Peddle Boats
 

I thought only brokers peddled boats.

;-P

Steve "been pedalling bikes for years...."

Peddle Boats
 

I just tore the pedals and rod out of a discarded kid's toy with the idea
of some day installing foot operated paddles on one of my one sheet boats.

Prelimary thoughts are -

1. to be able to drift into shallow water only two paddles per side at 180
deg. so they can be held horizonal entirely clear of the water. set up a
shock cord to hold the peddals in place with the paddles horizontal out of
the water.

2. to avoid as much as possible pushing down on the water, use a bent
paddle shaft.

3. to mimic arm paddling have the blades on both sides enter teh water at
the same time - paddle, glide, paddle, glide - instead of constant churning
of the water.

4. to allow a combination of foot peddaling and double blade arm paddling
have the option of the foot paddles on each side 90 deg from each other
instead of parallel. imagine the power with both feet pedalling and arm
paddling at the same time - tandem paddle solo power kayak.

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Peddle Boats
 

I remember someone a while ago adapted a peddle drive to one of Gavin
Atkin's mouseboats and was quite happy with it. He used a "surfbike" drive.

Try this link if it works for you -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mouseboats/message/1906

--
Andrew Butchart

http://www.abutchartconsulting.com/sailing/ - The Floating Bear

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I have wondered about the efficiency of peddle power.

Glen-L has a nice design for a peddle powered boat, and there are numerous
peddle powere ABS plastic boats available for sale at moderate prices both
on-line and in the local big box stores.

They all have one thing in common. They use a paddle wheel for
propulsion.
I can see the obvious simplicity in design. A chain from the pedals to
the
drive axle and its ready to go. In almost all other craft though a
propeller desing seems to be more efficient.

From big ships to small pleasure craft the propellor seems to be the rule.
For a small peddle powered craft would a prop design make the best use of
the available power as well? How in the world woudl you go abotu figuring
out the optimum size and pitch prop for an application like that?







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Peddle Boats
 

Stephen Baker ) writes:
William says:

3. to mimic arm paddling have the blades on both sides enter teh water at
the same time - paddle, glide, paddle, glide - instead of constant churning
of the water.


Gonna kill your legs, Will. Much better to have a constant pedalling pressure.
Try riding a bike where half of the chainring (front cog) has no teeth. ;-)

no moreso than paddling kills your arms. and legs are stronger than arms.
the only problem I can see is the weak mechanical advantage of the small
diameter rotation of the kid's toy crank. like having the peddal crank on
a bike smaller than the cog wheel on the axel. the paddle shaft would have
to be short as feasible. hadn't considered that.

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Peddle Boats
 

William Watt says:

no moreso than paddling kills your arms.

Not so - paddling kayak-wise uses a full movement of the arms, ending with the
paddle being withdrawn and the other arm starting to work. No jarring.
Having a blade come out of the water while still under full power, then (say)
half a revolution until the other blade hits is going to be..... hmmmm -
looks for marine analogy.... like NOT having a throttle-man on an offshore
powerboat. The prop will come back into the water after a jump with the engine
spinning maddly, suddenly get loaded and break the shaft/blade whichever. Not
good. ;-(

the only problem I can see is the weak mechanical advantage of the small
diameter rotation of the kid's toy crank. like having the peddal crank on
a bike smaller than the cog wheel on the axel.

THat situation is directly analogous to the kayak paddle, where the lever of
the arm to the fulcrum (other arm) is less than the fulcrum to the blade.
Makes the most use of the minimal power available frm a human body. Lance
Armstrong at peak produces 600Watts when pedalling.

the paddle shaft would have
to be short as feasible. hadn't considered that.

See above.

Steve
Stephen C. Baker - Yacht Designer
http://members.aol.com/SailDesign/pr...cbweb/home.htm

Peddle Boats
 

I always thought about getting an old sailing cat, mounting a pushbike
frame on it, and feeding the drive through a secondhand outboard leg
mounted to the rear crossmember. Mind you, the paddle wheel thing would
be dead easy for a cat.
It would be cheap to do, and you would have a fast, roomy boat. Add
bike frames as you gain passengers!

Andrew.

Peddle Boats
 

Bob:

We have a number of pedal-powered boats in the "Fun Boats" section of
the web site.

http://www.dngoodchild.com

Cheers,

DNG

Bob La Londe wrote:

I have wondered about the efficiency of peddle power.

Glen-L has a nice design for a peddle powered boat, and there are numerous
peddle powere ABS plastic boats available for sale at moderate prices both
on-line and in the local big box stores.

They all have one thing in common. They use a paddle wheel for propulsion.
I can see the obvious simplicity in design. A chain from the pedals to the
drive axle and its ready to go. In almost all other craft though a
propeller desing seems to be more efficient.

From big ships to small pleasure craft the propellor seems to be the rule.
For a small peddle powered craft would a prop design make the best use of
the available power as well? How in the world woudl you go abotu figuring
out the optimum size and pitch prop for an application like that?

Peddle Boats
 

Stephen Baker ) writes:
William Watt says:

no moreso than paddling kills your arms.

Not so - paddling kayak-wise uses a full movement of the arms, ending with the
paddle being withdrawn and the other arm starting to work. No jarring.
Having a blade come out of the water while still under full power, then (say)
half a revolution until the other blade hits is going to be..... hmmmm -
looks for marine analogy.... like NOT having a throttle-man on an offshore
powerboat. The prop will come back into the water after a jump with the engine
spinning maddly, suddenly get loaded and break the shaft/blade whichever. Not
good. ;-(

I'm not actually looking for a continous kayak-style power, but a
discontinuous canoe-style or a discontintuous oar-stlye power. I've seen
foot-operated oars in a film on Southeast Asia.

I'm not looking at a bunch of little blades churning up the surface, but
two larger blades deeper in the water like on a canoe. I want the boat to
go smoothly and silently like a canoe, not making a lot of noise like the
peddal paddle boats I've seen. A slower action with larger, deeper blades.
Low rpm's, larger blades, more effective power.

I don't think the kids peddal shaft allows enough piston action in the
legs to work the large paddles.



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Peddle Boats
 

Hobie Cat makes a pedal system for their kayaks that is like a set of wings
flapping under the boat. I've never tried it myself but it looks like an
interesting idea.

http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/index.html

- Scott

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I have wondered about the efficiency of peddle power.

Glen-L has a nice design for a peddle powered boat, and there are numerous
peddle powere ABS plastic boats available for sale at moderate prices both
on-line and in the local big box stores.

They all have one thing in common. They use a paddle wheel for
propulsion.
I can see the obvious simplicity in design. A chain from the pedals to
the
drive axle and its ready to go. In almost all other craft though a
propeller desing seems to be more efficient.

From big ships to small pleasure craft the propellor seems to be the rule.
For a small peddle powered craft would a prop design make the best use of
the available power as well? How in the world woudl you go abotu figuring
out the optimum size and pitch prop for an application like that?

Peddle Boats
 

Peddle Boats
 

for a track system you only want it to go front to back. how do you get it
to return if its all underwater? they run snowmobiles short distances
over water but the top of the belt is above water.

if you try hinged blades you have to figure out how to get them to lie
flat on the back-to-front return trip as they will be hinged the wrong
way.

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Peddle Boats
 

Peddle Boats
 

Scotty says:

Still have that
steering problem though.

One small track each side? Variable diff off the pedals controlled from a
handlebar?

Just a thought....

Steve

Peddle Boats
 

Backyard Renegade wrote:

(William R. Watt) wrote in message ...
for a track system you only want it to go front to back. how do you get it
to return if its all underwater? they run snowmobiles short distances
over water but the top of the belt is above water.

if you try hinged blades you have to figure out how to get them to lie
flat on the back-to-front return trip as they will be hinged the wrong
way.

Well, you could have the return above the waterline... Or if the
return were sealed except for the flat on the bottom, the water would
just go over the top and be expelled when the flap exposed itself
again to make the push trip the length of the boat??? Still have that
steering problem though.
Scotty

Use two tracks.....reverse one for tighter turns?


--
I'd rather put more life in my days than put more days in my life......

Peddle Boats
 

Probably more doable with wheels than tracks. In the dark recesses of
my memory I seem to recall seeing a number of vehicles (probably
prototypes) over the years that used the wheels for propulsion on water.
One had 8 wheels and was about the size of a John Deare ATV. Not fast
but versatile. Could be useful on backwaters to get to a remote fishing
hole and a lot quieter than an air boat.

Ron

Peddle Boats
 

Probably more doable with wheels than tracks.

a thought does strike me that if cunningly engineered suitably stupidly
outsized wheels on a stupidly light body could be used, they could provide
all the lift bouyancy required... you'd want some very efficient mudguards
though... and you'd have no problem getting over quicksand either.

Al

Peddle Boats
 

"Al" ) writes:

a thought does strike me that if cunningly engineered suitably stupidly
outsized wheels on a stupidly light body could be used, they could provide
all the lift bouyancy required... you'd want some very efficient mudguards
though... and you'd have no problem getting over quicksand either.

I've seen a kind of water tricycle made of three large wheels with big
treads like a farm tractor. Used to see it tied up to a houseboat on
the Rideau Canal. Probably used it to commute to shore.

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