floating blind

[jbs38654]

i am in the process building a blind it is 5 or so feet deep and 8 or so feet long and i need to make this thing float and hold up 4 men at a time. i have been looking at the black box floatation things but DANG those aint cheap .......got any ideas?????

[Ryano]

30 gal or 55 gal round -up drums work well if you use enough of them

[duckkiller]

funny you post this, one of my buddys is building one right now. We got some huge styrofoam blocks and strapped them togethor with bands that they strap bricks with at the plant and built a wood platform but now he is having trouble trying to figure out how to build the rest of it.

[Stano]

8 feet long? I feel sorry for the fellas on the ends Thats gonna be tight

[greenheadgrimreaper]

I built a wood platform and got 4 HUGE pieces of styrofoam and strapped them together and positioned them under the platform. I am not sure how i am going to do the rest of it yet, no money and no time.

[duckkiller]

Like I told you, take it to the plant let them do it and save you and I some $$$$$$. When you start back on the blind call me when you need some $$$$ to cover expenses I got a check with you name on it

[greenheadgrimreaper]

Nah I don't want to bother them guys they are waaaay too busy.

[duckkiller]

yeah right, I bet they up there talking about crappie fishing

[Wingman]

I think you can figure how much weight an object will float by the amount of water it will hold. I may be wrong about this.

For example, a 30 gallon drum will obviously hold 30 gallons of water.

Water weighs roughly 8 pounds per gallon, so the drum will effectively float 240 pounds.

A blind that is intended to float 4 men, weighing roughly 200 pounds each, would need at least 4x 30 gallon drums just to float the people. Factor in the weight of the blind and then figure adding a few more barrels for stability.

And I second Stano's advice. I figure at least 3 feet of length per man. 2 feet per man would be great if everyone was standing still with their arms down by their sides, but standing, sitting and shooting is gonna be uncomfortably tight in 8 feet.

[steel shot]

I built one a few years ago that was 8'x16'. It had 10 55 gallon drums under it. I spaced the floor joists so that the drums would fit in between them. It would hunt 4 comfortably. The blind was actually 8x14, it had a 2' porch on it for loading and unloading. The 14' walls were tapered on an angle to keep the weight in the center of the blind.The top of the blind was about 5' wide with a divider in the middle and a sliding door on each side.
Hope this will give you some ideas...

ss

[tunica]

i am in the process building a blind it is 5 or so feet deep and 8 or so feet long and i need to make this thing float and hold up 4 men at a time. i have been looking at the black box floatation things but DANG those aint cheap .......got any ideas?????

5 foot deep you do mean 5 foot wide eh!

One thing you best keep in mind is the flip factor.......I can show you alot of designs on the cutoff as to exactly what the flip factor is!!!!

[jdbuckshot]

Fliping the blind can be a problem, Seeing how the blind will be out of the water almost the full height of the drums, making it top heavy, especially if its only 5'x8'. consdider, going 5'x12', really will not cost that much more. also when you get the blind where you like it. add water to the barrells so that the blind will sink a little, this will make it much more stable.

JD

[fivemile]

You need to put outriggers on the front and back so it will not tip over when everyone moves to shoot.

[jar0023]

We've built many of these. You should avoid foam blocks if you can. They will eventually become waterlogged. Use plastic 55 gallon drums. You can seal the bungs with liquid nails. If they leak the drums are easier to replace with the blind on the water. Make frames for the drums from 2"x12"s. Make the frames tight. (eg - When first sitting the racks/frames over the drums on land they shouldn't cover more than the top third of the barrell.) Once you put weight on the blind the drums will pop into place and not move. If you can make metal brackets to hold the ends of the 2x12's together they'll last longer. Use pieces of all-thread in between the barrels. The all-thread keeps the 2"x12" from spreading. All our blinds are in the neighborhood of 7-8' wide by 16' long. We would build a floor on top of the barrel racks and set the racks far enough apart you can pull a 14x36 boat up under the floor. Leave an opening in the floor on one end for the transom/motor. Once the basic platform is built frame up your box with a slot for standing and shooting on one side. We set the walls back to at least the centerline on the barrels to prevent tipping. Add a dog porch/ramp, some brush and you're ready to go.

Sorry for the ramble but I gotta get some actual work done.

J

ETA. This will hunt four comfortable, five get's tight.

[Trip]

tunica, if you got us a spot picked out I gained control of four 350 gal. rectangle water tanks this week that would make some dang good floats for a blind. Going by Wingman's calculations they'll float 2800 pounds each.