What do you do when you have 35,000 pounds of heavy equipment stranded on the muddy banks of the Yukon River, 46 miles upstream against a brutal 6 MPH current?
If you're a normal logistics company, you probably spend a fortune hiring a massive commercial barge operator. If you're YouTuber "Recker Rick" from Murphy's Diesel, you simply load up your family, fly to Fairbanks, Alaska, and build a custom 32-foot steel barge from scratch in a borrowed shop.
Because obviously, right?
"Folks, I have never built a barge before; I've never even owned a boat. It's probably going to get Western," Rick admitted on the drive to the airport.
The "Murphy's Diesel Make-a-Barge" Kit
Building a massive boat from scratch in the middle of Alaska is no joke. The materials alone sound like a shopping list for a skyscraper.
"This is what a 32-foot barge looks like before it's welded together. 22 sheets of 1/8 inch steel, 600 linear foot of 2-inch angle iron, and 40 foot of 2×2 square tubing," Rick explained while loading up his truck in Fairbanks.
Over the course of a few frantic weeks, Rick and his build crew ("Recre Builds Team") welded the massive flat-bottom hull together. To ensure it could actually survive the punishing Yukon River currents while hauling a 12,000-pound Sherp or massive excavators, they engineered 7.5-inch-wide built-in pontoons for stability and a custom heavy-duty transom cage to mount the powerplants.
Oh, and they also bolted on a pair of massive Warrior Winches, because what's a heavy equipment recovery barge without some serious pulling power?
The 500-Horsepower "Hellbarge"
So, how exactly do you push a heavy steel barge carrying thousands of pounds of equipment up a 6 MPH Alaskan river current? You go on Facebook Marketplace and buy 500 horsepower.
The team scored a pair of massive 250-horsepower outboard motors to strap to the back of their creation. "We picked up off of Marketplace 'cause they wanted $45,000 for a pair of these brand new. Let's hope they work," Rick joked before mounting them to the custom steel transom.
Spoiler alert: they absolutely worked.
During the initial shakedown run on a local lake, the team quickly realized that the motors were mounted a bit too high, causing massive cavitation (the propellers were just sucking air instead of grabbing water). After a quick trip back to the shop to cut down the transom and drop the engines two inches, the "Hellbarge" was ready to unleash its full potential.
"We Built a Speed Barge, Folks"
For the final test, the crew filled up 13 massive 55-gallon drums with lake water to simulate hauling a 6,000-pound payload. The goal was to see if the barge could hit 20 MPH while loaded, which would allow them to comfortably fight the river current and make their recovery run in about 10 hours.
Instead, they basically built a steel-plated speedboat.
Even while hauling thousands of pounds of water weight, the twin 250-HP outboards managed to force the massive steel flat-bottom up onto plane.
"I don't know if you guys could see that, but the front of the boat is off the water. It is planing! Dude, it's a ripper!" Rick yelled over the screaming outboards.
After adjusting the engine trim to dial in the thrust, the GPS speedometer proved just how unhinged this build really was. "36 MPH! We built a speed barge, folks. We literally built the world's fastest barge," Rick laughed. "I'm pretty sure we could set some records. I'm scared of it coming apart now."
With the barge successfully floating, turning on a dime, and hauling a serious payload at 36 MPH, the Murphy's Diesel crew is officially ready to drag it out to the Yukon River and attempt their massive $300,000 heavy equipment rescue.