# RV site for Houseboaters



## USMC (Apr 4, 2009)

We have been traveling full time in our RV for a few years now and In two years I'm looking at putting my travel trailer on some Pontoons and start RVing on the rivers of America, I would like to find a houseboat site like this RV site to ask questions, does anyone know of a similar site, I have been looking but so far I have only found sites that want to sell you something or rent you a boat lol. thanks Jim  :8ball:


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## travelcraft (Apr 5, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

USMC  I don't think it would be wise to try to put pontoons on the trailer.  However let me look at some old sites that I used to visit and get back to you.  We lived on board a 38 ft houseboat for three years, the plan was to travel the rivers but gas prices went up and our daughter had some medical problems so we sold it, moved back to land and got a 34 ft older motor home.  Where are you located?  I know of an older 34 or 36 ft houseboat that's for sale and it may be cheep.  It belongs to the guy that bought our houseboat.  Sharn


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## USMC (Apr 6, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

Hi Travelcraft,
Thanks for the response, right now we are in North Florida but will be going north in a few weeks.

What I have in mind may not work and maybe you can tell me why, because of the high cost of house boats I was thinking of building my own and here is what I had in mind, I see a lot of tire places that can't get rid of there old tires and they still hold air so I was thinking if I got those free and put them on a rim and air them up and then put a empty rim in between each full tire and did this the width I wanted my flotation device for my trailer to set on, and ofcourse I would have row after row of these the length of the trailer.

What I have in mind is running a bolt through each of the 5 lug holes and torquing them down then I have planned to run a PVC pipe through where the axle would go and fill it with Styrofoam and connect them all together and make an  additional out rigger also that would run the out side lenght of the houseboat.

 the boat you are talking about that you used to own is it have pontoon flotations? Is the boat aluminum,wood or steel? and if you have any pictures from when you owned it I would be interested in seeing them. Thanks again Jim,alias Redneck house boat builder lol. :clown:


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## USMC (Apr 6, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

By the way Travelcraft I forgot to add the reason for the empth rims is to weld brackets to so I can attach the frame of the trailer to it. Later Jim


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## NORTHENDBUCKEYE (Apr 6, 2009)

RE: RV site for Houseboaters

USMC-  Are you really serious?.......WOW......GOOD LUCK !


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## USMC (Apr 7, 2009)

RE: RV site for Houseboaters

Northenbuckeye,

Hi, LOL yeah I'm serious about that, I think it will work I plan on building a small version first for a test and then if that works I'm going to build a big one for my trailer and enough room for a walk about.

I'm also thinking this would be a great way of making a floating dock or floating swimming platform, and could be done relatively cheap, the reason I decided to bolt the unit together instead of welding it is so If I wanted to add more tires I could or if I had one to go flat I could eventually change it with out to much difficulty. 

I'm also going to experiment with filling a tire with Styrofoam after I seal it with air so it will pop the tire onto the rim and then  let the air out and replace it with Styrofoam.

I don't see why this would not work just as good as having Pontoons and if you had the tires situated vertical and in a forward position the water would flow easy between them.

The PVC pipes that runs through the axle holes and the entire length of the wheels  and connected to another larger out side PVC out rigger would also serve to give more stability and ballast all around the boat. 

If any of you have any suggestions on this let me know as I have never even owned a row boat lol so boating is all new to me, I'm just brain storming to see how I can build this my self with out costing a lot. Later USMC


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## utmtman (Apr 7, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

USMC  I sent you a personal message to possibly help ya.


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## USMC (Apr 7, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

Hi,
Thanks for the advice,I'm on the way to my mail. later USMC


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## USMC (Apr 7, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

Another thing I was considering is taking an 8 inch PVC pipe the length of my travel trailer and mounting it up under the trailer above the axle on both sides, what I have in mind is making this a holding tank for black black water and gray for a longer dry camp stay and of course one would have to dump before he left the dry camp site to get rid of the weight, We camp at State parks that have no sewers but do have dump stations,an 8 inch diameter pipe  the length of ones travel trailer would hold a lot of black and gray water.

I'm thinking this could also be done on on the house boat conversion as it would be sealed in the PVC and would also help some what in as a flotation device.

IT would also be possible to attach these 8 inch PVC under your rig for extra fresh water, like I say one would have to empty them before he left the camp site to eliminate the road weight. 

It might be that one would need to put these PVC under your trailer in two sections depending on the obstructions.
Later USMC 

 :approve:


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## *scooter* (Apr 7, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

This sounds like a huge project.  Would just a pontoon boat with floor do, then secure the RV to the boat.  Here in California, there was such a system they used in the Delta I beiieve.  It was a rental situation if memory serves me correctly.  I don't think it's in business anymore.


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## USMC (Apr 8, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

Yeah Scooter it would probably be better to do it like that but those Pontoons are pretty pricey from what I understand and I thought maybe this would be a cheap way to accomplish the same thing, I may end up at the bottom of river lol.


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## *scooter* (Apr 9, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

Well, I'm sure that wouldn't be a good thing, lol.   There might be something used out there too. It's a whole new subject.


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## LEN (Apr 9, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

Neat project,
Have you played with how much buoyancy you would gain with each tire and then calculated how many it would take? With the experience I have(very little) I think the buoyancy gain with each tire would mean you need many more than the size of a house boat a lot bigger. Then the power it would take to move this trough the water, seems like it would be like moving a house just thrown in the water around.
Think I would search on old pontoon boats where the the living or activity level has rotted and the pontoon structure would be ok. Can't recall where but I know I have seen several around just sitting in disrepair a person should be able to pickup for a song(and a dance). Or how about old aircraft fuel tanks or 55 gallon drums welded length wise with pointed ends, could be filled with expandable foam for leak safety.
Good luck!!

LEN


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## USMC (Apr 10, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

Yes that was a concern I have and I plan on doing some research on that as I don't know how to calculate it.

I was thinking as you are that you might be right about that it could be larger to displace it or reduce the amount of tires I also was wondering about if it would be possible to build a fake hull around the front and side to break the water around the tires and frame.

I'm going to add a link here with pictures that was interesting I found while doing searches on this subject. Thanks later USMC  LINK


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## LEN (Apr 10, 2009)

Re: RV site for Houseboaters

Here is a link to a quick search I did. I am sure the pontoons are around the country. But it is build it yourself and you have the weight of your RV so a calculation could be made to see how many $$$$ it would cost. Maybe even find used parts.
http://www.u-fabboats.com/docks/docks.htm

LEN


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## USMC (Apr 10, 2009)

RE: RV site for Houseboaters

Thanks Len that is a good site and it also gave me prices on Pontoons, they are pricey but not as bad as I had heard, I will be bookmarking and accessing it frequently I suspect, thanks again. Jim USMC


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