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Gas-Powered Radio Flyer Turns Heads
"It's a lot of fun to drive and gets a lot of attention wherever I take it," says Matt Schindeldecker of Farmington, Minn., who, along with his dad Ken, "self-propelled" a Radio Flyer toy wagon with a Honda 4 hp gas engine.
FARM SHOW found Schindeldecker driving the rig at the recent Little Log House and Ant
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Gas-Powered Radio Flyer Turns Heads WAGONS/TRAILERS Miscellaneous 32-5-43 "It's a lot of fun to drive and gets a lot of attention wherever I take it," says Matt Schindeldecker of Farmington, Minn., who, along with his dad Ken, "self-propelled" a Radio Flyer toy wagon with a Honda 4 hp gas engine.
FARM SHOW found Schindeldecker driving the rig at the recent Little Log House and Antique Power Show near Hastings, Minn. He was using the machine to pull his 4-year-old son Brady, who was sitting on a smaller wagon mounted on a 2-wheeled trailer.
They cut the rear axle and wheels off a Montgomery Ward garden tractor to serve as the back end and bought new wheels on front. The rear wheels are equipped with chrome hub caps off a Peterbilt semi truck, while the chrome hub caps on front are air horn covers. The trailer wheels have chrome hubcaps to match.
They used stainless steel to build the frame that supports the wagon as well as the front axle. The steering column is from a Ford model T car. The seat is custom made and consists of a piece of plywood covered with foam and vinyl.
The Honda engine chain-drives a centrifugal clutch, and from there a jackshaft chain-drives the rear end. The rig still has the garden tractor's original transmission.
The ride is cushioned by a pair of big rear-mounted springs off a Cushman truckster, with a pair of smaller springs on front. The rig has the garden tractor's original exhaust, with a stainless steel header welded onto it. The exhaust was flipped upside down in order to clear the wagon. The tractor's original foot-operated gas pedal is connected by cable to the carburetor. The disc brakes are also original.
"It turned out quite well," says
Ken. "Dad did all the fabrication and I did all the painting. We bought the 2-wheeled trailer but used 1-in. sq. tubing to make a new frame and tongue for it. We used aluminum ladder bars to make the frame. We got the gas tank from a neighbor."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Matt Schindeldecker, 1206 Oak St., Farmington, Minn. 55024 (ph 651 463-7410; mschindel @charter.net).
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