Converting Bicylce to Pedal Boat

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Equalitude, Jan 2, 2009.

  1. Kirk
    Joined: Feb 2022
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    Location: Peoria Illinois

    Kirk Junior Member

    Plus i might be incentivized to stop pedaling because battery would keep trolling motor going! :). Biggest issue was noise. Although people reviewing trainers said knobby tires are loud.

    Altho my goal initially was just 4 hours on the water underway. Which someone else mentioned the current would keep me "underway"

    The 2 trainers just arrived. I haven't opened them yet.

    Gf n i were talking. Thinking a recumbent bike probably makes much more sense 1. Comfort 2. Lower center of gravity. But recumbent bikes are much more expensive used/new. Saw fb had one for $175 looked like outlier price point/good deal. I'm traveling the opposite way or else I'd think about it. But for 1st iteration probably just need to get going.

    I've never seen two bikes on a pontoon boat. Especially used as a dinghy. Especially hauled behind a sailboat. Maybe risk of sails & bikes getting entangled? Or bikes pounding/scratching the fiberglass. Maybe some safety concerns. Or rough seas trying to transfer. Or getting tosssd into a bike gonna be painful. River by me occasionally gets a little rough & there is some barge traffic.

    Be really handy being able to use the bikes once at the dock I'd think. Or maybe the bikes/dinghy just get stolen.

    One real estate agent Gary Keller tells the story of how a class is divided in half. Half are to make 50 pots. The other half is to make one master piece. The 50 ends up with a better pot. Altho not wanting to put the resources into 50.

    Altho maybe that story was pre cad/cam. I used to work in r&d. One engineer with many patents said computers sometimes slowed innovation. He was big fan of white boards.
     
  2. marine_plug
    Joined: Feb 2022
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    marine_plug Junior Member

    2 : used or broken angle grinder
    Small prop : trying to peddle with a big prop displaces a lot of water and it hard on your legs

    2hrs: YouTube all about welding

    (imagination) good luck
     
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  3. marine_plug
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    marine_plug Junior Member

    Almost :))
     
  4. Kirk
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    Kirk Junior Member

    Thanks!

    Any suggestions on YouTube or just dive in?

    Think I've Already got 3 angle grinders laying around! Any link/youtube to someone that already did this?

    Edit: What's considered a smaller prop?
     
  5. fredrosse
    Joined: Jan 2005
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    fredrosse USACE Steam

    Right angle drive - Smallest are for drill-drivers, about 1 inch diameter x 4 inches long, strong enough for person power, high end brands $10-$30
    Next step, right angle drives with chuck for common electric drills, similar pricing, somewhat bigger gears, all these are 1:1 ratio.
    Reduction right angle drives - plenty heavy duty for person power, Harbor Freight right angle grinder 120 VAC $10 on sale, $15 regular price. About 3:1 ratio

    I would go for paddlewheel drive, while not as good efficiency as propeller drive, the efficiency is adequate. My paddle steamer functions well, one ton displacement with 1.34 square feet paddle area (2 x 8" x 12"). For a 1 person boat of about 300 pounds total weight, paddle area of about 5" deep x 6 " wide 20-24" outside diameter
    would be OK, with friction belt drive from bicycle tire/rim to paddle shaft pulley . A used 21 speed bike in excellent condition can be had at a yard sale for $20 +/-
     
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  6. Kirk
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    Location: Peoria Illinois

    Kirk Junior Member

    paddlewheel drive would be much cooler looking than prop. But guessing weight would be significantly more & much more volume since will be loaded onto & off of my camper trailer. Got a picture to share of your paddlewheel?

    I've got waaay too much stuff in this house. already have the right angle drive. If you had to pick between right angle grinder & right angle drive which way would you go? I've got 3 of grinders one is dewalt I picked up for like $18 irr. & only one right angle drive.

    The issue I had with bike is these trainers have to have a quick release rear wheel at least for the $18 trainers I got off Amazon. So which kind of leads to upper end bikes. But I'm trying to be aggressively lazy & buy preexisting as much as possible & least expensive as possible. But I did want a new bike. My old bike pretty much dun the tires/tubes were dun. By time buy new tires or anything these days almost cheaper to have just bought someone's used that had been taken care of. Although I pretty much pay whatever the person is asking off facebook & don't negotiate. 80 year old guy that sold me my new bike was mad. He thought he'd listed it for $175. It was on there for $150. I was joking I'm a tough negotiator as I paid him full price & he was still not happy at me :) altho bike prices seem less in an icestorm lol. he's like you're gonna buy this & resell it. I'm like no.
     
  7. Kirk
    Joined: Feb 2022
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    Kirk Junior Member

    Grinders & drive & bicycle trainers
     

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  8. gonzo
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    gonzo Senior Member

    They are not likely to last long running underwater.
     
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  9. Kirk
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    Kirk Junior Member

    Kind of curious to see how long they last. They're cheap. I'm sure the $600 one earlier in thread is much more durable. If i have sail/paddle/trolling motor in addition. I wouldn't see a failure being much of a safety issue just inconvenient. & guessing you're right salt water tear them up quickly.

    Edit:Wonder if anyway to encase them in marine grease but maybe just a mess & putting pollutants in the water.
     
  10. fredrosse
    Joined: Jan 2005
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    fredrosse USACE Steam

    I have articulating paddle wheels on my big steamer (paddles constantly change attitude during rotation), with 72 moving joints in the water. I got some expensive food grade grease for these joints and the stuff doesn't wash off during many hours running. The steamer has plenty of splashing when underway. I would think this stuff packed into one of the angle drives would last for a reasonable length of time.

    We are also making a small paddlewheeler, and this small boat has 24 inch diameter x 12 floats on each sidewheel. Wheels made from plastic composite, epoxy joints. Just starting on this one tho. Sidewheeler-ReplicaS2.jpg IMG_5426.jpg
     

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  11. Kirk
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    Kirk Junior Member

    Great job on that! The finish is really good.
     
  12. portacruise
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    portacruise Senior Member

    Alternators are not efficient, but specially built motor generator systems are, look at pages around this link,

    Pedal Powered Boats https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/pedal-powered-boats.23345/page-76#post-472153

    Angle grinders have to be robust to take the torque of human leg cranking, and the angle grinder part can be mounted above water, so no worry about lubrication and rusting. Then a trailing shaft with a propeller on the end can be attached to the angle grinder and be angled so that it dips into the water. See attached picture of Post Number 5, which makes the most of human power because of the very low appendage drag underwater. There is no brick of angle grinder or motor in front or behind the propeller, which causes turbulence and interferes with a smooth flow to and from the propeller.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2022
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  13. portacruise
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    portacruise Senior Member

    Re Post Number 9, You might consider contacting this company about used Twisted chain drive units, proven reliable at commercial rental places, ask if they're still any rental areas to try one around your location,

    CastleCraft Seacycle Human powered water bike for 1 to 4 passengers http://castlecraft.com/seacycles.htm

    there are also other similar units by other manufacturers which are reasonably priced, but you have to find somebody that has put in for a large order overseas. Easy, quick, and possibly cheap if you happen to hit it right, haha!
     
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  14. magnus
    Joined: Mar 2010
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    Location: minnetonka minnesota usa

    magnus Junior Member

    Milwakee makes an angle drive that seems robust. It is an option to attach to some of their drills I recall. I bought one years ago for about $60.00 and they claimed they would rebuild it for about $30.00. It has a 2/3 ratio or a 3/2 ratio (reversable). I tried it on my bow facing rowing outrigger with airplane props and a more aggressive homemade prop. All were slower than rowing. I did not know about the Bolly at the time and think it would have performed better. It easily cinches down in an alloy tube which I ran about 20 inches off the hull on the outrigger side. Both ends are threaded, so I ran an aluminum shaft through the tube to a small driven sprocket mid hull. The sprocket was an american standard maybe 40 or 41 which was thinned by face grinding. To wide for bike chain but the pitch was correct. I made a flex connector for the prop shaft which allowed the prop and shaft to be hand raised and lowered on a streamlined strut. "Pedal Powered Boats" has good ideas on eliminating the support strut, thinner flexible shaft and better props. I was on to other project when I made that read. Before I converted back to rowing, just for fun, I removed the angle drive, cut a longer sprocket shaft, mounted a bearing in the outboard alloy tube and attached a simple four bladed paddle wheel. Of course it was slower noisier and wetter than the prop. Four blades was not enough, but it made it easy to fold up for transport. Pedaling at least six blades would feel more rhythmic. By the way after testing, granted probably only 3 hours total on the water, I could not feel a notable backlash change in the drive. I popped one circlip pulled the bearing/shaft/gear assembly and the gears looked like new.
     

  15. portacruise
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    portacruise Senior Member

    Another way to change the drive shaft Direction is based on using double universal joints similar to those that are sometimes used with ratchet and socket sets. There is also another a cutaway picture of one setup with a supporting frame, somewhere on the electric boat forum, besides this one, at Post Number 9

    Homemade stern tube https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/homemade-stern-tube.44918/#post-585212

    The pros are Simplicity, small size, no gear stripping or immersing lubrication needed, but the gear ratio will be 1:1 so any Gearing will have to be done separate from the u joint.
     
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