wind wagon (sailboat but on a wagon)

shmagoogin77 · Post by **shmagoogin77** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:37 pm

i was sitting at home watching hurricane wilma winds in my house (in tampa) and got the idea of some kind of sailing car. So i thought a little and came up with the wind wagon. It would be a wagon, the ones with the handle that steers the front wheels and a sail made out of a blanket or something.But unfortunatley i have no wagon

but i will have it for the next wind storm

shouldnt be too hard to make
heres a concept photo:

demonofaj · Post by **demonofaj** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:38 pm

Yeah, but make the sail a more square shape that's more concave so the wind will catch it better. Also make the sail BIG, so enough power can be gathered to move someone. Sweet idea.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:39 pm

You'll probably need a really big sail. The wind on land is weaker than wind on water.

shmagoogin77 · Post by **shmagoogin77** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:41 pm

ya im not sure how big of a sail i would need
but at my house (atleast right now) you could use a pretty small sail
i mean i was walking it it was pretty hard

demonofaj · Post by **demonofaj** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:42 pm

I concur

Post by **Sparkfist** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:42 pm

Sorry to say but a western pioneer beat you to it by about 150 years. On Wild West Tech they mentioned a guy that took the canvas cover off and used it as a sail. He passed through an area were the natives ran along side him for half an hour til their horses got too tired to keep up. The guy is recorded as going from about Pennsylvania to Kansas this way.

Also you'll want to really have a strong mast, nice smooth moving boom and yeah you'll deffenetly want to invest in some marine quality line (rope) it wont burn your hands very much.

shmagoogin77 · Post by **shmagoogin77** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:43 pm

site??

Post by **Triton** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 4:43 pm

what i would do is bolt wheels on to a windsurfing board, that would be aweosme

Post by **Sparkfist** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 6:39 pm

Triton wrote:what i would do is bolt wheels on to a windsurfing board, that would be aweosme

Better have good balance.

I'd say if you wanted to sail on land build a whole new rig. A T-frame (one wheel in front), a small low back seat (where the beams cross), a mast with support on the back. Rig up a mechanical stiring with your feet and the back wheels, you'll also want something like a emergancy brake, as you will be going fast.

Good luck.

Post by **Triton** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 6:48 pm

i thing there are actual land sailing things, http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q ... a=N&tab=wi see! cool eh

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 6:54 pm

I tried something like this before, except it was just tarping. Let me tell ya, to get any pull at all, you need a BIG sail. Me and my friend were on the edge of lake michigan and we still had to macgyver 2 tarps together just to get any pull worth messing with.

As for the wagon, well, that would look pretty silly. Now a skateboard or bike, that would be cool.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 6:57 pm

Yeah the first and third in the top row is what I'm talking about. Also if your going to have one you better either buy the sails (used are cheapest) or if you have the time make them out of nylon. And befor you run out and use a single sheet of nylon you need to know it has to be reenforced, also you might want a sail that has pockets for inserting ribs (might have a specific name) that make the sail more rigid.

Super Mulletman · Post by **Super Mulletman** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 7:15 pm

I actually just saw a video on AFV a little while ago with 2 toddlers doing the sailwagon with a blanket. They were going a good 5 mph until they fell over.

Post by **Triton** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 8:19 pm

if i was gonna make a sail and has money i would use carbon fiber for the frame and a mylar or very light/strong plastic

Stranger · Post by **Stranger** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 8:33 pm

Bolt a sail made out of 20' of parachute fabric to a wheel chair. I bet you a dime you could go at least 20MPH before you flip.