The Suessian
Pedal Tractor is a three-person mutant tricycle that was built
for
kinetic sculpture racing. It does
not have tires on the rear wheels. It has shoes. I built
it mostly out of recycled steel, scrap from my shop, and old bicycle
parts. There are two seats, side-by-side in between the big wheels,
each rider has a set of bicycle pedals. The front rider
pedals and steers. It weighs about 250 pounds.
I started it in the
beginning of June 2008 with the goal of having it done by the
Prescott
Valley Kinetic Sculpture Race on September 13th. I
got it
done before August 22nd, so it went to
Burning Man 2008, too.
Here are photos and
descriptions of the process of building it.
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I
started by taking apart some old bicycles I had laying
around my shop yard. |
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| This is the central
part of the vehicle. I added about 7 additional feet to
the length of a bicycle frame. |
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| The big rear wheels
are 6 feet tall and have 16 spokes each. They each weigh
about 55 pounds. They mount onto a 1" diameter solid
steel axle. Shoes go on the metal "feet." |
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The pedals will drive a
very small sprocket so the pedal tractor is geared down
enough that it will be easy to pedal it around. |
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The seats are on and the
front wheel, too. |
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A canopy, umbrella, and
some paint are added. Oh, yeah, the shoes, too! |
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The pedal tractor at
Burning Man 2008. That's me up front and Janabanana and
Pleasure in the back. |
