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Resident 2B · 01-12-2006, 09:41 PM

MnM,

I like the concept for your vehicle, but as a fellow engineer, I feel you have one huge thing working against this design for this application: Friction, or the lack there of.

Sleds, skis and the like rely on the load from the ski or blade to melt the surface of the ice or snow and for the ski or blade to float over the surface. Friction from the surface to the vehicle approaches zero in a perfect application.

Your design looks like a lot of fun, but you have to deal with the loss of friction. Drive wheels just do not do it. They will spin as you attempt to over come the inerita of the vehicle at the start. As a result, the work is done (by the mushers, but little work is turned into vehicle velocity.

Now if there was a studded belt, like in a snow machine driving the vehicle......

01-12-2006, 09:41 PM	#12
Resident 2B Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Shore, MA Posts: 1,358 Thanks: 996 Thanked 314 Times in 164 Posts	HPS Technology MnM, I like the concept for your vehicle, but as a fellow engineer, I feel you have one huge thing working against this design for this application: Friction, or the lack there of. Sleds, skis and the like rely on the load from the ski or blade to melt the surface of the ice or snow and for the ski or blade to float over the surface. Friction from the surface to the vehicle approaches zero in a perfect application. Your design looks like a lot of fun, but you have to deal with the loss of friction. Drive wheels just do not do it. They will spin as you attempt to over come the inerita of the vehicle at the start. As a result, the work is done (by the mushers, but little work is turned into vehicle velocity. Now if there was a studded belt, like in a snow machine driving the vehicle......