Hi All,

[Lil Giants]

A functional lock for your rc tug, the 1st I've ever seen.

How much weight can you float? A functional hopper barge would be a nifty build.

I've been thinking hard about tugs & barges, be a good dirt work project for the fleet in the backyard to work at.. some of the equipment I've aquired lately, the basement is much too small for them; a river system would be a good long term (seasonal ) project.

Links to other clubs is perfectly acceptable.

[Rvjimd]

I have never measured it. One of the last parts of the build that is still on the bench is more of a hopper instead of the flat top barges. Even it at this point is still using a solid 2x6 as a base so I am wasting a LOT of the displacement potential.

I don't remember exactly now without measuring them but one barge is about 5x18". If I could convert that to gallons and say sink it halfway for some freeboard margin I doubt it would amount to more than a quart. Which would be 2 pounds of capacity. I could be off either way by a factor of 2.

Last summer I did pour sand onto two of the flat top barges until the sand was rolling off the sides. It sunk them up to the top of the barges but they still stayed afloat. It was fun pushing them around because they were so much heavier. The momentum is cool in the water!

Jim

[Rvjimd]

I forgot to say,

After watching all your video from the quarry over the years, I would love to see you get into the "barge and towing business"!

One thing I figured out almost instantly once the pond had water in it, I wish it was bigger and I wish I had more river sections. I could scale back the tow and barges but I like the size I have now, it would have been nice to have more pond surface and river sections.

Under my YouTube account there are some open water tests I did at a nearby city pond. It was fun pushing 9 barges! I can never do that with the space I have at the backyard pond.