All of my life, I have been in the inventors mode, trying to build something better or faster, or stuff that had not been built or was way too expensive for the average Joe. One of these projects ended up as an answer for hunters in the woods looking for a cheaper way to travel and carry game back from the woods. At the time, no large tire Karts were being made, and 4 wheeled ATVs were to much investment for such a simple task, so I fabricated a large tire kart.
I built the frame from 1" mild steel, MIG welded. I added a factory swiveling front end from a riding mower, which gave the kart some suspension without going into lots of fab work. I lengthened the front spindle shafts to take the large 18x8 tires on front. I also built in a custom gear reduction to insure a great pulling power and top speed under 15mph for safety.
I built the seat from 3/4" plywood for a strong seat for two people, and padded and covered it with heavy vinyl. I powered it with a 5hp horizontal shaft engine, which was plenty of power with the gear reduction. The last thing added was a padded roll bar, sure feels better than solid steel when it hits! The whole kart turnkey was price under $1200, 1/3 the price of any ATV at the time. I sold a few of these units to very happy hunters.
Just another answer to a demand, I love doing these projects!
6 mos. Ago I fabricated this test stand to break in and test engines of all kinds. Works great and was lots of fun to build. Works with or without trans and bell housings, on 2-3-4-5-6-8-10-12 cylinder engines.
See video in action here: https://facebook.com/Head-Works-Machine-Tahlequah-Racing-Engines-396344987234033/?ref=bookmarks
I have built several minibikes and go-karts as well, all of them could have been electric just as easy as gas powered. I even built three racing mowers, too much fun going 50mph on a modified riding mower!
Outstanding
Great selection - did you do the design right through to the building of these vehicles?
Yes, from conception to completion, I fabricated every part and designed every aspect of these, except for the minibike frames, they were prefabricated.
Here are a few videos of my work:
[ame]http://youtu.be/vD1QD_KD9CM[/ame]
[ame]http://youtu.be/clcZXztMFgo[/ame]
[ame]http://youtu.be/2zjoTR8S9gc[/ame]
I built both of these racing mowers. A new guy is driving the red hooded one, his first time on one!
[ame]http://youtu.be/GNE4Z4UMYaU[/ame]
I’d like to try that. Since I retired i’m bored out of my mind. For the past few years I built up 8 or 10 mowers during the winter and sell them in a couple of weeks in the early spring. We’ve been in Florida for A little over a year. My wife is Bedridden so we probably wont be going back. So its been refurbing GEM’s.
My 99 is the keeper and other than some graphics is hotted and lifted as far as its gonna get. It’s my daily driver. Were in a cart friendly town so the truck doesnt get much use.
My hobby car is a 2003 town car that was stored for 6 1/2 years. I just got everything back to MINT a couple of months ago. Just turned 49000 miles.
Sweet! Those town cars are nice comfy rides. Got to pick a point to stop or you will never be done! Those racing mower conversions are pretty easy after you do the first one. I would be glad to walk you through all the ins and outs. Generally it costs less than $300 to build one, assuming you do all the labor yourself.
If and when I get back to Alabama. It’s popular there.