What ever happened to home made go carts?

[derfblade 10]

when i was a kid in the late 50s/ early 60s, all the kids had trolleys [go carts] made by themselves or their dads. they were made from old bits of wood fixed to pram wheels and were steered with a bit of rope.

we had great fun with these but why did kids stop using them?

anyone else have one of these?

[Eli the Cat 10]

Yes, we made them too. Pram wheels, wooden fruit boxes, planks of wood etc... Used to decorate the cross bar by nailing coloured bottle tops. They went very fast and we acquired many cuts and bruises. Great fun

[jxxxxm 10]

real funny you should mention them. l live opersite a shutdown pub, so always get loads of kids plays. and a group of young lads was on the scroung fro stuff to make one. came to my house for bit of wood ect my son gave them rope and wood borrowed them the hammer an gave the nails by the time they had finshed it was the best ever of cause we had never had one in our lives me an my sister ran up and down duncan street backs in Brinsworth when l was a kid l did get the hammer back the bar humbug in me is hoping for rain all week cause all the kids will be coming for the hammer an nails l will point out my lad did have a day off and was helping out he was only 25yrs even he had a good time and his son ages 3yrs it all goes on must be a northern thing

[Mr Pops 10]

:)Trollies,blimey that taKes me back.

 

I used to make them back in the early 70s,made from a board,a plank,bent nails to hold on the axels, and a good set of wheels. Off we would go to run it down Black hill(Holgate Cres)if we were going too fast,steer into the grass fields.

 

sometimes we would run off the curb,thus causing the front wheels to come away from the wood,resulting in a long walk back to our house for the major repair.

 

We once built one with no tyres on the rear,and would skid if we turned too sharp.

 

HAPPY DAYS OF FREE FUN...

[choogling 14]

Talking about trolleys as we called them,as a kid in the fifties we built quite a few, some of the lads managed to find big wheels for the back and smaller ones for the front ,that looked good but the handling suffered.I never had any serious crashes but lots gravel rash after overturning usually down Meersbrook park on the devils bump,locals will know it well.I havent seen one for years or home made kites using the tissue paper from a new shirt and a bit of split cane we used to get some wool as a line and tie a newspaper tail on it.The jamacian lads who had just started to move in locally were dab hands at kite making they always made the best ones.

[brian1941 11]

when i was a kid in the late 50s/ early 60s, all the kids had trolleys [go carts] made by themselves or their dads. they were made from old bits of wood fixed to pram wheels and were steered with a bit of rope.

we had great fun with these but why did kids stop using them?

anyone else have one of these?

-----------

Hi Derfblade, Only talking about them last week, how we use to make

our own Entertainment.

We use to go to the scap yard to get wheels or wait till the rag and

bone man came round, but what fun we had in the 50/60s.

We made room at the back so anyone could stand on and a massive

hand break. Love to see some body on one now. :hihi:

[echo beach 589]

They went the same way as the 'Soap Box Derby': remember that?

Time moves on and pastimes change. Spinning tops, stilts, hula hoops and roller skates all had their day and gave a lot of enjoyment to the kids who experienced them.

[WasThatWise 10]

Used to have a trolley that four people could sit on, it had some carpet on to relieve the chafing from the wood, now I'm not saying it was better than everyone else's but someone bought it off me giving me a James Bond model car and sixpence in exchange. Wish I still had the James Bond car.

[Firemansam 10]

As soon as anyone acquired an old pram , that was it - time for a new trolley...

 

My dad made a trailor for my trolley, reyt posh!

 

Used to get terible stick of my mum for using my shoes as breaks and wearing them out in no time.

 

No PPE equipment back then eh, cuts and bruises were commonplace, and we thought nowt about it. Rub it for a minute, then back on for some more.

[wagginfinger 10]

the wheels on todays prams would make great carts--

[BrianW 10]

To make a steerable front axle involved making a hole in the wood; as we didn't own a drill we used the fire poker; once red hot it would slowly burn its way through the wood

To fix the pram wheel axle to the wooden frame involved straightening out last years rusty nails before hammering them in and bending them over the axle.

 

Never got on with string steering, I couldn't hold the steering during cornering which usually ended up with the wheel jamming under the frame and ripping the axle off.

Better to use your feet on the front axle, you might jam your ankle during cornering but the pain was quicker than carrying out major axle repairs

[Basalt 10]

Wow, great memories. I had one made from the wheels of a Silver Cross so it had spring suspension on the rear wheels. BrianW is right, foot steering was easier to maintain. The lever handbrake pulled on to the rear wheel was fairly effective but throwing yourself off was often better than colliding with walls and lamp posts. Alternative brake was to push the side of your shoes on to the front wheels, we all had big worn dints on the side of the shoes. The big bolt that was the pivot was the hardest thing to find.