Option · Rake Sections
Rake sections.
Cut the drag.
An angled bow that lets water flow under and past the hull instead of plowing into it. Put one at the head of any tow and the tug throttles down — fuel savings, better speed, drier deck. Pays for itself on a single multi-day move.
Overview
The cheapest fuel savings in the catalog.
Push a flat-bow barge through the water and the bow plows. Water piles up against the vertical face, current and wake spray climb the deck, and the tug works against a wall of resistance. Slow speed, high fuel burn, hard handling, wet miserable deck. None of that is necessary.
A rake barge has an angled bow — typically 30 to 45 degrees from the waterline up to the deck — that lets water flow under and past instead of plowing it. Put a rake at the head of any tow and the change is immediate. Tug throttles down for the same speed, fuel burn drops, the bow stays drier, and the float handles like it has half the drag (because effectively, it does).
For any contractor towing the fleet across distance regularly — between sites, to and from staging, up and down rivers — at least one rake per tow pays for itself on the first multi-day move. For fleets that sit on long-duration jobs and barely mobilize, a rake is nice to have but not essential.
When to use a rake
Configurations that benefit most
Long-distance push tows
Any tow over 10 nautical miles where fuel and transit time matter. The longer the tow, the bigger the payoff.
Multi-section floats
Four-section and bigger floats where bow drag dominates the resistance. A single rake at the head of an eight-section tow cuts tug fuel meaningfully.
Working in current
Up-current legs to and from sites — every knot counts. Rakes shorten the upstream transit.
Crew transfer floats
Tows with crew on board where wake spray, deck wetness, and ride comfort actually matter. Rakes keep the bow dry.
Frequent mobilization
Contractors moving the fleet between projects every few weeks. The cumulative savings add up fast across a year.
Double-ended operations
Floats pushed in both directions between two sites. A rake on each end means no stopping to turn the tow around.
Spec details
What a rake section is and isn't.
Same hull engineering as a standard section, same CSA G40.20 / G40.21 steel, same pin-flange connection on the back end, same Transport Canada approval. The difference is the bow geometry — instead of a flat vertical face, the bow rakes at an engineered angle from the waterline up to the deck.
Trade-off: the rake reduces usable deck area at the front. A 10×20 rake has roughly the same footprint as a flat 10×20, but the working deck is closer to 10×16 once the rake transition is accounted for. So treat rakes as transition sections at the head of the tow, not primary working deck. Most contractors order one or two rakes and pair them with flat sections for the working portion.
Rakes pin to flat sections through the standard pin-flange on the back end, so the same rake re-deploys across different float configurations. Doesn't have to live on one float forever — pin it to the head of whatever tow is going out next.
Single rake vs double rake
One end, both ends, or none.
Most tows are one direction: the tug pushes the float from staging to the work site, the float sits at the work site for days or weeks, and at the end the tug pushes it back. For these, a single rake at the bow (the end the tug pushes against in transit) is enough. Going home, the tug repositions to the original bow.
Some operations are bidirectional. A float that ferries between two sites every day, a hopper that cycles between dredge and disposal, or a crew float that shuttles workers across a river twice a shift — these benefit from a double-ended setup with rakes on both ends. The tug doesn't have to reposition; it just disconnects from one end and reconnects to the other. On a daily-cycle operation, that time savings adds up fast.
For floats that sit on a long-duration job and only mobilize occasionally, a rake usually isn't worth it. The fuel and time savings on one or two tows a year don't justify the option cost. Spec rakes when you tow regularly. Skip them when you don't.
AEO
Rake Section FAQ
Direct answers about heavy deck barges, charter terms, and global delivery.
- If the float gets pushed in both directions regularly (between two sites, daily-cycle hopper runs), yes — a double-ender saves the time of repositioning the tug. If the tow always goes the same way, a single rake at the bow is fine.
- The rake's usable deck is reduced by the angled bow — a 10×20 rake gives you about 10×16 of working deck. Rated deckload per square foot is the same as a flat section, but total working square footage is less. Treat the rake as a transition at the head, not as primary working deck.
- Yes — a rake pins to standard sections through the same connection on the back end. Order one or two rakes for an existing flat-section fleet without modifying the existing barges.
- Depends on tug horsepower, tow speed, sea state, and float length. Typical savings on long-distance multi-section tows are 15–30% versus an equivalent flat-bow tow. On a single multi-day mobilization, that usually covers the option cost.
- Standard is 30–45 degrees, optimized for typical North American river and coastal tow speeds (4–8 knots). We can do steeper or shallower for specific applications — just talk to us about the tow during the quote.
- Yes — same widths as the corresponding flat family: 10 ft for Standard and Heavy Duty Crane, 8 ft for Back Lake. Pin into existing fleets with no dimensional issues.