Simple amphibious micro peddle boat

I know some will say this is ridiculous but I want to build a sleep pod out of two plastic wheelie bins siliconed together at the tops. Then cut an access hatch and have the hinged lid going over it.

I want twin wheels just forward of midships and a rear wheel steering/rudder.

Either hand peddles or a removable bar for foot pedals. It would have to be removed when sleeping in there.

 

This would be the sort of thing I’m going for inside the sleep pod. So it would be driven and steered on land by hand peddling or a bar between the wheels that could be peddled direct shaft

 

Start off with a better and tried concept. Your bins have no real stabilty and will happily float on whatever side its rolled onto, by weight ,wind or wave action.

I believe the plans for "Gorfnik" are online.

 

Yes it’s a little gorfnik I’m aiming for. It will only be used on canals and it will mainly be on the road

 

The peddle system is the hard part. It will be a paddle boat in the water with fins on the wheels and something like this for a mechanism. It has to be removed when in sleep mode

 

Think of running a chain drive down one side, with some gears, because road torque needs will differ to water splashing needs. You may need an outrigger to lessen chances of capsize. I'm all for experimentation, but I really hope you can swim. Have you slept in a wheelie bin on dry land ? It couldn't be any better floating and bobbing in water I'm sure. Good luck, and sweet dreams.

 

The amphibian aspect is just for crossing rivers or small waterways ect

I will have an electric wheel on the back so no need for gears

keeping it simple

there is a fine line between ridiculous and genius

this is ridiculously simple

 

Bringing a sling tent is a lot simpler than having a removable drive system. Im assuming you have not slept in a confined space made of non permeable plastic, you will find yourself waking up with a wet sleeping bag.

 

Then I think an amphibious trailer towed behind any bike that you can get into the trailer would be a better solution. Propel the trailer across those short stretches of water with a double paddle or a sculling oar. What you are considering at the moment seriously compromises riding on land for the sake of occasionally propelling the vehicle over short stretches of water with a pedal drive. A trailer allows you to have a fully functional bike when you are not planning to cross water. And the trailer would only need to be a box long enough to carry you and the bike (so maybe a bit over 2 metres), wide enough to be stable (90 cm should do), and deep enough not to get swamped in whatever waves you can expect. 25 - 30 cm should do. Put a tent over it. If you choose 26" or even 29" wheels, you can mount them so that the axles are still above the water when the trailer floats.

If you are willing to inflate some floats, the trailer box itself doesn't need to float:


Alternatively, get some wheels with stub axles and pop them into the side of Gorfnik above, the way Matt Layden pops wheels into the side of Elusion when he wants to portage. The drawback is that then it becomes even more difficult to design an overrun brake, which you might want, given the weight you may carry.

Having brakes on all your wheels is the best argument for an amphibious trike. I suggest something resembling this, only designed for paddling or sculling, not an outboard or a pedal drive: Amphibious Camper-Trike https://betriton.com/


Also, I would prefer a front end more like the Varibike trike:


In summary, for the occasional water crossing, I don't think it is worth compromising the primary use as you state it, riding on land. A pedal drive is not worth the bother, unless you like the challenge of designing a pedal drive that is useful on both land and water. And then a recumbent trike is likely to be the best configuration. But no matter whether you go for a tadpole trike (two wheels in front) or a delta trike (two wheel in the rear), the drive will be where you want to sleep, and building it so that it is removable will probably create worse trade-offs than raising your sleeping platform above the drive. Also, there are very few rear wheel steering vehicles because it is difficult to make them behave when cornering at speed. The picture you showed is of a vehicle that, I think, is designed to turn wildly, not to be controlled safely. The problem is that the centre of gravity necessarily is behind the fixed front wheels, so as soon as you turn, centrifugal force tries to make you turn more. If there are ways to counter that, the people most likely to know are members of the IHPVA (International Human-Powered Vehicle Association) and automotive engineers with a passion for Dymaxion cars:

 

It’s hard to justify a craft that will be highly inefficient in both water and road modes.
Perhaps focusing on the road mode, and utilizing bridges that are commonly found on said roads will allow your design to develop successfully.

 

Packraft plus a tent might be better?

 

Thanks for all replies

lots of food for thought here.

yes there is no ideal all round it’s all compromises

my craft will be a transportable capsule hotel on wheels. It won’t be very fast on land and won’t be very good on water at all but it will be able to float and cross small bodies of water like streams ect

 

I was thinking about an electric wheelbarrow wheel on the stern which would have simple cable steering from the cab.

Apparently they are waterproof and very hard wearing, of course very slow it would only be for moving the pod short distances.

it could provide a little forward thrust and steering in the water but again only very slow and would also paddle like a canoe. But as soon as the water is shallow enough the other side and it grips the land you could drive up out of the water

 

Adding agricultural machinery and batteries will make it sink. Keep it simple. An Idea I had was to carry a canvas tarp, some cordage, and some strut like material like pool noodles, bamboo, fibreglass dome tent struts etc. and pad the bike where needed, then use it as a floor frame for a coracle, tying the tarp underneath it and across the top, sitting on the bike, and trying to make way with a paddle. The army can float a land rover or jeep this way. I got as far as making a canvas coracle which worked, but was too much trouble, and thick canvas is quite heavy, thin canvas tears, and light synthetics don't last.
Or, how about an electric bike with big knobbly tyres, that goes fast enough to skim across the river without sinking, then go back to 'legal' speeds on land. Motorbikes can do it.

 

Well my original idea was just an electric bicycle wheel on the stern but apparently the wheelbarrow wheel is much more hard wearing and waterproof