my off road cart idea

[kcjaxxnc]

ok well my wife says i need to work on my confidence so here goes. im gonna start off fresh with this topic. i have a manco stinger kids cart frame i acquired wasnt the biggest or best but it gave me a frame to start with. i tore it down a bit lowered the roll cage from its rediculous height ...and then unmounted the roll cage again to continue frame work because that's how i rolls lol. i lengthened the frame about 18" using some thick walled steel pipe found at lowes using a technique i found from a race shop that fixes roll cages i fit a steel slug snug into the tubing on each open end drilled four holes on each end made a rosette weld in each hole attaching the slugs then finished the joint in the center thus creating what i hope is a strong weld joint (not recommended for extreme stress area.) currently i am working out kinks such as cv axles (ive worked with cv axle atvs but never built one) i see pics of axles with no center (part for the sprocket to mount idk the term) so im hesitant to just order one. anyways the whole project is centered on a trail riding cart either busco beach or similar trails. the engines(yes i said engines) are mounted high behind the drivers seat for many reasons including ideas similar to construction equipt keeping intake away from the most dirt and also to allow a jackshaft and re gearing. i started with just a 7 hp as the base but when i became fixated on the sand rails concepts to use floatation tires and such i ended up with a large pair of trx250 rims and worn out tires. they need at least 16 ft lbs torque one 7hp only offered 8(ish) ft lbs so instead of spending tons on a engine thatll prob need work out of a dead atv or bike i went with the twins figuring eventually ill upgrade to a larger motor. mainly its a project just to show myself and maybe others i can do it and also becuase i can. newer pics will share better light on this but heres some old ones showing some welds ect. the last pic is why i can be patient and take my time lol
with my side work being small engine repair/dirtbike repair im in and out on this proj. but the side work is just as fun

 

[kcjaxxnc]

more

heres some more on it the sketch was the orig plan but i built on it theres one of the seat i made for it i cut new wood new fabric and used the old mounts. yes i used the top of my wagon lol my truck crapped the bed due to a bad tranny. needless to say the briggs 190402 in the pic was ancient and it was there for show mainly.

 

[kcjaxxnc]

this is my crate so far

 

[OzFab]

You're off to a good start

Can we assume the engines will be mounted on the top of the rear section? The important thing to remember is that when you mount the engines high, you raise the centre of gravity which can/will cause handling issues...

 

[kcjaxxnc]

yeah lol i just found that out when i went to mount them lol however its almost (not really) 1 foot higher than orig mount i just hope can fig out a way to counter this . im putting smaller tires on the front so maybe with that bit or forwards lean and the susp weight added it might work?(two rims on the front in pic to balance it are actually very light) that and add my fat butt lol


what u think lower the back end there? i may be able to do that just a matter of fitting the center hub and the jackshaft under it without raising it too much the only thing connecting the back that the engines are mounted to to the frame is two tubes right now if i moved them then lengthened the roll cage back that might work ideas?

 

[kcjaxxnc]

ok so i lowered it i have it temp welded only 3 inches (a lil less) higher than the orig mount im going to experiment and see where it takes me to try to go a lil lower/ the tubing was not even welded yet on the frame itself so it just took lil banging to un mount the peice and yes i like being detailed lol it helps me look back and also if anyone has a similar build so expect pics n more lol

 

[OzFab]

It's a bit of a balancing act, especially since you have two engines; they need to low enough to reduce the COG but high enough so as not to impede the suspension travel...

Iy looks like you may be on to something

 

[kcjaxxnc]

well its working so far and with the diff i leverage the angle forwards and the added weight of components and my fat butt its seemingly gonna work well. in the future when this is done its gonna be like my baby lol ill always be improving it ive already got ideas for a homeade gearbox and such. my next proj efter this i want to find an old west bend (something like a powerbee engine) and either make a reproduction of an older cart such as kavalla or find a frame and spruce er up

 

[kcjaxxnc]

this is my sketch so far of what i plan to aim for it to look like

 

[machinist@large]

this is my sketch so far of what i plan to aim for it to look like

Needs more structure from the front end back to the angle change just in front of the steering wheel. There's no support structure in there, basically rendering the 'cage structure nothing but window dressing.

 

[OzFab]

Needs to be more like this: