The Hired Man Revealed

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Having nearly finished the engine, the cart was next on the agenda. A telephone call resulted in a visit to a nearby farm, where timber was salvaged from the roof of an out-building that was being demolished. Once home, the timber was painstakingly de-nailed, then put through a planer to clean it up, reducing it to 2 inches-by-3-1/4 inches.

I had already acquired two pairs of cast wheels of 10-inch and 12-inch diameters, which had been cleaned up and the centers drilled out for a 7/8-inch diameter axle.

The length of the cart was determined by allowing clearance between the flywheels and the large rear wheels and enough room at the front of the engine for the fuel tank. I also decided on a width of 18 inches between the wheels to allow some stability when steering the engine.

Crosspieces were cross-halved into the two main spars to take the rear axle and provide a pivot point for the front axle. It took some careful thought to work out the adjustments needed to allow for the different heights of the large rear wheels, the turntable at the front and its smaller wheels. It could be said that I placed the front axle too far to the rear, but I did not want the pivot bolt to be under the fuel tank, as I intended to hide the battery and coil there.

The external edges were chamfered with a router, the holes were drilled and the joints were held together with carriage bolts.

Stub axles were made from 6 inches of 1-inch round steel, part of which was turned down to 7/8-inch for the width of the wheel hub plus 1/2 inch, with a 3/16-inch hole, and drilled near the end for a split pin. A spacing washer was made next for each axle to minimize any play on the wheel. The stub axles were then welded on to an 18-inch length of 2-inch-by-1/2-inch flat metal in which holes were drilled for mounting bolts.

Two plates, 3-1/4 inches in diameter, were made from 3/16-inch thick steel, a hole was drilled for the pivot bolt and two smaller, chamfered holes were drilled for the fixing screws. These plates were then inset by 5/32-inch into the wood of the moving axle and cross member.

For steering and moving the trolley, a U-shaped bracket was formed by heating and bending a piece of 1/2-inch-by-1-1/2-inch black iron, with two holes drilled for the mounting bolts plus two holes of 1/2-inch at the ends for the handle.