- Joined
- Oct 12, 2014
- Messages
- 1,699
- Reaction score
- 933
Just brainstorming an idea...
I've made a few camping trips with my Hatz, mostly airport camping but once for a short backpacking trip. I'd like to do more, but baggage space is so limited. I can strap a backpack to the front seat and put more stuff in the front baggage space, but the volume is still pretty limited, even with the seat cushions removed... the backpack can't be too bulky or it interferes with the stick movement.
One obvious solution is to make the front stick removable, and I'm interested in any feedback on that. Seems a simple matter to cut it off 3-4" above the pivot, put a sleeve inside, and a bolt with a wingnut or quick release pin to hold it in place... but there's still potential for things to interfere with the stub.
The thought I had was to build a removable cargo cradle or bin... it would attach to the seat, and have a panel, probably 1/4" plywood with suitable reinforcement, running from the front edge of the seat (as far forward as possible without interfering with the control stick stub) and angling forward to just below the front panel, possibly with sides so nothing can fall out and land on the rear seat rudder pedals, which are alongside the front seat. If the front panel was hinged and the sides fabric it could collapse for easy installation and removal. Another fabric panel or net over the top to hold stuff down would also be advisable. The nice thing about this is that I can just toss stuff in, without having to worry about carefully lashing it down with the seat belt/harness.
Has anybody ever seen or tried something like this?
I've made a few camping trips with my Hatz, mostly airport camping but once for a short backpacking trip. I'd like to do more, but baggage space is so limited. I can strap a backpack to the front seat and put more stuff in the front baggage space, but the volume is still pretty limited, even with the seat cushions removed... the backpack can't be too bulky or it interferes with the stick movement.
One obvious solution is to make the front stick removable, and I'm interested in any feedback on that. Seems a simple matter to cut it off 3-4" above the pivot, put a sleeve inside, and a bolt with a wingnut or quick release pin to hold it in place... but there's still potential for things to interfere with the stub.
The thought I had was to build a removable cargo cradle or bin... it would attach to the seat, and have a panel, probably 1/4" plywood with suitable reinforcement, running from the front edge of the seat (as far forward as possible without interfering with the control stick stub) and angling forward to just below the front panel, possibly with sides so nothing can fall out and land on the rear seat rudder pedals, which are alongside the front seat. If the front panel was hinged and the sides fabric it could collapse for easy installation and removal. Another fabric panel or net over the top to hold stuff down would also be advisable. The nice thing about this is that I can just toss stuff in, without having to worry about carefully lashing it down with the seat belt/harness.
Has anybody ever seen or tried something like this?
