The Seussian Pedal Tractor is Done!

...almost.

The canopy is on, the frame is mostly painted. All the mechanical parts are functional. We took a little test drive this morning and everything worked fine. I got some friends to pose in the three pilot positions on the contraption. It won't be fast but it will go!
The only thing left to do is a bit more paint, some lighting for night driving and a small battery powered sound system.

The Big Wheels Get Paint

The Seussian Pedal Tractor is almost done. All the mechanical bits are finished. That's three derailleurs, five chains, two brake calipers, shifters and the cables that control everything. We did a three person test-ride last Friday and we couldn't stop laughing. We rode it out of the driveway, down the street aways and then peddled uphill back to the shop. It was hilarious and instructive. The big wheels needed a little bracing at the ends of the spokes. They bent ever so slightly during the test ride. The gearing will work fine. We were able to ride uphill with three people on it but only two people pedaling (the front pedals weren't installed yet). The bicycle chains may be a weak point. I will have to bring spare chain and a chain tool whenever we ride it anywhere.

This past weekend I primed the big wheels and the long bike frame. Yesterday I painted the big wheels with fluorescent spray paint. The plan is to mount UV lights on the canopy frame to illuminate the wheels for night travel.

Today I started bolting the shoes to the big wheels. I need only two more pair. The next post should be of the completely finished pedal tractor. I say this knowing that we will probably come up with wacky ideas for add-ons. It may never be really finished!

First Test Ride

I got the Seussian Pedal Tractor done enough to take a brief test ride. It's barely together though. Only one set of pedals is hooked up and I haven't connected the brakes yet. It picked up speed pretty quickly. Fortunately I had some friends there to stop me.
I made a big brake disk out of an old stone-cutting circular saw blade. I think it's about two feet in diameter. The beast is heavy so I don't know how well the brakes will work. I think the gearing will be fine. It might even go pretty fast with three people pedaling.
Today I scored a whole bunch of bicycle chain so I can hook up the other sets of pedals to the drivetrain.This coming weekend I plan to finish all the mechanical bits, do a more extensive test ride, and then get it ready for paint.

Pedals on the Pedal Tractor

This weekend I put the pedals on the pedal tractor. I also figured out a way to take the sprockets off the crank sets and replace them with tiny, 15-tooth sprockets. It looks pretty silly but I need to gear down a lot in order to make the pedal tractor easy to ride. With these small sprockets on the front plus the gearing in the back, it should take almost four complete rotations of the pedals for each complete rotation of the six-foot diameter drive wheels.

Today, I took a little time away from real work to make a tray that sits between the rear seats. This tray can hold drinks, etc,. and it also protects the main shaft gears from the weather.

The next project is to remove the big wheels, rig rear brakes, put the gear on the main shaft and put it all back together. Once that is done, I can put the chains on and we might even be able to do a test drive at that point. I am still getting shoes for the big wheels. I think I only need four more pairs.

Pedal Tractor Progress Report

The extended bicycle frame was welded to the main axle housing a couple of weeks ago. Last week I made the jack shaft and mounting brackets separately and then today I welded the assembly to the main axle housing. I designed adjustable seats out of two old plastic chairs. I mounted the seats and put the three bicycle freewheels and a small main drive gear on the jack shaft. The gears and freewheels aren't locked down yet. I need to make the pedal parts and then I can lock down all the gears after I line everything up.

Below is a photo of the jack shaft mounted to the main axle housing. The jack shaft is 3/4 inch diameter solid steel. The main axle is 1-inch diameter sold steel. The main axle housing is 2-inch schedule 40 pipe.

The main shaft is a solid axle from wheel to wheel. This is turning out to be a problem. It's really hard to turn the tractor with both big wheels locked to the shaft. I think I will have to cut the shaft and make it a one-wheel-drive pedal tractor. The other big wheel will just roll along. I am contemplating putting splines on the inside ends of the split axle and then making a spline sleeve that I can slide from the drive axle over the free axle in case I need two-wheel drive.

There is still a lot to do. There will probably be a lot of bracing needed. I won't know exactly where until we give it a test ride and see what's too flexible. I also want to weld on cup holders,
umbrellas and shade canopies for all riders, and maybe mounting brackets on the back for a sound system or maybe fire cannons?. Then will come paint, decorations, and maybe lighting for night travel.

I'm not the only person making strange pedal-powered tricycles. In fact mine is fairly tame compared to the ones made by a group of people who call themselves the Department of Spontaneous Combustion. They have made some three-wheeled pedal powered vehicles that shoot fire. Some of these have two big wheels in front and a single wheel in back. See a smaller one here.
And this is a link to a spectacular photo of one of their large ones.

Lawn Chair Larry

Today is the anniversary of Lawn Chair Larry's famous flight.

On July 2, 1982 in San Pedro California, 33-year-old Vietnam veteran Larry Walters filled 45 weather balloons with helium and tied them to a lawn chair. He floated quickly up to about 16,000 feet. To descend, he shot some of the balloons with a pellet gun. He landed in some high-voltage power transmission lines but did not get electrocuted. After hanging there for awhile the fire department got him down. This is not an urban legend. It's true!
More info on Larry's flight

Larry inspired others to imitate his craziness. In 1984, pilot Kevin Walsh tied 57 helium balloons to a chair and floated above Massachusetts for awhile. When he was done sightseeing he cut his lines and parachuted to safety.

In 2007, 48 year-old Kent Couch tied 105 balloons to a chair and floated 193 miles across Oregon. He was trying to make it to Idaho He also landed safely.

In April of 2008 in Brazil Roman Catholic Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli tried the same trick. He tied hundreds of helium-filled party balloons to a chair and quickly ascended to almost 20,000 feet. It didn't work out for him. He is still missing. More info and photos.

These guys were definitely adventurers in the Zone. They aren't the only ones doing this either. Check out this website.

Below is a photo of Kent Couch floating somewhere over Bend, Oregon.

Pedal Tractor Progress

I got the big wheels welded up yesterday on the Seussian Pedal Tractor. They are six feet in diameter and there are two of them. They each have sixteen spokes. Each spoke will have a shoe attached to it. I also started building the main axle. Three chains from the pedals will go to freewheels on the jack shaft. Then a beefier chain runs from the jack shaft to the drive sprocket on the main shaft. The big unknown is the gearing. I am using a 20 tooth sprocket on the main shaft which will be driven by a 10 tooth sprocket on the jack shaft. This will gear down by half. I have left room in the differential for a 30 tooth gear in case the gear down is not enough. I want it to be relatively easy to pedal around. It probably won't be fast but that's fine with me.
The next step is to attach the extended bicycle frame to the axle housing and work out the seat placement and placement for the rear pedals.