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Airboat brakes

AlaskaTours

AlaskaTours

Well-known member
Hi all,
Hope your staying warm . A cozy -18 below today :D . I have searched the archives and found one post about brakes but no follow ups. There is a guy here who has hooked up a piston type brake system on the rear of the boat. It stops so fast that the bow dips under the water good if you have a boat that has a windshield :D Need I say what would happen without one :shock: . Anybody have any photos or plans of a brake ? Or ideas ? Would like to maybe put something on my boat. I'm going up and down alot of beaver creeks and would like to be able to somewhat slow down if that monster beaver has built "The Hilton" in my way :wink:
 
I guess the trick would be to design it so it doesent lift the back of the boat. Unlike a trim tab, something that would suck the back of the boat down. T shaped spades or something, snow and ice guys use similar principals however need something a little bigger. Biggest concern for my buddys that have never seen an air boat, How do you stop?
 
No brakes, No reverse, No other craft like it.
I LOVE AIRBOATS
check out some of the hardcore race boats. Most of them have water brakes. It usually looks kinda like a small trim tab, when applied at high speed it makes a heck of a rooster tail.
I have seen some of you polar airboaters even have "ice brakes" to help slow when riding on frozen lakes. They look kinda like a trim tab cros-bred with a garden rake.
 
Alaska it's warm here today low to mid 30ts, I have checked into this a little bit and the one thing i have found is that whatever you do make sure it clears the bottom of the boat when in the off position and that it dose not get hung up on the Hilton's roof eves when you drop off the other side. The ice brakes were made from rail/road spikes usually hand or foot controlled --retracting into a pipe for protection on the transom. As for the water brakes we have tried a single trim tab in the center of the transom --setting it so that it will go lower than normal into the water. they worked but sooner than later they got tore off going over logs so now we just run slower so we can pull a ---S--- turn on our narrow rivers if we have to stop fast.. The --S -- Turn also helps to stop the back wash over the transom and into the prop and sinking of the boat form happening. Besides with an airboat you only have one thing going for you when push comes to shove and that is MORE POWER-- so it pays to run slower.
 
If you look on my posted pictures, theres one of the break my old red supercharged boat had. It worked by a peddle, left foot.....going under 20mph, didnt do much, but over 50,,,,it would slow ya down, the rooster tail was pretty cool too.
 
On thing everyone should keep in mind is the stresses (and forces)involved in using a brake on ice.... If the brake is strong enough to put substantial pressure downward to the ice, then the transom has to absorb
ALL the forces involved. X and Y directions. With fiberglass, it's a disaster just waiting to happen. (Just ask the Coast Guard what happened to their old fiberglass airboat that had an "ice brake")
If you're putting it on a aluminum hull, then the transom not only has to be strong enough to hold a percentage of weight of the airboat, it also has to resist being ripped away if the ice brake encounters an ice ridge or hole while being deployed. Ouch!!
I've experiemented for three years to find a safe, effective ice brake that wouldn't cause damage to the airboat, and have yet to came up with anything that I was comfortable with. (Spring loaded, hydraulic, manual, break away, etc...)
Now, with all that said, I admit that there are numerous companies and individuals who have ice brakes and are using them. This post is just to get everyone to understand the possible consequences of using one.
Just my $.05 worth. (inflation)
Hey Cold and Ron, it's a balmy 39 degrees here. I think I saw two woodchucks yesterday, screwy weather or what??
Brian.
 
Hey Brian! Maybe a guy could haul around a load of the black, sticky mud we got down here, and when he needs to stop, just dump a pile of it in front of the boat :lol: !

Those ole woodchucks are good eatin if you know how to fix em.
Be safe ......

Ken
 
Yeah the weather is unreal, Same kind of temps here. Supposed to get up to 45F today with a low of 27F tonight. Pretty easy to take. I keep my garage thermostat set to 33F, when I went in to warm it up this morning to clear up some work space it was colder in the garage than outside! Guess I should go get something done!
 
Big feather,
You say Woodchucks are good to eat? And you guys call us northerners crazy!! I'm really afraid to ask but I gotta!! How in the heck could you get a woodchuck to taste good? The only way I know of is to roast the "chuck" on a pine board for 3 hours at 350 degrees, remove from oven, throw away the woodchuck and eat the board.... :D :D

Cold,
Are we ever going to have "nice winter weather again? For you southern folk, nice winter weather is cold, snow and ice, gotta have ice!! It just doesn't get any better than that... :D

Abby-normal and proud of it... :wink:
 
Brain thanks for the up date on pressures. I thought of that after I posted..But the pain Meds for the hernia surgery I had did not let me remember to do another post.
Another beautiful day today but hang on to your hats tomorrow. and then back to spring at the end of the week.
 
Bigkavr ..... I'm gonna post this out here so everybody will know I was serious, rather than send you a PM. Heat up the fire!

Groundhogs, aka Woodchucks, aka Whistlepigs, are a vegetarian critter just like a rabbit, and just as clean. The good news is that an ol' Chuck adult can weigh 25-30 lbs., so just one makes a pretty good feed for a small group.

IMO, the reason they're called 'whistlepigs' is because the best way to cook one is to skin it, clean it, and then put it on a spit over a fire pit just like you were doin a small hog. They're a fatty little animal at first, but when they start takin on the look of a small hog, after 45 min. or so, (and this is where the Southern in me kicks in) you break out that BBQ sauce and start basteing it as it turns. You'll know when it's done .... it'll just look right.

Then you bring out the long necks and potato salad, a loaf of fresh baked sourdough, and get ready for some of the tastiest, most tender white meat BBQ you've ever tried.

I've got a little Ruger Varmint .223 that has put more than one on the table. Good stuff. If I ever get up with you in OH one day, I'll be happy to show ya' how it's done.

Ken

PS .... Make damn sure he's dead before you pick him up though, cause they've got teeth like a Beaver, and jaws just as strong. Saw one 'wear out' a good dog once ....
 
Ya know.............

When I came in early from work last night I scanned the threads, kinda like speed reading but just the odd word here n there.

Now I'm new to the forum and likely havent met many of ya or maybe even any of ya, so I'm filled with wonder about all the folks here.

So I just caught wood........good eatin........fix em, and I went to bed thinking ya'll was talkin bout eatin woodpeckers ! I seriously worried bout you folks all night. Even got up early this AM to read it and see what in the world ya'll been smokin.

Obviously a detailed read of the thread was indeed a relief. Big Feather, I was worried for a bit there. I never et a whistlepig yet but your recipee sounds just right for bout 90% of anything that walks or flies and some that swim. Add a shot of Beam or JD to the BBQ sauce just to sweeten it ya know.

Now I can rest easier knowing Feather ain't out there shootin woodpeckers with his .223 !

Ain't life great ! Hahahahahahah

Scotty :D
 
Whitebear, I just figured that once you got rid of those big peckerwood feet and that bill, there probably wouldn't be much meat left ....... :lol: !

BF
 
Big Feather,

I'll never doubt you again.... Anyone who can make roasting-a- woodchuck sound good is either a fantastic "yarn spinner", or a fantastic cook!!! I'll go with the latter. So, with that said, I'm going to take you up on your offer of cooking one up for me.. :D :D Thanks..
B.
 
You gotta deal, Brian.

I'll cook the meal in exchange for a little instuctor time on one of your flood swollen rivers.

K.
 
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