Mud and the Tender

Under-inflated wheelbarrow tires might be more suitable to the situation.

 

Yes, good point. I did consider them, but I was hoping to get a wider profile, as most barrow sizes tend to be fairly narrow.

The wheelbarrow would have the advantage of a bigger diameter, and probably cheaper.

maybe a couple of barrow tyres close together ?

 

Thanks for that link. I managed to get detail of the motors setup.

Basically, I see its a 2 blade prop on a mini-longtail.

Its a great techno concept for the soft stuff. My last experience of estuary mud was quite a bit firmer than a prop could possibly handle, mixed with sand bars. I guess I can rely on getting out and dragging the boat when its sandy enough to impede progress. Its the stuff where you sink up to your knees that I would like to conquer.

Besides weight and cost, ( making it hard to get the tender on deck) I will leave the motor solution until I can try the manual method.

I have in mind trying some short, robust oars, and see how they perform in locked down rowlocks as far as getting some purchase on mud, sand and of course eventually (hopefully) water. This should get about the same purchase as an anchor thrown ahead, while providing propulsion in water.

That mini-longtail has prompted the thought of having a couple of 'trimtabs' on the stern to lower down to provide more sliding surface when required, without adding to the size of the boat.

 

There is a thin, slick plastic material they sell here (U.S.) as a roll-up kid's sled (for snowy surfaces). It may be an ideal bottom for the kick-sled. If you could rig up a water pump / aquarium pump and pump some water out across the bow via holes in PVC tube, that would really slicken up the mud. Also, I wonder if you couldn't fashion a push-pole duck foot setup (http://www.aquamasters.com/duckfoot.htm) to work by you kicking it, rather than push-poling it, on the kick-sled. The duck foot retracts, so it would shed mud on the rebound.

I know you are trying to stay away from powered equipment, but here is an "oldie-but-goodie" to give you some ideas (think rotating pontoons)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBjlSJf4274

 

All excellent ideas. The push pole technique may be very appropriate for mud situations, and the 'slick' material would be absolutely useful if it is also tough. This is what a 'dynel' hull underneath cover would be expected to do.

I am familiar with the 'swamp screw'. They are very effective. The US had one of its own, but here is a Russian version

 

Bottom slick - this must be it

This is the stuff VI must have been referring to - sounds just the ticket.

"This virtually indestructible material has long been used in the marine industries where low surface friction is necessary and high abrasion and wear are the norm. Essentially the same material used on ski bases,"


http://www.cascade-rescue.com/products/Snow-Slick.html

 

Note to self -

PT watercraft tender http://ptwatercraft.com/ptwatercraft/PT11.html

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/yacht-tender-does-all-ideas-44577.html

They are looking for ideas - , maybe mud wheels ?

 

See http://www.britishpathe.com/video/new-american-swamp-vehicle-the-marsh-screw-amphibi

 

................... & there I was thinkin' the Mud Buddy wasn't exactly treading lightly on the earth.............................

 

I was thinking of this stuff: http://www.supremehardware.com/servlet/the-31680/Pelican-Snow-dsh-Flite-Roll-dsh-Up-Sled/Detail

Very inexpensive. I know some guys use it to modify their snowblowers (chute liner, etc.).


As far as the "Swamp Screw", there is also a modern RC toy version of it if you are intrigued - called the Hot Wheels Terrain Twister.

 

Here is a review (with video) of the Terrain Twister: http://www.rcmania.com/reviews/tyco-terrain-twister/

Sometimes, for inspiration, you can turn to RC toys or hobbycraft - although the one below failed as a toy, it intrigues the mind as to what may be possible for paddlewheels (possibly even a design for a mud tender ):
http://www.rcmania.com/reviews/tyco-shell-shocker/

 

I was thinking of foot driven oars while lying on back.

For the amount of force needed I don't think too many could use arms to drag themselves and boat too far on thick mud.

Lay back in SOT kayak, canoe or dingy/jonboat and push up and away on handles so blade will push down and towards you.

You might be able to do 'deadlifts' but that will be mostly arms.

Might help greatly to make custom Mud Oars, maybe a large frizbee disk on a pivot with a spike.

 

Seems to me you will need 2 or 3 balloon tires. Human or other power to 2 on the same axle to get good traction in slick mud and drag tail if only 2 are used. Wheel retractability outside of the boat compartment would be a plus for water travel. Something like this:
http://www.sealegs.com/recreation

Unless boots are used, a round trip requires 2 non-mud transfers on hard pack to avoid getting muddy. Don't think oars/mud buddy/push pole will get you on top of hard pack, and the complex swap screw won't make efficient progress in deep water.

JMHO.

Porta

 

All great points, and there are a lot of things to consider.

I had a good laugh yesterday at a short story in the latest issue 78 of Australian Amateur BoatBuilder magazine, describing a slightly tipsy skipper pondering his fate of dying from hypothermia stuck up to his thighs in black sticky mud, in sight of the Pub where no-one could hear him yell over the noise of the city traffic.

I meditated further on the solution, and I was considering the setup on the boat. It would be important not to infringe too much on the sailing,rowing,motoring capabilities, so I am steering clear of radical solutions like balloon tyres and sealegs gear if I possibly can.

In my minds eye I saw a mechanism that does a 'lift and propel' of the hull. Not just round wheels ( balloon or fat), but something that has a bit of bite to it. I could see plain balloon tyres just spinning uselessly in 'syrup' conditions. Big lugs on a wheel would provide 'bite', but they would not give any kind of 'extra lift' when rotating, to get the hull up off the slime.

If I can avoid specialist mud oars, I would like to, for two reasons
1) The usefulness of water oars once you are afloat
2) The lack of Lift leverage available from the long arms ( it would require uncomfortable high pressure to get the hull up in the air and inch or so, and some engineering of the rowlocks )

It has to have the same leverage as say the footprint of one of those guys on the back of a mudsled, and it should be compact and easy to 'disengage' for getting the boat onto the yacht or up a ramp etc.

My mental image is this guy with two 'mud oars', mounted on the central bench seat (that can be linked to the sliding seat) , to operate two 'cam wheels' that lift and propel, using some sort of ratchet device to enable pushing forward.

The wheels would be sealed, so that if the mud was really thin, then when the cam lobe reached bottom dead centre, there would be some buoyancy to lift the hull a bit, even if there was no solid base available. Once clear of the mud, you could 'feather' the cam so that it presented a curved surface in the direction of travel, and the flat sides of the cam wheels could provide some lateral control. I can even envisage building a way to raise the wheels into the hull, if more efficient water travel was required for any distance.

Any day now, I will invest in some cheap construction ply to mock up the concept .... any day now, real soon ...

 

RW: Don't see how the sailing, rowing, motoring capabilities are affected: https://www.facebook.com/sealegs/app_57675755167 Flip up wheels would be more practical at smaller scale.

I like your creative idea of cam wheels. Balloon tires with oars/secondary propulsion would also work in syrup conditions as well as in deep water. Some of the kinetic sculpture races also had side paddles/cleats on their wide tires to get a purchase on slick mud and deep water....

Hope this helps.

Porta