Unlikely cast iron flywheel source

[DICKEYBIRD]

I stumbled across a source for cast iron flywheels. A friend at work has a house on the lake that is up the hill quite a way. His development has an electric tramway that rolls up & down the hill on a bunch of cast iron wheels with molded-on rubber tires. He maintains the thing and I got a few of the old wheels when the tires deteriorated and fell apart.

They're 4" dia. and 2" wide with cheap ball bearings pressed in. I'm thinking they'll make nifty flywheels after they're narrowed and a solid hub pressed in place of the bearings. If the outer rim turns out to be too thin, I can shrink on a brass or steel outer rim as well.

 

[Davyboy]

I too, have been collecting cast iron wheels in the hope of using them as flywheels. I found them at yard sales and flea markets, maybe paid a buck or two each. I've got several wheels from 3" dia to 6" diameter. There's a certain charm to castings that's hard to match even with careful machining. Now I need to spend some time in the shop, build and engine to spin them.
DB