Subject: RE: : Re: [harryproa] Blog update and human power |
From: "'Jerry Barth' shredderf16@sbcglobal.net [harryproa]" |
Date: 6/18/2015, 11:27 AM |
To: <harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au> |
Reply-to: harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au |
Rick,
Thanks for the great reply and info. I
may well take you up on your offer of a parts list. I live in
Thanks,
Jerry Barth
From:
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2015
6:16 PM
To:
Subject: Re: : Re: [harryproa]
Blog update and human power
Jerry
I help people with design of boats and drive systems using mostly
commercially available gear. This is an example of a pedal drive
installation on a two man kayak using a curved shaft with my folding prop:
The builder did a 10 minute shakedown run after completing the drive
then spent a week off the Baja coast covering 179 miles on water. The
drive system operated flawlessly. This particular drive has the largest
lateral offset of any of the drives I have designed. It did not offer any
particular difficulty maintaining course. The offset increased overall
drag by about 1%. On my narrow hulls, drag increase due to shaft offset
it is less than 0.5%.
This is a photo of the drive mast in the pedalyak:
I supplied the rotating parts in the drive mast but only because the
builder did not have access to machining tools. The gearbox is a Mitrpak
R-102 enclosed on the side of the gunwale. All recent drives have used
standard T10 industrial toothed belts. These are more efficient and more
durable than chains mounted on a bicycle chainring.
If you have not seen our prototype drive mast and gearbox this video
shows the rotating parts in operation on one of my boats:
The sound is amplified through the camera mount. The popping
sound are waves hitting the bottom of the stabiliser. The gearbox is
essentially filled with gears. This box is 40% lighter than the Mitrpak
R-102 box and has torque rating 2 to 3 times higher.
The drive systems we are aiming to build commercially are lighter with
higher power rating than what can be built using commercial parts but it is not
yet on the market. For most purposes industrial parts work well.
The boat pictured here has two pedal drives I fabricated from standard
industrial parts:
I have made a number of similar drives and a few others like the
pedalyak have put their own version together. I provide drilling templates to
make these and can supply any parts that you cannot make or buy locally.
I supply the folding props for AUD100 plus mail:
If you are not operating in areas with weed then there are a few low
cost model aircraft props that work OK - typically cost less than USD5.
Their efficiency will depend on how well they are matched to your
application - I can help with that. My props are aimed at easily driven
hulls up to about 400kg displacement. Heavier than that then there is a
good chance you could find a better model aircraft prop or even a marine prop.
There is considerable detail in getting a curved shaft to give long
life. There is a pedal boat friendly supplier in
I have a complete parts list for a typical drive system with cost
estimates of all the components including what I can supply. If you want
to get that detail then email direct:
It is not difficult to make a pedal drive. My aim is to achieve
reliability and durability so I am prescriptive on some of the detail
particularly the geometry and mounting of the curved shaft. Some people
have picked up good second hand right angle gearboxes on Ebay. Providing
they are rated suitably they work fine. Bike chains are OK but bikes
constrain their design. The boat crank mast with central belt drive has
the advantage of having the belt pulleys both supported between two bearings so
overcomes the cantilevered constraint of a chainring overhanging the
crankshaft. Shaft flexing with a chainring on overhanging shaft increases
the drag on the chain. Shaft flexing with the centre belt does not change
alignment.
Rick
On 18/06/2015, at 12:22 AM, "'Jerry Barth' shredderf16@sbcglobal.net
[harryproa]" <harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au>
wrote:
Rick,
Is there a source of pedal drive parts/drivetrains that you can suggest?
I did find some full boats by several different companies for sell, but what
I’d like is something that I can carry in checked baggage and fit it to some
craft that I build. I have a property in the USVI. Shipping to
there is very expensive, at least as far as big stuff like the completed pedal
boats that are sold online. What I’d like to do is carry the drive down
there myself, then mate it to something I make down there. Not looking
for a whole lot of speed/efficiency, just something that performs reasonably
well for exercise and fun.
Thanks,
Jerry
Barth
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