Nose Wheel

A major modification that I needed to add to the duck punt design was a drop-down nose-wheel to help with the number of times that I will have to get it out of the water to get around obstructions.

With August being taken up with a two week holiday in Madeira, and lots of social events, I've only just got back to the build...

Lots of thinking and refining has gone into this over the summer, but I've finally built and fitted the nose wheel. That, in turn, means that I can start work on decking the bow of the duck punt (post to follow).

The first part, which I did in late July, was to cut a large slot in the front of the bow to take a hardwood beam to support the nose wheel.

A Japanese pull saw was used
to cut a slot in the bow to take
the hardwood beam that would support
the drop-down nose-wheel.
(Bottom edge was cut with a sharp chisel).

The beam was then rebated to fit over the front bulkhead and the front of it was shaped to form a raised and extended pivot point for the nose wheel (the design of which was still 'up in the air') .

Wheel-supporting beam in place, though still far from sure
of the design of the drop-down nose wheel...

While I had the punt out in the open, I took the opportunity to clean it up a bit with the orbital sander, and to plane off (one of ) the top edges. Made quite a difference...

The design of the drop-down nose wheel was gradually being simplified and refined in my head over the summer break.

I decided to make the structure from solvent-welded 1.5 inch (38mm) PVC pipe, with a 10 inch (250mm) 'Sandhopper' wheel. The wheel has a 1 inch (25mm) hub and axle, so the pipes had to be a bit bigger to allow the axle to fit inside them.

The drop-down wheel hanging
from the supporting beam

Side view of drop-down wheel

Drop-down wheel in position - engaged angle does away with
the need for fixings to keep it in place

The punt sits on a cross-bar above the wheel
(will have foam tube fitted to protect the hull).
Also minimises loads on the the supporting beam.