mikemikelle
Active member
After many hours of looking for the right freight hauling setup, I gave up and went to the drawing board.. We use our cat for cabin access, and are going to be needing it for hauling building materials as well, in order to extend the building season.
Needed something lite, tough, large enough to really haul, yet small enough to get on the ramp trailer with the Imp. Also wanted it for potentially hauling friends, dogs, friend's dogs, kids, grand kids, snowblowers, broken snowmobiles, running snowmobiles, etc. etc.
After more thought, need it for hauling fuel oil, so a transfer tank is in the plan, and also need it after the snow is gone, so trailer axle and wheels is also in the mix.
Below is a sketch of what I came up with, and progress pics. (Can't seem to figure out how to put photos within my text??)
Now that I am underway (Too far to turn around), I have a concern. The skis are approx. 10"x 66", so fairly large. My worry is the large surface area (much like a really large tire) and the sideways strain of turning it in wet snow. The axle is a 2000# (1 3/4"). I guess it is similar to a Tucker pontoon being mounted to a straight axle, only the bearings are not the size of a Tucker. 1320 Sq. In. of float and only 300# of constructed weight means only .22 PSI, and with freight, say .66 PSI on a heavy day, so pretty good flotation.
The question now is do I have a problem? Thought of maybe running a diagonal arm from the ski tip to the center of the axle, so sharing the same pivot point. Can't think of another way since the ski is mounted to the axle hub, and needs to be able to pivot at that point.
The overall width is well within the tracks of my wide track Imp. The skis will be skinned with 1/2" UHMW, so really slick. The deck is all aluminum Perf-O-Grip, so really light.
What you engineers think? Thanks for looking
Needed something lite, tough, large enough to really haul, yet small enough to get on the ramp trailer with the Imp. Also wanted it for potentially hauling friends, dogs, friend's dogs, kids, grand kids, snowblowers, broken snowmobiles, running snowmobiles, etc. etc.
After more thought, need it for hauling fuel oil, so a transfer tank is in the plan, and also need it after the snow is gone, so trailer axle and wheels is also in the mix.
Below is a sketch of what I came up with, and progress pics. (Can't seem to figure out how to put photos within my text??)
Now that I am underway (Too far to turn around), I have a concern. The skis are approx. 10"x 66", so fairly large. My worry is the large surface area (much like a really large tire) and the sideways strain of turning it in wet snow. The axle is a 2000# (1 3/4"). I guess it is similar to a Tucker pontoon being mounted to a straight axle, only the bearings are not the size of a Tucker. 1320 Sq. In. of float and only 300# of constructed weight means only .22 PSI, and with freight, say .66 PSI on a heavy day, so pretty good flotation.
The question now is do I have a problem? Thought of maybe running a diagonal arm from the ski tip to the center of the axle, so sharing the same pivot point. Can't think of another way since the ski is mounted to the axle hub, and needs to be able to pivot at that point.
The overall width is well within the tracks of my wide track Imp. The skis will be skinned with 1/2" UHMW, so really slick. The deck is all aluminum Perf-O-Grip, so really light.
What you engineers think? Thanks for looking