Billy Carts

[xelasnave]

I don't notice any around these days but when I was a kid every kid had one in the years where push bikes were a luxury.

Anyways it is nice to see in some places they have evolved and live on...check this out ..one of many but I like wa t thing these.

https://youtu.be/Eugc2tdoKMw


Alex

[Saturnine]

They're way up market from the billy carts I remember. An old fruit box nailed to a length of 6"X2" with another length of 3"X2" for the steering via a length of rope attached to each end , which had the axle and wheels of an old baby pram or stroller affixed, with the other set of wheels on the rear cross piece. Finding discarded prams or strollers were prized by all the kids in the neighbourhood .

[leon]

Alex we did make one or two in our life time, but we had to pull them alone with someone on a bike, no hills to speak of were we lived as a kid.:sadeyes:

We had plenty of Dams though to paddle around in homemade Canoes made out of a sheet of roofing iron, which probably still lay on the bottom of the dam. :lol:

Now that one you show in your video is a hell of a hill. :eyepop:

Leon :thumbsup:

[By.Jove]

Aah the young and stupid. Brave ? No. Stupid, yes.
Clearly no idea of the possible injuries if they came of those things at that speed.

[sharkbite]

PFFF...helmets and roll bars.....carts made of metal....
Bleedin' soft if you ask me.

My dad was a carpenter so we had access to many a cheap offcut. The neighbour was a mechanic who brought us used race bearings. Yep none of your rubber wheels with grip for us.

My parents house is on a steep, straight road ending in a t-intersection, so if you could not turn, the gutter or signpost would arrest most of the carts forward progress, if not your own.

Brakes were a late innovation - and consisted of a lever that impacted directly to the road. this was more often than not spiked with nails so it would spark more than slow you down.

The one attempt a little bloke made with rubber wheels only resulted in so much grip he just rolled it and skinned himself.

BUT....(to provide some balance)

In my day sonny, shops didn't open on sunday, and no-one really drove anywhere. All Single car households so no-one parked on the street either.
So accidents were usually single-vehicle - worst injury i ever got was a skinned toe.

Imagine my distress when dad (who had inexplicably kept my old deathtrap) offered to let my then 10yo loose with it.

[sharkbite]

How about these guys then?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nnA77Ium5c

...and these guys already fell off....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGaOMT677TM

[glend]

Having grown up in Canada, my Billy cart was a sled. Sleds on ice are particularly dangerous, and getting them towed behind a car was a thrill. No brakes of course. I still have a chipped tooth from a crash with my cousin when I was 12yo.

[taminga16]

Castlemaine in Central Victoria hold The Castlemaine Billy Cart Challenge annually. Google is your friend.
Greg.

[AstroViking]

Great find, Alex! Those guys get up a good head of speed down that mountain...

Many, many years ago I took part in the Boolara Billy Cart Derby. We crashed out at the first major water obstacle and one team member ended up with a broken arm. Good times!

[xelasnave]

I would love doing this as a hobby...Speed comes from efficiency both in design and cornering methods...smooth would be key..and heck they dont seem to care about streamlining which would be a big part of the deal..I recall seeing some old footage many years ago of a kid who won a "soap box derby" and his key to success was covering himself and his ride in graphite ...of course everyone thought he was crazy but the fact is he won...

Alex

[glend]

Check out Rocket Man's kart.


https://youtu.be/gAKekhmTRaY

[croweater]

Glens experiences with a ice sled towed behind a car reminds me of being on the farm with my brothers. We had an old Holden car bonnet (fj I think) that we towed upside down through the paddocks behind a Toyota land cruiser. When it was dewy or raining was best.
We were having a great time with the driver attempting to force the towee to go over large tufts of grass and yakka bushes and get airborne. My brother got towed through a grass clump and hit a large rock hidden in the grass which split the bonnet down tbe centre and stopped it dead. The rope broke and my brother kept going, flying for a bit copping many scrapes and bruises. Even though I guess he could have been badly injured we thought it was hilarious. Fun times and great memories :lol:
Cheers, Richard.