Welcome to the forum....
have a read of this thread then ask as many questions as you like, the group of people love to help and assist in any way they can.
If you have a sailboard mast and sail your half way there.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=33825

hi globetrotter,

whereabouts are you- even though the lefroy mini plans are pretty simple to follow, it will be a lot of help to you if you can get a look at a completed landyacht.

if you are in Perth- I have some extra bits and pieces you can scrounge too.

drill steel for main chassis tube, urethane bushes for steering head etc.

all the best,

stephen.

Just trying to keep it limited to the mini designs that follow the Lefroy mini design closely mate. Nothing against them.

Here's a link to the Hiko creation
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=50609&SearchTerms=stitch,n,glue

Yes, hopefully one day I'll graduate to cutting angles other than 90 and 45 degrees.

EDIT: Actually I can do 10 degrees as well apparently

wow thanks everyone i will look through the links you allsent me. I am in melb but thanks for the offer in wa. I will keep you up to date with how i am going.
ps this is a great forum
cheers

Where in vic would i be able to use my landyatch & what type of budget do you think i will need? I am hoping to start in the next month!!! Also i only have an arc welder, it 15amps, will this be sufficient.
Thanks again
ps lachlan if you do want to show off it would be great

No worries from me Gt (lazy fingers), after you've had enough reading time feel free to send me a message and we'll go from there. Where in Melb are you located? Im actually building a second Lefroy mini yacht at the moment, currently waiting to get some more fibreglass stuff but hopefully I'll be back into it soon.

I only use an arc welder to build my yachts and Im guessing 15A will be fine as its pretty thin steel (~2.5mm) we're using. As for cost a set of Fallshaw wheels (good quality, strong and I guarentee they're better than most imported wheels) sets me back $45 per wheel (rim, tube, tyre), and $4 for sloppy bearings (worked well so far) or $10-15 for precision bearings. Another option is to use 20mm bearings and a bush for the rim to suit (Paul aka Landyacht swears by these). I dont use them as Im lazy and just use 1" shaft for the headstem and axles, as thats what I've salvaged from the local seconds yard (along with some seamless tube that sleeves this perfect ). I brought full lengths of steel in the sizes required for the mini and I think it worked out at $15 per yacht, this doesn't include the 60mm gal signpost/fencepost tube which is easy to find (I like the local salvage yard).

As for the seat you can spend as little or much as you like, I think mine ran at about $20 for ply, $50 (guessing) for fibreglass. Add $20 for bolts, welding rods, bandaids and other bits, and thats the bottom half of the mini yacht nearly done.

The mast and sail are the biggest challenges for me personally, you may have better luck being in Melb. There is a thread here on sail making....somewhere, cant find it for the moment. But you need a sailboard or windsurfer rig (6 or more m2 ??) and a few extra blocks.

In other words cost is very much up to the scavenging ability of the builder

You are are correct Lachlan. I pass on rule 1a and 1b, but not yet on rule 2.
To me it is a "basic landyacht", but perhaps not to others. I am not a skilled engineer but I learnt how to do it with the help from this forum. There are others that may be great engineers but just need a plan. I am happy to contribute my skills in that direction.

lachlan3556 thanks for your advice, cannot believe so cheap. Going to go this weekend to get metal to start. im not sure exactly what to get so any advice would be great. I will be building from landyatchs design. I would prefer to over buy than run out off materials. I had originally budgeted around $500 so i should be quids in. Any advice on wheels would be great, will bunnings sell the wheels or is there somewhere that is more specialised. I have an oringinal windsurfer mast & sail but should have access to other newer sails & masts if necessary.(neighbour does rubbish removal in local area the stuff people throw out is unbelievable. I am putting in an order for sails & masts)
I am in the caulfield area of Melbourne. do you know where i can sail in or around melb, if not i may have to travel. I have noticed blokarts & kites being used at elwood, what sort of space is required to sail these eg is a footy oval too small?

Ps please be patient with me, i worry about everything until i get started then it usually makes sense!!!
pps does the tube for the mast sit at 90deg angle to the mainframe? pics look like a slight angle towards the rear. & will i need any bushes for steering ?

Thanks again

also can i make it out of square box steel & use the round just for the steering as i am more confident in welding square.

It needs round tube for the main spine as there is a lot of twisting on this tube and round is much better for torsional twisting.... There is only 1 joint that is a bit tricky (the mast step) all the rest of the welds are simple, you would gain nothing by going with square tube.

HI GT
For me the trickiest part was not the mast step but the steering head
Having done a bit of welding of tubes in the past I just went ahead and welded the smaller diameter tube to the chassis at 30 degrees and then when I came to sorting out the forks geometry I ended up with the forks rising up to the wheel
more than I would have liked in order to get the chassis level and the steering angle over the wheel centre [ the important bit]
I have since largely corrected this but it pays to lay it all out on a board or paper
to see how it all comes together first ! Offsetting the smaller tube upwards as
some others have done is better in my opinion
Learn from others mistakes !
Cheers Hiko

looking all over net looking for square nylon for bushes. Can anyone tell me where i can get this. sn i assume the terrain tamer bushes are for round tube & i was thinking of going the square option as it looks easier to align.

there are 2 different terrain tamer bushes that can be used- external dimensions are the same- but the internal bore is different, these bushes were a push-in fit to heavy walled steel tube.

terrain tamer is an aftermarket brand of urethane bushes for 4wd vehicles- available at many 4wd shops and automotive parts suppliers.

fallshaw also have nylon bushes of different internal dimensions- and they fit into standard size exhaust tube, unfortunatly though, fallshaw do not have part numbers for these bushes- so its a case of visiting the fallshaw shop with your steering shaft or vernier to find which ones you need.

(or do what I did and get a couple of each since they were dirt cheap anyway)

allways pays to have spares or samples around!

I dont have the dimensions handy at the moment- but they are on one of the "dangerous goods" threads on this forum

using urethane bushes will help soak up some of the vibration and rattles in the steering which means less stress on the yacht (and you) when you go over rough stuff.

the steel washers are easier to source- but will be a bit harsher than running urethane or nylon bushes

I have a spare set of each size of the terrain tamer bushes if you need them- just need a postal address to send them to, and they will be on the way.

I am not sure- but I might have a set of nylon bushes too- cant remember which size bore though.