Barge pole

[Opener]

Now that beavers are more common on the waterways, my bargepole or barge pole of indeterminate age (20+??) is showing signs of deterioration (!!!!). 

I've just acquired a nice new one - what are the panels views on protection bearing in mind that it lives on the roof 24/7/365? I have considered leaving it to natural weathering, painting (primer plus gloss), or varnish. 

Oops! It's wood - maybe ash.

[MtB]

"Barge pole" is something non-boaters usually say you wouldn't touch something else with. The normal term for this item amongst proper boaters (whatever they are! is a "long shaft"  

 

 

 

But to answer your question, just leave it on the roof until it starts rotting which will usually take getting getting on for ten years, then buy a new one. Any finish you apply to it wont last long if it gets any amount of use. 

 

 

[agg221]

45 minutes ago, MtB said:

"Barge pole" is something non-boaters usually say you wouldn't touch something else with. The normal term for this item amongst proper boaters (whatever they are! is a "long shaft"  

 

 

 

But to answer your question, just leave it on the roof until it starts rotting which will usually take getting getting on for ten years, then buy a new one. Any finish you apply to it wont last long if it gets any amount of use. 

 

 

I disagree. We bought ours 4yrs ago (ash) and gave it a good coat of primer and gloss topcoat. It has held up well, only having worn off the ends. It will get re-done this summer. I reckon it will last a whole lot longer than if I had left it as ash is not particularly durable.

 

Alec

[David Schweizer]

50 minutes ago, Opener said:

Now that beavers are more common on the waterways, my bargepole or barge pole of indeterminate age (20+??) is showing signs of deterioration (!!!!). 

I've just acquired a nice new one - what are the panels views on protection bearing in mind that it lives on the roof 24/7/365? I have considered leaving it to natural weathering, painting (primer plus gloss), or varnish. 

Oops! It's wood - maybe ash.

 

I hope your new your pole is Ash, which will bend and not split or shatter under pressure. If it is pine or some other softwood, it could split and cause serious injury if it breaks under pressure. Throw it away and get an ash one. As already mentioned, there is no need to paint it, unless you want it to look pretty, it will suvive without any decoration.

[Arthur Marshall]

I gave mine a coat of primer and top coat. It doesn't get a lot of use and must be well over ten years old by now, still in good nick.

 

[Stroudwater1]

We’ve put several coats of linseed oil on ours, pretty simple to do. Perhaps it’s useless but it seems to retain its colour well? I believe you need to dispose of the rag carefully. 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

9 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

I believe you need to dispose of the rag carefully

Get the fire going with it 👍

[MtB]

My ash longshaft is about ten years old now and its fine. 

 

Cost £36 from Rose NBs. That's £3.60 a year and falling. 

 

Probably would be fine too if I'd wasted five hours sanding and varnishing it! 

[MrsM]

I painted our ash pole in foot wide stipes in the boat's colours. This was useful for quickly checking water depth. Primer & topcoats. It still looked like new when we sold the boat. 

[Tonka]

8 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

We’ve put several coats of linseed oil on ours, pretty simple to do. Perhaps it’s useless but it seems to retain its colour well? I believe you need to dispose of the rag carefully. 

We do ours with Danish oil

[BilgePump]

I made my own from a 10' straight ash branch. Ripped off the bark with a drawknife, left it to season for about 2 years and then gave it raw linseed oil every day for a week, every week for a month and then every month for the rest of the year. As said above the rags need to be disposed of safely, burn them in a steel bin outside. Reason is that if left in piles they can spontaneously combust.

[GUMPY]

My shafts were over 20 years old when I sold the boat both in perfect as new condition.

The secret to their long life?

They were Aluminium tube. 

Lighter and easier to handle plus mine floated as the ends were sealed.

Just never use them as a lever after all  that is what the gangplank is for.

 

 

 

[robtheplod]

When we got the boat i removed the paint on our barge/hook poles on advise as paint often hides splits (??). I've put on Danish oil and we leave them on the floor in the boat tucked out of the way so they dont get weathered. We can still get them quickly.....

[magnetman]

55 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

My shafts were over 20 years old when I sold the boat both in perfect as new condition.

The secret to their long life?

They were Aluminium tube. 

Lighter and easier to handle plus mine floated as the ends were sealed.

Just never use them as a lever after all  that is what the gangplank is for.

 

 

 

Aluminum is the way to go. I've been using ally for a while they also don't acquire a bend which so often happens with wooden shafts. 

 

 

[Mike Tee]

What size ally do you use? (Wall thickness and diameter)

[magnetman]

https://www.aluminium-online.co.uk/product/35mm-x-2mm-aluminium-round-tube/

 

Other suppliers available. 

 

 

Then get a 32mm wood dowel, slip it into a piece of bicycle innertube so that the innertube is longer than the dowel, soak it in water then knock it into the end of the pipe. 

 

A plug lined with innertube material will never come back out. 

 

Or one could use sikaflex to take up the small gap. 

 

 

It is nicer to have machined nylon plugs in the ends which are the made with a step so as to be the same size as the tube itself and provide a non sharp end but then you need to find someone to do the lathe work. 

 

Like this 

 

[David Schweizer]

RE:-  Disposing of oil soaked rags, I have been using linsed oil in its various forms (Raw, Boiled, & Pale Boiled) for decades, and have never experienced the spontaneous combustion that various people predict. I am convinced that it is an urban myth promoted by the internet and people who have never used linseed oil on a regular basis.

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

RE:-  Disposing of oil soaked rags, I have been using linsed oil in its various forms (Raw, Boiled, & Pale Boiled) for decades, and have never experienced the spontaneous combustion that various people predict. I am convinced that it is an urban myth promoted by the internet and people who have never used linseed oil on a regular basis.

 

I seem to remember the risk of it happening being mentioned on the tin when I last used some, 50 years ago. 

 

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Probably dates back to when old codgers always had a fag on go,

and chucked the cigarette ends in the bin,

”weren’t me gov. spontaneous ain’t it!”

[Wafi]

17 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

RE:-  Disposing of oil soaked rags, I have been using linsed oil in its various forms (Raw, Boiled, & Pale Boiled) for decades, and have never experienced the spontaneous combustion that various people predict. I am convinced that it is an urban myth promoted by the internet and people who have never used linseed oil on a regular basis.

I managed to do it once (on purpose). The issue is that part of the curing process is exothermic; I've variously heard claims that it's oxidation of some component of the oil, or latent heat of fusion as the liquid solidifies; solvent evaporation would be endothermic, so it can't be that. I threw a load of loosely scrunched-up Danish Oil rags into an biscuit tin on my patio, in the sun, on a very hot day, and they went up after maybe half an hour.

 

Having proved that it works, I tend to leave them hanging in the workshop to dry, well spread out and away from things that are obviously flammable.

[GUMPY]

2 hours ago, Mike Tee said:

What size ally do you use? (Wall thickness and diameter)

50mm x 2mm from memory, it's 2 years since I last saw them.

You can only push with them not lever but as said that's what the gang plank is for.

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2025 by GUMPY
Clarity

[Alan de Enfield]

 

Aluminium scaffold pole.

Available in all sorts of lengths up to 6 mts and easily available for scaffolding companies as they have to replace them every few years as they go past there 'best before date'.

 

Strong enough to use as levers if that is your wish.

 

Also suitable for use as a 'cheater bar' on over-tight wheel nuts on a JCB.

 

 

The new 20ft aluminium scaffold tubes (6m) we have for sale have an outer diameter of 48.3mm, a wall thickness of 4mm, and weigh around 10kg each. Each tube has been manufactured to BS1139 standards using the highest quality BS EN755-2-2008 aluminium metal with a tensile and shere strength of 260Mpa and 170Mpa.

[Hudds Lad]

Sand it, Danish Oil it, that way you can visually have a clue if it starts to fail.

 

I'll get round to ours this year, honest. Currently lives under the gunwhales out of the way-ish until needed.

[blackrose]

7 hours ago, GUMPY said:

My shafts were over 20 years old when I sold the boat both in perfect as new condition.

The secret to their long life?

They were Aluminium tube. 

Lighter and easier to handle plus mine floated as the ends were sealed.

Just never use them as a lever after all  that is what the gangplank is for.

 

 

 

 

I did the same, aluminium scaffold pole with 2 plastic end caps stuck in with sealant.

[Tony Brooks]

42 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I did the same, aluminium scaffold pole with 2 plastic end caps stuck in with sealant.

 

Ditto, but I put a very tatty long shaft inside it before sealing the ends. It still floats and is an even stronger lever.