"Hot Rod" Wagon Powered By Gas Engine

"Hot Rod" Wagon Powered By Gas Engine FARM HOME recreation 21-5-44 "It's a lot of fun to drive and gets a lot of attention wherever I take it," says Patrick Prom of Eden Prairie, Minn., who "self-propelled" a toy wagon with a Honda 5 hp gas engine. "It'll go up to 10 mph," says Prom, who replaced the original axles and wheels with a chassis that he made out of a pair of old Deere yard tractors. Prom cut the frame and rear axle off a Deere 111 garden tractor to serve as the back end and used the wheels and axle off a Deere 68 riding mower on front. (The mower steered much easier than the gar-den tractor). He welded the two frames together, then mounted the Honda engine over the front axle and ahead of the wagon. The engine belt-drives a gearbox that drives the rear axle. He mounted the seat from an old Wheelhorse garden tractor at the back of the box and mounted a steering post and steering wheel in front. The garden tractor's clutch and brake pedals are also mounted in front of the box, and the shift lever is mounted beside it just ahead of the left rear wheel. "My 15-year-old son has a lot of fun driving it," says Prom. "I built it after I saw a chain-driven go cart a couple years ago that was equipped with a toy wagon box and a seat inside it. I decided to build my own version. "The engine is protected by a chrome bumper that I made using the handlebars off an old lawn mower. The driver can rope start the engine right from the seat. The gearbox is in the same position that the engine would be on the garden tractor, which allowed me to use the original clutch and rear brakes. I mounted a throttle and a kill switch on the steering post and added a hitch on back of the box." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Patrick Prom, 12661 Pioneer Trail, Eden Prairie, Minn. 55347 (ph 612 944-9266).

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