The recreational vehicle barge consisting essentially of
- an generally rectangular barge including front, drive, left and right walls, a top deck and a bottom wall, said barge including four ballast tanks, one at each corner thereof, each of said ballast tanks being in fluid communication with a barge leveling pump unit, said barge leveling pump being in fluid communication with outside lake water, said pump unit being powered from a recreational vehicle on said barge through electrical cables connected to a junction box at the drive of said recreational vehicle, the upper peripheral marginal edges of said deck including a personnel safety fence extending upward therefrom, said fence containing recreational vehicle loading gates at a front portion thereof and personnel egress gates in right and left portions thereof;
- said deck including two cradles containing parallel cylinders capable of supporting drive wheels of said recreational vehicle, said cylinders capable being rotated by the rotation of said drive wheels and of being locked during loading and unloading of said recreational vehicle, at least one of said cylinders being connected to and driving at least one gearbox, said at least one gearbox driving at least one propeller at the lower drive of said barge for the purpose of propelling said barge, said drive wheels causing said cylinders to rotate when said drive wheels are driven by an engine and transmission within said recreational vehicle, said deck having slots formed therein, said slots being positioned near the resting place of the four wheels of said recreational vehicle to be used to secure tie down chains used for stabilizing said recreational vehicle;
- said barge including at least one steering rudder located downstream of said at least one propeller, said rudder being controlled by rudder control means;
- said recreational vehicle barge being controlled from a driver's seat with a ‘fly-by-wire’ control unit removably mounted on a steering wheel within said recreational vehicle, said fly-by-wire unit being capable of controlling a speed at which said wheels turn by controlling a throttle of said engine powering said recreational vehicle, therefore, a speed at which said propeller turns;
- said barge including drop down jacks on each two front corners for stabilizing said barge on a boat ramp and at least one winch and cable unit for rigidly securing said barge to an anchoring means on said ramp when loading or unloading said recreational vehicle;
- and
- said barge including loading ramps capable of being removably attached to a front edge of said barge between said loading gates and located to enable loading and unloading of said recreational vehicle from said ramp onto said hull.