This Wooden Go-Kart Assembles in Hours and Hits 25 MPH

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2015 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Zach Doell

 

 

Go-karting is good fun, relatively inexpensive, and makes for a great bonding experience. But not everyone is ready to make the leap and sink their teeth into the full karting experience, much less the full go-kart budget. Thankfully for the parent and child DIY-ers of the world, there is the PlyFly.

 

Designed in Newport, Rhode Island, the PlyFly is as much of a go-kart as it is a build-it-yourself IKEA shelving unit. The PlyFly go-kart is made of wood, it’s lightweight, and it ships to your home in three boxes (wood, hardware, and engine).

All you need to do is grab a few tools from the work bench and slap it all togethBut don’t think that a wooden go-kart equals rickety. The Flatworks, the company behind PlyFly, uses CNC machining to precisely form each component of the wooden chassis out of 13-ply Baltic Birch plywood. Steering is handled by a wooden rack and pinion unit, and just about everything else other than the disc brake, wheels, and engine is made of wood.

For the casual go-kart racer, the PlyFly can be shipped with a basic 2.5 horsepower motor, which is good for a top speed of 17 mph. But for the more speed inclined, a 4 horsepower engine is available, ramping the top speed up to 25 mph.

If you want to buy one, you’re in luck. The PlyFly is raising funds on Kickstarter for full-scale production, and you can put in an order for one of the first. Pricing starts at just $745 for the basic 2.5 horsepower kit.

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