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20060129 Sunday January 29, 2006


Improbable engineering

One of my favorite hacks is the rather improbably piece of engineering known in Thailand as a longtail boat. They function as taxis and tour boats in the many waterways of Bangkok. They zoom by at incredible speeds:

When you look at them when they get closer, you see a truck engine mounted on the stern with a long piece of pipe stretching out toward the bow that the boatman holds on to. There's another piece of pipe welded onto the transmission pointing out toward the stern:
When the boatman pushes on his piece of pipe, it rotates the engine left, right, up or down. When he pushes down, it rotates the tail upward and you get to see the business end of the beast: a naked propeller just hanging out there.

Safety is not a real concern here. Balance is pretty dubious too. These boats are pretty narrow, 4ish feet at best. They're really just evolved canoes. It must take an amazing amount of skill to stay balanced, navigate, and not kill anyone. At speed...

The engines are just regular truck engines, mounted on a U shaped yoke, bolted to the stern. Some of the engines are very large - they wouldn't look out of place in a large Fruehauf tractor. Not a lot of standardized rigs - lots of welding fun. A truly glorious hack.

Permalink Comments [28]

Comments:

Ok, that's good hack reporting, too. -t

Posted by Tom Lord on January 29, 2006 at 10:43 PM PST #

The water axis are an elegant alternative to Bangkok's street traffic. Most of the engines I encountered there were Isuzu 2.8 diesels; common light truck engines in markets demanding reliability and strength. Great pics!

Posted by Japanrider on January 30, 2006 at 01:01 AM PST #

These types of canoes appeared in Rodger Moor Bond flick. I think it might be Live and Let die.

Posted by Brian Parry on January 30, 2006 at 01:57 AM PST #

Yeah - I enjoyed riding in one of these whenever I visit the place ;)

Posted by Alex Lam on January 30, 2006 at 05:00 AM PST #

Bond flick was Man With the Golden Gun.

Posted by Al on January 30, 2006 at 05:39 AM PST #

These boats are also widely used throughout the Mekong river system in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Posted by Gerry on January 30, 2006 at 06:38 AM PST #

Having travelled around Thailand I can confirm that safety is never much of a concern! FYI: These longtails have a great turning radius, almost able to rotate on their center. Perhaps because the engine sits on the end but the prop shaft extends so far off the rear.

Posted by Fluffy_Pancake on January 30, 2006 at 08:16 AM PST #

Hey, is this the longtail theory that everyone keeps talking about? Wow! Cool! I get it now!

Posted by Tim Case on January 30, 2006 at 08:35 AM PST #

It appears to me that there is one stick attached to the clutch fork and yet another protruding to the attached manual trans. Very slick. I fail to see the need for multiple gears in this application. These things must haul some arse. Heh.

Posted by Dan on January 30, 2006 at 08:56 AM PST #

And bangkok. How about the scooters in thailand? How they do not have 100-scooter pileups at every intersection is beyond me.

Posted by Marco on January 30, 2006 at 08:59 AM PST #

I don't think it was a rodger Moor film. I think it was Roger Moore. Learn to use Google. Or maybe just learn to spell. Moron

Posted by Frank on January 30, 2006 at 09:22 AM PST #

You're a jerk, Frank. A complete knee biter.

Posted by Immortal Alien on January 30, 2006 at 12:48 PM PST #

Anyone know how these engines are cooled? Is there a radiator stuck there somewhere? They're not aircooled normally. Just wondering.

Posted by Jason on January 30, 2006 at 02:56 PM PST #

The water taxis are cool - but what I fell in love with in Thailand was the 'edan'. This is a locally built, home brewed truck/tractor that is hand built in the local village. It seems that in Thailand there is about a 100% tax charged on imported vehicles, thus the income challenged farmers will get ahold of an engine and transmission and build their own scratch vehicle for their own particular need. I have just posted a small webpage with some photos at http://www.txis.com/~btabor/ebay/Thai.htm if you'd like to take a look. Cheers, Bruce

Posted by Bruce from Austin on January 30, 2006 at 03:21 PM PST #

Interesting, I've seen these on TV before. Maybe they just pump river water through the engine like a marine engine? Chris http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/

Posted by Chris Meisenzahl on January 31, 2006 at 09:20 AM PST #

Check out this truck I saw in Laos (A neighbor of Thailand to the East) back in 2003. http://www.kirkanddonna.com/rtw/pics/0402KUnusualTruck.jpg

Posted by Kirk Crawford on January 31, 2006 at 09:22 AM PST #

Longtails are cool, but for my money the best thing in Bangkok has to be the gas guzzling, ear drum ringing, environment destroying Tuk Tuk. Is there anything on three wheels that's cooler? Able to weave in and out of traffic at harrowing proximities with a speed and gusto that should make evey farangs butt pucker, and if that isn't enough... You can make them do wheelies!!!

Posted by Tim Case on January 31, 2006 at 09:29 AM PST #

There's a great chase scene featuring these boats in the Thai action flick Tom Yum Goong starring Tony Jaa. Also, in Jaa's first movie Ong Bak, there is a high speed chase with three wheeled taxis. Both of these movies are definately worth checking out- some of the craziest martial arts(it's Muy Thai style) stuff I've seen in a while.

Posted by Scot on January 31, 2006 at 09:39 AM PST #

Harley Davidson!!! Seriously, these guys refuse to use mufflers on these beasts. In Railay beach the resort offered to buy every boatman from Ao Nang to Krabi a muffler and even tried to convince them that they would have more torque and be faster with mufflers. The boatmen refused because they love the pipeless rukus.

Posted by Brian on January 31, 2006 at 10:03 AM PST #

About the cooling. The longtails down in S Thailand use a single-cylinder diesel engine that has no water pump for cooling: They place a funnel near the wash from the prop and pipe the water back through the engine. The engine also have no electrical system so they are started by hand-cranking. They are very simple, reliable but slow compared to the hacked truck engine. And, yes, the noise in Railay is maddening.

Posted by Andy on January 31, 2006 at 12:48 PM PST #

Yes, the long-tail boats in Bangkok are exciting! I lived there during 1972-1975 and often rode the slim-line taxis. Besides the thrill of speeding along the Chao Phya and in the klongs (canals), the most awsome thing was boarding and debarking. The boatman nudged the boat sideways to the water-level floating landing and held it there with the propwash while the passengers stepped into the boad or onto the landing. No tie-up, no handrailings, no gangplank. Soon it was as easy as stepping on and off a moving street car.

Posted by Jery Kilker on January 31, 2006 at 01:20 PM PST #

Truly a most excellent hack. Thanks for posting this stuff online, I got a kick out of it :)

Posted by Richard Anderson on January 31, 2006 at 01:25 PM PST #

Very nice. Cheap and Fast. I guess all the saftey and balance kinks were ironed out by now, since they are being used from the old bond days. I'd surely buy a nicely packaged version of one of these if I were to live on water.

Posted by Vishi on January 31, 2006 at 01:37 PM PST #

Reminds me a lot of Java :) (Just teasing btw... I'm a big java fan.). Kevin

Posted by Kevin A. Burton on January 31, 2006 at 01:48 PM PST #

Yep, the high-speed trishaw chases in Ong Bak were fantastic, as was the Muy Thai martial arts! Definitely worth seeing. Trishaws, also known as three wheelers, tuk tuks, and Bajaj's (after the maker of the things) are common all over south Asia, and they're great in terrible traffic, able to dart with unbelievable ease in the most restricted places. Tony Jaa's second movie, Tom Yum Goong, wasn't as good IMHO - all action, no plot. It was tiring, although the martials arts were incredible.

Posted by Laurie on January 31, 2006 at 08:03 PM PST #

Wow, I had no idea there's some Java community in Thailand. I live in the north so Chiang Mai would be easier but if anybody knows any Java events around here, or websites that inform about them, let me know. I am doing lots of Java development here, just didn't occur to me anybody else might do that too ;) The most common hack in Thailand seems to be driving on scooters though - it's very common to see a whole family of 5 on a scooter. I even saw some guy transport a 32" TV - one in front driving, the other one on the back kinda holding the (giant) TV on his knees. Uses for technology I had not previously thought possible. cheers, nik

Posted by nikster on January 31, 2006 at 08:03 PM PST #

Wow, I had no idea there's some Java community in Thailand. I live in the north so Chiang Mai would be easier but if anybody knows any Java events around here, or websites that inform about them, let me know. I am doing lots of Java development here, just didn't occur to me anybody else might do that too ;) The most common hack in Thailand seems to be driving on scooters though - it's very common to see a whole family of 5 on a scooter. I even saw some guy transport a 32" TV - one in front driving, the other one on the back kinda holding the (giant) TV on his knees. Uses for technology I had not previously thought possible. cheers, nik

Posted by nikster on January 31, 2006 at 08:06 PM PST #

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