aka Larry
Well-known member
Earlier this year I cannibalized my old garden kart for another project. I still need to haul the wood from outside into the shop so I needed a new kart. HF has a garden kart for about $80, and I guess I could have gone that route, but it would need to be modified to work, and besides, where's the fun in that? Yep, it was time to design and build my own.
I started with a trip to acquire new wheels. Luckily my timing worked out as they happened to be on sale for just $4.00 each where they are regularly $6.49. I already had some 1" square tubing, but I had to use Lowes for some 1" flat bar and other hardware.
Since this cart would have four wheels, I would need to build an actual steering system. I started with the spindles which were built using 1" square tube, 1" flat bar, 1/2" flat bar, 1/2" tubing, and 5/8"x4" bolts.
Next I used more 1" square tubing and welded the spindles onto the ends to form the front axle beam:
Here's the front steering system and axle all assembled:
I decided to get a little fancy and include ackerman steering, which turns the inside wheel at a steeper angle that the outside one based on the geometry between all the links. Notice the difference as shown here:
Wheels in place straight ahead:
Wheels turned with ackerman effect.
Rear axle:
Starting the frame:
More frame progress:
Axle assemblies added to frame:
It's a roller!
Building the handle. Started with some 1" flat bar and made a few relief cut so I could bend into shape:
Added a piece of 1/2" pipe in between and welded it all together:
Installed on the kart:
Removable uprights in place and ready for a load test:
Loaded up:
The test went fine and I was able to pull and steer with no problem. That much wood is a heavy load, but it will save me a few trips I'm sure. I still need to prime and paint it, but a couple of other projects took priority this weekend. I'm going to try and get the painting done this week.
I started with a trip to acquire new wheels. Luckily my timing worked out as they happened to be on sale for just $4.00 each where they are regularly $6.49. I already had some 1" square tubing, but I had to use Lowes for some 1" flat bar and other hardware.
Since this cart would have four wheels, I would need to build an actual steering system. I started with the spindles which were built using 1" square tube, 1" flat bar, 1/2" flat bar, 1/2" tubing, and 5/8"x4" bolts.
Next I used more 1" square tubing and welded the spindles onto the ends to form the front axle beam:
Here's the front steering system and axle all assembled:
I decided to get a little fancy and include ackerman steering, which turns the inside wheel at a steeper angle that the outside one based on the geometry between all the links. Notice the difference as shown here:
Wheels in place straight ahead:
Wheels turned with ackerman effect.
Rear axle:
Starting the frame:
More frame progress:
Axle assemblies added to frame:
It's a roller!
Building the handle. Started with some 1" flat bar and made a few relief cut so I could bend into shape:
Added a piece of 1/2" pipe in between and welded it all together:
Installed on the kart:
Removable uprights in place and ready for a load test:
Loaded up:
The test went fine and I was able to pull and steer with no problem. That much wood is a heavy load, but it will save me a few trips I'm sure. I still need to prime and paint it, but a couple of other projects took priority this weekend. I'm going to try and get the painting done this week.
