the floating tyres boat?

[the.archer]

There was that day when i got curious, and asked myself whether we could have a car like model to float and move in water as near as a car does on road. Well i had to construct a small model to ascertain this proposition. In place of tyres I used light weight closed cans fixed with two blades each, then i connected rear cans with motor to turn them at a small speed.The maniac floated and also moved nicely. The question now comes, can this model be perfected to have a water car used for sports, leisure or tour?i think this can be made possible,I want you guys to give your critiques and suggestions on this. Those who would want to know more on this, just send me a private message.

wish you all best of luck.

[Moontanman]

Many many years ago I saw what is called a monster truck float on water because it's giant tires actually allowed it to float, quite high in the water too, but it was very difficult to steer and brake or accelerate. It's tire treads were quite able to make it go.

[Mr Skeptic]

I've ridden in a boat that looks like a giant tricycle. It is easy to use (just pedal) but not very fast.

[Icefire]

I've ridden in a boat that looks like a giant tricycle. It is easy to use (just pedal) but not very fast.

 

Me to. When I was a kid we always went camping at Long Lake (northern Alberta) because it was the cheapest campground while still being pretty decent. the boat rental house had those alongside what looks like a bicycle on top of a kayak.

[Newbies_Kid]

Water car... sounds too heavy. Is it safe?

[Jon]

Well, there would be many factors to determine whether or not the car would be safe enough.

 

1) Whether it would float or not - This is dependant on two things, the weight acting downwards and the Buoyancy (force acting upwards). For the car to float the buoyancy would have to be greater than the weight acting downwards. So this means we need to know the weight in order to counteract it. This brings variables such as the amount of people that will be held within the car, the weight of the engine... etc

 

2) Stabilisation - Ok so the car floats, great, but now comes the question on how to stabilise it. In a straight line it may be fine to use but when turning it could easily flip (as shown in Top gear

) This again would be dependant on things like the severity of the corner you are turning, the COM, the speed at which you are travelling at etc...

 

If you were to do this then I'd suggest building a car designed for a specific location such as a lake. Quite a vast amount of lakes have speed limits for environmental/tourist reasons so you wouldn't have to worry about a top speed as such due to the fact that it wouldn't be allowed to go that fast anyway! This would also reduce risks I stated before.

 

Anyway, I hope that helped you in some way

Edited April 14, 2010 by Jon
edit

[ewmon]

Video: A buggy that moves on the water.

 

Apparently related to "swamp buggies".

 

See also: "redneck yacht club" and "mudding".

[CaptainPanic]

I think that it can be done. Steering can be a bit of a trick... but eventually it should work.

 

The reason that it's not widely used is probably that normal boats are simpler and better for the same job.

[PaulS1950]

There is a video somewhere of a vehicle that uses two Archimedes screws built onto floats that goes anywhere - over water, snow, ice, grasslands and mud without a problem - it was built in the 1920s or 1930s on a tractor but the designer also had a way to convert a car to the drive system easily and back again.

The invention of tracks made it obsolete for most of its uses but it would be a lot better on water than tracks.

[the.archer]

thanks for the video. I have noticed two things from that video that can be perfected to make the maniac work even better. First that truck is too heavy, it has a lot of heavy irons that i find not necessary for my intended model. And secondly the blades do not have suitable length for speed and control.

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you are right but, as it stand we need more models for sports and leisure, i also think that even boats were not that perfect at the beginning, we can improve this thing.thanks.