Boys Toys

Tim C

Two heads are better than one
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Aug 6, 2014
Messages
445
My little boat. Aluminium home-made-1972. It has a Seagull outboard and an 86lb electric. My 80w solar panel mounts on the roof. Just boat-coded and registered. A work in progress. I need to make a bowsprit to stop the waves splashing up at the front. It cost me $50. I painted it and made the roof bows out of scrap.
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This is the solar panel. I have mounted another controller on it so I can easily change it from 12 to 24 volt(for the outboard and my trike)
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My wind generator- a treadmill dc motor, ceiling fan blades.
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My sinewave inverter and wind diversion controller mounted with volt and amp guages. It dumps excess power into a 600w load-dump. Solar controller is hooked direct to batteries underneath. The dust is from Tibooburra.
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The old 14ft van. $400. Gas HWS lives under the bed when travelling. Vast satellite TV and air cooler with a float valve to hook up direct to water supply. 8 ply tyres. Axle mounted under springs for extra ground clearance.
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Metal detectors under the bed- I actually got rid of a couple! Also have a home-made dry-blower that doubles as a shaker-box, and other assorted gold prospecting parephenalia.
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Bed lifts up. There's the excess power load dump on the left.
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My electric trike-24v, 350w.
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A work in progress. The crank is free-wheeling, but now I 'm waiting for a free-wheeling sprocket for the motor. It hooks along,(6 gears) but you can't pedal or the chain goes loose on the motor, that's why I need the free-wheel sprocket for the motor.
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The brackets are from the hardware shop. Off the shelf except centre holes and rear idler bracket(welded on). Front idler is a petrol bike part, off the shelf.
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Battery box is out of my electric scooter, converted from 48-24 volts It holds 4x 12-15 Ah sealed batteries. It goes in the basket of the trike, and also supplies the 86lb outboard on the boat.
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Repco tag-along trailer. Solar panel mounts on top. Dogs go in the front- it has 2 clips to stop them jumping out.
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Mark

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Bellmere, QLD
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Did the boat really only cost you $50!?

And, the van $400 - is it towable/roadworthy? I mean, it looks in great nic!

That DIY electric trike is awesome make sure you make an update post when you are finished working on it! Electric bikes are coming down in price but they are still out of my reach http://www.reefbikes.com.au/ my favourite one is this one here called Predator :) I bet yours won't cost nearly as much...
 

Tim C

Two heads are better than one
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Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
445
Yeah the boat I had to make a new keel, and made up the side-fins and fitted a transom. The van's a bit rough and leaks a bit of water, but NSW regoed and roadworthy (also has brakes). I lived in it at Milparinka for nearly 2 years.
Those e-bikes are way over-priced. The hub/wheel/controller kits are less than $400 from the manufacturer. Lead-acid batteries are still your best option for power as lithiums have a very limited draw-down. 2x 15 ah sealed lead acids for $85 delivered on fleabay. My motor cost me $110, the controller $18, both new, off fleabay. Throttle was $8. Free wheeling crank was $50 and the motor sprocket that's coming was $6.
Y-electric bikes on fleabay started out at $318- now the dirty rogue importers are asking $550!!!!
Neither the predator nor Y-bikes have gearing to the motor either.
To be road legal in SA they must be 200w or less. I was looking at options to achieve this. Controllers only go down to 25ow, but there are other circuit boards that would do the job, less than $20. I was just in the process of picking one, when I realised all I need to do is put a trimpot (variable potentiometer) in the (5v) throttle circuit and adjust it to a 200w multimeter readout at the motor- simple and legal and measureable so therefore proveable (to the cops) if I get quizzed.
You can get a trike on ebay for $249 plus delivery. The ad says $2249, but it's a misprint. I got a layback seat stem for mine to get more distance between the seat and handlebars.
 
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Jenni

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Aug 31, 2014
Messages
215
Location
Gold Coast
Tim you are absolutely amazing, all the things that you can do. Blows me away.
 

Tim C

Two heads are better than one
Premium Member
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Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
445
The Bush Mechanics and the CSIRO are my heroes. Not politicians and greedy capitalists, who in my opinion are the scurge of this earth. Australia has become a far worse place for the poor and marginalised (like myself) through the parasitic conniving of administrative scum. I can not rely on government or law to protect or serve me, only to penalise and incarcerate me. Therefore I shun them. We do not need centralised politics or money grubbing laws in this world. We do not need stupid nannyist laws "for our own good". A lie used to fill the coffers of the rich and bring country folk to their knees. This litigeous and nannyist administration encourages urban sprawl and the decimation of the regional proud society.
If you flog a timid dog for long enough, it will eventually bite you.
 
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