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Sweep boat design & questions

10K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  carvedog 
#1 ·
I'm thinking about building a sweep using a 20ft oval boat. Building a frame using alum tubing and speed rail fitting. It would be modular so I could take the sweeps off and run it like a conventsional raft. I'm looking for pictures and demensions of frames, oar locks, oars size of sweeps, how big the rowing platform needs to be etc. Any personal knowledge if someone has built one of these themselves would be helpful.
 
#3 ·
I've built two, one using a 14.5ft raft and the other on 20ft x 30in cat tubes. A 20ft round boat seems too big for a personal sweep. Other than the Middle Fork Salmon, where do you plan to run it?
 
#4 ·
They first ran on the Main Salmon and still do. Sometimes with a motor.

I have run a few. A Firestone 20 or 22 and a Maravia Chewbasco 20 footer?? or something like that. We called it Chewy.

The Firestone was the better sweep with larger tubes. It also weighed about 500 lbs just for the rubber. The Chewy we ran as a second sweep in low water and a couple of times on training trips as an oar boat. T

There were two completely different frames in play. The sweep blades were about three to three and a half feet long, inch wide and about a foot tall.

I didn't want anything in the row zone at all. That is the three or four foot zone that you dance around on in the middle of the boat. You could probably put something small up against the cowling but I like it pretty open in case something goes awry.
 
#7 ·
Hey Dave - hope you are healing up.

The pic above is Glen and Bessie Hyde in the Grand Canyon. They were used a lot on the Main Salmon. Which is where the Hydes came from.

I haven't heard of too many other places where they are used. What really kills you in a sweep is the amount of "sail" above the water line. IE - they suck in the wind. Turn 'em sideways and push 20 to 25 feet sideways down the river. Even with the leverage of a really long oar it still sucks.

I really want one for the MF, not to carry gear but because they are a hoot to run.
 
#11 ·
The boat is a 20 ft maravia. It will be used as sweep on the middle fork and maybe an oar boat on the grand. I'm goen to try to run a few colorado rivers with it as a sweep to see how it works. I really need some oar lock designs. The ones i've seen are pretty primitive. I like this one in the picture does any one have info on it?
 
#13 ·
I really need some oar lock designs. The ones i've seen are pretty primitive.
The only designs I have are probably what you call primitive. My first experience with a sweep boat was a 14 1/2 foot Maravia on the M Fk S. I found enough oars and cobbled them together to make a couple of sweeps. I have a small breakdown frame that I took apart and lashed the 4 ft long double side rails to the ends of the boat. I stood and stacked gear on a sheet of plywood that I used as a floor. It just had open oar locks but they worked fine at low water with a fairly light load.

The boat I use now is based on 20 ft x 30 inch cat tubes. Like you, I run it as a sweep on the MFS (3X) and as an oared gear boat on the Grand (only once, but going again in May). I use a 12 ft long, 2 bay frame with a full length diamond plate floor. Yes the frame is heavy, but since the center compartment is mostly unobstructed, I can load just about anything into it. The floor sits a foot or so above the water so I can straddle rocks. Most sweep oars are bent near the lock so that they can reach the water without being too long. Yours will need to be bent since your locks will be 20 ft apart. My sweeps aren't bent since my locks are only 12 ft apart. The sweeps are just a couple of Carlilse oar spliced together with an aluminum sleeve and bolts. I added a broken off Cataract counterweight handle to the front sweep to adjust the length and for balance. The back sweep can dangle in the water, but most of the time the front sweep is out of the water hence the counter weight. I use Carlisle outfitter blades just because I have lots of them, but I have been thinking about making a set of more traditional sweep blades. I started with open oarlocks on my larger boat but soon realized that was a bad idea. If you are not paying attention, the front sweep will turn horizontal and head for the bottom of the river. To prevent this, I switched to pins and clips. I mounted the pins through an aluminum block welded to an upsidedown U-shaped upright made from aluminum plate and 2x2 tube. The uprights slip over the front and rear frame members, which are also 2x2 tube, and are bolted in place. The uprights have a series of holes drilled in them because I wanted vertical adjustment since I had no idea how tall they should be. Whatever you do, be sure to secure the sweeps so that they do not spear you. I secure mine with a strap wrapped around the sweep shaft and through a carabiner at the base of the pin. I learned this the hard way.

Good luck with your project. Let me know if you get a permit and want to have a sweep party on the MFS. Anyone else need a gear boat for a mid July MFS trip?
 
#12 ·
i am both fascinated & terrified by sweep boats. on the right river with a quality waterman running, they are a thing of beauty.

there is some good discussion in the bessie hyde book regarding how/why they work on some rivers & are death traps on others. as said above, its all about gradient (i.e. not gonna work in pool drop type rivers).

cool thread.
 
#14 ·
Ok, maybe it's cuz I'm blonde- but what in the hell is this thing you are describing and taking pictures of? I get the gear boat part, but am I seeing correctly that it has oars in front and back? Having difficulty comprehending how this is effecient......
 
#18 ·
On steep rivers such as the middle fork they are most efficient. How else can one person, usually with a helper (called Swamper or Swampee) move that much gear? The giant oars and blades allow one to maneuver the biggest pig of a raft back and forth loaded with literally tons of gear. One could not row a boat anywehre near this big with traditional oars.
 
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