Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

I need a boat for a very shallow river. Paddles, especially with stiff
rubber tips, seem like a good alternative and a riding lawnmower drive train
would give me reduction, reverse and a variety of gears. Anybody know of
some experience?

Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

"Dan Listermann" wrote in
:

I need a boat for a very shallow river. Paddles, especially with
stiff rubber tips, seem like a good alternative and a riding lawnmower
drive train would give me reduction, reverse and a variety of gears.
Anybody know of some experience?




seems to me you'd almost be better off poling. Lawnmower drivetrains are
kinda heavy, forcing you to either a deepish draft or a huge boat, and
paddles just don't seem like they are all that efficient. On the other
hand, something like a longish jonboat and a nice 8 foot pole should take
you most anywhere you want to go...

Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

"Jim Willemin" wrote in message
.131...
"Dan Listermann" wrote in
:

I need a boat for a very shallow river. Paddles, especially with
stiff rubber tips, seem like a good alternative and a riding lawnmower
drive train would give me reduction, reverse and a variety of gears.
Anybody know of some experience?




seems to me you'd almost be better off poling. Lawnmower drivetrains are
kinda heavy, forcing you to either a deepish draft or a huge boat, and
paddles just don't seem like they are all that efficient. On the other
hand, something like a longish jonboat and a nice 8 foot pole should take
you most anywhere you want to go...

I intend to use a 14' johnboat. As for poling, it might be an option, but
the river can get deep too.

Interestingly, the guy down the street has a decrepit John Deere electric
riding mower. Batteries weigh a lot too, but it would be quiet.

Speaking of weight, this is a big concern because the boat will need to be
hauled up a 10' bank.

Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

"Dan Listermann" wrote in
:


"Jim Willemin" wrote in message
.131...
"Dan Listermann" wrote in
:

I need a boat for a very shallow river. Paddles, especially with
stiff rubber tips, seem like a good alternative and a riding
lawnmower drive train would give me reduction, reverse and a variety
of gears. Anybody know of some experience?




seems to me you'd almost be better off poling. Lawnmower drivetrains
are kinda heavy, forcing you to either a deepish draft or a huge
boat, and paddles just don't seem like they are all that efficient.
On the other hand, something like a longish jonboat and a nice 8 foot
pole should take you most anywhere you want to go...

I intend to use a 14' johnboat. As for poling, it might be an option,
but the river can get deep too.

Interestingly, the guy down the street has a decrepit John Deere
electric riding mower. Batteries weigh a lot too, but it would be
quiet.

Speaking of weight, this is a big concern because the boat will need
to be hauled up a 10' bank.




well then - an 8 or 10 foot pole and some 9 foot oars. In either case, I
suspect you'd be as fast as a paddle-driven boat, and you'd get your
exercise too :). Especially if you already have a 14 foot johnboat and
have to haul it up a biggish bank, I'd strongly consider the human-powered
option. On the other hand, though, I suppose you could get a 20 foot
comealong and a couple of 2x4s for skids and just ratchet up whatever
weight you wind up with when it comes time to beach the thing. Good luck!
Your idea sounds ingenious, actually - I'm just something of a Neanderthal
luddite...

Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

Jim Willemin wrote:
"Dan Listermann" wrote in
:

"Jim Willemin" wrote in message
.131...
"Dan Listermann" wrote in
:

I need a boat for a very shallow river. Paddles, especially with
stiff rubber tips, seem like a good alternative and a riding
lawnmower drive train would give me reduction, reverse and a variety
of gears. Anybody know of some experience?



seems to me you'd almost be better off poling. Lawnmower drivetrains
are kinda heavy, forcing you to either a deepish draft or a huge
boat, and paddles just don't seem like they are all that efficient.
On the other hand, something like a longish jonboat and a nice 8 foot
pole should take you most anywhere you want to go...
I intend to use a 14' johnboat. As for poling, it might be an option,
but the river can get deep too.

Interestingly, the guy down the street has a decrepit John Deere
electric riding mower. Batteries weigh a lot too, but it would be
quiet.

Speaking of weight, this is a big concern because the boat will need
to be hauled up a 10' bank.




well then - an 8 or 10 foot pole and some 9 foot oars. In either case, I
suspect you'd be as fast as a paddle-driven boat, and you'd get your
exercise too :). Especially if you already have a 14 foot johnboat and
have to haul it up a biggish bank, I'd strongly consider the human-powered
option. On the other hand, though, I suppose you could get a 20 foot
comealong and a couple of 2x4s for skids and just ratchet up whatever
weight you wind up with when it comes time to beach the thing. Good luck!
Your idea sounds ingenious, actually - I'm just something of a Neanderthal
luddite...

But a boat being poled or rowed would not look as good as your original
idea of using a paddle wheel to propel the boat. I have always like
paddle wheels.

You did not say whether you were originally gone to put the paddles on
the side of the stern.

Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:17:37 -0500, Jim Willemin
wrote:

"Dan Listermann" wrote in
:

I need a boat for a very shallow river. Paddles, especially with
stiff rubber tips, seem like a good alternative and a riding lawnmower
drive train would give me reduction, reverse and a variety of gears.
Anybody know of some experience?




seems to me you'd almost be better off poling. Lawnmower drivetrains are
kinda heavy, forcing you to either a deepish draft or a huge boat, and
paddles just don't seem like they are all that efficient. On the other
hand, something like a longish jonboat and a nice 8 foot pole should take
you most anywhere you want to go...

Oh, you're no fun although correct regarding practical considerations.
The "huge" part could be gained by making it beamy, maybe wider than
the paddles. Say 1000 # payload for two riders plus lawnmower stuff
plus boat, 5' x 10' area would draw about 4". Make two side paddle
wheels with differential speed like a zero turn mower, and he'd steer
like a dozer. With that much wetted area, it'd go like one, too.
Paint it grey with low freeboard and mount a cannon turret amidships.

Damn, ok, get the pole and johnboat.

Pete Keillor

Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

"Keith Nuttle" wrote in message
...
Jim Willemin wrote:
"Dan Listermann" wrote in
:
"Jim Willemin" wrote in message
.131...
"Dan Listermann" wrote in
:

I need a boat for a very shallow river. Paddles, especially with
stiff rubber tips, seem like a good alternative and a riding
lawnmower drive train would give me reduction, reverse and a variety
of gears. Anybody know of some experience?



seems to me you'd almost be better off poling. Lawnmower drivetrains
are kinda heavy, forcing you to either a deepish draft or a huge
boat, and paddles just don't seem like they are all that efficient. On
the other hand, something like a longish jonboat and a nice 8 foot
pole should take you most anywhere you want to go...
I intend to use a 14' johnboat. As for poling, it might be an option,
but the river can get deep too.

Interestingly, the guy down the street has a decrepit John Deere
electric riding mower. Batteries weigh a lot too, but it would be
quiet.
Speaking of weight, this is a big concern because the boat will need
to be hauled up a 10' bank.



well then - an 8 or 10 foot pole and some 9 foot oars. In either case, I
suspect you'd be as fast as a paddle-driven boat, and you'd get your
exercise too :). Especially if you already have a 14 foot johnboat and
have to haul it up a biggish bank, I'd strongly consider the
human-powered option. On the other hand, though, I suppose you could get
a 20 foot comealong and a couple of 2x4s for skids and just ratchet up
whatever weight you wind up with when it comes time to beach the thing.
Good luck! Your idea sounds ingenious, actually - I'm just something of
a Neanderthal luddite...

But a boat being poled or rowed would not look as good as your original
idea of using a paddle wheel to propel the boat. I have always like
paddle wheels.

You did not say whether you were originally gone to put the paddles on the
side of the stern.

With side-wheelers, you could use a belt tightening idler to stop power from
one or the other wheel and steer better. Low speed steering with paddle
power can be difficult otherwise.

Another consideration would be overall length. A stern wheeler could get
long and it cold be more difficult to keep the paddles from bottoming.

I suppose the rudder/s could be hinged for scraping the bottom.

Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

I need a boat for a very shallow river. Paddles, especially with stiff
rubber tips, seem like a good alternative and a riding lawnmower drive train
would give me reduction, reverse and a variety of gears. Anybody know of
some experience?

No personal experience, but there are a couple of vaguely similar
sounding designs on Svenson's free boat plans website (way down in the
bottom section)

http://www.svensons.com/boat/

I don't think a riding lawn mower transmission, at least of the
traditional tractor variety, is the best way to power things. Riding
lawn mowers have a differential as part of the transmission unit, which
I suspect would tend to be rather irksome on a boat. Also, they are
generally designed so as to have their input shaft on the top of the
transmission housing, belted up to a pulley on the underside of a
vertical-shaft engine; thus you would end up with the engine above the
shaft line of the paddlewheels unless you did some fancy multiple pulley
arrangement. Ideally, I'd think you'd want the weight of the engine
relatively low in the boat, although it should be adequately stable up
high with an appropriate hull design for the kind of protected waters
where you'd use such a boat.

The idea that someone posted about using a zero-turn hydrostatic
transmission setup does sound like a whole lot of fun, though, and not
too impractical as well. It wouldn't be overly efficient, and not
inexpensive unless you're good at scrounging up parts; but those may not
be important design considerations.

--
Andrew Erickson

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot
lose." -- Jim Elliot

Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

"Andrew Erickson" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

I need a boat for a very shallow river. Paddles, especially with stiff
rubber tips, seem like a good alternative and a riding lawnmower drive
train
would give me reduction, reverse and a variety of gears. Anybody know of
some experience?

No personal experience, but there are a couple of vaguely similar
sounding designs on Svenson's free boat plans website (way down in the
bottom section)

http://www.svensons.com/boat/

I don't think a riding lawn mower transmission, at least of the
traditional tractor variety, is the best way to power things. Riding
lawn mowers have a differential as part of the transmission unit, which
I suspect would tend to be rather irksome on a boat. Also, they are
generally designed so as to have their input shaft on the top of the
transmission housing, belted up to a pulley on the underside of a
vertical-shaft engine; thus you would end up with the engine above the
shaft line of the paddlewheels unless you did some fancy multiple pulley
arrangement. Ideally, I'd think you'd want the weight of the engine
relatively low in the boat, although it should be adequately stable up
high with an appropriate hull design for the kind of protected waters
where you'd use such a boat.

Thanks for the link.

I did not intend to drive the paddles directly with the mower's axels. The
motor and transmission would be mounted as low as possible with belts
powering the wheels. It should not be too difficult to negate the
differential if by nothing else, just get power from one side. The belts
would be tightened with idlers so that the power could be disconnected from
the wheels for close quarter turning.

Paddleboat using a riding lawn mower drive train.
 

Seems to me the engine/transmission combo out of an Argo would be
ideal.