How do I stick 55 gallon drums together to make a pontoon?

I'm making a pontoon boat to float down the river with my friends and I know I want to make the pontoons out of 55 gallon drums. I just don't know how to stick those drums together. Do I have to get some kind of glue or something?|||yup, strap 'em to the deck. steel bands are ideal, duck tape as a last resort......seat belt straps would do the trick. rope maybe. glue won't really help.|||jb weld and duck tape scatch the surfaces to make the weld have a slot to go into|||If your pontoon boat is just a floater (no motor) - then you can get by with simply building your pontoon's deck and use 2" x 10" or 2" x 12" bow to stern beams on the outer port and starboard sides. These beams need to be positioned so that the side of your 55 gallon drums fit snug between your 2" x 10" or 12" beams. Then you can use "heavy gage steel bands or cable to secure them tightly in place by using bolts to secure the straps to the beams.


Since the drums have ridges, your hull will not be smooth any way - so if you want to space the drums out - to add length to your vessel, this will be ok. You don't have to place your drums end to end - unless you want to - as your vessel is floating with the current, it will float at the same speed and therefore not need to be a smooth drag free hull, as you simply won't have any drag.


You will want to build your deck frame, add your plywood flooring, and then turn your deck upside down to add the drums. You will of course want them to fit as tight and secure as possible.


Now keep in mind that if all you need to do is "float" down river - Your flotation or buoyancy is 8 lbs per gallon, and a 55 gallon drum will float 440 lbs minus the 40 lb weight of the drum. So, figure your drum to float 200 lbs. This way, only half of your drum will be submerged. So if you have 10 of these babies, you can float a combination of 2,000 lbs. So, minus the weight of your building materials, the balance will float gear, equipment, and you and your friends.


As a footnote, if you want this pontoon to last over a period of years - you may want to consider a laminating coat of boat epoxy over everything - drums, straps, cables, wood beams, joists and plywood flooring. Short of that, a good coat of marine deck or topside paint...





Some drums have round "lids". For this type drum, there is a clamp on ring that holds the lid securely to the drum. If in deed you want your drums to be end to end - you can buy and use these rings to fasten one end of the drum to the next. If you do this, you will want to make sure the ring handle or pull is positioned at the topside (next to the deck) and not left bottom side in the water where something could snag on it and pull it loose.


Sounds like fun...





Happy and Safe Boating,


John





Site/page below (about half way down) has a picture of a raft heading down the Mississippi.