Foot-powered fishing boat?

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by kroberts, May 30, 2014.

  1. kroberts
    Joined: Mar 2009
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    Location: Chicago area

    kroberts Senior Member

    Hi,

    Looking for a human powered setup, suitable for maybe 400-500 lbs capacity. A big man and a 100 lbs dog, in other words, plus camping gear.

    My wife and I are looking at canoes/kayaks, so far don't really like any of it. Kayaks are best.

    First, we like the idea of pedal power. Better yet if we could steer and pedal with our feet, so we could fish without interruption.

    Second thing, while we live on a big river (Missouri River in USA) in a part of it where the current isn't insane, we also like stock ponds, our favorite fish is a bluegill which is a small pan fish. We would like something that can move along at a canoe/kayak pace with the same amount of work or less, but also be at home in a stock pond.

    I'm really open for anything, but we like the idea of two boats, and we have two dogs.

    So I was thinking of a twin hull of some sort, preferably that can collapse the hulls together for transport.

    I have a welder and fiberglass skills. And a history of making gadgets that may or may not work.

    I could do some sort of intermediate with a kayak type design, but if somebody has a really good small boat design that's stable enough to stand in I'd love to hear it.

    I think a sit-on-top thing might work out best. Might do a foam core because it sounds easier?

    Better yet, if somebody knows of decent plans I'd love it.
     
  2. messabout
    Joined: Jan 2006
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    messabout Senior Member

    Explore the forum for human powered vehicles. (HPV) There is a very long running thread, here, about pedal powered boats. Lots of information is there but it is mostly about "go fast" pedal boats..

    If you need to stand up in the boat it will need to be wide if it is a single hull. Stand up paddle boards are maybe 32 inches wide and require a certain degree of agility to stay on top of the paddle board. You can stand in a 36 inch canoe if you practice sobriety. If you take your dogs along, then your best bet is a multihull like a catamaran. That of course depends on the degree of activity and discipline of the canines. Long skinny boats are the easiest to propel. But skinny means that they are not very stable as a stand up fishing platform. Two skinny hulls, joined together as a catamaran, is a reasonable prospect.

    Take a look at the Hobie web site and see the pedal powered kayak that they sell for a lot of money. Their system uses a pair of flipper fins to make the boat go. It is a clever scheme that works reasonably well.

    There is another thread here that is also pretty informative. It is about propelling a light weight boat with the help of a cordless drill. Look for a thread that was started by member Jeremy Harris.
     
  3. portacruise
    Joined: Jun 2009
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    Location: USA

    portacruise Senior Member

    Here's a design which meets most of your criteria: http://www.sea-cycle.com/component/content/article/2-uncategorised/82-all-about-water-bikes-2

    Maybe you can alter the idea to build something that fits your specific needs more closely.

    The hull is hinged so that you steer by leaning, and you can pedal at the same time.

    Additional comments in your message below.

    PC

     
  4. Tiny Turnip
    Joined: Mar 2008
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    Location: Huddersfield, UK

    Tiny Turnip Senior Member

    some details of my catamaran pedal boat. If you search the forum for 'fangle' you'll bring up more material.
    Check out the pedal powered boats thread too.
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
  5. kroberts
    Joined: Mar 2009
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    Location: Chicago area

    kroberts Senior Member

    OK I like both of these, but would like some sort of a cross between them.

    The smaller one has no place for a needy Rottweiler, and the big one is too big to drag across a field in order to get to the stock ponds. In some cases I will need to drag across a half mile of field, then through some cattails or similar (think 6 or 8 foot tall really thick grass) to get to the water.

    I like the idea of quick easy assembly, especially if I could get it to break apart in a few seconds and all be tied together so I don't lose anything. And then drag it between the trees, wade out into the water and snap it together.

    That smaller one has something I do like: A place for a net-style 'live well' right to the side.

    I'm definitely more interested in a one human or adult-and-a-kid rather than 2 side by side.

    I'll definitely go look for those threads.
     
  6. portacruise
    Joined: Jun 2009
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    portacruise Senior Member

    KR, notes/links below.

    PC

     
  7. kroberts
    Joined: Mar 2009
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    Location: Chicago area

    kroberts Senior Member

    This IS the stock pond boat. That's what I'm trying for.

    I was thinking of a couple mountain bike wheels, the terrain around here is generally fairly firm but bumpy. Or, it's grass and I can drag it right across.

    My dad suggested I use aluminum irrigation pipe for pontoons. He might have an idea there, the farmers regularly replace it and we can get the used stuff from the scrap yard for really low prices. It comes in up to 12" diameters, which would displace 3.91 pounds of water per inch. I'm not sure how heavy it is but it's not that heavy.

    For this sort of setup, what safety margin is recommended? 2x? That would put the waterline at half way up the pipe at full load.
    Also, I'm thinking of making the pontoons come to a point on both ends.
     
  8. kroberts
    Joined: Mar 2009
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    kroberts Senior Member

    Or maybe spherical ends? Not sure how to effectively make the ends streamlined, but I want the boat to be able to go either direction through the weeds.
     
  9. portacruise
    Joined: Jun 2009
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    portacruise Senior Member

    Here's an example based on Aluminum irrigation tubing:

    http://www.rickwill.bigpondhosting.com/V4_Electric.htm

    There is a video link at the bottom showing operation with a motor.

    You can write to Rick to find out how he made the ends. He probably used smaller than max diameter tubing to get a long 18' length. Pinch and seal may be good enough though ugly?

    Greater length gives a faster boat, could also handle current in your river. That length may be too long to be practical for transport to a stock pond though...

    Weeds will be an issue with a prop drive, even with a folding prop, not so much for the hulls with enough freeboard.

    PC

     
  10. kroberts
    Joined: Mar 2009
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    Location: Chicago area

    kroberts Senior Member

    Excellent!

    Yes that length is way out of control. It looks to me like that might be 8" pipe.

    I know about conic sections but I'm not sure if I can make one out of Aluminum and have it be at all consistent. I don't have a roller, and if I did I'm not sure they can be adjusted from side to side to make a cone. If so, I would take a section of the pipe about 200% of the diameter, slot it and work one end consistently smaller.

    Come to think of it, I'd probably make the point 3" diameter or so. So draw a 'centerline' down the pipe section, measure 9.5" on one end centered on the line, and mark that. Then on the other end, find the opposite of the line. Stretch a string from each mark on the small end to the opposite mark on the big end, and draw the line. To me, a guy could maybe cut that V out, and if you had the roller that would be where the seam would be. The ends would be maybe not so straight, but I would think that would get you a cone. But I don't have access to a roller.

    One thing that did cross my mind: I'm planning on 2 of these. One for my wife and one for me. Maybe one for my dad? It seems we could attach them end to end and double up for river work until we got to the place we were going to fish. I also think it might not be too hard to make these adjustable width. I wanted to be able to collapse them inward for transport anyway.


    Or, one possible not-quite-a-cone solution would be to take the 2*d section of pipe (assume 12" pipe, 2 feet of it) and then set it up in a mount for stability. Set a laser level such that the line goes from the wall on one end and the centerline on the other. Cut that with a grinder. Weld the two halves together. That wouldn't quite be right, because you'd lose some length near the centerline when you folded them together to weld them. And I would want he point to be higher, rather than centered like a rocket. So maybe go past center a bit, give more length to work with and maybe stretch or cut to suit once the pseudo-cone was made.
     
  11. kroberts
    Joined: Mar 2009
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    Location: Chicago area

    kroberts Senior Member

    OK so some things to point out here:
    1. This thing will NOT be more than 12 feet long. At 12 feet, it legally changes some things. I want it to be simple.
    2. It would be good to have some sort of pedal power similar to the Sea Cycle link above, both forward and backward. I don't know if that can reasonably happen though.
    3. It would be nice to mount a trolling motor on it, but that really needs to be optional.
    4. Whatever goes on needs to be modular such that it can be removed without a lot of drama.
    5. Maybe a canvas tarp for the dog platform, or maybe under me too since that saves tackle that accidentally drops.
    6. By my math, 10 feet of 12" tubing displaces 940 lbs of water. That's gotta be enough safety factor for a guy and a dog and some camping gear, even for a boat that goes at speed on a river.
     

  12. kroberts
    Joined: Mar 2009
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    Location: Chicago area

    kroberts Senior Member

    How well does bicycle chain tolerate fresh water?

    It occurs to me that a paddle wheel might work out, is there an efficiency problem with that idea at human-powered speeds?

    If I'm starting with bicycle parts, it probably wouldn't hurt much to stay with them.

    In fact, since I was planning on a couple mountain bike wheels for hauling in and out of the stock pond, maybe I could attach some sort of paddles to those and just use chain drive all the way back?
     
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