Go-Cart Adventure

Austin handed Lucas a wrench so he could tighten the last nut. “Do you think this will really go?”

Glancing at Austin, Lucas asked, “The engine runs, doesn’t it? This is going to be a fantastic machine!”

The brothers had spent weeks gathering materials to build a go-cart, mostly salvage metal from their uncle’s garage. Grandpa helped weld the metal parts together into a frame with his soldering gun. Then, once the frame was complete, the boys went in search of wheels. Grandpa’s shop yielded two old bicycle wheels, but they needed four. The boys headed back to the garage and discovered an old lawn mower, which they raided for wheels and an engine. Grandpa’s soldering gun came in handy to form an axle from scrap metal pipes.

They couldn’t figure out how to make it turn until Grandpa told them to use the steering mechanism from the lawn mower. Then he helped them figure the math and angles to get the steering correct.

“How can we get it to go faster?” Austin wondered.

Grandpa chuckled. “In order to make the lawn-mower motor go faster, you’ll need different gears. Motorcycle gears would be best, but why not use those since they’re handy?” He gestured to the parts from the old scooter Lucas had found in the shop.

When it was ready for testing, Lucas jumped in and drove to a nearby hill. Steering frantically, he barely avoided shrubbery along the roadside. At the bottom of the hill, Lucas pressed his foot on the brake pedal, hoping it would hold and halt the vehicle. Skidding to a stop, the chain popped off the axle.

Running alongside, Austin pouted. “It’s broken, and I didn’t even get to try it.”

“Don’t worry. It was such a great ride; it’s worth putting in the effort to fix it. You’ll get the next turn.” Lucas grabbed the tow rope and headed for the garage.