Long story short, after a late night out, a buddy and i decided that we needed some dirt cheap motoring fun.
Looking at riding lawn mowers.
Any tips for suping them up?
Smaller pulleys and remove governer...anyhting else?
Any ideas?
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Oct. 25, 2009 8:08 p.m. CarKid1989 HalfDork
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Oct. 25, 2009 8:11 p.m. townsend7 New Reader
More beer?
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Oct. 25, 2009 8:26 p.m. CarKid1989 HalfDork
townsend7 wrote:
More beer?
This was an idea we got still sober actually....
--I might have issues
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Oct. 25, 2009 8:31 p.m. calteg New Reader
Not that I've looked into it or anything...
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/USLMRA/ http://www.acmemowersports.com/
those should get you started
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Oct. 25, 2009 8:35 p.m. Apexcarver UltraDork
get and old turbocharger and... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=socYhs7w97g
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Oct. 25, 2009 9:08 p.m. mtn SuperDork
Anybody else reminded of the Home Improvment episode where Tim takes on Bob Vila?
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Oct. 25, 2009 9:27 p.m. Appleseed Dork
Snowmobile engine. Seriously.
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Oct. 25, 2009 9:50 p.m. carguy123 Dork
How do you remove the governor on a John Deere using a B & S motor?
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Oct. 25, 2009 10:26 p.m. Trans_Maro HalfDork
You don't.
Engines like that aren't governed like vehicle engines are.
The governor on a small engine senses load and adjust the throttle setting to provide constant power accordingly. The throttle control pulls on the governor spring.
When you're at full throttle and you can't adjust the throttle stop out any further, that's it, that's full throttle.
You can make it go faster by shortening the governor spring or bending the throttle stop but once you exceed about 3400 rpm you're kinda nudging the pin out of the grenade.
Shawn
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Oct. 26, 2009 4:56 a.m. ignorant PowerDork
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Oct. 26, 2009 7:49 a.m. 4cylndrfury Dork
guts outa this
into this:
Minus this
= mega fun!!! Please provide build pics
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Oct. 26, 2009 8:19 a.m. pete240z Dork
This was my first project - junk mower pulled from the garbage, cleaned up, and spare parts thrown onto mower. Sold to guy in Florida on ebay $300.
I live in the Chicago SW 'burbs and every riding thing will get you a ticket from the local police, but I figure they can't bust you for a riding lawnmower. Next project I am looking for is a Cub Cadet.......
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Oct. 26, 2009 1:49 p.m. xci_ed6 Reader
I've removed the governor and attached the throttle cable directly to the throttle. As mentioned, it is risky because you could easily spin it too fast.
Follow the same procedures as any other project. Free up the airflow, reduce the weight, and lower the CG.
Some B&S engines have restricters pressed in the engine side of the carb, all could use some power tuning, and probably some ignition advance.
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Oct. 26, 2009 2:51 p.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director
Carl Heideman's kids have turned a few Deere riding lawnmowers into karts. Do we need a how-to article on this?
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Oct. 26, 2009 2:56 p.m. Kia_racer New Reader
Big YES David.
You don't get any mot Grass Roots than racing lawn tractors. They used to do it up at the Lake County Fair in IL.
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Oct. 26, 2009 2:58 p.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director
Kia_racer wrote:
Big YES David.
I was afraid of that. Let me phone the Michigan office.
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Oct. 26, 2009 3:00 p.m. 4cylndrfury Dork
ZOMGTRACTORINTOGOCARTARTICLE=BADASS!!!!
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Oct. 26, 2009 3:03 p.m. mtn SuperDork
Kia_racer wrote:
Big YES David.
You don't get any mot Grass Roots than racing lawn tractors. They used to do it up at the Lake County Fair in IL.
Where are you from?
I made it down to a little town in central Illinois, Henry, for the demolition Derby's, and they had them the day before. I think any small town-type county fair will still have them.
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Oct. 26, 2009 3:08 p.m. Kia_racer New Reader
I grew up in the Chi-town area (NW burbs) But we had friends up in the Cristal Lake Wokanda area. Now I live in TX and boy is it hot in the summer.
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Oct. 26, 2009 3:10 p.m. DukeOfUndersteer Dork
dont do this....
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Oct. 26, 2009 3:12 p.m. mtn SuperDork
Kia_racer wrote:
I grew up in the Chi-town area (NW burbs) But we had friends up in the Cristal Lake Wokanda area. Now I live in TX and boy is it hot in the summer.
Cool stuff. I'm in Libertyville, and all my dads fam-dam-ily is in the NW burbs.
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Oct. 26, 2009 4:57 p.m. ignorant PowerDork
DukeOfUndersteer wrote:
dont do this....
funny.. but fake..
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Oct. 26, 2009 6:40 p.m. Carl Heideman
To follow-up on David's posts, here's what we did with a rear engine John Deere:
We used the junk frame, steering, brakes and wheel/tires from the rider and added a horizontal shaft 3HP Briggs with a centrifugal clutch. The only thing we bought new was the clutch ($30)
--Carl
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Oct. 26, 2009 6:41 p.m. Buckhead New Reader
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Oct. 26, 2009 6:45 p.m. Carl Heideman
The one above was actually the 2nd one we built. We put the smaller motor and the centrifugal clutch on it because it was for my 7 year old and we didn't want it to go very fast or accellerate very fast. Before we built that one, we built one for my now-13 year old--he was 11 at the time. It looks similar, but has a vertical shaft 6 HP Briggs (which revs to 5200 RPM without the governer and hasn't thrown a rod in 2 years--tick tick tick). It also has a Peerless 5 speed transmission that is in just about every rear engine lawnmower made (and many walk behind snowblowers for that matter). It uses a foot clutch and a belt drive to the trans. We've got it geared to go up to about 30MPH in 5th gear, but I don't let my son get it up that fast yet (and I want to stay married).
I don't have a photo of the finished kart handy, but it looks a lot like the simpler version. Here are some construction photos.
--Carl
