“I'm a great fan of your site, and have already purchased about 9 sets of plans, just to drool over.
I am currently building my first recumbent trike, a Delta Wolf with underslung handlebars. In the meantime, I am riding a commercially made "granny trike" picked up used here in Edmonton, Alberta. It's only got a Sturmey Archer 3-speed. I plan to add two or three sprockets plus a derailleur to the pedal crank to give a bit more gear options for speed as well as hill climbing.
I used to be a working electrical engineer; I am now sidelined at 53 by chronic migraines, and retired on a teensy weensy disability pension (that's Canada for you). I am no longer allowed to ride two-wheelers - I had two bad crashes because of balance issues related to my illness, and enough was enough.
I saw your Thanksgiving special, and ordered six more sets of plans, including the electric pusher trailer. I will be building one of these, but with two rear wheels instead of one.
I happen to have two 4-bolt utility trailer wheels going spare, and a 0-100 volt DC motor and controller, which came out of some kind of treadmill. Power is about 1 kW. With 48 volts of batteries, which I also have hanging around, it will probably go about 50 km/h and have plenty of power.
Princess Auto sell the drive plates to make trailer wheels into driven wheels, as well as weld-on hubs that mate to the drive plates for various shaft sizes, and also to sprockets or pulleys as well). Using two wheels on the trailer, still fairly narrow, will also allow using a ball hitch, and I'm adding a 1" hitch pocket to both my granny trike and the DeltaWolf under construction. Need a bigger suspension spring, though.
With the DeltaWolf still on the welding table, I am bitten badly by the "next" bug. Since I am older, disabled, and lazy, I may build either one of these, or a LodeRunner, and add a 49cc gasoline assist motor I seem to have acquired along the way for hills. Edmonton's river valley hills are no joke.
After that, I will be building a tandem delta for my cousin and his wife, who live on the shores of Shuswap lake, and whose primary transport on the water is a paddle boat. What could be more appropriate?
Anyhow, thanks for all of your wonderful ideas and great designs. I am inspired to innovate again, after the crushing experience of having to give up my research into alternate energy fuels and ignition for cold climates.
Best regards, Jim Dawe, Edmonton, Alberta
Thanks for your email, Jim. Stay warm! Keep us posted on your projects.
