We started out on a very small budget. To get my son started I took on extra work wherever I could find it. I have skills that I have been taught over the years. I shingled a few houses, then partnered up with a friend who was a roofer. The first summer we shingled 3 or 4 houses. The money I got from those jobs I put half in an envelope and the other half in the bank for bills. I had a few financial setbacks and had to use my envelope money a few times and had to start over. I also hired out to a construction company to help whenever they got behind. I worked part time for a tree service clearing pastures for $10 per hour. Half of each check went to racing. After a couple of months I had enough to buy my son his first kart, an almost 20 year old ultra max. That was around Thanksgiving and I gave 800 for the kart. The next spring I was back at the construction work. By race time I had enough saved to buy his safety gear. I pulled an old homemade 4x8 trailer out of a friends junk pile and rebuilt it for our first trailer. I replaced the wheel bearings and the tires. The deck and a tool box were made from scrap wood I had taken off a damaged roof or two. I bought a set of gears every time I had the extra $10, bought tire prep and bought a box stick clone motor the first season he raced. I used to be a mechanic so I had the basic tools. We raced with a socket set, a wrench set and a handful of screwdrivers. We were definitely low budget racers. We actually enjoyed it because he stared beating the big money show off racers.
I kept up with the part time jobs, working night shift at my regular job 6A to 6P then working days at the odd jobs I could find. I got a couple of sets of tires given to us from someone on these forums. That was a huge thigh this person did, and made a big difference in his racing. All this time I was buying things we would need like Gears and wheel bearings but mostly we did what we could when necessry. I started taking in repair jobs in my garage on my nights off. Small things like brakes, fuel pumps, oil changes, typical vehicle repairs. I also do lawn mower repair. This brings in about 1500 to 2000 a year to help pay bills and pay for racing. I still stuff half of the extra money I make into an envelope for racing.
A couple of years later I saved up and got my daughter a kart. I picked up another older kart for $1200.
For scales I use bathroom scales. To set camber I use an angle meter on an iPad. For toe in I use a seamstress tape measure.
In our first 4 years racing karts my son Has one third place season ending points finish, 2 second place season finishes and one first place points finishes and a track championship. His first kart was 800. His second kart was 15 years old and cost $2500. That one included 3 sets of tires, 4 spare fresh rebuilt engines, kart, kart stand, 3 spare clutches and a pickup load of parts. Now he is running a 600 micro sprint.
My daughter has 2 third place season finishes on her record. This year she moved up and is racing with the adults and finished the season 6th place.
We did get a couple of sponsors this year. One provides an enclosed trailer and $500 per year. The other helps us with fuel and buys done stuff once in a while. The problem with having a sponsor is it gets more serious. You have to show up and do good every week to give them their moneys worth. I still do odd jobs and handyman work with mechanic work to pay for racing.
The only tools to really worry about to start is a basic tool set. Go to Harbor Freight and pick up a cheap socket set, a cheap metric and standard wrench set and a small screwdriver set. Other than that have a hammer, pry bar, Allen wrenches, pliers and vice grips and wire cutters. Carry zip ties and duct tape. Other than that you don’t need a lot to start with. For tire prep I use an old metal coffee can and a foam paintbrush that has the foam held on by zip ties. Also carry a few jugs of water to clean tires and rubber gloves for the tire prep.
I believe a person could get started for $2000. This would buy tools, a cheap kart, and a few parts you might need. For tools also check Ace Hardware Black Friday sales. Also check Harbor Freught, Menards Lowe’s etc. go kart tools don’t have to be high quality tools to get started.
Going cheap, rigging repairs with zip ties and duct tape and building our own engines gave my kids a big sense of pride. Others were buying their speed, paying someone to set their karts up and spending big money on racing. It was always fun to see their look then my kids gear them!