SCHOOL DESK RACER

This is the project that my Dad & I did for the six week welding class we took at the high school in 2005.  It was supposed to be a barstool racer but we had trouble coming up with a real barstool so our welding instructor let us have one of the broken school desks from his class.  It was a perfect fit.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO OF THE MAIDEN VOYAGE/WHEELIE BAR TEST!

Some specs:

                12.5 HP Briggs & Stratton Engine

                Sears Lawn Mower 5-speed transmission & rear differential.

                Cast iron front axle from an old Cub Cadet (?) lawn mower.

                Gates "6 pack" batteries  (what other kind of batteries would you put on a barstool racer?)

                Stowable wheelie bars

                Handlebars and steering components from a snowmobile.

                Top Speed:  10.7 mph measured with GPS.  For reference, the fastest Dixie Chopper does 15 mph with 33 HP.

Here are some pics of different stages of this project.

This was mostly gathering up the bits and starting to mock up the frame.

Here is after welding up the frame and mocking up the rolling chassis.

Here is the mostly finished product.  Note that the engine used up to this point was an 11HP Briggs.  We had some trouble getting it to run and we were pressed for time (class was about to end) so we swapped in a 12.5HP.

Here is the finished product. 

Here are a few closeup shots of some of the details.

Here are a few shots of the racer lined up with the other desks in the classroom at school.

Questions or Comments?  Email jmray@frontiernet.net