kray family home in Vallance Road, Stepney by compulsory purchase.

 

Now you mention it, it has been a while since I heard from him.

[ditchcrawler]

I often wonder with these bonded windows what happens when its time for a repaint, bit like bonded solar panels I would expect them to last longer than the roof paint. 

[blackrose]

22 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

 

It looks like a very expensive high spec boat, completely ruined by pouring a load of concrete into the bilges! Why would you do that?

[ditchcrawler]

There was a boat moored at Lowestoft One with sticks and rags as well as an engine that had poured concrete, but they poured a touch too much. The advantage on a sea boat is it cant shift.

[Napton]

22 hours ago, blackrose said:

It looks like a very expensive high spec boat, completely ruined by pouring a load of concrete into the bilges! Why would you do that?

I understood, from an earlier video from these vloggers, that they’d been led to believe it was an innovative method of ballasting a boat. The boat is expensive and indeed high spec but I’m afraid the quality of finish was not up to scratch.

[Napton]

On 05/06/2023 at 14:50, MtB said:

 

Lol I was about to suggest the same!

 

Did anyone ever win their "£200k narrowboat for a fiver" raffle?

The raffle ended last night I believe. The company posted on FB it had been won. What they failed to post was that the lucky winner hasn’t won the boat as not enough tickets were sold. Presumably they’ve won some cash? 

[Momac]

15 minutes ago, Napton said:

The raffle ended last night I believe. The company posted on FB it had been won. What they failed to post was that the lucky winner hasn’t won the boat as not enough tickets were sold. Presumably they’ve won some cash? 

Is this permitted legally?

[Napton]

No idea. It just doesn’t seem the way to operate a professional company!

[Tony Brooks]

37 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Is this permitted legally?

 

I am sure it is all covered in the terms and conditions that buying a ticket signs you up to, but I agree that it is sharp practice.

[magnetman]

There is a thread dedicated to the no-prize boat raffle here 

 

 

[BilgePump]

On 06/06/2023 at 09:27, ditchcrawler said:

There was a boat moored at Lowestoft One with sticks and rags as well as an engine that had poured concrete, but they poured a touch too much. The advantage on a sea boat is it cant shift.

I once had (now scrapped) a 20' GRP sailing boat. The bilge keels were filled with scrap steel and poured concrete ballast as part of the build process. Quite a number of that model saw water get in from leaky windows etc, rust the steel which expanded, cracked the concrete, let in more water, froze, expanded, rusted more etc until it was enough to actually split any weak point in the GRP of the keels, letting in water from underneath, which is definitely a bad thing!

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

Just seen a photo of their boat, never mind the concrete ballest I would say the Cratch just doesn’t work, just looks wrong for the boat with the design and colour, looks like they’ve just stuck a cheap Decathlon tent on the front of a boat costing in excess of £200k.

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[rusty69]

Hey, thats our boat you cheeky sod.

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

Just seen a photo of their boat, never mind the concrete ballest I would say the Cratch just doesn’t work, just looks wrong for the boat with the design and colour, looks like they’ve just stuck a cheap Decathlon tent on the front of a boat costing in excess of £200k.

 

Those cratches are getting very common now, No need to have a board made, the canopy company can do the lot .

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

16 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Those cratches are getting very common now, No need to have a board made, the canopy company can do the lot .

May of looked better in black than silver/grey and the front support hoop was the same profile/height as the roof??

 I’ve seen better looking covers on disability scooters.

Edited August 6, 2023 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[MtB]

I don't think it looks any uglier than most conventional cratch covers. 

 

 

[magnetman]

I much prefer the triangular type with a board. 

[Mad Harold]

19 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I much prefer the triangular type with a board. 

Yes, it's much more er traditional.😝

[MtB]

2 hours ago, magnetman said:

I much prefer the triangular type with a board. 

 

Those with the corners stretched out and distorted to fit over the front corners of the handrails?

 

You think that looks nice?!  🤕 🤢 🤮

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

4 hours ago, Mad Harold said:

Yes, it's much more er traditional.😝

I don’t think it anything to do with traditional cratchs, more to do with what looks right, that one just looks like it’s wrong, colour, fit design/front height. Maybe as their last boat was a Bickerstaffe they wanted the canopy’s to be a feature? If so, I think they got it wrong.

Edited August 6, 2023 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[Hudds Lad]

Saw one the other week that had the steelwork right to the front which had then been painted to look like a cratch, they'd even scumbled the front to look like planks. Not my cup of tea.

[Theo]

On 05/06/2023 at 11:19, BEngo said:

I have had poured concrete since 1989.    It has given me no troubles.  I know of a number of other boats with it, again, they have had no trouble. 

 

 Like everything, it needs to be done well to be durable.  There are a number of lumpy water boats made  out of ferro concrete where a concrete shell is sprayed or trowelled over a steel rod frame.  They are insurable if they have been maintained.  There are even some concrete canal craft dating back to WW1. There are thousands (millions?)  of reinforced concrete structures from bridges to car parks around the world and where these are constructed to a good design and properly maintained they have given good service for many years.

 

 

There are negatives:

You must plan ahead.

 

  Adjusting concrete ballast is noisy, and you need to take the floor up.  You dont need a pneumatic drill though.  A Kango hammer is quite enough.

 

You have to think long and hard about how much you need and the overall trim.   I left myself needing about half a ton of extra loose ballast, which was handy for trimming..  This has nearly all gone overboard  over the years, p as middle age spread has set in.

 

The steel needs to be properly clean, and ideally cement washed before the main pour goes in.

 

You need to work quickly  get it in,  pokered and vibrated solid.  It is physical work.  Bulk concrete goes off quite fast, especially if it is warm- so dont sit down for a brew after the truck driver has shot the load into the bottom.

 

Would I do it again?  Only if I could not get hold of some lead or steel blocks instead.  If the only alternative was bricks or paving slabs, certainly.

 

 

N

 

When we were down at Sharpness a few days ago we went to view the Purton Hulks.  The ferro-cement barges which had been deliberately holed and left there to reinforce the bank we much the best preserved.  In fact, apart from the holes in them they looked perfect.  Built in 1941 and in the weather and not maintained ever since.  Perhaps we should try ferro-cement narrowboats.  They wouldn't need any extra ballast and wouldn't have much room inside either.  The ferro-cement was very thick (about 4"?)

Edited August 6, 2023 by Theo

[Tony Brooks]

21 minutes ago, Theo said:

Perhaps we should try ferro-cement narrowboats. 

 

Having seen the Maid Line staff at the riverside with a bucket of concrete repairing the transom corners on their ferro-cement hire fleet hulls, I don't think that is a very good idea. This was not so uncommon. Probably fine if you have the internal space to make them thick enough, but not narrowboats.