The Virginia enterprise., 1912-12-06
HOW TO BUILD A PUSHMO8ILE

The pushmobile is a unique form
of homemade wagon, patterned as
nearly after an automobile as it is
possible to make it with the materials
that boy can find about the house.
1t is steered by the "driver,' who
rldes, and pushed by the "mecha-
nician." who runs behind
After several pushmobiles have
been built by the boys Of your neigh
borhood, great fun may be had
through the organization of a push
mobile club and the promotion Of
puahmobile races
There are almost as many schemes
for building these machines" as there
are forms Of automobiles, and by u.s.
ing a little ingenuity every boy Of a
club can have car Of his own de-
sign. The pushmobile shown in Fig.
I is one Of the simplest forms to
make. After | have described its con-
struction, you can make such addi-
tions and alterations to the design as
you WISH
If you haven't any wheels at hand,
there are a number of sources from
a pair can be picked up at a second
hand store, or at a junk shop; and
often you will come across boy with
whom you can make trade for some.
Get the iron rods, nuts and washers
that belong to the wheels, II possible,
so that you will not have to get new
ones. In case an axle is missing, or
one that you have Is too long or too
short, you can get a blacksmith, ma
chinist or plumber to thread a piece
of rod Of the right length for you.
Fig. shows the completed frame
work Of the pushmobile and Fig the
construction of the wagon-bed The
rails A and the connecting crosspieces
and G are made out Of pieces Of 2
by 4. The length of the former will
be determined by whatever length
you wish to have the car, while that
Of the latter will be fixed by the
length Of the wheel axles. The boards
D are nailed to the side of rails a to
support the hood framework, and the
crosspiece f Is fastened to the under
side Of the rails for foot rest
If the front and rear pair OF wheels
are Of equal diameter, the wooden
axles F and G may both be pieces Of
2 by 4 Gig. p; but if the rear pair
are larger than the front pair, axle r
should be omitted and axle G. made of
rlpht 70 ~ -
the Wagonbcd level The iron axles
may be fastened to the wooden aXles
either with staples or bent over nails.
Procure Il carriage bolt long enough
to extend through axle G. and cross
piece &, for a king-bolt. and With this
pivot the front pair Of wheels in place.
The framework Of the hood is made
of barrel-hoOps, the ends of which are
fastened to boards D. Be careful to
fasten them so their tops will all be
on a line.
Figs. 2 and show the details for
the steering gear A sewing achine
wheel or wagon wheel may be used
for the steering wheel. and piece Of
4 broom-handle will do for the shaft.
A hole should be bored in the inner
edge of wooden axle G for a pocke.
for the end Of the shaft to set in {FYg.
~. and the board H Fig. . must be
fitted in the end of the hood frame
work, aid be notched in its top edge
to support the upper end of tie shaft
The method Of connecting the front
wheels with the shaft is simple, as
you will see by examining Fig. s. The
Crosspiece l Is a trif1e shorter than
the distance between the bars A. so 1t
will turn with the shaft. and a hole
large enough for the shaft to run
through is bored through its center.
A screw in the edge Of the strip is
used for a set-screw to fasten it to
the shaft, and to make the fastening
doubly secure, the block J Is fastened
to strip and another set-screw driven
into one end Of crosspiece l. and an
other into the under side of each of
the two bars A Gig. s., and after at
taching two pieces OF rope to the
screw-eye in the end Of crosspiece I.
run one through each of the screw
eyes in bars A and tie to a screw-eye
near the end OF the wooden axle G
Gigs 2 and ~. The lengths of these
steering lines must be 80 adjusted
that when the steering-wheel cross-
piece 10 turned In the position shown
In Fig. tho left fore wheel will turn