This might be the dumbest thing i ever thought of Or the coolest

[John-Boy]

I've been thinking (And thats never a good thing :lol:)

My 12yr old son is vision impaired (He can tell when it's daylight and thats about it), And i don't like to leave him out of anything we do and that includes wheeling but as he's almost 6ft now we don't fit on the wheelers as good as we used to and it dangerous now and i'm looking to have fun with my kids not hurt them but i don't want to leave him out ether

So here my question i've got a pile of 200s parts and at least a good engine but i'm thinking of building the thing with a extended frame with a second axle under the back (Maybe even running a chain to make it four wheel drive) and a passenger seat with back rest and over ride controls (Kill switch,brakes) so maybe he can drive

So is there any issues with this i'm not thinking of I know turning will be compromised but i'm not taking him hardcore offroading mostly in a field or fire roads

or am i a redneck thinking of something that won't work

Thanks

[Jon Boy]

sounds like a good idea for keeping your boy in on the fun. not sure how you would run double controls exactly, but i'm sure something could be figured out. of course the easy cheap way with only single controls would be to hack the front off a quad and mate it to the rear of your 3 wheeler or another quad (basicly like a trailer). either way i think it's very cool to try and keep him in on it. :beer

[dougspcs]

What about an old golf cart chassis or something of the sort with side by side seating..probably be easier to fab up a 'oh shlt' control system. Brake pedal within reach of both operator and passenger. You could even reach over and correct him if he strays in the wrong direction without having to build a whole second steering control.

I see old electric golf carts on CL once in a while cheap because they cost a fortune to repair when the electric drive dies. Always wanted to get one of those and dump an autoclutch trike/quad engine into it.

Sound like you got a project on your hands..

Good luck..

[John-Boy]

I have thought of the golf cart but not sure yet, Was thinking the hondas just cuz i've got a crapload of parts (3 frames 2 engines Front ends ect) i think the bigest issue is non of the wheelers have reverse and i think i'm going to want that on this, but i have some time as im not even going to be able to start this until after Christmas

[John-Boy]

sounds like a good idea for keeping your boy in on the fun. not sure how you would run double controls exactly, but i'm sure something could be figured out. of course the easy cheap way with only single controls would be to hack the front off a quad and mate it to the rear of your 3 wheeler or another quad (basicly like a trailer). either way i think it's very cool to try and keep him in on it. :beer

Thanks, I will never let him belive he is disabled because he's not, Hell you should have see the looks we get when i take him to the shooting range (He's got a custom made 22 with laser sights and me as his eyes guide him to his target)
And he is more accurate that adults and knows more firearm safety that 90 percent of the shooters at the range, hey get a real treat watching him field strip and clean his rifle with out help :D

[Jon Boy]

i've never done it, but have heard of it being done. if you have a motor with a hi/low sub trans then you should be able to swap out the hi/low for a hi/rev off an early trx quad to get your reverse (sorry, not sure what sizes or years exactly other than the 125's).

[John-Boy]

Now that i'm going to have to check about

[bigworm626]

I would go for a two-seat buggy. hammerhead or joyner. You have to keep in mind his safety first & have him as the passenger at all time but at the same time he can enjoy the ride. IMO. Good luck.

[El Camexican]

Nice to see you get so involved with him. If your duel axle idea is what I think it is you may not be able to steer it. Something that seats two across and has only one axle sounds safest.

[Dirtcrasher]

Sounds like your an excellent father!

[bigworm626]

" A real excellent father" I 2x that with dirtcrasher.

[Toledo_Tommy]

Why not just buy a side by side ?

[matt3x]

ever thought of a 6 wheeler? great ideas so far and good luck!

[TatTooL23]

I was thinking a side by side also.

[John-Boy]

Why not just buy a side by side ?


Poor white trash, that and i like to be able to say i made that Red neck in me i guess :lol:

[John-Boy]

Sounds like your an excellent father!
A real excellent father" I 2x that with dirtcrasher.


I appreciate it guys but far from it i've had my bumps along the road, I'm just trying to raise the rugrats right, Take no crap, treat others right and earn what you own

Old school values as i call them

[John-Boy]

What gave me the idea was the old John Deere amt 600 5, but after digging more i think i'm going to need some kind of differential rears to be able to turn the thing, so far not a whole lot of choices with the chain drive but going to take at a few other ideas i got floating to see about making them work

And if anyone can think of anything let me know, Just wish id of thought of it earlier.

[Jon Boy]

some of the Kawasaki models had a selectable rear diff (open/locked) if it helps any. :beer

[Stonewall]

Hey you stole my idea!!! LOL:D

I have been thinking of dooing the same thing with a 250ES, although my plan is to extend the frame and build it with full independent suspension like the Polaris Sportsman "Big Boss" 6 wheeler. I have given some thought to the turning difficulty, and the solution I came up with would be to build it so that the rear rear axle is an inch or two higher than the foreward rear axle; ergo, on a flat surface, the rear most tires do not touch the ground, but when you are in soft terrain, or carring a load, they will come into contact with the groud providing you with the needed traction or load capacity.

If you do this without rear suspension, you will need to have some on the front (not sure if a 200s has front suspension or not), so that when the rear most wheels are down, your front tire still has firm contact with the ground. It might also help to use some sort of ribbed tire on the front, like a sand rib tire.

Runnig differentials on your rear axles will only help you if you also incorporate a differential braking system.

[tri again]

Get super trick, mythbuster style and have a remote control copy exactly what your
trike does so he can ride his own.

Oh, how about the old laser tag setup??

His trike needs to keep the 'hit' signal in order to follow you?

In other words, the target is on your trike,
he is essentially shooting AT the back of yours and gets feedback from the
fact that he keeps hitting the target on yours.
and can follow.

Let me keep thinking about this.

Some guy on the discovery channel actually had some sort of echo locating click device that he
was really good at. Able to sense where things, and open spaces were.
A little scary with horsepower and speed behind it all but there is tons of fun to be had in 1st and 2nd gear
in my book.

Maybe open field areas to ride.
Some perimeter fence servo for electric animal control that would kill the engine
if he got too far away from your lead?

[Big Mike]

I remember with the old AMT600 worked on the same principle as Stonewall suggested. I used to run one all the time and they way JD did it was there was a lever on the left footboard that if you stepped on it, lowered the front rear axle do so it could touch, otherwise it would not turn to save its life. Believe I used to try running across the lot I worked at with the pedal pushed down I almost rolled that thing more than once going around a corner. So it can and has been done.

[Lil Earl]

i really like where this is going, think you could us air bags. or would that electric use bee too much?

[Stonewall]

i really like where this is going, think you could us air bags. or would that electric use bee too much?

I don't think this is really necessary, there's no need to get overly complicated on a build like this. As long as the CG is in front of the fwd rear axle, you should be OK. Keep the load as far foreward as possible so that there's enough weight on the front tire to be able to steer, and it will work great.

Air suspension on a trike/pent(?) would be cool though!

[John-Boy]

Yep if i am able to do this im going to have to keep it as simple as possible, Just a simple redneck with a mig welder and a 12 pack here :crazy: