Pedal Powered Boats

Keep us updated on your progress!

 

New Pedal Drive

Thanks. I'll send pics asap.

 

YOU GOT TO GO FOR IT, YOU MAY ON TO SOMETHING. DETERMINATION CAN OVERCOME STATISTICS....

HOPE THIS HELPS,

PORTA

 

New Boat Design

Thanks for your insights Portacruise. You are correct about the patent issue. I have a couple of patents pending now on other inventions. There are millions of patents, relatively few successful ones. Getting a licensing agreement negotiated is another hurdle that can be a slippery slope. I know this from personal experience, but like my dear late dad used to say,"one sure way to never catch a fish is don't put your line in the water."
As for the friction drive, you nailed it. I am anticipating there will be some losses to minimize. I have designed a tensioner that will be self-adjusting, which I hope will help.
I look forward to sharing the results with you. I'll have more info in about two weeks.
Oh yes, before I log off. This unit, if successful, could be adapted to almost any hull. I am hoping to find a niche by offering custom built drive units which can be retrofitted to sit-on and sit-in kayaks, pontoons, or monohulls.

 

This sounds like a good approach. Sometimes the bells and whistles or parts have greater financial success that the unit itself. Replacement powerboat props would seem to have a bigger margin than the power motors themselves, looking at what they cost. Some kayak paddles sell at outrageous prices. Maybe that's why they give computer printers away, knowing they can hit you on the cartridges, especially if they're non-refillable....

Porta

 

Invention and patents

Every invention and innovation has its own unique inertia from original conception to fruition. Much like propogating and raising a child, many factors influence what the end results will be. Nothing trumps one studying and understanding as much of the process as one can before committing to a particular strategy for achievement. If anyone is pursuing a patent, be it a design, improvement, or utility patent I would recommend they learn what legal claims are and devise a way to describe their invention broadly enough that every possible embodiment of the thing is included in the scope of their claims, and narrowly enough that an entity desiring to make small changes for the purpose of circumventing the patent rights could be thwarted.(You probably won't get patent approval if your legal claims involve adding elements to claims that describe prior art)

 

Shallow depth operation

What about the "mud" motor design for those shallow depths? That's more or less what I use, and it works fairly well. Weeds, grass, tree limbs, fishing line and other stringy debris have been more trouble than dealing with the shallow depth. There are "weed free" props, prop cages, razor cutters, etc., but they don't work well when there is medium to heavy debris in my area (TX). Even folding props will be stalled by medium to long stretches of shallow or weedy water because no forward thrust occurs when they are in folded position. Jet boat drives seem to be about the best, but even their intakes can be gummed up if you slow down. Then you have to jump off to clear the intake. Hobie flippers and tailboat and paddlewheels arrangements will have their issues in shallow and/or weeded water. Guess that's why the paddle is still king, and maybe always will be...

Porta

 

Hey Porta,
When you mention "mud" motor, are you talking about something akin to the Go Devil?

 

Workflow guidlines

I have a lot of experience with bike technology, and always wanted a high-performance pedal boat. I've witnessed/ ridden several designs, and so far have been thoroughly unimpressed. Pedaling allows maximum human power output, but what good is that if the vessel design is poor? That said, here are some guidelines to improve focus on vessel design:

Research
i. Check out what the velocycle hobbyists have been doing. The main difference between a velocycle and a veloboat is one is air-tight, while the other is water-tight. Most velocycle designs ignore low speed stability problems, as well as ingress/egress.
ii. That said, note the cyclist position is designed first;
iii. Then the chassis, including drivetrain & steering,
iv. Finally, the hull is designed and constructed, so cyclist and chassis are streamlined.
v. Google "human powered hydrofoil"

Workflow
1. Start collecting junk bikes. Even the dirtiest, rustiest bike is good for its chromoly tubing and pre-bent tubes. Plenty of people discard bikes after only a flat tire or maladjustment. Plus, Even if your project falls through or your collection gets wrecked, you can sell the whole lot for scrap.

1a. If you don't have the space for a collection, look for / start a local community bike shop. In my region, I know plenty about the assets of Denton, Dallas, Austin, New Orleans, and Denver community shops. They would love to help you build your boat!

2. Disassemble and sort all the bike parts. I have developed a method for this that will require a whole page itself, contact me if you want it.

3. Learn to weld. Within 10 hours practice, research, and instruction, you can make high-performance weldments that you can trust your life with.

4. Based on your knowledge base, shipwrighting ability, and collection of parts, start designing your craft.
4a. Don't have the parts you need? NOW you can go shopping. Be careful, you only need the most expensive bike parts to win bike races! Even the cheapest Chinese bicycle bearings can deliver fantastic efficiency when properly installed and maintained. And winning the Rat Race only requires your measurement of average speed, and knowledge of the Transportation Code and Judicial System. Imagine how much *** you could kick with your amphibious velocycle.

Since I want a ducted-propellor, I haven't even come close to getting this step complete. I don't know how to get a ducted propellor, much less which design is optimal. The easy way out for me would be a riverboat-style paddle-wheel design. It may be better anyhow, since it may allow operation in less than 15cm water, and could never get tangled or jammed.

 

In Austin, Tx, why would you need such shallow draft? Are you talking "Town Lake"?

 

In my experience with my paddle wheel driven canoe I found that paddle wheels are superior to paddles in very shallow water, and no worse in very weedy water.

The downside was the amount of water that wheels throw into the air when rotating rapidly and their additional weight and space requirements.

Michael Lampi

 

For the shallow draft question, I was thinking I could cast the boat in more places, like in random creeks and very gradual beaches. Two things I hate about boating are running aground, and getting my feet wet. Nothing against water, it's just the point of having a boat is to stay dry, right?

Going back to paddle wheel design, It should be very easy using bike technology, and very cheap, allowing all paddlewheel problems to be addressed. For example:

1. Cavitation: by increasing the diameter of the wheel, the paddle motion approximates a straight line, the wheel hub can be mounted higher, allowing the paddle to vector water through <<60 degrees, instead of the typical 170 degrees. This alone, simplifies paddle design optimization, and reduces water throwing. 26" wheels are so popular you can find them lying in the street. So why use anything smaller? Furthermore, the paddles can be mounted radiating from the rim instead of the hub, increasing diameter to 50" or more.

One reason I want to stay away from propellors is because of wingtip turbulence, which can only be absolutely eliminated by ducting, which is difficult; or, through lots of hydrodynamic library research; I know that some doctors out there has done propeller/water tunnel experiments, but by the time I find that data I could already have built a dozen paddlewheels and had a lot more fun!

Paddles are easier to fabricate and field-observe than propellors, which means that scientific design adjustments are faster. Who needs documents when a hammer does the job?

2. Weight: Since a paddlewheel does not experience the kinds of shock loads as a road bike, and the assembly will probably be inboard, the cheapest, lightest wheels will work great. The (multi-speed) transmission is already designed, and is above the water line, so no shroud and seal are required; that saves a lot... So, let's do a weight estimate of the system:

TWO REAR WHEELS: 3 kg MAX
12 STAMPED ALUMINUM PADDLES, 24GAUGE: 2 kg MAX
EXTRA DRIVE CHAIN: .5 kg MAX
wheel mounting, using salvage bike forks: 1.5 kg MAX
TOTAL 7 kg MAX weight for the business end of paddle wheel drive system. Surely I can beat this weight estimate.

So how does this estimate compare to propellor designs? It is much more voluminous..
How

 

Yes, something along these lines, but with the capability as noted in the movies below:

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/inboards/prop-shaft-systems-24636-4.html See post 53 and 54.

Porta

 

Naw, I'm a river rat. Craft something along these lines, but much lighter and smaller with the capability to go in under 6" of water for extended distances and pack to remote locations: http://www.prophish.com/pedalboats.html#features

P.

 

Hi, Mike. How did you adjust the immersion depth so the wheels didn't hit rocks or the bottom in shallows? Maybe something like this can handle both weed and shallows, but seems slow and bulky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIKZvFy6Elg

V.