Four wheeled dinghy

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by messabout, Dec 24, 2012.

  1. johneck
    Joined: Nov 2011
    Posts: 253
    Likes: 17, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 117
    Location: New England

    johneck Senior Member

    That mast next to the power wires looks like an upcoming disaster. I suspect that the demise of the project was shocking to the inventor.
     
  2. SamSam
    Joined: Feb 2005
    Posts: 3,899
    Likes: 200, Points: 63, Legacy Rep: 971
    Location: Coastal Georgia

    SamSam Senior Member

    I love a good dump of the landfill sort, metal scrapyards, industrial dumpsters! When my sister lived in one of the better burbs of Chicago, everyone would put their trash on the curb at night for pickup the next day. I was out in the middle of the night for a smoke and along came a large open bed truck with sides, slowly driving down the street. Six Hispanics were fanned out on both sides of the street going through the piles of stuff at each house. The truck was loaded with nice looking furniture, bicycles, exercise equipment, refrigerators...people throw away perfectly good stuff to make way for brand new stuff of a different color or style or it's the new model or just because spending money is an emotional fix of some kind.
     
  3. troy2000
    Joined: Nov 2009
    Posts: 1,738
    Likes: 170, Points: 63, Legacy Rep: 2078
    Location: California

    troy2000 Senior Member

    I've dug everything from heavy-duty galvanized buckets to a BBQ out of other people's trash, just in the last year. My older brother once brought home a very expensive, brand-new leather jacket (still had the tags on it) that someone threw away because a cat or small dog peed on one sleeve. He had it dry cleaned, the spot disappeared completely, and he's probably still wearing it after all these years.
     
  4. SamSam
    Joined: Feb 2005
    Posts: 3,899
    Likes: 200, Points: 63, Legacy Rep: 971
    Location: Coastal Georgia

    SamSam Senior Member

    One jobsite had one of the long dumpsters with a door on the back, filled to over flowing with 4x16' structural panels, 1/2" ply on one side, 4" polyurethane foam and heavy duty metal building siding on the outside, leftovers from a refrigerated building project. "Where are they going?" "To the dump." "I want them!" "You can't have them." "I'll buy them!" "We can't sell them." Boo Hoo Hoo.
     
  5. alan craig
    Joined: Jul 2012
    Posts: 380
    Likes: 131, Points: 53, Legacy Rep: 14
    Location: s.e. england

    alan craig Senior Member

    I claim the record for the best dumpster diving job when I worked at a UK university. Apart from boring but expensive lab equipment I found: An American made vacuum pump, brand new in crate; a glider cockpit with canopy; a helicopter free turbine assembly in it's housing and many more items that were recycled into other lab equipment. And when labs were modernised, I found myself with the old teak benchtops which would otherwise be landfill: they'll become a strip planked small boat one day I hope.
    As for the original thread, when I was a littlun and had one of those gocarts made with pram wheels, I once sailed it down the street in very strong wind using a square polyethylene spinaker. The voyage ended when I could no longer steer with my feet on the front axle.
     

  6. messabout
    Joined: Jan 2006
    Posts: 3,367
    Likes: 510, Points: 113, Legacy Rep: 1279
    Location: Lakeland Fl USA

    messabout Senior Member

    We humans are a wasteful lot, I would contend.

    I have a friend who is an inveterate dumpster diver. Aside from that exercise.he has a suitable degree of dignity. On one of his explorations he found approximately 500 perfectly functional pneumatic cylinders. It seems that Anheuser-Busch, of Budweiser fame, replaces their entire complement of such items on an annual basis. They reckon that the down time caused by the failure of as few as one of those cylinders is too costly to leave to chance. They simply throw out the ones being replaced. We have a A-H brewery nearby so it was no strain for Ernie to exploit his talent for finding discarded but still entirely useful stuff.

    I have to discipline myself in order to drive by furniture and other wooden items that have been placed at the curb awaiting the gabage collector. Some of that wood is elegant, wanut, cherry, maple and other expensive types. So far I have not seen suitable items to make my land sailor. I will continue to keep a sharp eye out for such treasures.
     
Loading...
Forum posts represent the experience, opinion, and view of individual users. Boat Design Net does not necessarily endorse nor share the view of each individual post.
When making potentially dangerous or financial decisions, always employ and consult appropriate professionals. Your circumstances or experience may be different.