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Thread: My Hammock Raft

  1. #1
    New Member ben-bradley's Avatar
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    My Hammock Raft

    For a while now, I've been hearing 'Pontoon' by Little Big Town on the radio and thinking, "Man, that sounds like a good time!" Just floating around all day, barbecuing, hanging out, maybe doing a little fishing...

    But I can't afford to buy a pontoon boat, or a trailer, or a truck to pull it all ... but I could build a raft! And I could hang a hammock from the raft!

    After doing some research (a.k.a. Googling), I found the article about the guys that built the 9'x9' fire-pit equipped raft and a few other raft designs, some of which involved hammocks and some that didn't. Now, I'm neither an skilled wood worker or a very experienced hammock hanger. I've built some small, functional things out of scraps of wood that I found in the garage, and I've gone on a few hikes during which I used a hammock. But, to quote Sir Richard Branson, I thought, "Screw it, let's do it."

    Some of the key design factors that I'm working with are:
    1. Must support a hammock
    2. Must be transportable on the roof of a VW Jetta
    3. Must have cover from sun/rain
    4. Must be able to support a barbecue (small)



    (the 4x4's between the center beams to make the slots for the vertical posts were added after this picture was taken)



    With four 55gal drums, I'll have 1600+lbs of flotation, so I've got plenty of float. The frame is 10'x6' and the 10' lengths that provide the braces to hold in the 55gal drums have an inner width of 16". The two inner 10' lengths are centered on the frame with an inner width of 3.5" so that the vertical hammock posts can slide in and out. Another 4x4 is screwed in between the center lengths to complete the slot that the vertical posts slide in to.


    Using the example of the guys that built the fire-pit equipped raft, I designed the verticals to a height of 4' from the deck, but a total of 4.5' so that there is some extra length of the post extending beyond the bottom of the frame for extra support.


    I intend to get two more pieces of PVC pipe that will attached to the corners of the tarp and then to the center posts so that both sides of the tarp can be lifted up at the same time, but in the pictures you can see what it looks like when only one side is lifted.


    All I have left to do is to put the deck on it and toss it in the water, but I wanted to bounce it off the forum to see if anyone had any ideas or input with regard to the design of the raft and the hammock stand.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Brady's Avatar
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    Nice work, should be fun!
    Brady

  3. #3
    Senior Member MedicineMan's Avatar
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    Freeeeeeking loving it! Ben-Bradley next pics on the water-you flipping the burgers from your hammock! Seriously man, very cool project.

  4. #4
    Senior Member JohnSawyer's Avatar
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    looks great, but you might find your 4x4's get a bit bendy... Cant them out between 30 and 45 degrees off the vertical and they'll be a lot stronger. . . or put a top rail in to take the load. . . 2x4 would work, and stabilize your tarp...

    Don't forget a good anchor line... I'd hate to see you wake up 40 miles downstream!


    John
    "Do or do not, there is no try." -- Yoda


  5. #5
    Senior Member
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    you are a bit unstable. I would add an outrigger on each side

  6. #6
    Senior Member GrayDog's Avatar
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    you are a bit unstable. I would add an outrigger on each side
    Nah, hammocks are very stable, I've been sleeping in one for years and never fallen out!
    hammock [ham-uhk] noun
    Man's successful attempt to sleep on a cloud

  7. #7
    Senior Member oldgringo's Avatar
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    Great! I love this! But....on the roof of a Jetta????? This, I can't see.

    Can't wait for the next installment.
    Dave

    "Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self."~~~May Sarton

  8. #8
    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    Watch those clip links you are using for suspension attachments. I had a couple fail on me. I would suggest replacing them with climbing rated biners.
    I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

    "Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
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  9. #9
    jons4real's Avatar
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    I tip my hat to you Sir ! That's one sweet ride
    "What one Man can do, another can do!"
    Jons4real

    http://www.youtube.com/user/jons4real

  10. #10
    Senior Member aboyd's Avatar
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    This looks really cool!
    "I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come." - Abraham Lincoln

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