Hi All,
Been playing with the idea of building my own land yacht, I did the usual google search and found this website. After looking at all the great creations on here I thought I would go for it. Iv decided to use scaffold pole for the chasis material joined together with unilock items, this way I can completely take it to pieces to fit in the car or van. Im not very far on in the build but do have a fibreglass mast which is 4.16m so im on the hunt for a boom and sail. I also need wheels, iv read on here that cycle wheels are no good so need to find some wheel barrow wheels or something similar. The dimensions so far are 2m wide and 2.6m long not sure if this is ok?Iv added some photo's and any usefull comments or help would be muchly appreciated!Oh forgot to mention I will adding some bracing from the 'axle' to the main tube to stop it twisting, and need to add a mast mount but not sorted that out yet.
Cheers
Jonny

Hi Jonny
Welcome to this forum Lots of innovative ideas here
I would go along with sabydents comments I have built two LLF minis based on the
plans on this forum and have been entirely satisfied with the results
They will also fit into a small hatchback car for transport
The problem I see with your ideas on using scaffolding type joints on a T type chassis is they rely on a grubscrew to resist the torsion loads and these are considerable on a landyacht You could make your own joints by making them longer
and using a clamp and screw type connection but have a look at the LLF mini
It is hard to see how it can be much improved for a first yacht both in simplicity and performance

Welcome to the forum!

This is truly an international site, and there are LLM's sailing all over the world. I went with the advice given here on S.B. and built 2 of them. I highly recommend going that route if you have access to materials/tools.

I would not be opposed to using the scaff tubing for the chassis, but I think Hiko is right; there is enough twist in the main tube that the sail load can easily lift the upwind wheel off the ground, even with my 200lb ass in the seat. I doubt if the connectors would hold without welding the joints.

If you are against welding, look at the 'manta' site. They use ali plates to hold their ali tubing in place, and are very successful with that method.

Cheers, John

Thanks for all the replies guys. I thought this would be an easy build doing it this way. Im going to drill the clamps through so I can bolt it rather then rely just on the grub screws. I was going to brace from where the mast will attach to the rear axel to help with the torque from the sail. i may go down the mini route at some point as welding is no problem but I thought I would have a go with these bits as they are just cobbled around the workshop. Ill keep updating as the build goes along.
Cheers
Jonny

You're right Neb', Experimentation will be a learning curve for us all. Remember the original Schrodingers Cat?? It is still about and getting set to be used again.
jskdog, just don't get disheartened if you have a bit of failure at the "T" Joint of at the Mast Step. Those are the Highest Stress Points as the Sail thrusts the Mast Down and Downwind, the torque is from the Mast Step to the Rear Wheels so it comes against both MS and "T". I will state now that the first failure will be at the Spine Mast Step junction, I think both those points should be welded and the Mast step be beefed up as per the LLF Plans. I used 5/16" Bolts at the "T" Junction and as a support Pivot Pin and at the "T" one was Cut Off on both sides of the Pipe 75mm dia x 3mm wall thickness. Yes! Cut off clean like a Guillotine. At the Mast Pivot the other was severely bent (Read some of the Build of Schrodinger's Cat. Just Working Out a Build) In the end I finished up using 3/8" Mild Steel Bolts which seem to be holding. I would also suggest you have a chat with the LLF Mini designer Landyacht/Paul.
Ron

nebbian said...

If you end up ripping the tube or grub screws you could always weld the scaff to the fittings afterwards...

The main torque is along the spine, so perhaps just welding the main spine to the joiners at each end might be a good idea, I'd imagine the other tubes could be made removable with little loss of strength.

Seems like a worthwhile experiment to me, have fun

mild steel to cast.... hmmmmm.
worthwhile experiment ........you bet

jskdog said...

Im going to drill the clamps through so I can bolt it rather then rely just on the grub screws. I was going to brace from where the mast will attach to the rear axel to help with the torque from the sail.
Jonny

Those cast scaff clamps look like the ducks nuts and the first thought I had on seeing them was to through bolt maybe with a tapped thread on the back side or maybe even tapped thread all the way through (ie through the inserted tube as well).

If the join was tapped all the way through and a lock nut applied on the back side, it would be a very accurate and strong join.

Assuming the tube and the joiner casting are aluminium, I would be keeping the welder well away from them.

In this application use of stainless steel bolts is logical, but s/s and aluminium are very unfriendly electrically speaking, so use of an insulating grease is necessary to prevent electrolytic action between the two dissimilar metals.

Such a grease is sold here in Australia under the name of 'Durolac'. It is quite messy stuff to use. A similar product is the white insulating grease used between a CPU and the heat sink in a computer. It is quite expensive and also toxic so be careful.

By the way, I also recommend building a Lake Lefroy Mini Yacht first.

Full and detailed instructions on this can be found here:- www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/Build-a-Landyacht-Lake-Lefroy-Mini-Yacht/

The joints are steel so could be welded but im with you and was thinking of drilling through the other side of the clamp and and bolting all the way through, im pretty sure given a good quality bolt and nyloc nut it would be more then strong enough. I like the idea of being able to put it together without welding and also you could change certain dimensions of the chasis really quickly.
A quick update, iv ust won a windsurfing set with board mast and boom for £1!! so just need a sail, wheels and some rigging. Ill post photo's after iv picked it up.
Cheers
Jonny

Is that right There are other forums?

Picked up my £1 ebay purchase today, board mast and sail! The mast is a one piece 4600mm glassfibre by the look of it. Still on the hunt for some good quality wheels now.

move the braces in on the rear axleto almost half way.
you are going to need some other support for the mast as i honestly dont think that mast step will stay up on its own

10 1/2" is the full wheel including tyre the actual wheel itself is only 5" diameter.

Thanks for the reply Nikrum, I thought they looket a bit small, they are off a new petrol generator in the workshop so wanted to see what they looked like. I think i will go down the barrow wheel route if I can find somewhere over here that sells them not attached to a wheel barrow!

Im really lucky I only live a 30 minute drive from cleethorpes which has a huge beach!They do kite boarding and bggying there too. It will be used on the beach as I dont think there is anywhere else to run one, all the old airfields have ben turned into storage yards round here which is a shame as lincolnshire had loads of little airfields.

I just had a look at Cleethorps.. Hmmm! Yes I ca see what you mean. Barrow wheels should do the trick or at least wheels the same size and preferably Rib pattern.

http://www.bfslyc.org.uk/pages/fed_homepage.aspx

www.buggykiteshop.com/wheel-spares/wheel/wheel-400-4.html

I have been looking at your ebay.co.uk the wheels there look pretty sucky. I wouldn't trust them and in some cases they want nearly as much for them as the above..
Ron

Thankyou Nikrum for the links especially the uk landsailing one!very useful.