Pulled this out of the shed...

[Red Fred]

Cleaning out the shed for Mrs Fred's lambs, I came across this beast that dad must have stuck in there 40 years ago. I seem to remember driving it once, aged about 10, but the Villiers went bang and dad said he would stick an old elevator engine on it, but he never got round to it so it stayed propped up against the wall behind the winnower. Must be late '50s, early 60s, so a classic. Now I need a motor....

 

[JD6920s]

Put a little Honda on it, something like a gx140 or even a cheap loncin, will be plenty on eBay with a centrifugal clutch.

 

[Dave W]

Tyres still inflated. Quite impressive

 

[Dry Rot]

I'm more impressed with the facilities for a backseat driver!

 

[Bobthebuilder]

ah feck it put a Scooby motor on the back

 

[Philip Watkins]

I'm more impressed with the facilities for a backseat driver!

I thought it was a 2 seater at first till I realised it's engine mount and fuel tank

 

[Dman2]

Cleaning out the shed for Mrs Fred's lambs, I came across this beast that dad must have stuck in there 40 years ago. I seem to remember driving it once, aged about 10, but the Villiers went bang and dad said he would stick an old elevator engine on it, but he never got round to it so it stayed propped up against the wall behind the winnower. Must be late '50s, early 60s, so a classic. Now I need a motor....
View attachment 634986

Posted at 2.10am
Must have been to excited to sleep thinking about it

 

[Red Fred]

Posted at 2.10am
Must have been to excited to sleep thinking about it

Yes, Mrs Fred just doesn't understand and thinks I'm getting excited about the lambs..
I had a look at the engines mentioned and they seem to be around £250 with a clutch so not too bad. I'm wondering where to syphon the cash from without attracting criticism.

 

[Red Fred]

ps slight problem bending to drive it, but hopefully things will ease with practice.

 

[michael N123]

Put a hayabusa motor on it

 

[Dman2]

Honda Blackbird engine
Now that would give you sleepless nights

 

[Red Fred]

Tyres still inflated. Quite impressive

Only one of the rear slicks is still inflated. It is so light, it doesn't squab them. I picked it up and lifted it out of the shed on my own.
It turns out that it's an early Trokart, built by Trojan of bubble-car fame c1959-60. Seems like they were adept at marketing and were irresistable to scantily clad young ladies.

 

[Mursal]

Sort the brakes first if you have youngsters driving.
Little 4 stroke maybe with a gearbox form a bike?
Then you can select a suitable gear for the user, if you don't get round to a gear change.

150cc would be plenty, I'd say?
As long as its easily started ............

 

[Dave W]

Only one of the rear slicks is still inflated. It is so light, it doesn't squab them. I picked it up and lifted it out of the shed on my own.
It turns out that it's an early Trokart, built by Trojan of bubble-car fame c1959-60. Seems like they were adept at marketing and were irresistable to scantily clad young ladies.
View attachment 635086

That’s ace. The fellas in the background look far less impressed than the girlies though

 

[suffolksmallholder]

If it's anything to go on the drive will be the same as was fitted to another Trojan machine, the Trojan Toraktor. I have a Mk1 so 60 years young!
The drive on this is a slip-belt affair. One pedal is a brake the other is the drive using an idler pulley to tighten the drive belt which in turn drives the machine. Mine is belt then chain to gear it down. There may be similar remains on the rear wheels. One wheel drive or two wheel drive & poor steering. Two wheel drive was a simple operation. Stop & poke a 4" nail into the wheel hub. this got us out of many muddy situations
Not a pic of mine but lifted from t'internet.
SS

 

[Red Fred]

That’s ace. The fellas in the background look far less impressed than the girlies though

Looks like a young Mr Putin pouting at what's going on.

 

[Red Fred]

If it's anything to go on the drive will be the same as was fitted to another Trojan machine, the Trojan Toraktor. I have a Mk1 so 60 years young!
The drive on this is a slip-belt affair. One pedal is a brake the other is the drive using an idler pulley to tighten the drive belt which in turn drives the machine. Mine is belt then chain to gear it down. There may be similar remains on the rear wheels. One wheel drive or two wheel drive & poor steering. Two wheel drive was a simple operation. Stop & poke a 4" nail into the wheel hub. this got us out of many muddy situations
Not a pic of mine but lifted from t'internet.
SS

I find all these things really interesting once you start to look into them. Just googling the history of Trojan and the karting craze has kept me busy all afternoon!

 

[pycoed]

Yes, Mrs Fred just doesn't understand and thinks I'm getting excited about the lambs..
I had a look at the engines mentioned and they seem to be around £250 with a clutch so not too bad. I'm wondering where to syphon the cash from without attracting criticism.

www.petrolscooter.co.uk & you won't be £250
e.g.
http://www.petrolscooter.co.uk/6-5h...plete-including-clutch-200cc-four-stroke.html

 

[Exfarmer]

Brings back some memories! One lap round the yard including the dairy, the slurry pit , up the rick yard, down the pig yard back to the dairy.
Think mum put the stop to it , when we came in covered in cow s**t.

 

[Tim Sargeant]

I am a bit late in coming to this forum but in view of the mention of the Trojan 'Toraktor' please read on;
Some years ago my restored Mk1 Trojan Toraktor was stolen from our garage at Goudhurst in Kent.
A photo can be found on the net and on stolenmodels.org. Please keep an eye out for it at shows etc in your area.
I can be contacted on 01580 211376 or Tim@Permanden .co .uk if anyone has any information. Thank you all.
The kart shown above is a 'Trokart' and I have a very rusty one of those. It was originally fitted with a Clinton
3-1/2 hp engine, (about 98cc, which Trojan imported from the USA) and a centrifugal clutch. The Clinton engines
were originally painted yellow and I have the original engine from our stolen Toraktor which I fitted with a
'Newton' engine. These were exactly the same as the Clinton unit but painted blue with an integral enclosed pull
(recoil) starting arrangement and slightly different petrol tank. It appears that the Clinton engine dies and moulds
were sold to Taiwan and they made them for some years after Clinton packed up. These were widely used on small
concrete mixers at the time. The history behind the manufacture of the Toraktor and the Trokart is; It would appear
that an order for Clinton engines was duplicated so Trojan, makers of the well-known Trojan vans which were
widely used by Grooms Bread, decided to make something to use up the extra engines. Hence the Toraktor and
Trokart were born. You may wonder where the 'Tor' part of the name came from; Trojan also owned a company
called the 'Tor Equipment Co Ltd'.
Tim Sargeant. Goudhurst, Kent.