Ultimate Foldable RC Recovery Boat
The Ultimate Foldable RC Rescue and Recovery Boat for under $125
This was my second attempt at a recovery boat and this one works perfectly. It was cheap, it allows you to take out the boat for play when it’s not being used for recovery duty, it's fairly fast (will do 28mph without this assembly on it). Speed helps so your real boat doesn't sit too long taking on water, and this design allows you fold it up or take the catch rails off for transport or storage. I don't know about you but my truck is already packed with boats so I don't need a recovery boat taking up 5' of my truck space.
Parts needed
RC boat (I used the Tower Hobbies Power Vee EP RTR boat – note it is cheap but it is pretty flimsy plastic. I got it since it was only $89, has reverse, is only 25” long so it would be compact to carry, includes Rx and Tx, it has a water cooled motor and a 30amp ESC, and they are in a waterproof electric box with the servo too. I thought it would be thicker ABS since this is the same boat as the Aquacraft Hammer EP, but I was wrong... but it works well ... what do you expect for $89). Any RC boat with reverse will work with this design, trust me reverse helps a lot. = $89
NiMH battery (I had a 5,000mah one laying around – it will last all day pulling boats out and stays cool, but any 6 or 7 cell NiMH will work. You can get away with a 1,800mah for like $12 online. Don't use 8 cell though.... it will burn up the ESC.) = $12-$30
(1)10’ piece of PVC from hardware store (you will use less than 4’ of it) = $2.03
(2) Small pool noodles (Dollar Tree has the small ones and they match the boat graphics well) = $2
PVC Elbows
(6) ½” PVC 90deg = $1.68
(6) ½” PVC T’s = $6.60
(1) ½” 45deg = $0.67
(2) ½” PVC caps = $0.72
8 oz. PVC Handy Pack Purple Primer and Solvent Cement = $8.27
STEPS TO BUILD (TIP: Use a recip saw to cut the PVC quickly)
Cut (2) pieces of the ½ inch PVC about 5-6” shorter than the length of your recovery boat length (mine were 19” with this boat)
Cut (2) 24” pieces of the ½” PVC for the catch rails (you could make these longer if you want but I wanted to keep mine consistent with the length of the recovery boat length so it is foldable --- you could even have a couple sets since they are removable --- in case you wanted longer catch rails for huge rc boats)
Cut (4) 1.5 or 2” pieces of ½ inch PVC (these are for putting into the T connectors)
Cut (2) 4" pieces of ½ PVC for the stern (rear) back stops. Or you can go to the height of the boat you are using but make sure it isn't too high or the boat will slide out when going in reverse. In retrospect I probably would probably make mine a bit higher next time to allow the rudder control arm more clearance. I decided to just Dremmel and file mine down for more clearance of the arm just in case.)
Cut (1) piece of ½” PVC to fit in the space under the bow (front) of the boat (mine was 8 ¾” which matched the beam (width) of the rc boat hull)
Cut (6) 4” pieces of ½” PVC for the width of the catch rails, and for the box around the tip of the bow
Cut all of the pool floats to size (I made mine overlap the elbows slightly)
Assemble all of the parts per my pictures to get a feel for how it all fits together and make sure you can get your recovery boat in and out. I made the stern pretty tight and I literally stretch the whole assembly open to get the rudder past the 45deg elbow in the back. This is so I don’t have to use any permanent screws to attach the assembly to the boat itself. You could also use a 2” Velcro strap around the boat and the recovery assembly to make it more secure (I did this at first but it slowed the boat down and made it more difficult to control accurately)
Make sure you use a pencil to mark the angle at which the front bow tip box should be at. It’s also a good idea to place the boat in the water and use a pencil to mark the catch arms position. You want the front of them to be just above the water so it doesn’t drag too much. Make sure you are working on a flat table to get the angles right. Do not glue the catch arms in place if you want them to be foldable. Float it in some water and then mark them with the pencil and then drill a hole through the middle of it. Place a bolt through that is just big enough to fit and secure it with a nut. This will lock it in place when open or when it’s folded.
Once you fine tune the lengths you are ready to glue it all together. I would recommend doing the glue or it might fall apart under load and then you need a rescue boat for your rescue boat. Use the purple primer first and then follow with the glue. Work one side at a time from left to right. You won’t be able to fit the middle piece otherwise. You can put the noodle pieces on before doing the opposite side or you can just do a slit in it and put it on after. I slide the ones on the catch arms because the broken boat will be hitting them and they could fall off. I also slid the upright and lower ones onto the bow box since they take pressure from the bow. You could put some pool float on the section around the boat but it's not necessary really. It would cause the boat to sit higher in the water and you have less control then (I tried it).
I used a Dremmel, a straight file and sand paper to square off the 90 degree elbows at the stern so the boat fits securely in place. I did make some minor modifications to the Power Vee Rescue boat: I added a washer to the front of the cowl hole to strengthen it, added a larger Velcro strip for the battery, used a zip tie to keep the battery cable up away from the motor shaft, super glued some foam into the cowl, added some superglue around the stern of the boat seam, added foam floatation inside the boat, used silicone sealant on wires coming out of electronics box, etc. I also plan to add a metal prop at some point but the plastic one works fine. I may add a water cooler to the ESC but the temps aren't bad as it is. I might even just change out the ESC as it's reported as unreliable. I plan to add some turn fins and a longer rudder to make the steering sharper.
That’s it… go test her out!!
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Originally Posted by AMG4ME
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