# Human powered wood walking wheel



## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Anyone have any info about large, 10 foot or more walking wheels to power things.
Been wondering if a person could power a few things like a alternator, washing machine ect...
The bigger the wheel the more power you could get , i`m talking about the wheels a person walked inside to turn it.
Thanks


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

"The bigger the wheel the more power you could get"

No. A larger wheel will give more torque, but the amount of energy has to remain constant, due to the law of conservation of energy. Think of the wheel as a type of lever. When you press on the longer side of a lever, the shorter side on the other side of the fulcrum will be able to lift more weight, but the distance it travels will be less.

A standard bicycle setup is about as efficient a method of harvesting large muscle power as any.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Thanks but not sure i agree, water wheels can power quite a lot with not much water going over the wheel. I understand that a generator would have to be a slow rpm unit though say a three foot pulley on the shaft of a ten foot wheel should spin something pretty good.
I`m not saying your wrong, just seems like it would work and i`ve seen pictures of human powered wheels in poor countries but can`t find pics right now.
It would be an impressive looking apparatus and good exercise regardless.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Roy Underhill uses one of these in his opening or closing of his "Woodwright Shop" TV show on PBS.
Every time I see that I think "Man that sure looks like uncomfortable work" . . . . .
. . . .slave labor . . .???
. . . .gets old in a hurry . . .
. . . .who is going to run this thing...............for any length of time . . . . .???


Yes it could be made to spin something.....


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Pitchy said:


> Thanks but not sure i agree, water wheels can power quite a lot with not much water going over the wheel. I understand that a generator would have to be a slow rpm unit though say a three foot pulley on the shaft of a ten foot wheel should spin something pretty good.
> I`m not saying your wrong, just seems like it would work and i`ve seen pictures of human powered wheels in poor countries but can`t find pics right now.
> It would be an impressive looking apparatus and good exercise regardless.


The wonderful thing about physics is that it doesn't much care what we think. 

I think I remember someone figuring out a way to get a little power out of a hamster wheel. There should be a video on the web somewhere. If I were to attempt something like this, I'd rather have hamsters doing the work than me.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Here`s a modern one.








http://www.engineeredartworks.com/artwork/human-hamster-wheel/


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

Pitchy said:


> Thanks but not sure i agree, water wheels can power quite a lot with not much water going over the wheel. I understand that a generator would have to be a slow rpm unit though say a three foot pulley on the shaft of a ten foot wheel should spin something pretty good.
> I`m not saying your wrong, just seems like it would work and i`ve seen pictures of human powered wheels in poor countries but can`t find pics right now.
> It would be an impressive looking apparatus and good exercise regardless.


The power comes from whatever, or in this case whoever, is turning the wheel. A larger wheel makes it easier to turn, requiring less effort per revolution, but it takes more revolutions for the same amount of work. In the world of physics Work = Power.

If you wanted to build something along these lines, I'd go with a treadmill rather than a wheel. You could achieve the same result as a large wheel by changing pulley sizes to connect the treadmill to whatever device you are powering.


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## haley1 (Aug 15, 2012)

deaconjim said:


> The power comes from whatever, or in this case whoever, is turning the wheel. A larger wheel makes it easier to turn, requiring less effort per revolution, but it takes more revolutions for the same amount of work. In the world of physics Work = Power.
> 
> If you wanted to build something along these lines, I'd go with a treadmill rather than a wheel. You could achieve the same result as a large wheel by changing pulley sizes to connect the treadmill to whatever device you are powering.


Correct


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Pitchy said:


> Here`s a modern one.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Did ya all miss this one ?
Ya gotta think positive, what is the difference between walking on a treadmill for exercise or walking in a big wheel to charge a battery and get exercise. 
Would be an interesting project, kinda what i do.


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

Pitchy said:


> Did ya all miss this one ?
> Ya gotta think positive, what is the difference between walking on a treadmill for exercise or walking in a big wheel to charge a battery and get exercise.
> Would be an interesting project, kinda what i do.


If a wheel is what you want, then by all means build a wheel. It will certainly work and will give you fun project to work on.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Ain`t like i don`t have enough lumber, got my own mill.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Or run my hot air engine i built from scratch.

click on picture for video.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Or a water ram.

Video.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Another hair brain idea i had about 25 years ago, built this windmill.
Had a feed grinder in it, the whole top turned so ya could point it in the wind.


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## solidwoods (Dec 23, 2005)

That reminds me, I need to oil my Cuckoo clock.
I have a nice one from the Black forest. A nice classic version with just a little whimsy.
jim


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

solidwoods said:


> That reminds me, I need to oil my Cuckoo clock.
> I have a nice one from the Black forest. A nice classic version with just a little whimsy.
> jim


Cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo well lets see it.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Almost forgot my human powered lawn mower lol


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

Pitchy said:


> Almost forgot my human powered lawn mower lol


I think that one's my favorite.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Thanks guys, just showing off some of my junk.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Love the pictures! Remember the reason a larger water wheel produces more HP is because it holds more water (over shot) or stays in the water longer (undershot) A human powered version can be bigger but you'll only get more energy by adding more humans.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Ross said:


> Love the pictures! Remember the reason a larger water wheel produces more HP is because it holds more water (over shot) or stays in the water longer (undershot) A human powered version can be bigger but you'll only get more energy by adding more humans.


Makes sense, but you have yet to see the extra weight i have hanging over my belt. lol.
Won`t be building anything like that till spring anyway, just wanted some opinions.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

If you have an old horse laying around, one of these could be fun to build..

[YOUTUBE]eQCKHEmIDYM[/YOUTUBE]


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Awesome, here`s another video with a wood splitter.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFeR8Qlkrfg&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

We don`t have any horses right now but if i did that would be on my list of things to build.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

This is the only horse we have at the time but he`s kinda lazy. lol


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

That's a really cool rocking horse... Never seen one adult size.. 

I'd like to know more about that hot air engine.... Is that run off burning wood?


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

simi-steading said:


> That's a really cool rocking horse... Never seen one adult size..
> 
> I'd like to know more about that hot air engine.... Is that run off burning wood?


Thanks, i built six full size hot air engines back in 1996 but have sold all but the one. It`s a replica of a 6 in Ryder Ericsson hot air water pumping engine from 1860.
John Ericsson was the inventer of this engine, here`s a link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rider-Ericsson_Engine_Company


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

That's interesting.. so how similar is this type of engine to a Stirling engine?


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

simi-steading said:


> That's interesting.. so how similar is this type of engine to a Stirling engine?


That be it, Robert Stirling.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Ah.. ok... Well that's by far the biggest one I've ever seen... Does it have much for power? Can you actually power anything useful with it?


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## solidwoods (Dec 23, 2005)

Pitchy said:


> Awesome, here`s another video with a wood splitter.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFeR8Qlkrfg&feature=player_embedded
> 
> We don`t have any horses right now but if i did that would be on my list of things to build.


 
Looks to me like if the horse stumbles the treads will continue a little and the horse could get caught between the treads and the bar at the back.
I hope the bar is easy breakaway same if the horse is tied.

Also I'd say that method looses allot of energy compared to a horse turnstile (if that's what they are called) and that method is far more maintenance intensive .
jim


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

Pitchy said:


> Almost forgot my human powered lawn mower lol


Looks good but I have pushed one of those lawn mowers.
You will need to have a pretty bare lawn, mow continueously, have legs the size of barrels, or be a glutton for punishment.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

simi-steading said:


> Ah.. ok... Well that's by far the biggest one I've ever seen... Does it have much for power? Can you actually power anything useful with it?


It`s a replica of a original engine, they were made from 5 to 10 inch. which is the diamiter of the piston.
The six inch engine was advertised to pump 300 gal. of water an hour to a height of 50 feet.
They were used for pumping water mostly but ya can go high tech and get some usable HP out of them.
I`ve read about car engines that can make 80 HP or so.
Too much too get into, do a google about the Stirling engine and you`ll find lots of info.

The horse tread machine looks kinda risky to me too, i agree the type where the horse walks in a circle would be safer.

Your right about the lawn mower they do turn hard that`s why i used a ten speed to get lower gearing but it`s still just a novelty.


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