"Hit & Miss" Go-Cart

"Hit & Miss" Go-Cart FARM HOME recreation 27-5-21 Jack Deschene doesn't go anywhere very fast in his go-cart but wherever he goes, people always notice. That's because it's powered by an old 3 hp Deere E "hit and miss" gas engine. "When it fires it sounds almost like a shotgun going off. It really gets peoples' attention. Sometimes rings of smoke will even shoot out of the exhaust," says Deschene, noting that the engine is hooked up to a 4-in. dia. chrome exhaust stack. The two-seat cart measures 4 ft. wide by 8 ft. long and is painted Deere green and yellow, with Deere decals on both sides. It rides on 14-in. high wheels on back and 12-in. high wheels on front. "It's a lot of fun to drive in parades. I get a lot of æthumbs up' signs," says Deschene, who flies a Deere flag behind the go-cart. "The only tools I used to build it was a hacksaw, welder and drill. How often the engine fires depends on the load it's under. When I'm going downhill, the engine doesn't fire at all. "I bought the wheels, differential, steering apparatus, drum brakes, and seats from Northern Hydraulics. I used square tubing to build the frame." Because of the way the engine is mounted, it rotates in the opposite direction as the main driveshaft. To compensate for that, Deschene uses a chain and sprockets to drive the main driveshaft. "I use two different-size V-belts on an intermediate shaft to deliver power to the main driveshaft. The belt that mounts on the big pulley controls the go-cart's high speeds, and the one that mounts on the small pulley controls the slower speeds. I use separate tighteners to engage the belts. The tightener handles mount between the seats." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jack Deschene, 11640 Mississippi Drive, Champlin, Minn. 55316 (ph 763 421-1501; email: jackdeschene@hotmail.com; website: www.geocities.com/farmengines).

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