Reviving the Crazy S#!% I Built in High School - MOWped First Start in YEARS 

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This looks like something we would’ve built last week

The fact that Kevin’s first revival was a Honda express makes my heart so happy 🤣🤣🤣

John's deathtrap reminds me of the much less elaborate deathtrap my buddy and I threw together in high school. He had one of those green mesh garden wagons and I had an old rototiller from like the '80s sitting around doing nothing so we decided to combine the two and make the shittiest go-kart you've ever seen. Robbed the engine and drive pulleys off the tiller, bolted the biggest pulley to one (1) wheel, sat the engine on top of it (held in place with two criss-crossed bungee cords), and connected the two with the old alternator belt off my Mazda. The belt wasn't tight enough so we took the tiller's idler pulley and hung it off the wagon's floor with a bolt and two hose clamps. It was direct-drive all the time which meant it was both compression started _and_ stopped and steered via the pull handle held up in front of your face. This motherfucker went 30mph and was about as stable as a Geo Tracker with a fridge strapped to the roof. God I miss it.

This is now my favorite booger-welded death-trap. Also, John, we miss the mullet for sure but have no fear that we won't recognize you! I would know those dulcet speaking tones and extreme lack of concern for personal safety anywhere.

I was born/raised/lived in Cedar Falls, IA til age 38. My late parents got me a brand new blue Yamaha QT250 in 1984 when I was 12. I rode it around our Amoco station lot til I was old enough for a license in 1986. Rode it to part of 8th & 9th grade. Rode it to part of 10th before I got my first car in 1988. Lost interest after that (sadly) and ended up giving it to my late older brother that needed it to get around at drag racing events. The last time I remember riding it before it finally died from all of my abuse (and his) was early/mid 90s. I really appreciate this video, Kevin. Brought back so many memories for me! Been watching your channel for a few years. Much respect from Des Moines!

Seeing John at the end made me think of Fear and Loathing... “There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.”

I had a smile on my face the whole way through this video. Good to see the mow-ped alive again. Mom

I remember being younger and working out at a farm. One day I found a rusty old mini bike and asked if I could take it home, the farmer said it was a rusty piece of crap but I did not care. I brought it home and all the neighborhood kids pitched in for replacement parts and ones who couldn't helped tear it apart and clean it up. We got that sucker running and it moved quick. Surprised nobody ever got hurt on that thing. Anyways one day I came home and found out my brother (Who didn't contribute at all to it) sold it on me. I have never been so mad in my life. I would probably still ride that sucker today, it was amazing.

the corn is looking nice, cant wait to see the next video in the crop series.

I'm 65, in the sixties we were the first to put a knobby tire on the FRONT of our bikes! Now mountain bikes and others have finally caught up! Farm life where you had to manufacture your own fun! Hey Kevin that's a nice looking stand of corn🌽 !

That's a Mustache straight outta Me, Myself and Irene. Maybe an application to the Rhode Island State Patrol, officer? 🧡

Hilarious! The "surprise" when it ran (as we all expected given it's a Honda) was very cool. As Chris and others have said, I'd love to pull some pile of parts out of my shed and build something out of it with with my son.

I love this type of stuff. I want to build a motorised wheel barrow out of an old quad. One day .

Well I should be going to bed because my first day of school is tomorrow. But I'll just watch this new Junkyard Digs episode instead

Bro you need to restore it! It would be super cool to see the welds all fixed up, the engine rebuilt, the seat fixed, and even the lights!

How we all survived our childhood continues to amaze me.

One of those rarities where Mook's brother joins the gang.

The best way to describe this thing is "contraption"

"Others call this junk, I call this treasure"

This has got to be my most favorite Junkyard Digs video of all time right here, I have never seen anything that thrown together before in my life, AND I LOVE IT!!

just seeing everyone's faces at 0:00 and holding a brew made me figure this was gonna be a good one

The humble beginnings of JYD!!! Love it!!!

My first motorcycle was a Honda express but the orange one and my first mower was a snapper. Never did I ever think about putting them together. I love it!

This thing is great man. Reminds me of stuff my cousins built growing up. They had a old 3 wheeled rusty sharp pointy bicycle thing pieced together with an old Briggs motor. Dangerous fun times visiting my cousins👍 o yea we called it The Contraption.

This is without a doubt the most beautiful intricate machine I've ever seen... it takes my breath away

When I was about 13 I built a 3 wheeled go cart out of a cheap furniture dolly, the ones that have 8 inch pneumatic tires. Cut the handle off,and welded a 10 pneumatic castor wheel platform and rigged up a tiller steering bar with a 90 degree angle that stuck straight up at the end you held onto. Put a throttle off a Honda 3 wheeler on it. The load bearing plate became A. the backrest, and B.the anchor point for the very sketchy motor mount system of angle iron, rear, and about 5 layers of 1/8 inch sheet metal with about 200 rosette welds to make a solid motor plate which we bolted a 12 hp Tecumseh Rototiller engine and clutch assembly that ran a carb off a 250cc Harley Davidson 2 stroke dirtbike (so obviously no longer had a governor) and 2 .060"" valve spring shims on each valve. We ground approximately. 100" off the base circle of the cam lobes which with proper lash gave us .100" more lift. Took a lot of trial and error along with about 100 Allen screws to make homemade lash caps to get the correct lash which then created another problem. That much lift without a change in duration or lobe separation angles boosted our cylinder pressure dramatically which meant a 13 year old who weighed about 100 lbs would try to pull start it and about halfway through the compression stroke it would kick back and try to jerk your arms out of socket if you were dumb enough to try and hang on. Starting procedure became pulling it behind a 10 speed bike with the clutch disengaged and the kill switch in the off position as fast as possible then engage the clutch, wheels would slide about 3 feet then the engine would start turning, and then flip the switch to on about 2 seconds after the engine started turning. We were geared for top speed because that's the only sprockets we had (probably would've gone 80 mph if we'd had enough power) so that helped make this operation a lot easier, usually by the 3rd attempt we had it running. Then the trick was don't let it die until we were done riding for the day. It had a solid axle that drove both rear wheels and a home made "scrubber brake" that rubbed one tire to stop... so yeah kinda no brakes. We lived on a caliche road that was pretty decent for about a week after the maintainer came by which happened once per month. We had a 2 mile stretch of straight as an arrow road and only 2 families that lived on that road about 2 miles past us and over a cattle guard which we knew better than to attempt crossing with 8 inch diameter tires. Don't know how fast it went, felt like 200 mph but was probably around 45. Dad was a truck driver and only home on weekends, and we were always super busy helping nim work on cars when he was home so he knew we'd built this thing but I think he assumed we ran the rototiller self propelled drive system with a modification or two. One weekend he had a buddy over and the buddy asked how fast our cart went. Dad said probably about 15 mph. Highly offended me and my brother fired it up to show him what was what. I made a short pass by the shop at about half speed and then did the sketches rolling burnout with the front wheel turned about 75° to turn around then kinda coasted to a stop in front of my dad and his buddy who are standing there mouths agape. Dad's says lemme try that suckered out, and if I was smart I'd have stalled it right then and not been able to restart it...But nope, beaming with pride I get off, give my dad a quick tutorial on the controls and away he goes. Well he did a top speed pass, must used every inch of road we had because we'd never seen that thing go anywhere near that fast. He flies by us and starts pushing the most useless brake pedal in all of motorsports history and I guess he was down to about 30mph when he reached the cattleguard I mentioned earlier. I don't know exactly how high that thing flew when he jumped that cattleguard but I know I saw at least 4 feet of daylight between him and the road. When he managed to get it turned around and back to the shop we could see a definite bow in the frame and that castor wheel was about to snap off. The tiller steering bar had a new 45° bend in the middle of it, dad had a bruise on his cheek and a mouse over his eye. Without saying a word he walked into the shop and wheeled the Oxygen/acetylene torch out and cut up everything but the engine. His buddy got uncomfortable and left. That night he said, " I oughta whip yalls asses for building that damn death trap. I can't believe nobody ever got seriously hurt or killed on it. The only reason I'm not beating your asses is I'm kinda proud yall could make something go that fast for such a small amount of money, you gotta tell me what all you did to the engine." We told him what all we'd done and he ended up selling the engine for $150 to a guy that was building some hotrod vintage looking 1/4 midget car to run exhibition laps at the dirt track in Roswell NM about 75 miles away. He gave us the money on the condition that if we built anything with an engine he had to check it out before we ran it. We probably had $35 in the whole cart so we weren't to upset, honestly I think we knew all along it was a death trap disaster waiting patiently to kill or maim someone but admitting this thing was a very bad idea was just not something we were gonna do. Didn't wanna look like a chicken... Better dead than scared I guess. Unfortunately I haven't processed much in some ways. Currently I'm building and riding a Vtwin powered minibike built off a Massimo Baja Warrior MB 200 chassis. Modifying as I go, riding daily and have it up over 70 mph so far, and my plans should have it over 100mph soon. I'm almost 52 now and after years of building and racing dragbikes including Nitromethane burning 140 cubic inch "Harley" Top Fuel/Pro Fuel bikes ( not a single actual Harley part on them) I guess I just can't walk away from it.

Have you started the search for a harvester for your corn yet? I'm willing to bet anything you find for free/cheap will take a lot of work and long waits for parts

The welds immediately gave me a memory to my childhood when me and my dad would weld our own custom "Chopper" Bicycles out of bikes we garbage picked and then every year at the end of the local parade we would ride our bikes behind the last float and "crash" the parade riding thru on our chopper bikes and we even had a few people stop us and get our info so that we could build chopper bikes for them and their kids so not only was it family fun and memories for life but also a bit of business experience in marketing and sales lmao

Kevin, my dude. This. This is why I dig your stuff so much. Thanks for the smile and y’all just keep on. Thanks as always for quality content and just a great time.

MOW-ped: official pace vehicle of the 2023 Grand Prix Grand Prix

seeing old builds like this reminds me of when me, my brother, and my friends used to build go karts out of wooden pallets. rlly makes me happy brother

Reminds me when 6 years ago i used to put old Drill motors in my Rc cars, and see how fast I could make them go, only to realize they were crappy brushed motors that didn't have much speed, but still made me happy because back then I didn't have any other motor to put in the Rc cars, and it was just genuinely fun to see my crazy abomination spin to life anyways. To this day I still have the same rc car with a drill motor in it, but I don't use it too often as I have moved onto brushless motors with higher speeds

Havent had a good 3 wheeler revival in a long time its about time

ROFLMAO! If it weren't Junkyard Digs doing this - I'd say IMPOSSIBLE! Thanks for the fun short 😎😎

First. Right off the bat... The most important part of this video, is indeed, that Ford Ranger..... 🤣🤣👍

Seems like something that should been in the Joe dirt movie. 😂

That's cool that you still have it. Something to show your kids someday😄👍

Best real people "King of The Hill" moment!!!!

I built a 3 wheeler as well...yamaha big bear front end, tao tao 50cc rear end. Runs great, has been great fun to ride. Putting 2 different rigs together is great fun, both to build and to run.

You should put a reel mower on the front where it says snapper and it will definitely be a mowped

That was fun to watch. brings back memories of my childhood creating stuff like that.

I used to have a Snapper lawn mower and always thought someone could possibly do something cool with it. Years later I see this. Thank you for confirming my childhood suspicions of awesome.

So glad my young friend sent your video to this 74 yo Granny!! Takes me back in time over 50 years to some fun experiences! Enjoyed your banter as much as seeing you two ride and the pictures of the wheelbarrow moped!!

well, Honda certainly knows how to build an engine

Mow ped lol I had to make my dirt bikes run with nothing when I was a kid aswell. And now I'm a mchanicly inclined all prosseses welder fabricator. Fix anything with not much. There is always a way.

I think you believe its so sketchy now is cuz you were a person of smaller stature when you did it. Now that you are more adult, its better built for more 'fun' sized people like...Mook and John and Jesse! Lots of FUN in this video!!!!

Mooks face says it all. She was like ???????? lol love you all so much.

In MI you can get a road legal moped license at age 15 so I also was pretty familiar with a similar style bike in HS, a QT50 I also road as a dirt bike and even on frozen lakes with studded tires

Brings me back 40 years! Awesome video

Cars and cameras would love this

Damn , I love being an Iowan born and bred country boy....... You make Country proud Kevin and you make being Free proud.

Kevin and John you both built really cool machines. 🙂

More proof you don't have to spend thousands of dollars and have a fancy shop to have fun with anything mechanical.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. That was the best 20 minutes of my day.

i wish john was on every show . you never know what he will say or do but you know your going to smile and laugh because he's funny.

There's a select few people in the world who'd I'd love to buy a beer for. You Kevin, along with Mook Jessie and John. Yall seem like some cool people. love the videos my dude.

This looks like something my neighbor would build he loves to work on crazy stuff all the time!

Dude, put pedals on the snapper-side and use bike cables for gas/brake. Also, any way to get more power outta that thing?

Duuude this is awesome

Snonda 5 wheel moped... Kevin spends 8 hours kicking the starter until it pops off

I think this is Kevin's shortest video so far🤔 Love your stuff man keep them coming

Having experienced a few of Kevin's vids, this is not a surprise that he was nuts as a kid. LOVE IT!

Takes me back to shit we used to do. Thanks from NJ

I've never seen a skateboard kick actually work on a motorized vehicle until today.

There's always something to learn when watching a Junkyard Digs video 😂 Thanks for the great content and teaching me a lot

Friggin awesome. Youth was so awesome. The things we used to do. Wooohoooo! Keep On Motoring Brother!!!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

My first revival was a 84 Honda 3 wheeler Got it running and almost restored during highschool, took it for 2 trips up and down the road, blew up the motor, and had to push it a quarter mile home on gravel. Good times

Brilliantly insane. I love it. Also, the corn is looking good out in the back field.

That is a terrifying contraption of doom, well done Young Kevin. 🤣

It looks like something Sid from toy-story would build 🤣😂

Back in the late 1990s, I built a sweet ass lawnmower. The thing I was most proud of was the hand crafted dual exhaust I made from 3/4” galvanized piping. Sounded like a Harley. 27mph and no brakes. Took it through the woods and tried to jump a fallen tree. Mower stopped dead in its tracks, but I went ass end over the steering wheel a few times. That was the end of that. I still have the exhaust and a picture of the mower for memories sake.

I wasn't expecting this, what a junky surprise

Kevin use to mostly impress me by his dedication to breathing life into the old, the forgotten and given up on vehicles of the past. Now, after seeing this death trap, I am most impressed with the fact that he has survived as long as he has.

I was terrible in shop class so all I made was a mess LOL. But my older brother made a motorized barstool for an assignment in high school auto shop. If I remember correctly, he couldn't get a barstool in time, so he ended up using just a classroom desk chair. The motor was an old Kohler snowblower engine, I think. I remember he came home laughing one day because apparently someone in his class tore apart another snowblower for its engine, only to find out it was the snowblower owned by the school which was in the auto shop for a tune up. The janitor was not happy 🤣. This is such a neat contraption. I love hearing stories like yours. Keep up the great work!

The good old stuff always comes back to life

Next year needs to be death-trap motorcycle races on the field.

That's actually what I want my house to look like! Random vehicals laying around!

That thing is wicked cool! Ya better hold on to that thing for as long as it lives 😂 reminds me of the first moped i had 1980 Honda express. It had a bad engine in it and had no way to get it fixed because I was a city boy and like 13, so I gutted the front off of it and put it on a bicycle 😂 that thing was epic. This reminded me of some of the contraptions i would come up with in my parents backyard when I was a teen. Really cool to see great minds think alike when there's a will and way. I also had a 1982 Honda city express that also had a bad engine and a 2004 cool sports 50cc scooter engine and drivetrain. I mated the 2 together and it had like a 14 inch wheel in the front and a 10 inch wheel in the back 😂😂 it scooted though. Did like 40 and all the lights worked on the 1982, that's why I did the swap for legality. Rode that thing for years. Might still be running to this day maybe? Wish I still had all the cool things I made as a kid lol.

bored farm kid + broken moped + junk mower + welder = super happy fun time! during my time as a bored farm kid, i just made go karts out of old riding mowers, not full on monster-os-ities like this fubar clusterfuk of epic proportions! you know, it's truly a wonder you survived to adulthood with all of your appendages intact. did you play tarzan on the old hay bale trolley rope that was hanging from a track at the peak of the barn rafters like i did as well? i kept waiting for the bale fork that was stuck up there to break off and send me skying through the back wall of the barn like my dad was always yelling at me about, but it never happened. i guess it really is better to be lucky than good.

Great video looks like a lot of fun I’m sure your dad’s happy to get your stuff out of his yard

Thanks guys I was having a crap day and this really gave me a good laugh! I built a go kart out of some old bed frame and a 3 horse engine when I was around 10… It had no brakes and the back wheels would commonly fall off!🤣

Dude, find yourself a knobby bicycle tire & replace the one on the rear with it!! Then it'll SERIOUSLY rip in the dirt!!😁 That thing looks GNARLY!!😉🍻

This channel is the most wholesome thing in my life.

Thanks Kevin this explanes a lot, the dumb shit we do in our youth brings back memories 😜

IMO the friend shouldnt look for faults as anybody who could make this preteen is a genius and don't forget 10 year olds don't have big budgets if any

That thing is about like me putting a car Stering wheel on my bicycle when I was a kid.. lol 😆

This contraption cracks me up. The “training wheels” had me rolling!

That looks fun as hell. I wanna build one for myself

As a fan of sketchy vehicles, I approve of this tomfoolery. Also would love to take it for a spin. :)

So John made a 1930s Ford Roadster Sand Rail out of a old wheelBarrel now that is dope @9:09 @JunkYard Digs

John I love the new patrol car!

It was great seeing John again! And also this had to be the quickest revival ever!!!! Keep up the great work, the content has been outstanding

Hell yes! Looking forward to this!

Dude...! Keep this little beast! IT IS YOUR CHILDHOOD!!! I can only wish I still had my contraptions from growing up in the 70's in the Pacific Northwest growing crops and cow's & pigs for food to get through winter. Chicken's, the whole nine Gen X'r here. You sharing your childhood is priceless, along with the SH*T ya made out of necessity. Far out Man.

When you see beers in hand at the very beginning you know it's going to be 🔥!

Im subscribed with the notification bell on and I love your awesome channel bro keep up the great work

Thats really cool as a boy you dreamed that up and it looks fun 😀

Just awesome, and that last ride too

Gr8 to see John.. u guys make it very 🤣😂🤣🤣🤣 hilarious for me and wife to watch.. u rock