Project Outline - Off-Road buggy

I have always wanted to build a go-kart.  being raised surrounded with all sorts of neat machinery and a father who is both a mechanical engineer and a hobby machinist created a desire to make something that could come to life.

While reading Dad's old "Dirt Bike" magazines, I caught a glimpse of an ATV that was unlike the typical bikes and the odd trike that was common in those magazines. The driver sat very low in the vehicle and, since the few pictures I saw were the "Crash and Burns", looked very sturdy.  I memorized the model: The Honda Odyssey.

It turns out the Honda Odyssey was a model of a line of buggies Honda made between 1976 to 1990 (Apparently recycled from an abandoned snowmobile project).

While popular on the sand dunes, the high price kept customers away and eventually killed the line.

The two rather unique things about these machines are the transmission and its controls - the machine uses a CVT (continuously variable transmission) for power delivery, a feature that is not very common for wheeled vehicles at the time, and all the controls are on the steering wheels - no pedals.

The Hondas enjoy a cult following, but I feel it would cost prohibitive for me to actually own one. Parts for it are getting harder to find and more expensive.

So, I propose a project:

PROJECT BUGGY

Outline: To build a go-kart that is as similar to the Honda Odyssey/Pilot as possible

Component areas:

• FRAME: Metal tube construction - Dimensions will copy the Odyssey frame, with some deviation for both length and height in the driver's compartment (I'm 6' 4")

•  SUSPENSION : A-arm suspension using nitrogen-charged snowmobile shocks.

• WHEELS: Quad tires, with wide rear tires and narrow fronts.

• BRAKES: Front will use spindles from a 2WD quad (Preferably with disc brakes), the rear will have a large disc on the gearbox output.

• ENGINE: From my dumpster diving last summer, I have both an Rotax 340 and Rotax 440 engine.  I will need to tear them down to determine if they are salvageable.  May need to find an exhaust pipe.

• TRANSMISSION: It seems the RPM Gearbox is a very bulletproof "FNR" box, capable of handling up to 300 horsepower while providing flanges for constant-velocity shafts.  It's also really expensive, with the average sale price around $2,000usd.  The other best option I heard of is the Spicer H12 FNR gearbox commonly used on UTVs and golf carts. They are around $1,600 brand new (Even less on the used/surplus market), but can only handle around 30 horsepower.

• STEERING: Unassisted tie rod assembly.  the steering wheel might be another expensive purchase if I go for a Honda steering wheel, unless I experiment with casting aluminum and make my own.

• ELECTRICAL: The alternators on the two snowmobile engines I have are likely 6 volt.  if I cannot make another coil work, I may either consider an external alternator or look for another engine.

• LIGHTING: Four floodlights up front, reverse triggered flood and taillight out back.  Have a DRL system to turn two lights on for visibility on the logging roads. 

•  BODY: Fenders fashioned from old quad fenders, roof molded out of fiberglass.

Building phases:

• Design Phase: Acquire dimensions of a Honda frame and other major components, design frame in CADD program

• Acquisition Phase:  Gather up the necessary parts and tools as funds allow. Prepare parts that are already in possession.

• Fabrication Phase: Build the parts that the design calls for. test fit the components

• Assembly and Test Phase: Assemble the machine and test to eliminate bugs.

• Cleanup Phase: Strip the machine back down, paint

 Right now, this is a long-term project, along the lines of "Nice to do, but there are more important things in life".  The design phase would be simple enough to do, I would just need at least some of the frame measurements.

Defining one's self is important - it sets a goal for you to strive for and improve

Ode to Self-Esteem

I am a farm boy
I am religious
I am a jack of all trades
but master of none

I value hard work
I value kindness
I value honesty, truth and teamwork

I like mechanical detail
I like seeing stuff work
I like to be part of the solution,
no matter how small

I want to create stuff
I want to share happiness
I do not want to stop learning,
as this world is a beautiful place

These things define me
 and the personality I have
I will not change for anyone or anything
because THIS IS WHO I AM

-Chris Pritchard (June 2012)

The Passing of an era

On November 1, 2012, the Planer mill in Cranbrook caught fire, destroying the main part of the planer mill.  Ironically, no one would really care, since the planer mill was just about to be scrapped - contractors were busy pulling components out of the badly weathered and neglected building, and the carcass would have been picked clean by the scrappers by the end of November anyway.

Overall, though, it's the end of a major industry in a town that is the major hub of the East Kootanays.



It was not always like this.  You see, a small lumber company started consolidating mills in the 1950's to form Crestbrook Forest Industries.  By the 1960's, they had three mills - one in Creston, one in Canal Flats, and one in Cranbrook.

By 1969, with the help of the Japanese, CFI Built a pulp mill in Skookumchuck. In the late seventies, they bought the Crowsnest Industries Sawmill in Elko.  It was a rather neatly run operation, with the Main office located at the old school building in Cranbrook.

In the late 90's things were not looking so good for Crestbrook.  The Creston mill was shut down and demolished in 1994/5. and the decision to shut down the Cranbrook mill was made in 1998. From an operational standpoint, both mills were well over 40 years old, and cost a lot to run. The Softwood-lumber dispute by then had boiled over, and left the company hurting.

Ventures into an OSB plant cost Crestbrook a lot of money, and weakened them to a point were Tembec bought them out.  The Cranbrook sawmill was converted into a "Value added Centre", where short pieces of wood were finger-jointed together and converted back into stud-grade lumber. The planer mill was left, as were the kilns (The kilns at Elko and Canal flats were undersized, so green lumber was trucked to the Cranbrook kilns for drying and planing.)

Eventually, Tembec ran into money problems. The US housing collapse was hurting them, to the point where the Skookumchuck pulp mill was the only plant making money in the East Kootenays. By this point, the only thing running at the Cranbrook site was the Kilns - both the Value Added Center and planer mill's last major shift was in 2004.

Things gradually improved since that time, until Tembec decided to cut their losses and focus on their mills back in Quebec.  Canfor bought up the Canal Flats and Elko mills in March 2012, as well as their woodlands operations, and reorganized them so they were independent.

As a result, the main office was sold off to the Ktunaxa First Nations. After Canfor's initial agreement to use them expired, the dry kilns in Cranbrook were shut down in May 2012.

Since then, Tembec has been trying to find an owner for both the Skookumchuck Pulp Mill and the VAC.

I wonder if Cranbrook would even notice that a major company is rapidly disappearing from their town. I would love to say they would, as industry is an important economic factor in any community, but the initial economic impact was felt when the Cranbrook Plant was shut down in 1998 and 2004 - most of the workers either transferred to the other mills, found work elsewhere or moved out.

It's sad to see this happen, and happen so fast.  When I was growing up, it was an extremely fun adventure to travel with Dad to the sawmills to look over the upgrades or repairs they were working on that weekend, then go grab a load of firewood and head home.  The fact that it was a local business gave me pride knowing that my dad worked for them.

Now, as I go to Engineering school myself, and prepare for life on my own, I wonder what my future would hold, if I will ever be a homebody, or be a transient forever hunting for that long-term career like what my dad held.

Truly the passing of an era.