Cycling Mob Cycling Forums - View Single Post - Pedal car (Dino, Berg,Kettler) questions.

12-26-2006, 08:46 AM

In article <1167049807.639057.267510@79g2000cws.googlegroups. com>
what does THIS button do? <betatron@gmail.com> wrote:
> Depending on where you are reading this, you may know that one of my
> coworkers developed bicycle towed snow plow which he uses to help keep
> a MUP open in our car-clogged suburb of Chicago.
> (<http://www.google.com/search?q=bicycle+snow+plow> [first link] on the
> off chance this is news to anyone). No, the local governmental units
> won't remove the snow and yes we've tried to get them to move it. If
> we don't do it, it won't get done, period.
>
> The main drawback of the bikeplow system is that the bike needs to be
> in front of the plow, towing. Not pushing. In the snow. And the bike
> has to be above a certain critical speed for balancing yadda yadda
> yadda, the plow has trouble with heavy, wet, or icy underlayers. The
> plow is 10^6 better than nothing, but there is a bit of room for
> improvement.
>
An easy-to-build improvement over the system you have ATM would be a
trike with two small wheels at the front, the plough in front of them
and a fat studded driven tyre at the back. You don't need to worry much
about weight or handling at speed, but it wants to be robust so it
withstands ramming into the heavier snow - just replacing the forks on a
clunker with a wheeled plough won't be up to the job because the frame
will likely bend/break and the steering would probably be unmanageable.

To get better performance in heavier conditions you're going to need
something more than a simple plough to shift the snow, because pedal
power via the drive wheel won't be enough, and the engineering becomes
rather more complicated - I'm thinking some sort of Archimedes-screw
type arrangement that's driven semi-independent of the propulsion
system. I wonder how well that would resist clogging - probably not
very well at all.

How about a tandem - front rider powers the 'blower', rear rider propels
the machine, steering supplemented with independent brakes on each front
wheel ...

I could go on ... :-)

12-26-2006, 08:46 AM	#29 (permalink)
Rob Morley Posts: n/a	Re: Pedal car (Dino, Berg,Kettler) questions. In article <1167049807.639057.267510@79g2000cws.googlegroups. com> what does THIS button do? <betatron@gmail.com> wrote: > Depending on where you are reading this, you may know that one of my > coworkers developed bicycle towed snow plow which he uses to help keep > a MUP open in our car-clogged suburb of Chicago. > (<http://www.google.com/search?q=bicycle+snow+plow> [first link] on the > off chance this is news to anyone). No, the local governmental units > won't remove the snow and yes we've tried to get them to move it. If > we don't do it, it won't get done, period. > > The main drawback of the bikeplow system is that the bike needs to be > in front of the plow, towing. Not pushing. In the snow. And the bike > has to be above a certain critical speed for balancing yadda yadda > yadda, the plow has trouble with heavy, wet, or icy underlayers. The > plow is 10^6 better than nothing, but there is a bit of room for > improvement. > An easy-to-build improvement over the system you have ATM would be a trike with two small wheels at the front, the plough in front of them and a fat studded driven tyre at the back. You don't need to worry much about weight or handling at speed, but it wants to be robust so it withstands ramming into the heavier snow - just replacing the forks on a clunker with a wheeled plough won't be up to the job because the frame will likely bend/break and the steering would probably be unmanageable. To get better performance in heavier conditions you're going to need something more than a simple plough to shift the snow, because pedal power via the drive wheel won't be enough, and the engineering becomes rather more complicated - I'm thinking some sort of Archimedes-screw type arrangement that's driven semi-independent of the propulsion system. I wonder how well that would resist clogging - probably not very well at all. How about a tandem - front rider powers the 'blower', rear rider propels the machine, steering supplemented with independent brakes on each front wheel ... I could go on ... :-)