As a child I spent time at my grandfathers home in Kaysville Utah when we went on vacation. One of my favorite places to go was to the “Farm” which was a plot of land that grandpa built a shop and storage building on. It was always a fun place to go.
I remember when I was a barely more than ten years old at best there was a discussion about a tricycle with my grandfather. My cousin Scotty, a couple of years younger asked grandpa to cut the two hoses that were attached to the back step of a tricycle off. Grandpa asked, “Are you sure that you want me to remove those exhaust pipes off that tricycle?” Scotty replied, “Of course I do. Why would I want them on there?” Grandpa than explained to Scotty, “When you were younger you told me that this tricycle had to have exhaust pipes so that it could go faster. Are you still sure that you want to have them removed?” Scotty told grandpa that he was sure.
Grandpa walked over to the large tool chest on wheels that he had made. He reached in and grabbed a pair of side cutters to cut the bailing wire that held the two short pieces of old garden hose off the underside of the lower step on the tricycle. I do not think that the tricycle was any slower because all we wanted to do is tow the tricycle behind the small tractor that grandpa built.
Today, the large tool chest got new wheels. The existing tires were Goodyear 6″ x 2″ solid rubber tires on small split hubs. I tried to see if Goodyear still sold 6″ x 2″ tires and had no luck. The next challenge was that the rear wheels had a 1/2 inch bore and the front wheels were 3/8 inch bore. I went to a couple of places and found a large set of casters that had the right size wheels and 1/2″ bore. I thought I may be able go to plan B and just replace the casters.
Upon my arrival back home further investigation showed the existing casters as welded on. No torch and plan A was back in order. A visit to another store and I had piece of steel with a 1/2 inch inner diameter and a 3/8″ outer diameter. Within about a half our after having all the parts as well as the lunch the project was done. New wheels for the large toolbox and it rolled great. For a moment I though about attaching a couple of exhaust pipes to see if it would roll faster. Then again, I was not really into pushing it around the yard to find out if it really helped.
