Newport Company Creates Wooden Go-Kart You can Build in One Day

I was one of those kids who grew up counting down the days until I finally got my driver’s license, and it wasn’t because I wanted to go places.

I just wanted to drive a car.

Fortunately, go-karts exist and I’ll never forget my memories zooming around the track at the now-gone Maple Breeze Park in Pawcatuck, Conn., savoring the fumes of the four-stroke engines as I tried in earnest to pass as many moms, dads and other kids as I could.

Now, a new Newport company has carved out a way for anyone with about $800 and a few hours of free time to relive those childhood memories — or create some new ones with a young budding motorhead. And it’s a lot more attainable than a traditional steel-based go-kart.

It’s called the PlyFly — a wood-based go-kart that comes in three boxes and can be put together with probably less effort than an IKEA cabinet.

It comes with everything you need — the wooden parts that make up the chassis, seat and steering system, a set of foam-filled tires and engine.

The PlyFly is the first product from The Flatworks LLC, a small company with big plans in Waites Wharf. Founder and lead designer Tim Moulton said in an interview that the kit is designed to make the joy of go-karting much more accessible than the traditional steel-based go-kart with which we’re all familiar.

“We’re trying to gear this towards everybody,” Moulton said. “We’ve been working on it since the beginning of last July and it took a while to refine it to the point where we’re comfortable shipping it.”

Now, with the kit design completed, prototypes built and all the components specified, they’re ready. This week, they launched a Kickstarter campaign in the hopes of raising $36,000 to help them get out of the gate.

The plan is to raise enough to finance a few big purchases of parts. That will pave the way for the company to start ramping up production, Moulton said.

People who pledge $745 will get a 2.5 horsepower version of the go-kart and $845 pledgers will get the more powerful 4 horsepower version.

Both are equipped with rack and pinion steering, a disc brake, an adjustable seat, smartphone mount for recording action video and telemetry and a safety flag.

The wood is a 13-layer Baltic birch plywood which is extremely strong and durable. And as an added bonus, wood offers a unique organic-feeling riding experience. Moulton noted that some of the promotional video was shot on ice thanks to the remarkable winter Newport has had.

“You can feel a little flex in the frame and it’s not weakness,” he said. “It’s like a built-in suspension.”

So far, the Kickstater campaign has wasted no time in picking up speed. Within 30 minutes of launching, they got word from Kickstater that their campaign had been selected as a staff pick. Thirty minutes after that, a wave of traffic crashed their website.

As of Friday, the campaign had raised $13,000 towards the $36,000 goal with 32 days left to go. At the current rate, they’re poised to cross the checkered flag long before the deadline.

“It’s giving everyone a reason to get excited about the project for 30 days and it’s allowing [us] to form a nexus of interest,” Moulton said. “We’ve gotten some good mentions and have had some online media stuff over the last couple of days. We’re just getting started.”

Moulton said that the PlyFly could compete against steel-based go-karts, and there’s no reason it should be precluded from competition organized by the various go-karting associations across the country. Ideally, it would “be fun to imagine this in a class of racing, almost like a box car or semi-stock category.”

Once assembled, the out-of-the-box PlyFly just begs for customization and Moulton said part of the excitement is to see what customers do to their karts. Demand for a base cart without an engine has prompted the company to offer it on their website. And the potential for cool paint jobs and other modifications are limitless.

Aside from the engine and wheels, everything in the kit is built here in Newport. The PlyFly is designed to be cut out of wood with a computerized router, which will enable them to scale the business easily.

The kit will arrive in three boxes. One will contain all the wooden structural parts in a flat box. The second will contain all the parts and the last box holds the engine.

The whole thing comes together like a jigsaw puzzle and the only tools needed are a hammer or mallet, screwdriver, some wrenches and other common tools anybody willing to take on the project should already have.

According to the project schedule, assembly instructions and manufacturing planning will occur in March. Orders will be placed in April and parts will start getting cut. The first kits should be shipping out by May.

Check out the Kickstarter below: