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Step 5Testing and Modification
Then it was off to the local sledging hill to try it out. The best way was sitting on it and leaning back with feet on the steering pegs, keeping the body-weight towards the back. The original design was pretty good, but the steering didn't have much effect and the front felt too stiff to ride the bumps well.
The modification was to cut some of the base from the front, leaving more unsupported tube. This had the effect of making the front more flexible both sideways and up/down, making for better steering (although still not perfect) and a faster ride over bumps. It worked best on hard-packed or frozen snow, but got bogged down in soft snow because of the small ground-clearance.
By the time I got to test this, the snow was on the way out so it wasn't really able to perform to its full potential, but I'm pretty confident that this sledge will perform at least as well as the moulded plastic ones, with better stability and some degree of steering.
All I need now is some more snow so I can have another couple of productive days "working from home".
The modification was to cut some of the base from the front, leaving more unsupported tube. This had the effect of making the front more flexible both sideways and up/down, making for better steering (although still not perfect) and a faster ride over bumps. It worked best on hard-packed or frozen snow, but got bogged down in soft snow because of the small ground-clearance.
By the time I got to test this, the snow was on the way out so it wasn't really able to perform to its full potential, but I'm pretty confident that this sledge will perform at least as well as the moulded plastic ones, with better stability and some degree of steering.
All I need now is some more snow so I can have another couple of productive days "working from home".
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