Power Kite Forum

Buggy Towing Thing Project

leebrianh - 30-1-2007 at 07:13 PM

After 4 days of work (you will see why it took that long), I finally finished my buggy towing thing project.

Before I started, I asked many buggiers and they provided very usefull information includring pictures. Some even offered to make me one. Thanks for all your support.

Click below for pictures and stuff

click here

jonesing4wind - 30-1-2007 at 08:06 PM

Very nice!! You started off almost like mine, but you foresaw the problems with mine. I may have to revisit mine and "steal" some of your ideas..... Less than 2 months now, and we will get to test it out!!

Seany

wjb - 30-1-2007 at 09:01 PM

Looks great Brian. You might want to get some rubber or nylon hose large enough to slip over your hooks to act as a cushion to the front axel.

leebrianh - 31-1-2007 at 06:39 AM

good idea!

acampbell - 31-1-2007 at 09:56 AM

Nice job. Real simple and neat.

One thing you'll find though if you have not already is that due to the rake of the fork of the towed buggy, the tow bar will twist quite considerably along its long axis when in a turn. You may want to accomodate this action. The bar may be flexible enough but I imagine you will get a lot of wear at the tow-point bolt hole as the binding will be considerable..

A handle at the front of the tow bar is handy for using the bar to walk the buggy on/ off the field/ beach.

I drilled a hole through the side of my tow-point attacchment bolt for a saftey pin to keep the nut from backing off. I thought that a disconnect at speed would be a disaster with that thing digging into the ground in front of the towed buggy.

Chip - 31-1-2007 at 01:09 PM

I've fought my way through projects without the right tools before, it can suck but has more of a sense of accomplishment when you preserver!

A few tips:
A rubber grommet or slice of rubber hose on the bolt that connects the buggy to the axle above and below the tow arm will probably make it run quieter. (the metal on metal will rattle a lot when at speed, and wear more.)

You'll want to watch that point for wear, the threads on the bolt will act as a file and shave off bits as you travel along. An easy solution for this is a small piece of brass tubing that fits snug over your bolt, so the tow bar rides on the brass like a bushing. (Look for K&S brass at hobby/hardware store).

-chip

p.s. Just so you know, my drill press can but a 1/2" hole in 1/8" thick steel in about 10 seconds. ;-P

popeyethewelder - 3-2-2007 at 11:37 AM

looks very similar to the one I made http://pic7.piczo.com/Popeyethewelder/?g=12840820&cr=7

well done