How to get a car onto a boat?

[Gary Peacock]

We are in the very early stages of designing a 60ft or so by 12ft barge for European waterways.

 

Nothing much new in that but the customer wants to be able to carry a Smart car on it! Now these cars are small and relatively light but the question is how to get it on and off plus where is the best place to put it.

 

This is very much a blank sheet of paper project so the hull can be built to incorporate features to accomodate the car.

 

So what do you think about the idea or how would you do it?

 

Cost within reason will not be a great issue.

Edited July 21, 2007 by Gary Peacock

[NB Willawaw]

This is done regularly in Holland and on the Rhine.

With a bit of googling, you should be able to find some pics and source the small hydraulic crane they

normally use.

 

Edited July 21, 2007 by NB Willawaw

[denboy]

What about a rotating platform with some hinged ramps

[Gary Peacock]

Yes the first thoughts were for the Hiab type approach but simple ramps or an unfurling gang plank type arrangement were too.

 

I did find THIS a Barge with a mini on it!

[denboy]

Yes the first thoughts were for the Hiab type approach but simple ramps or an unfurling gang plank type arrangement were too.

 

I did find THIS a Barge with a mini on it!

 

 

Similar to what i was thinking but fitting a turntable on the boat so you can rotate it 360 so you wouldnt have to reverse off just push it around to which ever side you want to take it off and locate the ramps so that they can be slid out from underneath like on recovery trucks

[NB Willawaw]

I remember seeing a similar turntable arrangement for a motorcycle.

A Smart car isnt much bigger.

[carlt]

You could install one of these:-

 

[Jason Wilson and Family]

I would think the other benefit of a turntable is being able to ensue the car is in the center or the barge. What about 8-10' of tug deck with a turntable and folding ramp? Then perhaps a ballast tank to get the boat to 'kneel' and compensate for the height of the tug deck? This way they still have the useful space inside the boat compared to the low decks on the barges pictured.

[denboy]

Just had a brain wave electric turn table from a car dealer the ones they have in show rooms ready made for the job

[Christine]

Most working French péniche carry cars.

 

Here's one on a previous post I made: Péniche.

[arlow11]

wow the The Rolling Bridge, Paddington how does it do that, the first lift and curl ? some people are sooooo clever...........the thought of a mini one on a boat so you could park up on the other side of the canal and remotely curl up your plank

[david and julie]

I can understand the turntable idea on a narrowboat for a motorbike, where the bike may be wider than the boat, but this isn't the case here. Surely ramps eitherside (even if this means extension ramps of some description) would be much simpler than turntables?

 

My view (for what its worth ) A turntable is overkill, A Hiab is probably the best, but would take a lot of steelwork below decks, which may get in the way, it would also be expensive and the owner may have to be certified(licenced not a nutter ) to use one. I would go for runners??(like an old fashioned recovery truck) across the boat and ramps eitherside. I would mount a winch on the centre line which would(could) let you winch from eitherside. To load the car I would put the handbrake partly on and winch the car aboard, I would NEVER let anyone drive or sit in the car whilst it was being loaded(French canals can be deep). You need the handbrake on enough to hold the car if there are problems, but not enough to lock the wheels up.

 

If pots of money were involved, I would give serious thought to the way a skip truck works( but inverted through 90 degrees)

Edited July 21, 2007 by david and julie

[NB Willawaw]

The more I read on this subject, the more convinced I become that the ramps are the way to go.

 

1. Presumerably the beam of the boat is sufficient to allow the car to sit on the roof or deck across the boat ?

2. If this is the case, the car can be driven forwards or reverse on either side, so a turntable would not be necessary

3. It would need some form of lift up barrier or wheel chocks to stop it being possible to drive over the boat into the canal.

4. I wonder how the top weight would affect the centre of gravity on the boat - a 60ft x 12ft is not that big and its bound to

affect the roll duration.

[david and julie]

3. It would need some form of lift up barrier or wheel chocks to stop it being possible to drive over the boat into the canal.

The ramps themselves could easily do this.

 

I am thinking 2 sets of ramps, one eitherside, which is better anyway. If you had 2 upstands,each side, made out of channel or folded flat, welded or bolted down. You would then put the ramps(lengthwise, on edge) into their respective pair of channels, one on top of the other.If the ramps were say 18" wide this would give you a barrier 3ft,or more,high. This would also be a safe storage place for the ramps. Obviously you only remove the ramps on the side you are working and leave the others in place.

[bottle]

So far there have been many ways of getting the car on or off the boat but how is the boat to be made stable as the car is driven/lifted.

 

I realise that it will be a 'widebeam' but a car weighs a lot more than a bike.

 

On Waterworld I remember seeing a motorbike being lifted aboard into the cratch area the lean on the boat as the bike was lifted was frightening, even using ramps the boat will heal over.

 

They do it on the continent, so it is possible.

[Hekaterine]

Not a problem for you Gary as you are designing and making it but you'd think it would scream 'vandalise me' to the local yoths. Setting a boat adrift is considered great fun, imagine all the things you could lob at a boat with a car on it.

[NB Willawaw]

Yes but the car is for use on boat, on the continent.

They don't have quite the mindless yob problem we do in rural France.

 

I don't think there are many places here in the UK that you could drive the car off anyway.

[Maffi]

How about an underground carpark?

Edited July 22, 2007 by Maffi

[5thHorseman]

http://www.driveawaymat.co.uk/4.html

 

a tad expensive but might do the job

 

5th

[blueprince]

Instead of hydraulics, why not a center mounted balance arm/counterweight, as long as the cars weight is known, and there is a small allowance for fuel/baggage. On the other hand, sideways ramps with some sort of ballast shift,counterweight arrangement, can't see any other way.

[jayjayranger]

maybe a forklift company can help. you to rig up something to the back of the boat. with extending arms .ramps sound useless not unless your a stunt driver. great progect

[howardang]

Stability is the biggest issue. Make sure that worst case scenario stability calculations are carried out for all tanks slack - especially if a crane solution is chosen. When a weight is suspended the rise on COG is significant in that the weight is acting from the tip of the jib, not from the centre of the car.

 

If a ramp option is chosen watch out for the problem of grounding as the car rolls over the ramp. When the boat sinks slightly under the weight there is a danger of reducing the under car clearance. The design of the ramp system should allow for different bank heights.

 

Howard Anguish

[Jason Wilson and Family]

Possible solution for the tipping fears, though I never stuck with engineering so I can' be certain. I'm thinking of the hydraulic stabilising legs on large cranes. Before the ramps come down legs on the bankside extend out of the hull and put pressure down onto the bank. The ramps can then come out and the car brought up with the additional weight already supported by the legs.

[stuart]

How about towing a butty with the car in it??

[carlt]

you could always tow it: