Human Powered Snowthingee

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by Resident 2B

MnM,

Reasonable solution. That should work very well, as long as the snow is not too deep.

The belt addresses both issues with its larger area.

I hope you realize I am only trying to help. I am a retired engineering VP with too much time on my hands. I really miss design reviews where we had a constructive, positive feedback only approach.

I wish you and the team complete success! I'll be in Daytona watching the cars turn left.

R2B

Absolutely Part of the fun of this thing is to toss the concept up in the air and have it banged about. If it can "keep it's wings on" then there's some slim chance "it'll fly". Originally I had though to do some track like arrangement but I'm not sure how to go about it. So should I get to constructing it, I'm thinking there's little chance to getting it all the way right on try #1 (and no real drawback to partway wrong). We always learn best from the mistakes and so it may be better to get to making them quickly. The old build a little, test a lot, build a little, test a ... philosophy. Thus start with something like tires but have the design allow enough flexibility up front to morph into what's likely to be needed.

ps - As an engineer I miss design reviews that were actual reviews and not a mere checklist of process & procedure confirmations.

[gtxrider]

How about tires from a sand dragster? They have paddles instead of studs for traction in sand. It may work on snow but as for ICE? All this need is pedals and skis in place of front wheels.

[Island-Ho]

A few years ago my son inserted 6-32 machine screws through his bicycle tires and mounted them to an off road bicycle. I was skeptical at first, but it worked amazingly well on glare ice and packed snow on the lake. I was afraid of slipping sideways, but I tried it and it was very stable. You might consider two studded bicycle tires in the rear with a modified ski in the front, although without the lean for cornering, steering might be a problem. The standard dérailleurs would probably work well in this application. It might require more of a blade in front, like an ice boat. Let us know when you want to hold the CDR.

[Mee-n-Mac]

[gtxrider] I like it ! That's it, I'm telling "Mee" the wedding's off. Then I can build a single seat ice dragster. Add the screws (as shown above) to the mud tires, pedals and what not and it's good to go. Your pic also makes me wonder just how bad ($$-wise) it would be to construct and legally use a powered OHRV on the lake ? Hmmm ... nothing says I couldn't do both

[IH] I am thinking of using bike tires / wheels / hubs, at least for the proto #1 version. With screw studs I'd bet it would go on the ice but I do wonder how well it would go in any snow. It's my guess that the wider the contact patch the less you'd sink* and the deeper the snow it would be useful in. It could well be that Orion's point is more the rule and in anything over an 1" it doesn't make much of a practical difference. Then there's no reason not to use cycle parts, certainly less fabrication for me to do ! Re: front skid ... I had thought that for our bed race entry a combo ski and skate (snow and ice) would be the trick. Same for the HPS. The skids could have a recycled pair of skate blades, extending down mebbe 1/2" - 1" below the skid bottom. On glare ice the blades do the work, on snow they act like a keel and only add minimally more resistance. Shouldn't be too hard to do ...

*It occurs to me as I type this that perhaps a large area skid plate, set normally (?? 6" ??) above the surface and waxed up real good might extend the usefulness of the HPS in powder. The plate keeps the HPS from bogging down and the tires (whatever they be) push the HPS across the snow (like an old Mississippi paddle wheeler). Might need a long travel suspension to allow the tires to reach "solid" ice/snow for traction ... hmmmm ??? ...

[ITD]

This is a great idea and design but I think even Lance will have trouble going any distance on even packed snow. I occasionally have been known to pedal my mountain bike through snow and even one or two inches becomes tiresome quickly. In fact mushing through wet leaves tends to slow you down. I think some type of auxillary propulsion would be necessary for anything other than use in the back yard.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by ITD

This is a great idea and design but I think even Lance will have trouble going any distance on even packed snow. I occasionally have been known to pedal my mountain bike through snow and even one or two inches becomes tiresome quickly. In fact mushing through wet leaves tends to slow you down. I think some type of auxillary propulsion would be necessary for anything other than use in the back yard.

Well this is disheartening. Perhaps the 1'st thing to do is collect some data. Make up a crude test vehicle, weight it down appropriately, then drag it about on the lake. Using a HD fish scale I could measure the force needed to drag the test vehicle and from that figure out what torque, and therefore hp, is needed. Then all I've got to do is ask Lance what torque his weak sister could apply and voila, I'll know whether the whole concept is feasible or not.

[ITD]

Sorry I had to burst the bubble but maybe you could tweak the design so that the rider is angled in a downhill fashion when seated. Everyone knows it's much easier to pedal downhill. This may just give it enough power.