amphibian

does anyone know of a plan for a home built amphibian, i am thinking about something not to expensive but with reasonable performance . up to 80km on road and 10 knots on water. not a banana split buggy. maybe it could utilise a small 4wd chassis like a suzuki with a pto for propellor.

 

I havnt come across any - but I would be keen to hear of one as well.

There are a heap of threads in this forum about the topic, lots of links and ideas but I can hardly recall any current production models, let alone plans.

The 'amphibious buses' seem to be building a few, but the all get into the $200,000 mark - like a Winnebago.

I do know of one guy in the north of australia that attached polystyrene floats to each side his Suzuki 4WD, and it floated fine - so it must be doable.

 

The UK kitcar company Dutton sell a kit to make an amphibious car. The kit costs UKP 7,000, and you must find a Suzuki Jimny or similar as a donor vehicle.

Their site is http://www.amphibiouscars.co.uk

The maximum speed is about 5 knots in the water. It's pretty basic - probably not great as either a car or a boat.

 

thats the style i am thinking of. i also thought of a suzuki sealed on the bottom and with detachable catamaran floats. it could carry the floats on a roof rack or maybe they could swing onto the roof with some sort of hinge system.

 

I notice Dutton is offering free 'inspections' on old vehicles to check for rust etc.

The hardest bit is sealing the drive components. Imagine a boat trailer left in water for 2-3 hours, the bearings would die very quickly.

Ideally, you need some way to raise the drive gear.

 

it would be a major concern, but i think if it is hosed off and sprayed with lanolin after each trip you should be able to keep it under control. the front wheel bearings might be a problem unless you could convert them to oil filled.

 

ampphibian

contact rickgray@telus.net to chat on my prototype

 

You are so right about seal leakage. I was intending to make a tube boot to go from differential center section out to hub casting at wheel bearind or add seal at differential (independant rear axle center casing. and add grease nipples and caps to pack front and rear wheel bearings and grease nipples to axle velocity joints on rear axles. the under carraige would be sprayed down with fresh water nozzles fitted pointed at any seals after leaving salt water.

 

R watson: on my amphibian vehicle i intend to use air lift bags on front and rear with a 12 volt air pump and reserve tank and or hydraulic lift at front and rear A arms. all underwater projections are to be faired in streamlined to reduce drag.

 

Whats your web site address ?

 

R Watson : my e mail addres is rickgray@telus.net in vancover b.c.

 

I have a design amphibious pontoon that folds into a size of 1.1 wide x .9 high and weighs 400 kg that can float up to 2500kg vehicles.
Unfolded it is 2.5 wide that is wide enough to walk around the vehicle.
It can go wider by raising the height in folding form for example instead of .9 it can be a 1.2 which gives the opened width of 3.1m
The ramps are the draw bar that has a spear head shape in towing form to resist wind drag.
It has removable titanium torsions suspension shown in this link, http://www.boatdesign.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/21963/cat/500/ppuser/49990 and two legs similar to our board motors which the power is diverted from the vehicle hub region that also steer the propellers.
My next project is to design and manufacture the adapted power system that is to be easily used within seconds of driving on the pontoon.
This pontoon can also be used a boat or a catamaran yacht or in the commercial field of boating