Blimey chaps.
Brilliant productions.
Somewhat envious I must admit.
Great to have the lasting photographs as well.
Following this thread with interest.
Regards Bill.

Also built my son a std trolley with HD plastic lawn mower type wheels, after we sold the pedal car. We took it out one day to try it out at a new subdivision road (no houses then). I was trying to get him to only go half way down a steep 200m long road and turn off into a side street for safety, but he decided he was going to go the whole way down. Probably got up to about 30kph, (I was worried in case he crashed, as it was only his 3rd go) got to the bottom intersection with the main subdivision road, and did a fantastic drift out into it,-- right in front of a cop car we hadn't seen coming 😮(he was coming down to tell some dirt bike riders off). Luckily he wasn't too close, but he thought it was a big joke, and commented on the sons drifting skills. 😁

You don't see a trolley anywhere today, although they did have the international one class trolley downhill derby for a while here, (straight line speed runs,-not sure if it's still going) those class built trolleys were expensive!( around $2-3000). They had trolley derbys round the country each year, but I think most have been stopped due to the namby pamby councils and health and safety nazis spoiling kids' fun. Kids are not allowed to hurt themselves these days. The fun police have even taken all the swings and play equipment out of schools!

JB

A cycle car may not be a bad idea idea for your next build JB. Plenty of hints & tips on their website - easy to find on google. They mainly use old motorcycle wheels for their braking - not all have inboard discs.

Your sons car was not a lot different to mine JB - except mine was tapered to the nose and there was a rounded cut out for the doors. Wheels were on the outside too . Although it had a steering wheel (via cable connection) the front axle was a simple beam like an original soap box . Brakes consisted of a t shaped piece hinged on the end to the central cross member with bits of old tyre on the T piece. You simply pressed down with both feet - never very effective - but the local rules prevented us from having bicycle type brakes. Strange as we used to get up to well over 40mph - they had a net as a crash barrier at the local derby as we really had to stand on the brakes - more than one car ended up in that.
Drivers were treated to orange juice dispensed from a pair of small Shell (petrol) pumps - (about 3ft high)

A friend and I later built a standard type soap box from a 12ft plank found in his fathers garage - we used my spare axles & wheels etc - after fitting the standard brakes we found the steepest local hill and piled a few friends on - about seven of us I seem to remember . We barely made it to the bottom of the hill at quite a lick when the front wheels collapsed under the load and there were bodies lying everywhere ...............Fortunately no serious injuries - and no car came along (it was a public road !)

Those cycle cars are cool Peter, -got me thinking now. 😁

JB

We knew how to have fun and be creative when we were kids Peter. Once had a gokart with a Villiers 250 (I think) with a centrifugal clutch. used to drive it everywhere,- even drove up to my mates parents farm about 5km away and drove all over the paddocks. Never got stopped by the fuzz, but stayed on the footpath most of the way. Heaps of fun.
Made a pedal car for my son 26 yrs ago, using re machined 10 speed gears, rose jointed steering, adjustable seat and gearing, as well as adjustable steering wheel (up and down, in and out) etc. Had modified wheelbarrow 'mag' wheels, Hillman Avenger tail light inners for headlights etc. Took it to Fiji with us for 2 1/2 yrs and brought it back. He had a lot of fun with it.

I don't think many kids these days are as practical as we all were, as everything is handed to them. Their first cars are worth more than our parents houses in a lot of cases!

JB

A trifle more complex than my original..............

JB - Around 12 years old I had a "Posh" soap box shaped roughly like a Ferrari ...........
Went down to the local engineering shop who made our soap box axles and got them to fit a medium sized bike gear to a large pram wheel we were using at the time - having earlier scrounged a 30cc??? US made lawnmower engine fitted with a tiny gear - one and a bit bicycle chains were run to the motor mounted on the back via two large shelf brackets . One never thought of clutch or gearing and luckily on the first pull of the starter the motor fired briefly then died - having shot the "Ferrari" the full length of the double length garage where it had been worked on in secret . (the family car was always parked under a large tree in the garden). Unfortunately my Dad had met with the Engineering shop manager that day and when he got home rushed up to the garage - to find me pondering the problem whilst sitting in the Soap Box . I was ordered to dismantle the contraption & never to try anything like that again
Now have a look at the contraptions called Cycle Carts in the US - they pinched my idea and I have had to join the club via the internet although I doubt that I will ever build one again. Interesting to see what I had never thought of like brakes etc....

Martin - my Grandad had a sea going canoe - called Can-Do - slightly deeper than a normal canoe which took two adults comfortably - kept it upside down next to his Bathing Box on Boulders Beach in Simonstown. When he turned 70 Mother & Uncle got together and bought a small outboard for it . Uncle constructed a special mounting bracket and they made him promise to always take it with him for emergencies. Grudgingly he agreed and he kept his promise - always taking it with him until he stopped using Can-Do in his 84th year. He sadly passed away shortly after his birthday.
When helping my uncle clear the house later that year we decided to start the outboard - but the starter cord being so old & frayed snapped at the first pull . After a trip to town to get a new cord we tried again - despite taking out the spark plug and inserting oil - it refused to turn at all. Uncle finally managed to remove the cylinder head and found the motor totally welded together by corrosion - Grandad had never used it and had simply been rowing around with a spare anchor............

Martin, I drew up a hybrid go kart in the 5th form, (1968) - using a petrol motor with 2 alternators charging 2 batteries, running 2 starter motors for drives. probably wouldn't have had a long run time, but the idea was there😁,- ( as Jimmy Nail used to say "and what happened"? I once had an idea for a ball pen with a letter opener / packaging tape slitter on the top end, - went to a pop-up warehouse sale of Chinese junk about 3 yrs later, and guess what I saw there? Damned Chinese had been reading my mind!😂

JB

JB.
That’s spooky.
You should contact the power boat owners and let them know.
Regards Bill.

JB,
I had simular.
Many many years ago i though about having a ball and socket mast fitted to a surf board.

And about having a small outboard motor fitted to a canoe.

Spooky !!

Martin555.