A while back on here i saw this picture on a Rhine pusher tug and thought "that's nice".
So i decided to have a go in my own way to build something like it (not the same ) from scratch.
The first thing was the size ,i had to be able to get it in the cat and be able to lift it in and out of the water .So i decided on a length of 30" X 11.5" and a depth to the decks of 5" .
With high comings around the hatch area and a high bulwarks front and half way down the sides ,to keep things dry inside
I decided on a working winch on this one and with ideas from Poll and the lads at balne moore i chopped up an old B&D cordless screwdriver made a drum on the end and secured it on a ply plate , and screwed it to the deck.
Along with a couple of steel pins where the rollers would fit once the hatch comongs had been fitted , these were made from brass bar for the shoulders turned on the lathe and brass tube for the rollers.
I also fitthe a pair of corner rollers for the tow line to rub against as my idea was to run the line round the hatch to the front .
Working on the power for it i made up a pair of shafts and tubea for a pair of 70mm props ,these are powered by two 6-1 reduction mfa motors which i had bought from Westbournes .
My original intention was to fit a pair of korts made from cat food tins but after water trials this may not happen.
More to come soon.
daz