heavy rover on gilly

[Hotblack Desiato]

I'm playing with extraplanetary launchpads and a few other mods and I designed a rover with 6 of those rovemax-wheels (the large ones).

the rovers empty weight is ~50t, and when it's full with ore and metal (it has an ore processor on board), the weight would be somewhat beyond 200t.

for additional steering, it is equipped with 4 LV-909 engines.

and things went somehow bad:

after constructing the rover, it already broke apart (I use an orbital dock on the landed ship, so anything spaws at 40m height) and left me with 1 of the 2 large ore containers and 2 of 4 large metal containers, aswell as just 4 wheels and 2 engines. the rover started sliding during ore harvesting and left the ore field (at this point, the rovers mass was approx. 150t)

and I wasn't able to stir or move the rover on its wheels.

is there any way to move a large rover on gilly? I like to harvest ores and kethane without burning too much fuel.

the rover moved quite nicely on kerbin (with 50t mass).

[Tex_NL]

No matter the size or weight, wheeled vehicles are pretty much useless on Gilly. Gilly simply doesn't have enough gravity to generate sufficient traction. You get a much better result if you work with a flying harvester.

I have an EPL station in orbit around Gilly supplied by a Kethane- and an Ore lander. I have one flag marking a rich Kethane field and one marking a rich ore deposit. All I have to do is land at the appropriate marker, fill my tanks and rendezvous with my station for processing.

[Hotblack Desiato]

hmmm, I chose that location on gilly because there was a rich ore field and a large kethane deposit within 2 km distance.

but I guess, the next large task is landing something on eve and set up a base there, again at a kethane deposit. I guess, eve has enough gravity to have a well moving rover.

[Random Tank]

but I guess, the next large task is landing something on eve and set up a base there, again at a kethane deposit. I guess, eve has enough gravity to have a well moving rover.

But it's a pain to get anything off the surface of Eve; it won't be worth the resources you gain...

[Skorpychan]

Try using the new Claw to anchor?

[Sirrobert]

Try using the new Claw to anchor?

Claw can only attatch to other parts, not planets (asteroids count as parts)

[EdFred]

Tiny Rockomax radial engines pointed upwards to force your rover into the surface.

[Hotblack Desiato]

But it's a pain to get anything off the surface of Eve; it won't be worth the resources you gain...

I know, but it's easier to get the kerbals back from eves surface, if they can build their rockets on the surface with local resources rather than stuff shipped from gilly or even from kerbin.

Tiny Rockomax radial engines pointed upwards to force your rover into the surface.

the rovers weight is already 200t... and using engines pointed upwards would help, but it also consumes fuel. I guess, the easier way are suborbital hops with a transporter, and the harvester stays at the field.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Hotblack Desiato

[LtKraftKrackers]

didnt KAS have clamps that attached to the ground? maybe you could use those.

[makinyashikino]

Gilly isn't too much of a problem staying on the ground just don't move alot, and if you want the kethane deposit AND ore that's 2KM away, you only need about 30m/s DV, you could fly using RCS! You could use more DV it you didnt want to wait. Eve is WAY more trouble than it's worth. I remember when I made a Minimus Launchpad base, and the Kethane deposit was 10km away from the ore. I used a rover and it was awful. took 1km to slow down. Gilly would be IMPOSSIBLE for rovers, just use a hopper ship. It will be WAY better than using a rover or landing on eve.