So far Frank, I like your little wheels idea. When I have a moment, I will slap some onto the CAD model and see what if anything is gained....clearance to trailer deck wise.
While the tank crawler is a novel idea, beaches in Florida where you could do this would be hard to come by, as no power craft are allowed within the buoy line, and vehicles....with the singular exception of Daytona......citation time!
That leaves private property, and I just let my membership at Trumps Mar A Largo expire! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar-A-Lago ........I knew I should have kept that current! :)
Joe
From: ShellyDalg@aol.com
Reply-To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Launch Retrieval Transport
Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2006 14:15:15 EST
Could this sub-crawler be used in something more than a few feet of depth? I can see where it might be useful around a dock, but the snuba setups ( scub with a surface air line) on the market work pretty well for long duration/shallow depth work.How about a motorized crawler "carriage" that could go into the water, capture the sub, and crawl back out with the sub on-board, and go right up on the trailer.Hydraulic drive, and a tethered control box like what is used for small overhead gantry cranes, a small sturdy frame, and the crawler mechanicals, and maybe use rubber tracks like the ones used on Bobcats.Should be able to build something like that for $3K to $5K. Less if you can scrounge used parts, or get a small crawler and cannibalize it for parts.( downside.....not cheap, another thing to fix, and how many crane launchings can you get for the same $$$.) Just thinking.......Frank D.