It took some time, but both rear wheels are finished now, together with a large part of the frame. The front fork has been changed to a single sided fork, for the rest it is almost exactly as my design I posted before. Also the frame is exactly as my design posted before, but an adjustable mounting position for the foot-steer has been added. Moreover, the metal tubes of the frame have become a little bit different, the steel is a 57 x 2.9 tube and the aluminium is 50 x 4. For the wheels, I have chosen to use 45 NRTH H?sker D? tires instead of Surly tires, for the simple reason that I found a couple that was a lot cheaper (Surly: +/- ? 90,- each wheel, 45 NRTH: ? 55,- each wheel).
Next are the rear-wheel axles and the foot steer and steering rod.



Some photos of building the frame:



Some photos of building the front fork and damping assembly:

And finally everything is put together for the first time.



Unfortunately there wasn't enough wind today to test it. (And when there was a gust, there wasn't enough space to test it, which almost ended up in a collision with a car).
One thing I did find out is that there is too much play on the steer. I think this is due to the fact that my flexible rod joiner (at both ends of the steering rod a piece of hydraulic hose) is a bit too flexible. I will try to find something more stiff and try to make the fixations on both ends of the rod joiner closer to each other, so that less distance is being covered by them.

However, I will be 3,5 month away now for an internship, so this improvement, the painting and further testing of my yacht will be done a couple of months later.

top job from me!

I've seen this question asked in this thread on the first page but haven't noticed an answer to it. Question is how are the aluminum axles tightened into the steel frame with the three bolts? Do they tighten directly to the outside of the aluminum or go through and tighten to inside of the opposite wall or another version? Sorry if it was answered earlier or in another thread. Also, is anything used around the aluminum to tighten the fit up into the steel or are the bolts sufficient?

thx for the help. the aluminum that i have is scaffolding that is about 4.4mm thickness. I will plan on an insert so there is no chance of anything collapsing.

Hi Bernhard,

I never tried it myself, but acoording to Gizmo (www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/General/New-Type-of-LandYacht/) wire spokes don't work well on landyachts due to the side force. Too big side forces is probably also what my wheels couldn't handle.
I'm also not sure about the axles, because too thin axles break easily on land yachts. What is the diameter of the axles? On the first page of this thread it is suggested that axles with a diameter of 20 mm are adequate for class 5 and that is also what I use. I think I have seen that some people run 17 mm axles, but they are a bit more fragile.

Stephan

Hi Stephan,

the original axle is only 8 mm, but I found a way to put 12 mm axle in it.

I used a 10.9 V4A bolt.

Also my idea was to get a wheel with 144 spokes and it seems to be very stabil.

I will try this first, otherwise i found MTB wheels with a 20 mm axle, but they are not very cheap.

I will let you know

Best regards

Bernhard

Can you please post web the address for those rim's

before recycling any bits from your wheels i would consider not doing that
visually the fibreglassing looking to be very poor. probably from wrong technique
to me it looks like thelayup was resin poor and very poorly compacted.
when i lay up chopped strand firstly I brush on some resin to the surface , then on with the first layer of mat. then start rolling with your 12mm ribbed roller. add more resin if dry spots occur, lay on next layer of mat. roll in adding small amounts of resin if needed, add 3rd lay etc.
your lay up just doesnt look right. .
keep in mind some of have had a decade or 2 practice bEFORE laying up a wheel, so 10 points for your efforts so far
what do other more experienced glassers think of his lay up

Hi Stephan. As nobody has replied yet about the glassing process I will add my little bit of knowledge.

The roller is simple, just cut a piece of 10mm threaded rod about 75mm long as the roller and drill a 3mm hole into the ends about 5mm deep. Then bend a bit of 3mm fence wire into a "U shape 75mm wide and turn 10mm of each end inwards at 90 degree as axles and fit to the threaded rod just as if it is a paint roller handle with axles. The whole idea is that the roller rotates and presses the resin into the glass and pushes the air out so you get a thin layer of fibre and only use a small amount of resin. Same thing happens by dabbing it with a paint brush but the roller presses the glass as a thinner layer with only a little resin. Strength of the whole glassing job lies in the amount of glass fibre and not the resin. Resin by itself is quite brittle and weak. So the best result is in how any layers of glass you can press together with a minimum of binding resin. If the first layers of resin goes to jelly it does not matter, just continue on, next lot will adhere ok. Don't mix too much resin at one time, mix only enough in stages or it will go off and turn to jelly before you can use it.

Clean up brushes and roller with Acetone before it hardens. There is also a liquid which can wash out the resin but I cannot remember it's name. Easier to buy very cheap brushes and toss them away. How many layers or thickness to use???? I leave that to the more experienced.

Have all the required fibre panels pre-cut and ready to go, then do all the glassing in the one session before the resin cures hard. Paint on a layer of resin over the mould, add a layer of glass fibre and squeeze the resin in with the roller until it goes clear, then another layer of glass and roller wet the glass as before. Only add more resin if the roller does not wet the glass fibre as you build up layer thickness. Definitely do not put all the layers of dry fibre down and then try to roller the resin in. If not possible to do the complete job in one session then wait for the resin to cure hard and glassy and thoroughly sand the surface before laying more layers on. New polyester resin on un-scoured cured resin will not bond very well because there are no fibres joining the two layers and will break away. Epoxy resin is not so fussy about the sanding requirement for extra layers as is polyester resin.

The mould should have been waxed and then painted with a water based releasing agent. If you have been glassing over styrene foam as for a seat and wish to remove the foam it will dissolve in petrol very quick. When buying polyester resin make sure it isn't old, it has a short life. Test a mixture first, old stuff takes a long time to harden and maybe not at all.

Hope that helps a bit, it's not rocket science, you will quickly become an expert.....Wok

If you cant get a 20mm bolt, use 20mm tube with a snug fit bolt(high tensile) through the middle

Just to add my little knowledge:
Very old Class 5 and Class Standard had 15mm axles, ( limited diameter of bearing hub?) on 17" cycle-wheels.
Some Bolts seem to last for 30 years, bearing fit on cast Aluminium suffers from use.
Newer rims for Standard (Sysmic) are 20mm.
Joe

I would bend 15mm bolts every sail these days. all my yachts are 20mm except our 3 seater which is 22mm

Well, then I guess that you did a better job then I did. I have brought my land yacht to the beach three times for sailing now, and all three times I had a wheel-failure. My aluminum hub that is glassed in at the center of the wheel is coming loose every time, I have repaired it twice and have the same problem again. I think that a flange on both sides of the hub could solve the problem, however since I finished studying I don't have access to a lathe anymore. I think I will have to look for buying a set of wheels.

Does anyone know where I can look best for those wheels (and are available (close to) the Netherlands)? I actually only know Airtrack, but I cannot find a website of it that works, and Seagull, but I can't find any 26" wheels there.

Next to that my aluminum rear-axles are bend, so I will need a bigger wall thickness for them, or put an extra tube inside it. Finally, I had a flat tire on the beach. I repaired it and could go on, but at the land yacht club they told me that for sailing on beaches one should really use tubeless tires, since the shells are sharp and with tubes in the tires, you will have a lot flat tires. That's another thing I have to work on.

I grove my hubs and then wrap them in glass tape, never had a failure it that area yet. As for tires I use 21 inch motor cycle tubes in my hookworms, have not had a puncture in 4 seasons, (Lake Walyungup is notorious for punctures due to a spiky plant that grows there , causes a lot of punchers in wheel barrow tires)