In 1960, John Conrad of Sacramento, California, built an 8′ Paddle Wheel Boat from plans published in Mechanix Illustrated. The boat was described as “a barrel of fun for the kids and you can build it for less than $35.” He built it for his grandchildren, and they used it for many years on lakes and rivers around the Sacramento area. One of those grandchildren, Davi Rodrigues, who has just turned 70, held on to the memories of that boat and all the outings he and his siblings, cousins, and friends enjoyed in it, and “always missed it.” The magazine that started it all: Davi’s grandfather, John Conrad, used this March 1960 issue of Mechanix Illustrated to build the family’s original Paddle Wheel Boat. Six decades later, Davi referred to the same magazine when he built his updated version, GUAM ROSE.
Read this article now for Free!
Ready for a second free article? Create a free account by entering your email address and a password below.
— OR —
Subscribe now for $29.99 a year and have immediate access to all of our content, including hundreds of small-boat profiles, gear reviews and techniques, adventure stories, and more! You can also browse our entire archive of back issues starting from September 2014, as well as post unlimited classified ads. This is an extraordinary value!
Outstanding box boat! My first boat was a PuddleDuck Racer. BTW, Dave Gerr’s “The Nature of Boats” has a boat inspired by the same ideas in one of the chapters.
I looked through that a bit, but didn’t see the one you mentioned
Though I never built one I LOVE the concept of the Puddle Duck and the crazy people who actually DO build and sail them.
I wish the article had more on the peddle assembly that was fabricated.
Scott,
If you haven’t already found the article in “The Nature of Boats” it begins on page 71. It’s a delightful little boat. I built one about 10 years ago for kids in the family and they loved it, as did the adults. With a seven-year-old for motive power and a 150 lb adult along for cargo it moves easily. Lots of fun and wet which is what summer on the lake is all about. I changed to crankshaft for hand cranks on each paddle wheel. That worked well and was easier to make.
Yeah, that would’a probably took a bit more space than was set aside for the article. Basically it was a 3″ and a 4″ black iron riser coupled together, and then 1/2 iron elbows. You might get a better view of that portion of it at this link:
https://www.fightbackinsac.com/forums/forum/socializing/the-great-outdoors/24608-home-built-paddle-wheel-boat-build
Otherwise, I can coach you through it. I’ll say that was a bit complicated because I was flying blind. I tried to get a local machine shop to bend some rod into that shape, but they tried and failed. It was too many bends, too close together.