Most of the weight is on the back wheels so the rear is where the brake[s]
will be most effective

The only problem with a rear wheel brake is should you be in a tight turn and use it on the upwind wheel it probably will lock that wheel up on the down wind wheel then it could slow you so as to lift the up wind wheel further or drop you on your side. The Front Wheel is generally always on the ground all the time and would tend to slow you evenly though applied at the wrong time could assist in a Roll Over as with a Motor Vehicle. I would suggest that any form of brake be applied sparingly and only if you are going to hit an Immovable Object. Learn to Sail it Slowly and where there very few objects to Damage (Cars or People. People tend to get upset when they or their cars are damaged)

Look to AZUSA.com for wheels as they do sell Wheels,Rims and Brakes to suit.

http://www.azusaeng.com/wheels/whlspecs.html#anchor1068341

I nearly bought my wheels from them until I spotted some over here in Aus' that were suitable to my purposes.

Best of Luck! "Go For It"
Ron

Thanks for the information on wheels. I will order some from AZUSA. From what I gather I should get 6" X 4" wheels with high speed bearings and the universal tires. I was thinking of the aluminum wheels, they look good. Am I on the right track? This is somewhat confusing.

As far as brakes go I will be most comfortable with a disc brake. Any ideas on how to mount these to a wheel?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Sabydent,

Ok! At this point forget about ordering your Wheels. Comb this Forum and Study Photo's of the machines and methods used in the final product to serve the purposes of each type of machine. Just because you have acquired a set of plans does not mean the build has to be precisely to the Plan. Mull your Build through, Build the entire Land Yacht in your mind altering it as you go. Plans are a Snap Shot in time where there application is concerned, just like a photograph. A pic' of someones build may well be what you like but may be in need of alteration to suit your needs or style. Seek advice freely Mull that over and apply it to your needs. Both my machines were done in that way and I am pleased with the results as they have my Stamp on them as well as the original designers. I am not saying to build the same as me but make up your mind and then stick to it.

Wheels are important and should be chosen to suit you needs and there venues. I only used 6" Rims because I have good Beaches and a Tarmac to sail on and the Aircraft Tires are Freebies The AZUSA 10" are a very nice wheel but a little heavy. Were I you I should look seriously at 8" x 4" to suit 460/400 X 8. for the Rear and a 20" Bicycle Wheel BMX heavy plastic Wheel for the front steering and that would be easier to fit Brakes to. There are Mini's about with Caliper, Rim type Brakes fitted (Simpler to deal with). See what is on the market and adapt it to your use. Car Parks? I think, from my limited experience) I would be going for the 20" front wheel and Maxxis Miracles and their Rib Pattern Tread. they stick like the proverbial Crap on a Blanket. This seems to be your first build, take your time and be proud of your product.

When choosing your wheels also take into account the Use of Salt on the ice over your way as it will have a corrosive effect on Metal Rims. Plastics may be more durable..

Ron

BMX wheels only work as a front wheels they are NOT STRONG ENOUGH for rear wheels.
Front wheels are lightly loaded and have very little down force, so putting a brake on them might seem easy, yes the wheel will stop but the yacht wont !!!
Brakes on land yachts should ONLY be regarded as parking brakes.

Brian
Brakes on land yachts may slow you a little or keep you parked but wont help much in a quick stop situation You need to sail the yacht with a get out clause in mind at all times It has been said by Aus 230 and Gizmo above and in my experience
front wheel brakes are park brakes only at best Rear wheel brakes I wouldnt bother
either-- extra weight and complexity and dubious value
You rarely see brakes on land yachts-- there is a reason
cheers Hiko

If you go with a LLM you won't need to beef it up any. I use a LLM built by designer(Landyacht). Main reasons:- 1.Crashing puts a great load on your body and if foot steering does not absorb impact by bending/breaking, your knees ankles etc suffer. 2.Increased weight changes sailing characteristics e.g. centre of effort will change, take longer to accelerate.
Building to plan specifics will give you a proven yacht that is quite stable for normal speed up to around 60kph depending on your weight (more ballast more speed? [}:)]).Then when you are a more competent sailor you can experiment to your hearts content, either with your first or subsequent builds because you will be able to see for yourself the differences your changes make.
Before changing your yacht ask on this forum because most things have been tried before. But most of all have fun and you may be an innovator in landsailing.

Dang! Saby,
By the time you start your build you are really going to be "Full Bottle" so much good advice. Regarding wheels. It would seem I was being a little over cautious regarding Body Mass, Ok! People that know better than me seem to think beefing up your machine is not required. fair enough. Desertyank has some AZUSA 8" Ali wheels and is right about the tires 4.60/400 x 8" are common. I have only used the Cheep Chinese ones and found them wanting in the longevity stakes as they chewed out on Tarmac in a few hours. Up sides and down sides. Eventually it is you that has to make up your mind. I must admit that the 8" were the ones I was going to get but I managed to get some Aussie Machined Ali ones cheaper and a I said the Second Hand Aircraft tires are really Cheap . The ones that desertyank is using are the Bee's Knees, Ribbed Pattern Tread.

Ron

Going to skip the brakes. I have begun to gather my materials. What material is used to make the bushing for the steering?

Good morning Sabydent,
Like Paul says there is a plethora of ways to build your steering pivot. Take a look at what I have done with Schrodinger's Cat. Consider where you will be doing your Sailing. Keep in mind that you are a big lad. I come in at 102Kg/16Stone/225lbs. So enough of that Fat Crap!! . The lads you are talking to here have built to operate on Salt Flats and rougher ground so their Front Ends have to withstand a deal more shock than bitumen/tarmac. Beaches are a little more bouncy than Tarmac etc, we even have a Lunatic YANK that is building to run on a Bean Field. He has to be one tough boy as that could be a little bouncy but each to his own. I used an old BMX front Fork and Steering Head to build Both my units on the Cat I used the Fork(Look @ the Pic's. On the Razor I used the Steering Head and Steering inner Tube and Bent up a Fork from 3.5mm Steel Tube. On Both units I fitted a Solid Steel Bar inside the Inner /Fork Tube to Beef it up against hitting obstacles, leaving just enough room for the Handle Bar wedging system to fit. As the Bearings were a bit dodgy I replaced the Bearings with fully sealed bearings. The entire Bearing housing and inner race Tap out of the outer tube and off the inner tube, fairly straight forward. Again having the materials ids one thing putting them together strongly is another. Use your Nouse/Common Sense and build for your toughest conditions of use.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/General/Structural-limitations-of-a-Lefroy-Mini/

Strength is needed in certain areas however as Paul pointed out some times it is probably better have a simple to replace part bend out of shape to save more complicated parts. Makes sense to me, as, if you over engineer in one place another will become the victim of a CRASH!

Ron
PS. Better to have bent steering than no steering at all. You probably know to Double Click My Avatar to see my Pic's

Thainks. I think I have the steering figured out now. Next question...I see that the plans only have one fork for the front wheel. This would add a rotational force to the fork. Would there be any advantage to having two forks?

sabydent said...

Thainks. I think I have the steering figured out now. Next question...I see that the plans only have one fork for the front wheel. This would add a rotational force to the fork. Would there be any advantage to having two forks?

You would only need to go double sided forks for BMX wheels, wheelbarrow style wheels work well with one sided forks, using "R" "Split" or "Lynch" pins to hold the wheel onto the axle, making it easy to get on or off.

now , now boys, calm it down, go have a nice tassie beer.
the single sided fork works fine, it doesnt even matter if its left or right.
will you be machining a bush for you steering head? if so just black or white nylon is fine. I wouldnt recommend a metal bush as they inevitably bind when used on a flatter angle. the nylon shouldnt need any kind of lubricant, which only picks up dirt anyway. a slight resistance in the fit is preferable to a really loose fit

If you don't trust split pins why then would you use one in a castlelated nut.
Castellated if you are USAnian

I have used a copper bush in aus230 for 5 years now (same one) always kept it greased and it still shows no sign of wear.
cheers