Builds

What a build involves

An endless shuttle is one rope loop strung between two low A-frames, one on each shore or at each end of a slope. A motor on the drive end turns a capstan drum, the loop moves, and a carrier on the loop pulls the rider. Reverse the motor and the rider comes back. A build has four parts, and the parts page explains each piece in plain words.

1. The drive end

Everything powered lives here: the battery, the motor controller, the motor and the drum, in a housing with a fairlead that feeds both strands onto the drum. Expect a weekend with a drill, calipers and a plywood cut list from the guide.

2. The loop

One endless loop of strong, low-stretch line, about twice your span plus the drum wraps and the splice. Measure the span on site before you order rope.

3. The return end

No power here, just an idler pulley on a sliding carriage, two extension springs to keep the loop tight, ratchet straps as a backup and hard stops.

4. Controls and safety

A mushroom E-stop wired to a contactor that cuts the battery, a soft ramp on every start, stop and reversal, guards on every chain or belt, and a spotter on the E-stop for every ride.

Test it in steps

Each step has to pass before the next one: a bench grip test against a fixed anchor, then the loop running empty in both directions, then slow foil speeds with a spotter, and only then faster runs. Build #1 above is still on the first step.

How to share your build

Any endless tow built from the guide counts, finished or not. A bench rig that's still on step one is useful to the next person. A good write-up covers:

• What you're towing: foil, skim, snow, sled, skate or something else.
• Your span and roughly how far you've got on the test steps.
• Which parts you used, and anything you swapped in.
• What worked, what broke and what you'd change.

Use a first name or a handle, and leave out emails and phone numbers. Link a photo of the build itself, not people, and strip location data from phone photos first. I read every submission before it goes up, and builds that skip the safety basics won't be posted.