6.5 hp yard kart project

[benvui]

So growing up, some of my fondest memories are trips to my cousins house to play on his yard karts. We spend hours running up and down the drive way and down a dirt lane. No that I have kids of my own and a sizable enough property I thought it was time that I give them the same experience.

I've been following this forum for some time now and have been gathering parts for the past few months when I have some spare money.

Today I got another package of part from BMI and decide it was time to start a thread to show everyone what I'm doing.

The original plan was to build a kart for the kids to share (and for me to occasionally take for a spin!). I picked up a 6.5 hp clone from Princess auto for $90 (one of my co-workers' wife works there and I was able to get her to pick it up for me during a sale) and I started buying some parts. Well once I picked up the steel for the frame my wife suggested that I would be better off building two so the kids don't fight over them! As it happened, Princess Auto had another sale on the engines so I picked up another one and now I'm ordering double the parts. I still plan on building one and seeing how it works out before starting the next one, but at least I'll have all the parts.

Right now I have the frame cut out and all the parts to build a rolling chassis. I'm going to have my cousin's son weld it up for me as he just completed his welding course at the local community college and he'll do a better job than me at it.

I'll take some pictures of what i have so far tonight and post them so that you guys can follow along and give me tips and steer me straight when I make a wrong turn.

The kids and I can't wait for to have one running, it should be a fun project for all of us.

 

[landuse]

Welcome to the forum. We look forward to seeing what you come up with. Post those pics so that we can see what you have.

 

[OzFab]

What he said...

Always remember the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). Don't make things more difficult than they have to be... & get the kids involved with the build; they'll appreciate the end result a lot more.

 

[benvui]

Parts so far

here are some pictures of the parts I have so far
The list of parts so far include:
From BMI
spindles
2 Axles
2 seat cusions
4 6 inch split rims
Bearing hangers and bearings

From Princess Auto
Mechanical disc break kit including bracket
Clutch
2 6.5 hp engines
2 4.1 x 3.5-6 wheels and tires
4 wheel hubs

Right now the frame is 5 feet long but afte havibg my son sit on it and getting the axle i think I'm going to shorten it a bit and widen it acouple of inches so that the axle doesn't get to much stress between the bearings and the wheels.

I still need to get some more tires, Princess Auto has a sale on the same tires I have for the front for 8.99 each, even if the bearings dont last its a good deal. I was there last night to pick up a sproket but they didn't have any in stock.

Anyway that is what I have so far, what do you think?

 

[Nodroz]

Looks very nice! Keep on going!

 

[EvoDre]

Looking nice keep us updated!

 

[landuse]

here are some pictures of the parts I have so far
The list of parts so far include:
From BMI
spindles
2 Axles
2 seat cusions
4 6 inch split rims
Bearing hangers and bearings

From Princess Auto
Mechanical disc break kit including bracket
Clutch
2 6.5 hp engines
2 4.1 x 3.5-6 wheels and tires
4 wheel hubs

Right now the frame is 5 feet long but afte havibg my son sit on it and getting the axle i think I'm going to shorten it a bit and widen it acouple of inches so that the axle doesn't get to much stress between the bearings and the wheels.

I still need to get some more tires, Princess Auto has a sale on the same tires I have for the front for 8.99 each, even if the bearings dont last its a good deal. I was there last night to pick up a sproket but they didn't have any in stock.

Anyway that is what I have so far, what do you think?

Looking good so far.

Good call on widening the kart due to stresses on the axle! This happens often, and the axle can get bent really easily in a crash if they are sticking out too far from the bearings.

Just a word of warning on the wheels you have there. If they are the ones from Princess/Harbour Freight, they come apart really easily.

 

[benvui]

Just placed an order with MFG Supply. I ordered 2 72 tooth sprokets and uni-hubs 2 10" steering wheels, a Max torque Clutch (already have 1 clutch needed the second one for the second kart), 2 throttle control rod kits, 2 brake control rod kits and a set of spindles for the second kart.

I can't wait to get these parts, I've been trying to get a sprocket locally at Princess auto but they haven't had the 1 inch hubs in stock for some time, I thought I would buy them on-line from them as well and they were out of stock there as well so I decided to put a big order in and get the rest of the parts that I need to get the 2 karts running.

I'm off work next week while my 2 year old son recovers from surgery so I'm hoping I'll have some spare time while he is napping to start getting the frame cut and welded into the shape I want. I'm still struggling to figure out how to build the frame so that it is wide enough for the rear axles and keep it narrow at the front. At this point I think I'm just going to make it the same width the whole length and live with it. The other option was to build a frame up to the rear seat support and widen it at that point. I'm also thinking of making it the ladder type similar to the Azuza style kart kits that you can buy to give support for the axle bearings and strengthen the kart as a whole.

I'll let you know what I decide once I start cutting and putting pieces together.

 

[brettskarts]

go kart

Hey check out my Kart on youtube yours looks alot like mine lol ... simple but well designed frame and works well... My channel name is Brettskarts877 And i have many videos on mini bikes go karts and my future build a mini quad i also include a pic of it when i just got it going ...