Toboggan Curls

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Why do we still use such extreme curls on the front of freight toboggans? They must have had a purpose when they were made of wood but it seems to me that all they do now is waste space on the toboggan. Thoughts?

[kiggy]

aerodynamics?

[kiggy]

but a side of jokes, looks like it is best design to hold soft plastic in curved shape.

[Bothwell Voyageur]

It takes a fair amount of effort to get it to that curve and the running lines are required to hold it in that shape. Look at all that wasted space under the curve. If the front was curled up to some ground approximating to 60 degrees from the horizontal instead it would still float up and over the snow and free up a load more real estate.

[kiggy]

how it will hold the curve?

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Same way these do, with tensioned cords.

[kiggy]

Nice, so may be I was right joking about aerodynamics.
how it is performing in deep snow. do they always float? does it make sense to flatten curve even more? check the geometry of intuit sled.
i did some research looks like this is optimal angle to get sled on top of snow.

here is perfect example. looks like exact curve I have on my "fur" ski from Siberia
http://www.tipatshimuna.ca/1110_f.php?catalogue_no=pm30

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Seems to float fine as fas I can tell. I’m always walking in front so the toboggan is running in a channel in deep snow anyway. Maybe the tight curl reinforces the front, makes it stronger? I can see that would be an issue in wooden toboggans but I presume your ski is fine. It takes a lot of work with a hot air gun to bend the plastic to a tight curl so opting for a shallow curve would make production easier.