My first concern was the steering set up. I purchased a 550lb castor wheel ,fork and a bearing set up all in one..I have a boat traler axle a 2x2 T frame with 2x2
supports from 8" from the wheels going forward to the mast step..I am still in the assembly process..My plans are to use a boat push pull steering cable attached to
an extension of the axle and a boat steering adapter mounted to the frame...This will all come back to a bench seat with a steering wheel... a jam cleat to the sail board sail...I really am in the experimental stage...This site seems to be on top of all the particulars.....Looking for any help..

in this forum nothing is impossible, some of the people will correct you if needed.

shetches or photos help a lot......best of luck

Nikrum! Surely a bloke such as yourself see's its vital to do such things



That said, I would also recommend having a go at building from the Lefroy mini plans

landyacht trailer landyachts , and boat trailer landyachts have been built before and do work , but it is important to keep your weight down. as from what youve told us it will need a hard surface such as bitumen, sand will probably be too soft.
have fun with the build and the sailing and we love photos

The sail for this project is a high performance sail board sail 15' X 6'...stiff battens every 2.5' a heavy duty mast , fiberglass with a 1.5" aluminium insert
till it stops on the masts taper to avoid breakage at the mast step...All of this may never work....however if it does i will let you know

chocsea said...

Gizmo....What faults do tapered roller bearings on a trailer axle designed to carry a straight flat load of 1500 lbs ..that may never come off the ground....and if this design does lift a wheel....I'd rather be on this axle and bearing set up than wheel barrow tire and a 5/8ths bolt....I'm certainly not talking from experience...just expecting what I'm building will work

Roller bearings by design are great for carrying heavy loads but not brilliant for side loading (not that a land yacht will load them up to the limits) The rollers have a higher drag compared to ball bearings, and if you run grease this will bind things up even further.
A lot of people will remove one or both the seals of the bearings wash the grease out and then run oil for lubrication.
Land yachts actually don't generate huge amounts of forward force and wasting that force just overcoming friction can be a problem in light to medium winds.

Taper rollers should be fine, being a type of angular contact bearing, same as used in motorbike headstocks which mostly aren't vertical + plus if too tight can be backed off www.ebay.co.uk/itm/land-sailing-yacht-buggy-trailer-project-great-fun-no-reserve-/320911674963?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4ab7d38e53 if it hasn't finished is one similar to what you're proposing on EBay/UK currently...I'd get on there and copy some images for inspiration

Cheers Col

I picked up an old style 3 wheel ATV front end ...It has a huge wide tire and a drum brake set up...I may keep the brake as a parking brake...???? However ths fork is big and wide with all sorts of room for modifications and a more lay down
aspect...The plan with the trailer axle and wheels is to be able to add a trailer tongue that can be plugged in and make the whole rig a towable unit..no extra trailer to go to and from the beach....Again this going to come in on the heavy side...However there is normally a 15-30mph wind either on or off shore. I have
been experimenting with a modified trailer hub,,no grease but sealed with Buddy bearing caps and loading the grease gun with gear oil to lube the bearings...I'm sure the seals won't hold up but they will keep sand and salt water out....

looks a lot lighter than I thought it was going to... Nice work!

If you are going to make a removeable towing tongue why not a removeable steering front wheel tongue?

Question...there has been some controversy on the posistion of the front fork being almost 90* in either direction ...when the frame is being pushed from the rear
the front wheel wants to trail like a shopping buggy..however I've pushed a shopping buggy and the castor style wheel wants to shimmy ...Keep in mind there is an extension of the axle that connects to an outboard boat mtr steering cable..I anticipate having to hold the wheel regardless of fork angle forward or trailing to the rear any IDEAS on this ...also the fork has been beefed up with a pair of 3/8 rods 2 on each side welded on for lateral support......???? See the pic posted a couple threads back it is in the forward posistion

I will never get that fast ...maybe 25-35kmph...The frame follows the wheel trailing
It's a real easy change one way or the other ...I would like not to have to have a grip on the wheel and the trailing aspect appears that the frame follows the trailing wheel as opposed to what you would think...I will certainly let everyone know...

I suspect on this occasion all will be well
nice effort chocsea

I've got less than $500. into this and will invest more to make it do what we want....Then there will be an Aussie version done with all the reading and 5k pics I've looked at....It seems and this is meant with all respect ...you guys have it down to a science.... Thanks All....

Most of the money spent was in tires , the front wheel castor and the steering helm , cable and the steering wheel and adapter...I bought a 2x2 stick of 11gauge
the mast step is a modified boat seat pedestal...I bought the sail and mast for $90.
the rest of the ingrediants are stuff laying around the shop...we upholsterd the seat...with some leftover sunbrella material...I have an outboard repair shop and the steering stuff aside from the steering wheel and adapter was parts in stock....
I put the sail on the mast with a heavy inner tube of schedule 40 galv pipe which is way to heavy,,tied a line to the outhaul grommet ....pulled the line into the wind and the rig shot forward 5' and hit the mast on the shop roof....she will roll down the beach no problem...no speed demon....That's for the next single rig already in the design mode for speed..I have not even got this one tuned in and am talking about building another....certainly an addictive sport..loving every minute of it....
Thanks all for your input and support so far...........