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This the billy cart I made
at 120 Wright Street in East Devonport when I was about 13, and was the
culmination of a series of models, each getting more sophisticated. The
photo was taken at Xmas 1964, just before I moved to Hobart. It has a swinging front axle and a hand brake acting on one rear wheel. The wheels are from a lawnmower, and run on nylon bearings on steel axles. The flag and the paint job make it look quite swish. My dad organised to give it to someone in Devonport when we left for Hobart. I guess it has long since disintegrated. It was at least 30 years before I made another cart, prompted by a request from my daughter. |
 This
picture was taken by Phillip Randall
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This is Ben
Methorst racing in the upgraded "Bush Basher". Originally
built by David Edwards with steel reinforced plastic golf buggy wheels,
this version has 12" pavement cycle wheels with rear caliper brakes.
The steering uses parallelogram geometry, with a rope link between the steering column and the front track rod.
The modifications were performed by John McCulloch. The picture was
taken at the 29 March 2006 Billycart Derby at the Technopark. With the
new wheels and steering, Ben came first in his division. Top speed was
probably about 50 kph. Note the colour coordinated wheels and
tyres. There is no speed sensor. |
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This is David at the
Baskerville Racecourse at the 19 April 2004 Billycart Derby. This cart
is the third version of the "Speed Machine". It has 12" pavement cycle
wheels on the back and 12" plastic rim golf buggy wheels with
commercial bearings on the front. The first version of this cart used
ball bearing golf buggy wheels with soft non-inflatable tyres front and
rear. It was quite slow. The second version used plastic rims with
commercial bearings on the rear, but left the golf buggy wheels on the
front, and was somewhat faster. The third version shown in the picture
was faster again, reaching about 45 kph. The steering uses a pivoted
beam above the chassis with broomstick and rope steering. The cart was
constructed by David Edwards with help from Mike Meerding who helped
insert the bearings in the front wheels. A bike speedo is mounted just
in front of the steering wheel, with the sensor on the right hand rear
wheel. |
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This is David in his fourth cart at Baskerville Racecourse on 1 October 2006. This cart is designed to have a lower profile, and hence less wind resistance, and to be more stable at speed. This is aided by the longer wheel base. The steering geometry is true Akerman, with separately adjustable toe in and steering rope tension. The front king pins are parliament hinges mounted on the 4" x 2" side frames. This allows the driver's heels to sit on the floor. Braking is by calipers on all four wheels, with a three balancing beams to ensure that the braking load is distributed evenly over all four wheels. Accessories include a speedo and an air horn. This cart reached about 50 kph down the Baskerville Hill. |
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This photo was taken at the 10th Technopark Billycart Derby on Sunday 22 April 2007. David's fastest cart (so far) is in the foreground, and can be compared in size with his third speed machine in the background. The longer wheel base is immediately apparent. The new accessory - a digital watch incorporating a wind speed sensor, is mounted just in front of the steering wheel. With better front tyres and wheels, and aided by a 4 kph tail wind, David managed to reach 55 kph down the 18 m high 220 m long Technopark Hill on the day. |
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This photograph was taken
at the Billycart Derby held at Baskerville Racecourse Tasmania on
Sunday 20 April 2008. Peter Marendy is about to let David go on
the start line. David is sitting up on the back to get an extra 600 mm
of height, and will slide down right into the body as the speed picks
up. On the day, David came 3rd, with a speed estimated at about 55 kph.
This is the same cart as shown above, but fitted with a masonite
("Burnie Board") and duct tape cover. |
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This picture, taken at Baskerville on Sun 20 April 2008, shows Peter Marendy, Nicholas Marendy and David Edwards with the trophies they picked up on the day. As the base shows, we got a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd, all in billycarts constructed by David, with help from Peter Marendy, Ben Marendy and John McCulloch. |
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page designed by David Edwards Last updated 6 June 2008 Copyright © David Edwards 2006, 2007, 2008  |
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