When I tried to bolt the wheels to the axles I discovered that the threads on the axle were flat and also had been painted right along with the rest of the axle. So I had to get a threading die to clean up the threads before I could finish assembling the rear drive train.

I also had to add a tab to hold the return spring for the brake pedal. There are so many little things to be done that I am not sure I can find enough time before Christmas to get this cart finished.

I finally got all of the hydraulic hoses and fittings connected. Here is a short explanation of how it should work.

1. The hydraulic pump is connected to the engine.

2. The hydraulic pump receives fluid from the hydraulic tank.

3. The pump sends fluid to the control valve.

4. While the control valve is in neutral it simply allows the fluid to pass through and return to the tank.

5. When the pedal is depressed forward it sends fluid to the hydraulic motor and turns the wheels in forward direction.

6. When the pedal is depressed backwards it reverses the direction of the flow and activates the reverse direction.

7. The fluid is returned to the tank through a filter which strains out any contaminants from the hydraulic oil before recycling through the circuit.


In the following photo you can see the hose connecting the hydraulic pump to the control valve. The control valve is below the pump.

Some of the hoses are too short but they will have to do for the test run. This photo shows the return line running from the filter to the tank.

Here are the 2 ports of the motor connected to the control valve.

Here is a side view that shows the return line from the control valve to the filter.

Now that everything is connected it is time to see if a hydraulic gocart really works.


A couple of weeks ago we were in Charleston South Carolina for my neices wedding. This is a very interesting town rich with history dating back to the revolutionary times. We decided to go on a walking ghost tour at night and learn a little more about the cryptic history of the town. I have no explanation for this mysterious video that just showed up on my I phone.