Building a floating raft (using barrels) with children's slide

This is an instructional video on how to build an 8 x 8 floating raft with or without a slide. Kids love it!

[@Aezelll]

Galvanized deck screws? Generic galvanized deck screws in chemically treated lumber in a marine environment will disintegrate so fast it will make your head spin. For a project like this where you have already invested a ton of time just drop the extra $20 and get stainless steel structural screws. They'll outlast the wood.

[@capercamper]

thanks for the advice, I will keep that in mindcc

[@softmetals3702]

looks like the frame work is kd.

[@theflash4715]

Putting a sock over the mic will delete any outside noise from the wind while you are taping the video.. Thus making it easier to hear everything you are saying & keeping people watching your videos.. I get all my barrels for free from the fish hatcheries in NY State. I stopped watching because I can't hear you over the wind noises, BYE

[@robertcaine4268]

thanks for the tips!!

[@capercamper]

thank you, I will try this in the future cc

[@capercamper]

thanks for watching and commenting cc

[@goldstandard3714]

$200-$250, LOL Welcome to Biden's America. My 12'x12' will be $2000 #FJB

[@juliabush2348]

dude this dude builds a cool ass raft, 99% of it he does in front of the camera . why bitch about the wind. Just look at the screen lol. cool vid dude

[@capercamper]

thanks for watching and commenting cc

[@galadriel4025]

I noticed your barrels are the blue chemical barrels. Can I use the 55 gallon black pickle barrels with a screw on lid instead? I wasn't sure if there is a difference in the thickness of the barrels?

[@capercamper]

Hi... the thickness of the barrels would not make a difference as they are being used for buoyancy only, I am not familiar with the screw on lids you are referring to, as long as they are water tight I couldn't see it making a difference. Good Luck and thanks for watching cc

[@Hambonedobro]

Just a gentle reminder: Pressure Treated Limber is NOT treated against water ... It's treated against insects (Termites in particular). You should still treat the lumber (both sides) with something similar to "Thompson's Water Seal". Otherwise, an excellent video !

[@SherrickDuncan]

Why on Gods green earth would you add water to a floating barrel that you want to float? You can't just randomly say something like that with no explanation and no context as to why given??

[@capercamper]

Thanks for watching and commenting ... if you actually watch the whole video , the water in the barrels comment is not random and without explanation as you suggest. If you knew anything about buoyancy and fluid displacement , you would know that it is quite important to mention water in the barrels as an option. Depending on location of the raft or dock , you may want to have the platform sit lower in the water for a variety of different reasons... safety being one of them. While barrels are great to use to build docks and rafts (and a cheaper alternative) , they can be 'tippy' . As mentioned in the video , putting water in the barrel brings it closer to the water and takes some of the bounce out of the structure. I appreciate all comments, hopefully I clarified for you, thank you

[@SherrickDuncan]

Thank you. I did watch the full video. No I know nothing of those things. Thanks for elaborating.

[@flashatrno]

I've read several articles saying that treated wood kills fish, but most all of these videos show treated lumber being used. I wish I could get a consistent answer to this dilemma. Can someone shed additional light on this?

[@theemeraldfox7779]

You shld have cut old tires up into strip to secure the barrels

[@capercamper]

+TheEmeraldfox thank you for the tip... the barrels are more stable with some support. In my last dock video I stabilized the barrels with scrap wood and they havn't moved.thanks for watching cc

[@zdproductions3903]

My mom has thos weird blue barrels lying around and I wanna sail the world with one!

[@capercamper]

This vid was shot in Canada, thanks for watching.

[@capercamper]

thanks for watching video, lumber cost ( I think ) in the area of $ 200-250, I live near a bottling plant and was given the floating barrels so I'm not sure what their value is. I bought the slide second hand on Kijij for 20 bucks.

[@73dems]

Hi again. I am looking for barrels but not having much luck. Are they still readily available in your area? I am in Truro and will travel to CB to get them.

[@capercamper]

@@73dems The guy I use to get them from retired... I will touch base with him and see if he can still get them. Leave it with me for a few days. This person isn't easy to get hold of.

[@capercamper]

I got hold of the person and I can get the barrels

[@greenfield1944]

One thing to know is that the "Authorities" do not allow pressure treated wood in the water, in Canada anyway, but very hard to enforce.

[@LaukSmith]

Are you sure 2x6 boards will work? maybe you should have used 2x12 boards.

[@RayJ1962]

I tie in all twelve of my barrels on my 8x12 raft with a single 125 foot length of rope.

[@capercamper]

I got away from using rope on these jobs but just this week put something together and tied it together with rope and was quite happy with the result. thanks for commenting cc

[@anagramconfirmed1717]

Sure ya do

[@RayJ1962]

I do. I really, really do.

[@briansantella4022]

why would you use pressure treated wood for the floor but not the frame as you said it can and will rot very soon

[@jojo09900888]

Are the 2 by 8's frame wood treated? Excellent video..im working a floating deck around a fish cage..

[@capercamper]

Hi Don, the life span would vary, depending on what type of conditions the wharf was floating in. If the waves were high and the dock received lots of water it would not last as long as a dock where there was little or few waves. The last dock we put in lasted about 10 years before we started replacing boards that were rotten. This was in fresh water with little or no waves. Hope this helps, thanks for watching. CC

[@capercamper]

Hi Joyce, No the frame was not wood treated. It won't last as long especially in the salt water, we did use treated wood for the platform. thanks for commenting and have a great day. Good luck with your fish cage CC

[@spydergs07]

the barrels on craigslist can normally be found for about $10-$15 a piece

[@rdubby1102]

Little tip: when KZbin asks if you want to fix your videos cropping/quality don't do it. It makes it look shaky. Learned this the hard way.

[@capercamper]

thank you, I will keep this in mind cc

[@73dems]

Greetings from Truro. I was wondering how much weight your raft can carry. I want to build one to barge building materials to my lot which has water access only. Do 4 barrels provide enough flotation?

[@capercamper]

Those barrels (45 gallon) are quite buoyant ,each one will displace it's weight . Water is ~ 8 pounds per gallon so if you multiply 8 lbs/gallon x 45 gallons ... you get 360 lbs/barrel. If you have 4 barrels you multiply 360 x 4 and get 1440 lbs . This does not take into account the weight of your lumber. I have another video where I use 6 barrels, it is a bigger raft (weighs a bit more) but will carry more because of the extra barrels. You can view it here ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHKpc2VqqLWXaLM I hope my calculations are correct , thanks for watching

[@73dems]

@@capercamper Thanks alot. That is very helpful. I better go with a six barrel design.

[@spencerrobinson7280]

Do you have any kind of list of materials compiled? Me and a buddy want to follow along with you, and need some help! Thanks!

[@capercamper]

+Spencer Robinson Hi Spencer... I updated the video and put a parts list at the end, I hope I didn't forget anything ( I built this 3 years ago !) ... depending on the age of the kids that plan on using this you might consider following the same general idea but making it 10 x 10 instead of 8x8... My kids are getting too big for this one and I'll prob have to upgrade to a larger platform size.thanks for commenting and watching

[@capercamper]

hey brian, you are bang on. We didnt use pressure treated on this project for the frame. If you check out my other dock vid you'll see I used pressure treated for the base and the platform. thanks for commenting and have a good day. CC

[@gearhead603]

Hey, I was wondering if there was enough weight on the float would the barrels then push up the deck boards?

[@capercamper]

No , if everything was put together properly the weight pushing down would not cause the barrels to push up and cause you any problems. cc

[@CMounsieur]

WHAT it might be the LIFE SPAN .......on SALTY WATER ??

[@briantinofox7699]

How much additional weight was the raft able to hold after adding wood and slide

[@capercamper]

Those barrels (45 gallon) are quite buoyant (each one will displace it's weight which is 45 pounds). Water is ~ 8 pounds per gallon so if you multiply 8 lbs/gallon x 45 gallons ... you get 360 lbs. If you have 4 barrels you multiply 360 x 4 and get 1440 lbs . This does not take into account the weight of your lumber and slide. You can subtract what you think that will be and get your weight limit.

[@briantinofox7699]

@@capercamper thank you for the information im from the bahamas and want to buy barrels in bulk do you know any wholesalers who sell in bulk that i can buy from?

[@paty33]

Hi there, thanks for the video. How much anchor weight to hold this in place. how many barrels for an 8 x 10? Thanks

[@capercamper]

Patrick Laflamme Hi Patrick... couple of great questions. As far as the anchor goes I am holding mine with a cinder block that you see in some older basement foundations. You can get these at a building supplies store and are cheaper than an actual anchor (I'm not sure how much it weighs but at least you will have an idea of the object I use). As far as building an 8 x10, if you have access to the extra barrels I would prob use 6 and attach them the same way I did. I'm sure 4 would keep everything afloat but possibly not be as stable. thanks for watching and commenting

[@superslut1113]

Caper Camper vvbmmm adj l eat Ok

[@bengodby9827]

Thanks for the great video (and your others as well)! I'm trying to build a slightly larger version of your dock (2 by 3 barrels, 12' x 5'), and I'm just wondering: how much water do you normally put in the barrels in order to stabilize them?

[@capercamper]

Ben Godby ... actually the barrels in this vid don't have any water in them. This is because the owner (I built this for my friend) pulls it in when the water gets rough. If you've looked at the other two docks I have posted vids of neither of those has water either. This is because there is very little if any current in the locations you see them . I have only put water in one raft I built and when I did I started with about 25% water. My intention was to see if it needed to be lower in the water (more water) and I would add it later, but as it turned out I did not need to put any more water in. Make sure your barrel openings are horizontal with the water because they may leak and therefore throw the balance off of your raft or dock. Hope this helps cc

[@bengodby9827]

Caper Camper Awesome, thanks!

[@tripleDlawncare]

I cannot get my raft to get stable it Wiggles and Wobbles everywhere I have for 55 barrel drums do I need to get water in them to make it stabl

[@capercamper]

... those drums are larger than the ones in this vid, if it is too wobbly you can add water and that will lower your raft closer to the water (it will still move but not as much), how many barrels are you using and how large is your raft surface. This could be a factor as well

[@tripleDlawncare]

8x8 4 barrels

[@capercamper]

+Triple-D's Lawn Care & Services ... That is the same size as the one in the video, two things come to mind, adding water to stabilize movement will help... Or possibly your location is too rough for this type of raft... Hope this helps, good luck, thanks for watching and commenting

[@philipanderson592]

catfish and carp made a raft that is better for rough areas and is very cheap also

[@nar4790]

How much does something like this cost?

[@TylerPlane]

How much did this project cost roughly?

[@capercamper]

+Tyler Plane ... the project cost somewhere between $200-250, this was for the lumber only. I got the slide at the junkyard for free and a friend gave me the barrels.

[@deucevandam]

could you give me a little information on what keeps the 4x4 stilts in place? thanks

[@capercamper]

deucevandam We lag bolted the 4 x4 to the frame and braced them with the leftover scrap. It worked fine for us. thanks for watching and commenting cc

[@deucevandam]

Caper Camper thanks for replying back, your videos are great

[@davidsiekman5783]

Great ideas and simple to make! Thank you for your time and input

[@capercamper]

+david siekman thanks for watching and commenting

[@capercamper]

thank you , it was a great afternoon project, thanks for watching

[@ToyCollectors]

Thanks for sharing this info. Very handy! TC

[@DaSt-qh8jq]

Dep

[@kevinboothby3265]

what did you use to seal the barrels?

[@capercamper]

We used teflon tape, it does the job, but over time and with wave action water slowly seeps into the barrels. thanks for watching

[@capercamper]

I don't think you would get as long out of a dock in salt water.

[@richardbastin3647]

The interesting thing about salt water is that it is a bacteriacid ( spelling) wood should last longer in salt water than in fresh

[@fangorn1000]

Good video. thank you for sharing.

[@capercamper]

thanks for watching

[@tripleDlawncare]

the browser 55

[@WalrusGW]

watch this with captions

[@SnOtwagon123]

200 to 250

[@juniorbigua]

parabéns ficou excelente .

[@capercamper]

+Junior santos thank you Junior, glad you liked it!cc

[@andrev0402]

how old he resists?

[@capercamper]

André Vasconcelos The wood on this raft is pressure treated and will last for years depending on use and salinity of water. I have put rafts / docks in the water and used them for 10-15+ years no problem. You may need to replace a board from time to time. The barrels are plastic and as long as they don't get damaged should out last the wood you use for your box and platform. Hope this helps cc

[@rodjosenico6882]

do you know how much weight can carry each barrel

[@capercamper]

No...I do not know this, barrels are 45 gallon drums with no water added to them if you wanted to check the buoyancy of one ...cc

[@CoGhostRider]

+Caper Camper buoyancy is found by determining the weight of water displaced. So 45 gallons of water can be displaced by each drum and clean water is approx 8.33 pounds a gallon. 45x8.33=374.85 then deduct the weight of the barrel and there is your answer

[@CoGhostRider]

+Caper Camper buoyancy is found by determining the weight of water displaced. So 45 gallons of water can be displaced by each drum and clean water is approx 8.33 pounds a gallon. 45x8.33=374.85 then deduct the weight of the barrel and there is your answer

[@capercamper]

CoGhostRider thank you for that info, very informative! cc

[@Indoorzman]

500 kgs

[@SnOtwagon123]

You live in main

[@zdproductions3903]

Maine

[@pdrc1447012j]

the wind the wind hollala

[@capercamper]

yes... this is a windy location for sure, waves can be a factor here when travelling on the water in a small boat.thanks for watching

[@pdrc1447012j]

excuse me Caper Camper, your vidéo is very interessant but sometime the wind is over the comment. Excuse me for my english. A friend from France.

[@capercamper]

yes it can be quite windy in this location, thanks for watching and commentingcc

[@CedarworkshopNet]

Great video! Lots of work went into showing the step-by-step process.

[@delenasavee9464]

Ever heard of a wind mic

[@capercamper]

No I haven't, tell me about it, thanks for commenting cc

[@vwicr1]

Nice Vid, Caper Camper. Just built mine in the past two days, with a high jump platform and a ladder. Thanks very much for putting the vid together!

[@capercamper]

thank you, glad it helped you cc

[@juozasc.7332]

+Caper Camper joy tyusu žūties metinės ataskaitos h njhjhrsaa0