After much thought and much time looking over Poeye the Welders site I have started to make my own bug.I am hoping to get some advice/ ideas from the buggy gurus here.

I pland to use mild steel because of cost and I am confident my of welding abilities with it.
Side rails will be 1" .095 wall. With pool noodles for padding
Axel 1 1/2" .095 wall, not sure how wide yet.
Down tube will be 1 2/2" x 3" .120 wall box tube.
Forks 1" tube with 3/16 x 1" flat stap, with 3/16 x 1" attached for foot peg holders and reinforcement. I plan to mount the front wheel through the 1" tube with 3/4 tube inset through the 1" perpendicular to the forkks with a 5/8 bolt going through it as an axle.(hope that made sence)
Seat will be a homemade version of a Libre.

I would really value any insite you guys may have.
Thank you

sorry Popeye for the typo!

Sounds like you have a good idea of where you are going with it. What type of riding do you want to do (freestyle/jumping, cruising, speed, etc.?) I built mine for speed (eventually) and my rear axle is 64.5" wide, not counting the round black things on the ends. I used 2"X3" rectangular tube for the swan neck, 1.5" schedule 40 for the rear axle, and 1" schedule 40 for the rest. I have a new set of wider forks in the works (wider for a big foot tire set up) that will use 1.5' pipe. If you plan to ride on anything other than a very hard surface, I would build it to take BF tires (fork spacing of at least 10".) Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum

I plan to use it for speed/ cruising, but the feild I ride in most of the time is a bit small.

Wide and low.:wee: The BF tires I plan to use are Nankang N800's (21 12 8) on golf cart wheels (thank you for the info on this setup Screwyfits) with 4 on 4 trailer hubs. I have it on wheel barrow tires and rims now, but they provide a little too much drag on grass and soft sand is a no-go. (wow 2 edits in one post- gotta' quit doing this when I'm tired.)

Yeahhhhh, Finished the down tube, forks, foot pegs, and head set! and it only took 7 hours

Well done & looks good and strong.

I would not have left those sharp pointy edges on the ends of the forS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s foot peg & wheel mounting plates.
I would have rounded them off. In the event of an OBE, you never know if you might get stabbed on one of those sharp corners.

I build my buggies from mild steel as well but not for cost reasons. I have have had less problems with fatigue cracking on M.S. than on stainless.
I have tried different protection on the mild steel.
Zinc coating works well but after a short time, it turns a very boring grey colour.
The other protection that I have found works well is powder coating. You need to have the base metal properly prepared before applying it.
The cheapest option for a good lasting finish is to use a decent primer (I use a red oxide paint), then finish off with a
high quality epoxy paint. You mix this with a hardener & have to apply it fairly quickly (before it starts to harden). It can be a pig if you are using a compressed air spray gun as it can plug up the gun if you don't apply the paint fairly quickly.

Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

I think I will round off those sharp edges. Have you looked into having buggies chromed, or plated with nickle or the like?
Thanks Sand-Yeti!

O.K. I got the seat sewn up. I used about 10" of velcro instead of buckles. I strapped it into my Libre and jumped on it, it held! Sewed up the side rail covers too.
This is better than therapy, I love it:wee:

Looks good so far, man I wish I could weld!

It's starting to look like a buggy. I got the axle cut to 62", side rails bent and welded to the connecting plates, pool noodles on and covered. I think The frame may be too wide, the seat looks all spread out and too shallow. Will have to see how it fits when the wheels are on.

The side rails were too wide. I thaught of using a racheting tie down to pull them together. Bad idea! all that did was bent the axle, Straightened that out on the bender. I ended up cutting the side rails off their monting plat, taking off the noodle and cover, rebending them, replacing the padding, welding them back to their plates (without melting the padding). Then cutting the mounts off the axle, moving them closer to center by 1 1/2". It seemed to work, not sure thugh it is getting pretty dark.

Thank you all for your interest and input!

Looking good Big Earl,
Chrome plating is expensive. Unless your are into bling , then I wouldn't bother. I think a nice powder coated buggy can look better than chrome dependent on your choice of colour.

Have you thought about a backrest? I suggest you clamp one to the rails behind the seat. That reduces any additional stresses that will be incurred if you were to weld a back rest on . It will also allow you to adjust the backrest position. Naturally, you would need to pad the backrest.

Backrests make buggying so much more comfortable but not suitable for freestylers though.

At long last the buggy is ready to test! Hope I don't get impaled!

Could someone tell me about the bf's on golf cart wheels, Screwyfits, Heliboy are you out there?

Golf cart wheels are 7.5" X 8" with 4 on 4 lug spacing (I got 3 from the grounds keeper at an apt complex for free.) 3 Nankang N800's are about $140 shipped from http://www.atvtires.net . They are 21 12-8's. This is the set up that Screwyfits uses with custom made hubs. I found utility trailer hubs for $30 each with bearings (1" ID.) Very nice job on the build

No wind for testing yet but maybe Sunday. In the mean time I took Sandyetis advice and put a back rest on. I can't stop messing with it. I have ordered a spring shock for front suspension, probablely like Popeyes leading link suspension.

Thanks Heliboy for the info!

Quote:

Originally posted by Big Earl No wind for testing yet but maybe Sunday. In the mean time I took Sandyetis advice and put a back rest on. I can't stop messing with it. I have ordered a spring shock for front suspension, probablely like Popeyes leading link suspension. Thanks Heliboy for the info!

Well done Earl, I haven't commented, but have been watching your progress with interest, you have made yourself very nice looking buggy there, one to be very proud of and I am sure it will run perfectly...its the old saying....if it looks right, its a pretty good bet it is right.

Send me a good photo of the finished buggy, and I will add it to the Home brew page

Home Brew Buggies

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I like your approach on the back rest. Looks comfortable! Nice build.

Hey the golf cart wheels are 8.5-8 (not 7.5-8.) My bad. Also, some my have an offset- not insurmountable but something to be aware of.

I got to do a bit of testing in the buggy today! It was a bit warm today, 111 at the feild I was at with 12-15 mph winds. Thats pretty good wind for here.
So here it is.... Nothing broke so thats a good start, the ride was GREAT very smooth and felt solid. Turning was nice, good turn radius and that too felt smooth and solid. About half way through the session I had to adjust the seat up as tite as it would go so my butt did'nt drag. I'm not sure if the seat slipped or if the side rails are too thin and bent. they are .095 wall 1" tube, I have sone .120 wall 1" to remake them with but I hope I don't have to. The back rest needs to be attached a different way, it slipped down near the end of the ride, but it was comfortable before that. All and all It turned out pretty sweet!
I'm sure it won't be long before buggy #2 is in the works

Thank you all for the great compliments and advice! Big Earl

The schedule 40 pipe that I used on mine is like 5/32 wall (.156) but my design is rather non traditional. I would adjust your seat to where it is at the proper height and then temporarily mark the straps to see if it is slipping. Also maybe take ride height measurements before and after your next session. Again, very nice work.

The side rails did bend. I think I will remake them with .188 wall.

Back to the workshop, Remade the side rails out of shedule 40 1" I.D. I forgot to put the pads and sleeves on before I welded it together so I will have to make new side rail covers with a velcro seam, tomorrows project. The old ones were sewn together and had to be put on before one end was welded up. This thing is never ending, There is always something that could be a little better or might work better if I did it this way or that.

Does anybody know of a better padding material than pool noodles? They get thrashed by the seat straps.

I used the large diameter noodles (they are like 5"+ across) but I had to core out the center to get them to fit the pipe. Hot knife long ways, then a piece of pipe with a bevel heated up and run down the middle. Fit to the frame and completely encased in about 10 miles of electrical tape ( this compresses the foam and seems to help it stay in place.) Velcro on covers over the top. I have one part that moves around a little (messed it up when I cut it) but it is down near the clamp for the swan neck so it doesn't bother me. When I asked for advice on this same subject, pool noodles were the consensus choice. The other option was pipe insulation but other builders have found it not dense enough. Get used to the never ending thing- I went to NABX and brought my buggy home, and cut it about 60% apart and redid it with out even having ridden it yet.

Like I said, I can't stop!!!
The shocks I ordered came in today and well, I couldn't help myself.

I use duck tape over the poole noodles.

Susan (npw goddess)

pretty work there, Earl. powdercoat it! welcome to the forum . WG

Thanks W.G. powder coating is next. Anybody have an idea for the color?

avoid dark colors(solar heat) and make it bright(high vis for safety) THey can make any color you want nowadays.

Quote:

Originally posted by WELDNGOD avoid dark colors(solar heat) and make it bright(high vis for safety) THey can make any color you want nowadays.

Agree with WELDNGOD on this suggestion. I powder coated mine white. It's a boring colour but good against the heat.