Baby's first custom, or making an old wagon new

eastsidemav wrote: How easily do the wheels spin? I used some inflatable cart wheels from HF and they were very sensitive to being overtorqued to the axles.

Pretty easily. Maybe too easily. I have a "bushing" between the wheel and the frame, and just a cotter pin at the end of the axle to hold the wheel on. The wheels wave in and out a little bit as it moves. I've put close to 3 miles on it so far just doing laps around the property and everything is still tight and holding up assembly wise though, so that's a good sign.

I had started thinking about brakes, and realized the wheels spin free of the axle, but the axle can spin freely as well, so unless I clamped onto the wheels from the inside I don't think it would work.

It does handle terrain changes well though, going through ruts and across ruts, climbing hills make me want a slightly longer handle, even straight through mud, I've noticed the axle stays pretty stationary but the wheels spin and it moves along. Gravel it does need a good tug to get rolling, but it rolls.

A video can explain better than I can describe, so I'm working on one. Probably going to use a jug of water or oil to simulate her weight and show off the angles it handles.

Off topic, but it appears you beard rather well, sir!

In reply to mndsm:

What makes me laugh is that you cant even see the cutout line for the mutton chops thanks to the goatee that's been going since August 2011

Pretty sure that these are the first pictures of me since babies first Christmas.

So I made a little video wandering around the yard with a jug of peanut oil in it. It didn't work they way I thought it would, so it really wasn't necessary, but whatever.

To my surprise her "water splash" area was just mud, but I think I was able to get some good shots of the way it handles over different terrain.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/SpxTHU49TQs

Find a couple of junk broadcast spreaders and pillage their differentials. This thing would kick ass with some spinning driveshafts!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/OUTOozJh5V8

Managed to get someone to cooperate with the camera on today, so some video of her having fun with the wagon.

A special part came in, and it's really like to make a public thank you, but the parts haven't bent installed yet. Look for that later this week.

A big big thank you to Mazdeuce and the entire Deuce family for cutting these out and making them awesome.

There are a bunch of cute shapes and pictures that I'll let the little one decorate the wagon with once she quits trying to eat the stickers, which is what has delayed me getting even her name put on until now. There are also other fonts, so as she gets more vehicles, they're covered.

Also, I'm using a mobile uploading service, not sure why the second one of upside down.

We had fun looking through a couple hundred fonts to arrive at the ones I sent. I'm glad they met your approval, and if you ever think of anything else you need for it, drop me a line.

The weather is making me stir crazy, so I've started thinking about this some more.

I'd like to setup a quick connect so that I can take the body off of the moving parts to make transport a little easier.

I see a few options for that. Easiest will probably be making a square frame that holds the moving parts together, and using hitch pins through the body bolts, but I'm open to ideas. 

On the plus side, despite my neglecting cardboard when moving heavy things, the plastidip held up well over the winter, and I just need to repay a couple spots primer is showing through. 

certainly not my best welds, but I got the square frames together today. With some longer bolts and tack welded wing nuts, I've made the wagon much easier to take places. I still need to pull the bolts to break it down because I can't find pins that are both small and strong, but now everything can be held together in sub assemblies that I can attach with one tool in less than 5 minutes. 

After going to the zoo Monday without this or a stroller, I'm glad it's done. Little tyke isn't a fan of walking all day. 

This also has the bonus of another inch of lift. I wonder if I can get quad tires to fit now...