Outboard for a 42ft barge

[Markymark]

Hi all, I am very new to boating, I'm thinking of buying a 42ft x 10ft barge it's 6.1/2 ton and apparently it has been built to take an outboard motor (see picture attached)

Could anybody give me any advice on what size motor I would need?

Thanks in advance.

Markymark

 

[Murflynn]

whatever size motor you buy, you should try to get one with a large slow revving prop.

 

10hp will move the barge, 25hp will be adequate for most purposes, but unless it has the large prop there will be little braking capacity.

 

I would ask an outboard specialist for a motor designed for workboats.

[Chris-B]

My advice would be to run away as fast as possible !
Outboards : easy to steal / Need Petrol which is dangerous to store

Good luck

Chris

[Bee]

First thoughts are that it seems to weigh too little, we are 32 x 11'6 with pointy ends and we weigh 10 - 11 tons. Second thoughts are that if it is 'Made for an outboard' it probably just has a big slab of steel as a transom and terrible water flow to a propeller. Third thoughts are that outboards are seldom 'sloggers' and that craft will require a slogger. I don't want to be cruel but I really think that you would grow to dislike that boat when you try to move it.

[NickF]

Outboards on big steel boats really don't seem to work, it makes me wonder what the rest of the hull is like, I am afraid i agree with Chris-B above ..... RUN!!!

Edited October 10, 2016 by NickF

[ditchcrawler]

It would need to have a draft of about 9" to come in at that weight so I take it that is just the steel weight with no fit out.

[zenataomm]

If it's 6 1/2 tons is that unfitted? Because by the time that's done it's going to be more.

The points others are raising above are all relevant and are being asked because

They're important for you to be aware of .....

It's difficult to advise you specifically regarding that boat without knowing those answers .....

 

A piece of advice that applies generally to boats and outboards would be as previously commented about.....

Outboards are built to deliver a quick burst of speed with a narrow wake from a small propeller spinning fast near the surface of the water.

Not a large rumble of water rolling out from under the back from a large propeller spinning slowly deep in the water.

You really need the latter.

 

Do you really want the risk of petrol on board, plus paying double the cost to red diesel? If so we'll all recognise you trudging across fields regularly piled up with containers looking for Service Stations.

 

I'd really be wanting to know the hull profile underwater, who the builder was and why they purposefully built it (as claimed by the vendor) to take an outboard, and what that entailed in the design and build of it?

Without being satisfied about that I'd be off.

 

Edited ~ wally typing

Edited October 10, 2016 by zenataomm

[NickF]

Everything zenatomm says above makes sense. I suppose the only way this could be practical is if it is a houseboat designed never to move or at least only very rarely and even then not very far!

[frangar]

Makes loads of sense to me.....widebeams rarely move so why waste the money/space on an engine that's going to sit idle till it needs to move to the next bridge every month......

 

Yes that was sarcasm!

 

In addition to the points above bear in mind you will need some way of powering the domestic systems....solar is fine but most people find they need to supplement with some form of engine driven charging.....something that outboards aren't good at.....

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[GUMPY]

forget that to far away

Ruggerini used to make diesel outboards

Yanmar I believe still do

Edited October 10, 2016 by Loddon

[zenataomm]

Selva used to make them but didn't have a very good name.

[SimonM]

In addition to the points above bear in mind you will need some way of powering the domestic systems....solar is fine but most people find they need to supplement with some form of engine driven charging.....something that outboards aren't good at.....

 

Isn't that what sockets are for?

 

Maybe this was designed as something to be "moveable", jumping between hook-ups, rather than something truly capable of self-sufficiency..

 

If it's cheap, you intend to leave it on a permanent mooring (esp. in a high cost part of London) then maybe foregoing a proper engine in exchange for more living/ storage space is worthwhile.

 

Ultimately my view is evolution of modern machinery is at least in part shaped by economics(and socio-economic factors), not necessarily "fittest".

Edited October 10, 2016 by SimonM

[Drayke]

You do see outboard engines on some of the smaller EA barges, can’t tell you the size of the engines though.

[Murflynn]

the type of outboard you would need is called high-thrust.

should have low gear and large blade area.

[zenataomm]

 

Isn't that what sockets are for?

 

Maybe this was designed as something to be "moveable", jumping between hook-ups, rather than something truly capable of self-sufficiency..

 

If it's cheap, you intend to leave it on a permanent mooring (esp. in a high cost part of London) then maybe foregoing a proper engine in exchange for more living/ storage space is worthwhile.

 

Ultimately my view is evolution of modern machinery is at least in part shaped by economics(and socio-economic factors), not necessarily "fittest".

 

Well ultimately my view is that the canals are not an alternative housing scheme.

If someone asks on here for advice because they are a Newbie most of us will advise based on our experiences as canal and boat enthusiasts and as people who live on boats as a preferred way of life as opposed to seeing a convenient or cheap alternative.

Many will say essential alternative, yet interestingly after attempting a Winter they view it differently.

 

Living safely and using a boat to best advantage isn't a question of "fittest" as you describe it, it's what works against what doesn't.

Trying to adapt a boat in order to live as if you're in bricks and mortar works about as well as adapting a house to have the same scope as a boat.

Economics or even socio-economic factors do not have solutions in turning to live on the cut, unless ........ you're original interest was there and you have embraced the difference probably beforehand. Or, having now come to the cut you make as much effort to learn about it as you would to living in another country.

Finally anyone trying to go and live in a boat and do it on the cheap is likely to face difficulties they had never envisaged.

Not least of all Staying Legal, Safe & Secure .... let alone Clean Drinking Water and emptying The Bog.

[SimonM]

 

Well ultimately my view is that the canals are not an alternative housing scheme.

 

 

 

I am completely onside with this.

 

A good friend of mine decided a few years ago that he would go this way. He was somewhat down on his luck, and borrowed money from relatives to buy a "cheap" boat.

 

Without wanting to go in to too much detail, he sadly passed away a few years later. However the debts he'd accrued, mainly boat related, had driven a huge wedge between him and his family.

 

Whilst he was in a hospice he asked myself and another of his friends to go and clear out his boat, in part because his family refused to have anything to do with it, in part because he was embarrassed about it's state. The place was complete squalor, milk bottles used as urine holders (he'd stripped out the toilet planning to replace it), rotting food, filthy everywhere and it stank to high heaven.

 

So I have seen how the dream can turn to a nightmare...

 

That doesn't mean people won't continue to view it as a cheap form of living, and products won't be made that cut corners to fulfil that demand

[PaddingtonBear]

Well said Mr Z, the difficulties occur when the two worlds collide esp. with the realisation that it not cheap after all.

Edited October 11, 2016 by PaddingtonBear

[magictime]

As others have suggested, I can only think it was built that way because it was intended to be used as a more-or-less-static houseboat that only moves when being taken to a home mooring, or when in need of a pump-out or blacking etc. If that's how you'd be using a boat, buying this one rather than one with an expensive inboard diesel might make sense. If you'd be wanting to do a lot of cruising, maybe not so much.

[DHutch]

I can only think it was built that way because it was intended to be used as a more-or-less-static houseboat that only moves when being taken to a home mooring.

 

I would agree with this.

 

 

Daniel

[Markymark]

Hi all, I am very new to boating, I'm thinking of buying a 42ft x 10ft barge it's 6.1/2 ton and apparently it has been built to take an outboard motor (see picture attached)

Could anybody give me any advice on what size motor I would need?

Thanks in advance.

Markymark

 

Put the incorrect length of the barge it's 32ft not 42ft I've all so added a pic of the underside

[Alan de Enfield]

Mark - what are your plans for this boat ?

Are you looking for a cruising boat (ie to travel around the canal system), or a 'floating flat' which you will only more to empty the toilet, fill up the water tanks etc ?

 

The suitability of this boat depends on your answer.

[RLWP]

Mark - what are your plans for this boat ?

Are you looking for a cruising boat (ie to travel around the canal system), or a 'floating flat' which you will only more to empty the toilet, fill up the water tanks etc ?

 

The suitability of this boat depends on your answer.

 

Because it is highly suitable for only one of those

 

Richard

[Markymark]

If it's 6 1/2 tons is that unfitted? Because by the time that's done it's going to be more.

The points others are raising above are all relevant and are being asked because

They're important for you to be aware of .....

It's difficult to advise you specifically regarding that boat without knowing those answers .....

 

A piece of advice that applies generally to boats and outboards would be as previously commented about.....

Outboards are built to deliver a quick burst of speed with a narrow wake from a small propeller spinning fast near the surface of the water.

Not a large rumble of water rolling out from under the back from a large propeller spinning slowly deep in the water.

You really need the latter.

 

Do you really want the risk of petrol on board, plus paying double the cost to red diesel? If so we'll all recognise you trudging across fields regularly piled up with containers looking for Service Stations.

 

I'd really be wanting to know the hull profile underwater, who the builder was and why they purposefully built it (as claimed by the vendor) to take an outboard, and what that entailed in the design and build of it?

Without being satisfied about that I'd be off.

 

Edited ~ wally typing

Put the incorrect length of the barge it's 32ft not 42ft I've all so added a pic of the underside

[Graham Davis]

Put the incorrect length of the barge it's 32ft not 42ft I've all so added a pic of the underside

 

Yes, that is the same photo as you posted yesterday!

Could you answer the questions raised earlier, please, about your usage, etc?

Personally I would say that who ever designed that "hull" doesn't know much about canal boats.

[spadefoot]

looks pretty standard to me, pointy at one end, blunt at the other, flat bottom. Not much good for cruising, fine for just floating in some water.