Can wheeled vehicle run on the surface of water at high speed?

At high speed, the surface of the water is rock solid, so they say. Why not turn this around and use the surface of the water at high speed as a running surface for a fast wheeled vehicle? Resistance will be more than road resistance, but like the moon buggy, it will not sink in.

Has anyone patented anything like this?

Some indication at what could be done is here:

 

People have run snowmobiles over open water, too. Just don't slow down.

 

I wonder if they are getting a certain amount of aerodynamic lift by having the front wheels up in the air?
And this would then cause the back wheels to sink in / 'grip' the water a bit better, re propulsion?
I think woe betide if the front wheels came down and made contact with the water surface - something spectacular might then happen?

 

I don't think the concept is patentable, prior art all the way back to Froude and all that. Now a specially designed tire....

 

Just about anything can be patented, but what is to be gained in this particular case? Time, energy, money, and peace of mind will cost dearly, pursuing a patent on something that is already known and in the public domain, without any discernible gain, AFAIK.

A patent does not prevent anyone from copying your invention. A patent might give you a stronger position to win a suit, if somebody is affecting your business interests with those copies. However, if the infractor has very Deep Pockets, it might give them the ability to tie things up in court until the patent owner's resources are exhausted, and it costs dearly in other ways, as mentioned above. Furthermore, in the USA, anybody can already sue for any reason, whether there's a patent involved or not, haha! Good luck, but that's the way I understand it anyway.

 

Patent raw power and steel nerves....

Have skipped a sled before, it was a friend's that was stripped down and setup for it in rather shallow water. Learned I'm not that talented a rider and I don't have nerves of steel. It's a weird feeling. The hill climb guys in Iceland who skip know roughly the power to weight needed and entrance speed requirement.

Skipping is inverse profitability, it'd taking items from a known area that are high value and through brute horsepower making them do crazy things. Like 80-250k sandrails bouncing across big puddles in the desert.

With that said one of my ridint buddies is good at it on a sled, we were in a late winter semi coastal spot. He skipped about 500 yards of Flatt open river delta, we went 2x miles inland to cross in a narrow spot with a ice bridge. He was easily a half hr faster than us.

 

What? I would not believe this if I didn't see it in YouTube. They do over 30 miles an hour, that is, 20 knots or so, but how efficient is it? What is the speed of a snowmobile in the snow?

 

That might be the case but the snowmobile settles the issue. The front wheels need to stay out of the way, however, in the case of the buggy, or be as large as the rear wheels.

 

The reason I asked about patents is that I wanted to know if there were any similar ideas out there. Apparently there are.
Patenting is a troublesome process, and if it so happens that someone else has already invented it, you will have to may them for using your invention (arrived at independently).

As far as patents go, I do not intend to patent anything, but release it as open source software, we have all benefited from open source software.

The Ford Motor Company Vs Inventor Robert Kearns is a case in point:

"It takes a lot of tenacity and money to fight patent infringement," said William G. Abbot, patent expert with Brooks & Cushman of Southfield, Mich. "A big company can make it expensive real quick."

For Kearns, the 12-year legal struggle has been painful. It caused him a nervous breakdown and the breakup of his marriage. He has also said that he pursued this lawsuit in the hope of changing patent laws. He wants the courts to have the power to extend patents if inventors are involved in lengthy lawsuits. Ironically, all of the patents Kearns held on intermittent wipers expired in 1988.

Delayed-wiper inventor wins suit against Ford https://www.autonews.com/article/20081002/ZZZ_SPECIAL/810029938/delayed-wiper-inventor-wins-suit-against-ford

 

Those snowmobiles seriously need an emergency flotation device.

Must-have gear: Nebulus Emergency Flotation Device • Outdoor Canada https://www.outdoorcanada.ca/nebulus-emergency-flotation-device/

Actually something which pops out on either side that floats the entire snowmobile like they have for helicopters:

Helicopter Emergency Floatation Systems (EFS) | SKYbrary Aviation Safety https://skybrary.aero/articles/helicopter-emergency-floatation-systems-efs

 

Something like this can carry the weight of one person without sinking.

Giant 0.8mm PVC Inflatable Water Roller For Kids / Adults Water Walking Ball Roller https://www.inflatablebubblesoccer.com/sale-6627823-giant-0-8mm-pvc-inflatable-water-roller-for-kids-adults-water-walking-ball-roller.html

Moving through water is like moving through a crowd. It is difficult to move fast. Water skiers move on top of the water, for example, water skiers can also ski on land: or on a water ski ramp, the friction may increase or decrease but no-one will run their cars on skis unless in the snow, when friction is less.

The idea here is to build a vehicle supported by large rollers that float the device while submerging about 1/10 of the roller surface. At speed, surface friction will roll the rollers which will result in very low friction between the roller and the surface, which is water, rather like running your car on wheels rather than skis. Since water resistance is such a large part of the resistance encountered by a boat, the overall resistance will be reduced to the rolling resistance at the hub of the wheel. This concept could be used to either go faster or move with more power.

A vehicle like this which floats would like what I had in mind: 3D concept to follow.

6×6 Scrambler Amphibious Vehicle | Reviewmotors.co https://reviewmotors.co/6x6-scrambler-amphibious-vehicle/

 

As someone who botched his first dozen attempts on a snowmobile the deceleration when you drop a runner or find the transition is like hitting a wall. I felt like I cartwheeled for 25 feet and judging by the laugher on the bank it must have looked like 25 feet of middle aged involuntary cart wheels.

Doesn't matter if it's Icelandic trucks or Travis pastrana trying to skip motorcycles and three wheelers, speed at the bank matters. I'm not sure what concoction it would take to start a wheeled vehicle from the water skipping... but it's gonna drink fuel like a fire in a refinery.

 

Sometimes there is no substitute for sheer unadulterated horsepower.

 

This is the 3D concept. The large wheels are fixed to an axis - maybe it will need a proper springed suspension. Power will be by an electric motor and a large propeller at the back. As the wheels roll, the resistance stays low at the contact point with the water, less than if the wheels were locked in place.

 

As usual someone has tried it before: 3:15. It is running like a paddle boat. Fast enough and it will snowmobile.



And now the real thing:

 

The body of the 4 wheel (float) vehicle shown above is already reasonably boat shaped - if you want to simply go fast, then a planing hull form on the water will (I am sure) be faster than your Wateroller, for a given amount of horsepower.

What do you want to use this Wateroller for (do you have a Statement of Requirements for it, re what it should be capable of?) or is it just a fun project?