Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

[ncnjeremy]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

I have had this idea for many years and even picked up used steam jenny and thought about firing the boiler with batteries and an inverter. Charge the battery with an alternator driven from the engine. Found out how much the kit to build the steam engine was and figured I would build it when I became rich. That day still hasn't come.

Figured I could really confound the authorties on the many small lakes in Pennsylvania where regulations say electric motors only, no internal combustion engines. My prime mover would actually be an electric motor driven oil burner.

Gotta love ya for it!!! Try'n to sneak em ... Im the same way!

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

Figured I could really confound the authorties on the many small lakes in Pennsylvania where regulations say electric motors only, no internal combustion engines. My prime mover would actually be an electric motor driven oil burner.

You can get used APU or heli jet engine for about the same cost as a steam engine with a certified boiler... Same idea though, jet to power some serious electrical equipment... Imagine a jet engine firing up on the electric only lake!

There is one on ebay for $3k, 2 days left with no bids... 10,000 watts should power some pretty nice electric motors!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Complete-an...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item27bfe6fc1b

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

http://www.mydiyplans.com/paddle_wheel_riverboat.html
http://users.wirefire.com/gemort/inventory/complete_plan_set_for_35_foot_tr-2.htm
http://users.wirefire.com/gemort/
http://hspsi.org/
http://paddlewheel.org/boat-motor.html

These may help.

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

I'm 100% for your all old school idea, Bubba! I've always wanted to get my hands on an old steam engine!

The steam dogs and 50 cents to blow the whistle aren't a bad idea either. 'Course sounding your horn when you don't have a legal reason to is against the law (here anyway) but still... If you charged 50 cents per whistle and the fine is 50 dollars you'd break even after 100 customers! And at 50 cents everyone is gonna do it twice so it'll pay for itsseld twice as fast!

Waiting with interest...

 

[mrdancer]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

Do a search on boatdesign.net for some good info, also. The larger the wheel, the more efficient it will be. A good feathered wheel can be as efficient as a prop at displacement speeds.

I'd also suggest trying a belt drive setup from a Harley Davidson outfit - may take two or three interchanges to get the length you need.

Or, think outside of the box. Take a look at the hand-crank chute controls on older or cheaper two-stage snowblowers (corkscrew and gear). Design a robust system like that to drive the wheel(s); then there is the friction wheel transmission of most two-stage snowblowers whose concept can be applied on a much larger scale as a robust simple drive system. If it were me, I'd consider a HUGE ring gear the same diameter of the paddlewheel driven from a small gear on an electric motor - with a typical electric motor running at 1750rpm, a 200:1 gear reduction would turn the paddlewheel at just under 9rpm (which is probably close to the right speed).

As for the independent wheels like those found on veg harvesters, their "transmission" is out of a skidsteer loader. That would be the easiest transplant for a twin-wheel hydraulic system.

 

[ncnjeremy]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

I sure hope that you go thru with this. I would love to see the pics of this build. Makes me want to build one myself now!

 

[1980Coronado]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

I'd be afraid of using Steam....safety issue...and the boiler would need to be inspected regularly especially for commercial use.

Here is one that is Diesel Electric....it's been around for decades.

 

[Fed]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

I don't know if this has been mentioned before but I saw a TV show on paddle wheelers a couple of weeks ago & they were adamant about using wooden paddles designed to break if they hit something before smashing up the more expensive bits of the wheel.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

If you feel real ambitious Bubba, why not build something like this. I remember seeing it cruising up-down the Mississippi when I was a kid.

lol....you could allways just fake it......hide a merc 50 under the deck and have a huge wheel freewheeling off the back......lol

It's been done... :facepalm:

I took my wife out on Lake Mead Cruises years ago and I was jazzed about riding on a paddle wheeler, like I saw in my childhood. Well, it turns out they had 2 boats, the really cool big paddle wheeler, and then a smaller wanna-be fake side paddle wheeler,,, that they used for smaller loads when they didn't get enough people to run the big boat. Needless to say I was bummed when I found out we were going out on the outboard powered fake paddle wheeler, dirty, rotten, double crossing, bait and switchers.

I don't think I was the only one who didn't like riding on a fake paddle wheeler as they don't have it anymore, at least their website doesn't mention it anymore.

 

[ncnjeremy]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

If you feel real ambitious Bubba, why not build something like this. I remember seeing it cruising up-down the Mississippi when I was a kid.

It's been done... :facepalm:

I took my wife out on Lake Mead Cruises years ago and I was jazzed about riding on a paddle wheeler, like I saw in my childhood. Well, it turns out they had 2 boats, the really cool big paddle wheeler, and then a smaller wanna-be fake side paddle wheeler,,, that they used for smaller loads when they didn't get enough people to run the big boat. Needless to say I was bummed when I found out we were going out on the outboard powered fake paddle wheeler, dirty, rotten, double crossing, bait and switchers.

I don't think I was the only one who didn't like riding on a fake paddle wheeler as they don't have it anymore, at least their website doesn't mention it anymore.

I will help with that!!! Ill throw in 20 bux!

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Paddle boat - Designing a paddle?

Dual hydrostatic wheels! You could probably get everything you need from a scrapped tractor at an auction!