When life gave this guy pickle barrels, he made a DIY boat and you can too, following his example.
Youtuber Supergokue1 is no stranger to diy. His channel is filled with gadgets and projects, including his quest to create the world’s first $10 wind turbine that can be built anywhere to supply low voltage electricity! We first saw his awesome little diy boat at Bryan Lowe’s great shanty boat blog!
The simple materials, easy skills and common tools make this project perfect for the boat enthusiast who has to limit their projects to weekends and time off from work. The basic version could easily be ready for the water in an afternoon and construction can be completed using a jigsaw and a cordless drill.
This design makes good use of Archimedes principle of buoyancy, employing an empty plastic pickle barrel as the hull of this diy boat. The plastic is naturally watertight and the shape of the barrel makes it fairly aerodynamic, with little drag.
One major hurdle with a cylindrical hull is balance. To prevent this little diy boat from rolling and to add buoyancy, PVC pipe outriggers and pontoons were added, giving it a vaguely water-buggish appearance.
Supergokue1 had this to say about his first build video:
This was my first try, before I started putting motors on them. The space was a bit small, but I had no problem getting in and out of it.
And like most visionaries, he was all about the inspiration!
I hope it gives someone good ideas!
Once at sea, the boat had some minor issues, requiring a bit of jerry rigging to maintain the balance, and it took on enough water to require minor bailing. All in all, the prototype fared well, and Brian returned to shore safe and sound. That’s what we call a successful diy boat build!
If you intend to build a pickle barrel boat of your own, you may want to do some calculations on the buoyancy of your pontoons to ensure you have enough “float” to keep your head above water.
The video has had mixed reviews from its audience. One jokester had this to say:
Dude go get yourself a Kayak…That thing doesn’t look safe…You can find yourself in a pickle….Things can go sour…sorry for the Puns.
But another craftsman liked the general idea and had some solid advice for the next generation:
Why not use glue and primer on all of the pvc joints? I’m a plumber and it just seems obvious to me, our piping often gets tested with compressed air or water and the joints do not leak. It seems like solid glued piping will be full of air to displace more water than those foam mats, also three inch glue caps on the ends of all open pipes will give it less drag and insure that no water gets in. Otherwise, great design. thank you.
You can get a look at two upgrades to this interesting diy boat here, with larger pontoons, and here with a sci-fi aesthetic vaguely reminiscent of an X-wing fighter, both upgraded boats make use of a trolling motor for greater mobility.
