haulincolin
100 W
I have a customer asking for a custom trike project and would love to crowd source some ideas about how to proceed.
This trike will be used for maintaining and harvesting oysters in a salt water environment. It will be ridden on sand flats that are exposed when the tide goes out, so not literally submerged in salt water, but definitely exposed to it. They will hose down the equipment with fresh water every day, but corrosion will still be a major issue. It will be an upright delta trike with a roughly 30" wide by 40" long cargo area over the rear wheels.
They want it to be as durable and environmentally friendly as possible, so minimal steel parts, and minimal oil/grease runoff. I'm considering using 5086 aluminum for the frame since that's often used in boat building, and I can source plate, tube, and other extruded shapes from a local supplier.
It doesn't need to go very far or very fast. A few miles at 5mph is plenty. Singlespeed would work, but some gearing, even a simple 3 speed planetary, would be better since they have to go up a boat ramp. I think a belt drive will be the way to go. I would like to drive both rear wheels (but not on a fixed axle), so that's going to mean using a differential, or doing that thing where you run an intermediate hub that drives two chains back to two freewheels on separate shafts.
For the electric assist, I'm currently considering three options.
1: Stock mid drive kit, could even be OEM style integrated into the frame since I'm making the frame. I'm concerned that this will have poor corrosion resistance in this environment.
2: Make that intermediate hub a hub motor with a healthy dose of Sprayon coating.
3: Some other outrunner with its own belt drive back to the intermediate hub or diff. Could be an e-bike motor, e-boat motor, or anything really.
Does anyone have any input on these ideas?
This trike will be used for maintaining and harvesting oysters in a salt water environment. It will be ridden on sand flats that are exposed when the tide goes out, so not literally submerged in salt water, but definitely exposed to it. They will hose down the equipment with fresh water every day, but corrosion will still be a major issue. It will be an upright delta trike with a roughly 30" wide by 40" long cargo area over the rear wheels.
They want it to be as durable and environmentally friendly as possible, so minimal steel parts, and minimal oil/grease runoff. I'm considering using 5086 aluminum for the frame since that's often used in boat building, and I can source plate, tube, and other extruded shapes from a local supplier.
It doesn't need to go very far or very fast. A few miles at 5mph is plenty. Singlespeed would work, but some gearing, even a simple 3 speed planetary, would be better since they have to go up a boat ramp. I think a belt drive will be the way to go. I would like to drive both rear wheels (but not on a fixed axle), so that's going to mean using a differential, or doing that thing where you run an intermediate hub that drives two chains back to two freewheels on separate shafts.
For the electric assist, I'm currently considering three options.
1: Stock mid drive kit, could even be OEM style integrated into the frame since I'm making the frame. I'm concerned that this will have poor corrosion resistance in this environment.
2: Make that intermediate hub a hub motor with a healthy dose of Sprayon coating.
3: Some other outrunner with its own belt drive back to the intermediate hub or diff. Could be an e-bike motor, e-boat motor, or anything really.
Does anyone have any input on these ideas?