At the age of fourteen I modified a red wagon by cutting the back lip out and installing a 5 HP Lawson-Tecumseh horizontal shaft lawn mower engine on a plank. This arraignment lacked any sort of clutch to drive a modified rear wheel from my sister's tricycle which had the spokes necessary to attached a spoked dryer pulley. This arraignment also produced an outrageous drive ratio.

My brother volunteered for the test run, seated in the wagon with a firm grip on the "tiller Bar" I pushed the wagon until the speed allowed the engine to overcome the ratio.

As the wagon picked up speed to accommodate the fixed throttle setting, My brother ran out of "test track" and attempted to turn. The wagon flipped and my brother was thrown clear, suffering only minor "road rash". The spark plug embedded itself in the pavement.

So, in answer to the question, yes, I have actually done this.

Ah, Unredundant. Your story and the OP bring back such memories...

I have often wondered why it took my father so long to place ALL of his tools under lock and key. I simply accepted this as another challenge, and so began my long association with locks and keys.

My father's limit was the same red wagon platform, this time with a Power Products two stroke, and a 14" three bladed cast aluminum exhaust fan that looked a lot (to me anyway) like an airplane prop.

My father arrived home from work to see a group of neighborhood kids gathered around a red wagon with white smoke streaming from the now invisible prop.

His face lacked the usual concerned-but-proud look as he ran up and killed the engine while shouting "J.....C.....(He only swore in emergency situations) That blade wasn't designed for that speed!"

He took the time to hacksaw the blades off, all the while muttering about being afraid to come home from work.

He started locking his stuff up after that one.

Well, let's see:

So far you have re-purposed parts from Sissy's tricycle, a clothes dryer, a lawnmower, an exhaust fan, another small engine from something, and the wagon (that wagon had a difficult life). You endangered life and limb of several neighborhood kids, and endangered the property of the neighbors. You probably added 3 shades of grey to your father's hair. And, you had a blast! So did all the other kids.

If I were with you, I would have found a way to add some of those metal-tipped lawn darts fitted with rocket motors. Ah, to be a kid again.

Someone should start a thread "Crazy things you did as a kid".

I'm a public speaker, and frequently find myself talking before strangers about the "fun" of science (no, really, Science IS fun. Just not the book kind. Applied Science is fun), and a favorite series is "how I almost didn't live to be an engineer".

Dangerous? Probably. Fun? Certainly. And I limp, and crunch, a lot when I walk, now. But while I may ache at odd times, I can always remember the fun ways I got these aches, as payback.

I, for one, would Love to see a thread like that!!

That is the word, "Applied Science"

The most fun a boy can have, and still be dangerous!

The categories could be:

• Applied fireworks (other than lay-on-ground-light-fuse-retire-quickly).
• Electrical (without regard for theory).
• Mechanical (without regard for laws of physics).
• All of the above applied to practical jokes.
• Somewhat painful lessons.

I just did.....

Where? I want to go there. That sounds like TOOO much fun!!

C'mon, Andy. Where's the thread link?

Try this:-

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/57547?frmtrk=cr4sd

Email me if it does not function correctly.

Thank you. Worked fine. Joined it today. Will write up some of my own stupidity after I finish laughing at you guys! This is great stuff.

Have to keep my physics students away from it, though. And my friend's chem students! I'll tell him about it though. He'll hurt himself laughing at it. His wife will shoot us both. Then go looking for one on bio-chem.