He Built His Own Submarine

2011 - Volume #35, Issue #6, Page #44

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue | Print this story | Read this issue]

“Most people can see what’s on top of the water, but not too many people can see what’s laying on the bottom,” says Dan Brewer, whose “made it myself” two-man submarine lets him do just that.
  He first got the idea of building a submarine in high school, when he tried scuba diving. Though he had a desire for underwater exploring, he couldn’t equalize his ears, which allows air to enter the ear cavity to counter the pressure from diving.
  By the late 1970’s, he decided a submarine was the answer, and he researched and started building one. When an expert told him his design wouldn’t work, he abandoned it. He started again in the early 1980’s. Fifteen years later, he took it underwater for the first time.
  “It works,” says the Holland, Mich., sub builder, adding, “this was seat-of-the-pants engineering.”
  Since he didn’t have money to buy genuine submarine parts, he built it as time and money allowed. The 9-ft. long, 46-in. diameter hull is made from an old anhydrous ammonia tank. The tower is made of a piece of heavy wall pipe, and the windows are made of 2-in. thick cast acrylic.
  The hatch was the most challenging, Brewer says, as it needs a tight seal, and he couldn’t afford to buy a real one. He cut the round end out of his first sub, put a heavy ring on the outside and cut an O-ring groove for the seal. He added mechanical hardware on the inside and outside to tighten and open it for safety reasons.
  The submarine has 4 electric motors –Minn Kota trolling motors on each side to go up or down; a geared down, 1/2-hp 24-volt motor in the back and a crossways motor in the front that moves the submarine sideways.
  He added a small Kubota diesel motor to power rubber tracks attached to the submarine that allow him to drive right off his custom trailer into the water. The motor is only used until the sub is in deep water, and is turned off before the vents and hatches are closed.
  For short dives of 15 to 30 minutes, there is enough oxygen in the hull. For longer dives, Brewer has a chemical scrubber to remove carbon dioxide and an oxygen tank that he bleeds slowly. Another safety feature is a 400-lb. drop weight that Brewer can release in an emergency so he floats quickly to the surface.
  The 7,000-lb. vessel can go as deep as 200 ft.
  “But I built it just to go 25 to 50 ft. down to float along the weed edge and look at fish,” Brewer says. While he enjoys taking rides, he admits he is always on the lookout for interesting or valuable items.
  “I know I’m not going to want to just sit there and look at it. I want to bring it up. So I have an arm and a basket (outside on the front) if it’s small enough to carry,” he says.
  With his top speed less than a knot, he travels slowly and enjoys watching large fish and swarms of little fish. He hopes to take it to an ocean someday.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dan Brewer, 4918 136th St., Holland, Mich. 49424 (ph 616 218-4024; dbrewer4918@yahoo.com).

Click here to download page story appeared in.

Click here to read entire issue

He Built His Own Submarine FARM HOME Miscellaneous “Most people can see what’s on top of the water but not too many people can see what’s laying on the bottom ” says Dan Brewer whose “made it myself” two-man submarine lets him do just that He first got the idea of building a submarine in high school when he tried scuba diving Though he had a desire for underwater exploring he couldn’t equalize his ears which allows air to enter the ear cavity to counter the pressure from diving By the late 1970’s he decided a submarine was the answer and he researched and started building one When an expert told him his design wouldn’t work he abandoned it He started again in the early 1980’s Fifteen years later he took it underwater for the first time “It works ” says the Holland Mich sub builder adding “this was seat-of-the-pants engineering ” Since he didn’t have money to buy genuine submarine parts he built it as time and money allowed The 9-ft long 46-in diameter hull is made from an old anhydrous ammonia tank The tower is made of a piece of heavy wall pipe and the windows are made of 2-in thick cast acrylic The hatch was the most challenging Brewer says as it needs a tight seal and he couldn’t afford to buy a real one He cut the round end out of his first sub put a heavy ring on the outside and cut an O-ring groove for the seal He added mechanical hardware on the inside and outside to tighten and open it for safety reasons The submarine has 4 electric motors –Minn Kota trolling motors on each side to go up or down; a geared down 1/2-hp 24-volt motor in the back and a crossways motor in the front that moves the submarine sideways He added a small Kubota diesel motor to power rubber tracks attached to the submarine that allow him to drive right off his custom trailer into the water The motor is only used until the sub is in deep water and is turned off before the vents and hatches are closed For short dives of 15 to 30 minutes there is enough oxygen in the hull For longer dives Brewer has a chemical scrubber to remove carbon dioxide and an oxygen tank that he bleeds slowly Another safety feature is a 400-lb drop weight that Brewer can release in an emergency so he floats quickly to the surface The 7 000-lb vessel can go as deep as 200 ft “But I built it just to go 25 to 50 ft down to float along the weed edge and look at fish ” Brewer says While he enjoys taking rides he admits he is always on the lookout for interesting or valuable items “I know I’m not going to want to just sit there and look at it I want to bring it up So I have an arm and a basket outside on the front if it’s small enough to carry ” he says With his top speed less than a knot he travels slowly and enjoys watching large fish and swarms of little fish He hopes to take it to an ocean someday Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dan Brewer 4918 136th St Holland Mich 49424 ph 616 218-4024; dbrewer4918@yahoo com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW NOW