Lawn Cart Build

back woods · May 17, 2022

Cab is shaping up, going to use expanded steel for the floor.

back woods · May 17, 2022

Roof line mocked up. Getting a little tricky now. Doing my best to keep the overall length to 8ft. It has to fit a 6ft+ adult as well as a 7 and 5 year old kid. To accommodate I think the floor needs to be dropped. Tough part is being able to move a big foot back and forth on the hydrostatic foot lever. I am thinking about using a hand lever for forward and reverse.

back woods · May 17, 2022

woods said:
I remember the truck, along with a very bangable chick too.

Happily married! Still traveling all over and having a blast, only more refined now. :lmao:

Unfortunately I haven't posted many build threads of what I have been working on lately.

back woods · May 18, 2022

Rear axle came in, going with a 6ft wheel base. The box tube on the ground in the picture marks 8ft. Rear axle has some beef to it. Going to run a dual drive belt setup. The pulley on the crank does not line up to the axle. Planning on using a lawnmower blade spindle with two pulleys attached to it to line everything up. Need to get some wheels, they look to be a touch smaller than 5 x 4.5 but need to line wheel up to be sure. Might not need wheel spacers if I can get the offset right. Going to run 23x10.5x12 tires. Feeling pretty confident in my transaxle choice, time will tell.

back woods · May 20, 2022

Scored on an old rider today. Has the wheels and tires I need for the buggy and other bits. It has a twin opposed cylinder 14hp Briggs. Thought about swapping the 14hp Briggs into the buggy, they sound cool with headers and a straight pipe. Compression feels good, everything is there. The biggest downfall of this motor is it has a splash oiler and can have issues, usually the higher hp motors though. In comparison the current motor is a single cylinder 12.5hp Onan. This motor has a pressurized oil system with a spin on oil filter. Both cast iron bores IIRC. Goin to mull it over. The 1 lunger vs the 2 banga boxer.

[486] · May 21, 2022

keep the onan, it's there already
keep the briggs behind the shed in case the onan dies

back woods · May 21, 2022

[486] said:
keep the onan, it's there already
keep the briggs behind the shed in case the onan dies

Thats the plan, the Briggs has a bad starter. I prefer a pressurized oil system and spin on filter as well

Started framing in the rear portion in preparation to mount the rear axle. The bed is 32"l x 47"w, total length of the buggy is 98" and the wheelbase will be 74". Got a driver's seat mounted up and the floor pan lowered. Pretty comfortable for a 6ft tall guy. Head room is around 4inches, should be enough. Wheels are flipped and bolted with no spacers. A little narrow but will work for now.

[486] · May 21, 2022

back woods said:
Head room is around 4inches, should be enough.

no suspension,
cronkin your head on the roof will give you neck problems

back woods · May 22, 2022

[486] said:
no suspension,
cronkin your head on the roof will give you neck problems

Good point. Think Ill bump it to around 6" and call it good. Seat has a bit of suspension as well.

TrailTamer · May 22, 2022

Move the engine to behind seats?

I’d think a long ass v belt to transaxle is a problem waiting to happen and heavier weight over front axle will make for hard steering the way it is now?

Make the hood a trunk if you move engine to behind seat? Or even direct coupling to the transaxle if there’s enough room?

Either way, fun build! I been wanting to do something similar.

back woods · May 22, 2022

TrailTamer said:
Move the engine to behind seats?

I’d think a long ass v belt to transaxle is a problem waiting to happen and heavier weight over front axle will make for hard steering the way it is now?

Make the hood a trunk if you move engine to behind seat? Or even direct coupling to the transaxle if there’s enough room?

Either way, fun build! I been wanting to do something similar.

Thinking of running two belts, one short and one standard mower length. The pulleys are offset so I have to come up with something to get it all lined up. Built the frame and bed pretty tight to the rear axle so no moving the motor around. So far the steering is good enough but that might change once it is a roller.

Here are some better pictures.

bdkw1 · May 22, 2022

The Briggs has a plastic starter gear (gay) and an aluminum ring gear (gayer). Changing the starter gear is supposed to be done by removing the flywheel. It can be done with pulling it but it ain't fun. I get about a season out of 1 on my mower.

back woods · May 22, 2022

bdkw1 said:
The Briggs has a plastic starter gear (gay) and an aluminum ring gear (gayer). Changing the starter gear is supposed to be done by removing the flywheel. It can be done with pulling it but it ain't fun. I get about a season out of 1 on my mower.

Thats another strike against the Briggs.

SLOWPOKE693 · May 22, 2022

With the rear axle that narrow and it tucking tire like it is, it looks like it should have slicks, wheel tubs and wheelie bars out back. :laughing:

back woods · May 22, 2022

SLOWPOKE693 said:
With the rear axle that narrow and it tucking tire like it is, it looks like it should have slicks, wheel tubs and wheelie bars out back.

I thought that too. Hubs are 5 x 4.5 so spacers should be easy to find.

bdkw1 · May 22, 2022

Full offset rims!

back woods · May 22, 2022

bdkw1 said:
Full offset rims!

Thought about that too. I have made custom offset wheels before but it is quite a bit of work getting them perfect.

2big bronco · May 22, 2022

back woods said:
Thought about that too. I have made custom offset wheels before but it is quite a bit of work getting them perfect.

Just weld 2 rims togeather and cut the center out of the outside one so you can reach the lugnuts. Tire also goes on outside rim

back woods · May 22, 2022

2big bronco said:
Just weld 2 rims togeather and cut the center out of the outside one so you can reach the lugnuts. Tire also goes on outside rim

That is definitely a consideration. Kind of just waiting for what comes up.

back woods · May 22, 2022

Got the transaxle mounted. The same neighbor that I got the big riding mower from had a big pile of angle iron as well. Ended up being perfect for this build. Kind of in the mindset of "dont scrap it" .... "build something useful out of it!" Not trying to be perfect, I measure some things, the rest I eye ball. I tell my boy's, just give it the look test. If two parallel bars dont line up, tweak one of them until they do!