Your fellow Americans seem to know all there is to know about wooden land and ice yachts. Laminated timber for frames etc can be really successful.

Google "Ice Yachts". There are some really fantastic machines over your way.

We don't got no ice lakes down heyah. I wish.

eltoro said...

Hello, does anyone have any info on building wooden a landyacht? Also any experience in making low cost masts?

I once made a wooden kite buggy out of oak, The design was awful but the idea worked well. The one thing I did learn was to keep things from twisting I had to work in triangles, which is why the design didn't work. however it could work better on a land yacht I think.
Welcome from another newbee.
Jay

Thanks everyone for the welcomes and feedback. I looked up some ice yachts and most of those are way above my skill level, but inspiring. my skill level is not much above building tree houses when i was 12. but i am an engineering student working with a carpenter that has a workshop so im hoping we can make something that will catch wind and roll. we have a frame started but arn't too committed that we couldnt make some changes if you guys have examples or ideas. looking to build one that is medium/small (i will have a 6.5 m sail in a couple days). trying to keep it low cost. im building it just for fun not for a class.

Donkey's years ago the members of the Auckland landyacht club built their yachts in a weekend. They were a triangle of 2 x 3" just wide enough at the back end to sit between and pointy at the front. Ply underneath for the seat base. Back axle was a plank of about 6" x 1 1/2".
Mast was at 47" from tha back axle and raked back so the tip was above the axle line. They had a really simple fork type front steering system, and a bit of ply (probably about 3/8" for the seat back, your butt was directly above the axle line.
This should be within the "skill set" you described! They went pretty damned well too, and could be made pretty much any size (mast stays in the same place).
Wheels were always wheelbarrow type (unless there was something in the roadside inorganic rubbish!)
Photos? sorry I have none, almost in the black and white era, certainly pre-digital! Maybe I should make one!

The wooden chook would make a great project , especially ifbuilt to fit into the Lake Lefroy Mini specs. its just 2planks for the sides, ply floor, 19mm plank for the rear axle, stayed mast,4.2m sail

My mum is searching out a colour slide of my first one, how do I get this on the site?
Comes from 1960.
The first KNOWN AND DOCUMENTED landyacht in NZ is 1856. Of course there are older ones, but when was NZ first settled!

kiwi307 said...

My mum is searching out a colour slide of my first one, how do I get this on the site?
Comes from 1960.
The first KNOWN AND DOCUMENTED landyacht in NZ is 1856. Of course there are older ones, but when was NZ first settled!

project it onto a wall and take a digital.
Does the ghost of the reverand William Puckey still haunt the camping ground at Ahipara

Alright construction is under way. I have to mount the steering and build a mast yet. I'm making a cooper's mast hopefully it will work good. Here's a link incase youre not familiar with it.
www.pdracer.com/mast/hollow-mast/

I will try to get some pictures soon thanks for all the feedback.

Cool stuff!! I've never seen a mast made this way. Of course, maybe they all were, before the days of composites.
With the idea of keeping your project inexpensive, what sort of wood will you use for the mast? Bamboo comes to mind, but that's not cheap in the US>

I've built wooden bows (archery) in the past, so this idea of a smaller, built-up wooden mast is especially interesting considering the bending forces it will be subjected to.

Regards,
-Nat

Hiko said...

Got to agree with Paul about the glue Once used a product called Gorilla Glue some kind of pl glue I believe on some garden furniture This stuff is an insult both to the word glue and apes IMHO

Like most of the products that company markets!