Thread: David Gomm - New OZ PDRacer Lug Rig Variant under construction in Perth WA

Excellent work there David! I like the simplicity and your engineering using all timber.

I too had no idea until I saw your pics. Thanks for sharing

David if you are not worried about copyright perhaps Mik could include your design with the PDR plans I'm sure many builders would be very grateful. Well done.

Cheers
Mike

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for your positive comments about my Car Top Rack and Loading Ramps, and the Launching and Retrieving Trolley, I would be happy for Michael to consider making the plans available through his website ( either as a separate download, or included with his PDRacer plans ).

I will be making them available from my website, with a link from the forum as well when I have completed them.

I spent a lot of time developing them for ease of construction, familiar materials, and construction method ( to anyone who has built any of Michaels wooden boat designs ), this also makes them easier to modify, to suit other flat bottomed wooden boat designs or Carry Bars of varying size, shape or spacing, and the Clamp On mounting method gives the widest possible appeal ( DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY MOUNTING HOLES OR OTHERWISE DAMAGE OR MARK YOUR EXISTING CARRY BARS / ROOF RACKS, AND MAKES THEM SO EASY TO FIT / REMOVE ).

I have weighed the Trolley at 10.2kg ( using digital bathroom scales ), up to 70% of the weight is in the 2 x 450mm long, 3/4" threaded rod axles, nuts + washers, and the 10" pneumatic wheels ( minimum ground clearance is just under 4" which should make it ideal, even over rough terrain or sand ).

I had not provided pictures before, I needed to build it, and prove that it works first, with the 10.2kg trolley and the 41kg ( last weigh in ), of my PDRacer hull, it has more than just demonstrated that just 1 person can transport, launch, and recover a PDRacer with this design easily, it has also demonstrated that it is stronger than needed for the average PDRacer, and can handle larger ( heavier ) wooden boats as well.

The following picture shows the last of my 9 modifications to the PDRacer, 3, 8mm x 40mm Hull Bottom runners / floor reinforcements, they are class legal according to Michael ( as they are within the 10mm tolerance allowed ), I added these while I was still a hefty 120kg ( now of course, I have lost most of my excess weight, I am only 92kg, after almost 18 months of dieting, on medical advice. ).


As you can see from this photo I only have limited space to work in, unless I move my car from It's regular parking spot ( parking the car this way is also great practise for when the PDRacer is completed, as it will be stored in the carport on It's side later ).

Cool! Some things there that I wish I'd thought of before shelling out on an expensive set of racks for the Camry ;). Well done!

I hope your health improves soon: like you, this time last year I had a terrible time with my snout/sinuses, until the local GP packed my off to an ENT specialist pronto. After some fibre-optic probing, the surgeon concluded that I had a fungal infection living happily (uproariously!) up in my sinuses, and that it should be surgically removed.

As it turned out, it was a fungal infection, and a text-book one at that (the surgeon subsequently used the photos to test his interns on ;), but the real significance of the operation was that, after the bleeding had stopped, the inflammation had gone down, I could breathe easily again for the first time in many years - like about a decade, probably more. not only that, but the rate at which I got colds dropped suddenly as well. Apart from the nasty thing that I got recently, which has triggered whatever-it-is that I have now.

After a long-winded preamble, I am wondering if getting the sinuses checked out by a specialist might not be a good idea (assuming that you haven't already done so, of course). Your GP will have some thoughts on this, no doubt. But given what was causing my chronic nasal disorder and discomfort, the inconvenience and discomfort of the op was more than worth-while. But have a chat to your GP, would be my advice :).

Cheers,
Alex.

Hi Alex,

I'm glad you liked my solution for transporting and launching / retrieving my PDRacer.

According to my GP, my sinus infections are the result of swelling of the sinus linings due to an unknown allergen ( I have had extensive allergy testing - no allergies detected !!! ).

I have had a sinus passage widening operation ( because I have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea - mild case - my breathing stops momentarily about 70 times an hour according to the sleep study I had done ), I use a Nasal CPAP machine to control this at night, no good while I have a sinus infection though, it just increases the pressure !!!.

My incidence of sinus infections has dropped from 12 / year to just 4 / year since my anti-depressant medication was changed over, this is a great improvement, but I still have blocked sinuses all year, and hayfever in spring !!!.

It is however worth asking my GP if I might have a fungal infection lurking in there somewhere, as I don't think this was ever considered !, thanks for the advice.

Hi David,

Hmm...an infection by definition is caused by an infective agent/organism. So if it is an infection, as opposed to an allergy, then there should be something in there have a wild party - and detectable. If not, it's an allergen or two or more, and it's your immune system having the wild party, of course... On the other hand, if nothing was found in the previous op, it may - or may not - mean that there is nothing there, so better to get some advice. Tricksy little beasts, micro-organisms.

But I'm not a medical doctor (have had quite a bit of training in plant pathology though, and the basic principles are the same or very similar), so see your own :). The fact that things have improved with the change of anti-depressant are in themselves interesting (and good!!!), but I can't make anything of that one way or another, and wouldn't dare ;).

Cheers,
Alex.

Hi Alex,

Just to clarify, the cause of the 'Chronic Sinusitis', is an allergic reation to something(s), that causes the nasal passage and sunus linings to swell, this causes the nasal passages to block up, the normal mucus secretions of the linings then has nowhere to go, and causes a pressurized buildup of fluid, this fluid ( when it forms ) is what actually gets infected, this can get very painful, while just the allergic symptoms ( which I seem to have at least 80% of the year, are more of an annoyance in comparison.

The pressurized spaces can include all of the sinus cavities and nasal passages and the inner ear(s) ( via the 'Eustachian Tube(s) - narrow nasal passages leading to the inner ear ), it is not neccesary, for all these passages to block up ( 1 or more is more common - I sometimes get all blocking at once - as at present ), with the same results for each ( if this happens to just the inner ear(s) it is commonly called 'Earache' ).

In this way it is possible to have an allergy, and an infection of the Sinuses and/or the Inner Ear at the same time.

The obvious conclusion to the different rates ( quite significant ) of infection when my medication was changed is that it was at least partially caused by a 'side effect' of that particular medication, the current nedication is known to cause pressure behind , or in the eyes ( which I get, at least from time to time, from the sinuses anyway ), this can, and does cause blurred vission ( similar in effect to having 'Glaucoma' - out of focus sight - in my case it only affects reading - I wear cheap [ non prescription ] 3x magnifying glasses to correct this when reading, or doing fine detailed work ).

Hi David,

Thanks for the explanation - one that I should have thought of. Lucky I'm not a doctor, eh?

Cheers,
Ale.

Originally Posted by AlexN

Hi David,
But I'm not a medical doctor (have had quite a bit of training in plant pathology though, and the basic principles are the same or very similar),

Cheers,
Alex.

So a bit of grafting and a dip in some striking powder and all will be well?

MIK (feeling cheeky)

I was so intent on cracking a funny that I missed that the photos had gone up.

Is really cool. Very nice lightweight engineering. Looks simple and effective.

You just need to hire a model and take some photos!

MIK

The world would be your oyster. Well, it might. Try getting on "The New Inventors" :).

Your efforts make my engineering capabilities look pretty sad, that's for sure!

Cheers,
Alex.

Hi Alex,

My engineering is simply my way to solve a problem ( how to make it easy for 1 person to transport and launch a PDRacer - or take it to get a HIN after painting it ).

If my solution can benefit others, thats great, and as it is easily modified by the individual building it, it can suit a wide variety of flat bottomed wooden boats ( most home builders would be better off [ or even prefer ] building their own anyway - this system gives them an easy and familiar place to start - and uses, materials and construction methods that they are already used to ).

I am not interested in the commercial possibilities ( if any even exist, for such a limited market ), or have any Idea about how to go about it anyway, so there is no reason to go on 'The New Inventors'.

I am just happy to solve my problem, and help anyone else out, by making up a free set of plans to download, modifications will need to be made to allow the Car Top Racks to be attached to other Carry Bars/Roof Racks, if for no other reason than the distance between the Carry Bars/Roof Racks will vary for each car they are fitted to which will affect the mounting positions of the Car Top Racks ( this applies even if using them for a PDRacer, let alone the extra modifications, that may be needed, to suit other boats ).

Alex, you never know what you can do, until you, at least, give it a try ( having a need just makes one try that much harder ).

I have never had any woodwork or metalwork training, other than at high school, and no engineering training at all, I am simply observant, and ask about things I have trouble understanding, and I am willing to try different materials or Ideas to make something work.

That it worked the first time, so well, is just a bonus ( there are some minor improvements to add, to prevent the Car Top Racks bending down at the ends when the PDRacer is in position on them, this I planned for anyway, as no design, made by humans is perfect, as we are not, but practise makes us better ).

Hi Everyone,

My checkup at the hospital went very well, I am officially back to normal duties, with no need of physio or extra support for my formerly fractured ankle, and have a final checkup scheduled for another 3 months ( hard to believe It's already been 3 months since the accident ), the muscles will build up to match the size of my left leg over the next 3 months or so, just by using the leg now.