Centrifugal clutch idea.

Thanks, I had completely forgot about Northern Tool. They have much better prices, $120 for the chain drives and $70 for belt. I know you can swap springs for it to engage at different RPM but stock the chain clutches are 2300rpm and the belt clutch is 1800rpm. They all say up to 13hp engines, wonder if they really would handle larger? I may go with the belt clutch to save money and if any give is needed I imagine a belt is more forgiving than chain.

Itll probably work for a while if you dont over heat it - clean it regular ( keep debris out of it) - i plan on abusing the heck out of the clutch on the wizard .

Well, I checked out the mower today, as well as picked up a new project that I'll post on elsewhere. The good news, 17hp opposed twin, woohoo. Bad news, MTD single speed transaxle with the progressive pulley thing. It's actually a pretty nice mower, 42" deck, little rust, only a small crack in the seat, near dead battery. Though the battery did turn the mower over a few cranks, wouldn't fire. It did run with a jump last week I was told. So I have to weigh my options now, perhaps steal the motor for my project and slap a smaller motor on it and keep it for mowing.

Thats how i got the motor for my 94 murray- i took it off the $50 96 MTD .

MTD's may not have a good drivetrain, but the chassis are awsome for modding - lots of room .

It still boggles my mind how that 97 mastercut mower can go so fast stock - 12HP motor, all stock pulleys and wheels, vari drive is freed up - even has the correct width belts - thing hauls arse, while my 91 goes as fast as a dead fish. Ill fix that soon.

Even more bad news, it's actually a hydro transaxle. If it cuts good I may turn it into my actual grass cutter, take my hydro murray and add the parts from my trail murray to it and run it till I find another manual. Then steal the opposed twin and manual from my trail murray to build this project, rear engine with the cent. clutch. It's a lot of shuffling, but it's easier to swap parts murray to murray.

Quick question for those who might know. The clutch I plan to get engages at 1800 rpm and the opposed twins idle at 1400 rpm. Is that within the operating range for this to work? I've been looking up prices and planing out how to get all the parts I'll need for this idea and it looks to be around $300 for the whole rear portion. Not sure if I ever mentioned, but I plan to run a belt clutch off the motor to the transaxle, then chain drive off one transaxle output to a solid 1" axle. Looking to run 25" tires, will 1" axle be enough?

Ditch the transmission - its only a waste of power going thru it - youd be better off with a RAGB . The 1" axle should work - most racers use a 1 1/4" shaft. Pillow blocks run around $8 from northern tools.

The clutch should work with those RPMs.

Ditching the transmission leaves me with a single speed though. I plan to order the clutch by itself and try it out in my murray before committing to build. That way I can see how it will handle the 5-speed. I also found a cheaper source for most of the other parts.
http://www.baileynet.com/

The go kart clutch is a multi speed unit - not just ' on and off' - faster the revs - more the clutch applies pressure and faster you go- using a go kart clutch with a manual trans wont let you shift gears - youd have to let off the throttle and let the clutch disengage before itd allow you to shift.

Only issue is when you dont apply alot of throttle, the clutch slips and wears - why they should be kept clean and checked often.


I tinkered with a neighbors go kart that was up in his barn - thing was awsome and pretty darn fast , cept for a broken front wheel- more throttle you gave it faster itd buzz around.

Yeah, I know, no shifting on the fly. But I'm ok with having to stop and put it in whatever gear I need. I just like the idea of having a very wide range of operation, the clutch range in each of the five gears.

everyone you do relize if you use a clutch setup like on a snowsled you need both pieces the drive clutch and the driven clutch or it wont work right but a gokart clutch you only need the one piece

Yeah, we left the snowmobile(CVT) clutch idea a while back. We're on centrifugal clutches now, what you call gocart clutches. It was the original topic and I got everyone sidetracked with questions on the CVT. We're back on track with centrifugal clutches now though.

well that makes more sence then i think i would use somekind of tranny though so you can have reverse

Yup, that's one more reason for keeping the transaxle.

Well, I ordered this clutch. We'll see how it works out when it gets here and I install it on my murray.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200415722_200415722

Thats similar to the one i bot- its still in one of my cabinets - ill use it on something someday. Id originally planned on using it on my 85LT12 craftsman to make like a cruiser from it - im going to rebuild a deck and put it back into mowing service tho, been sitting around too long.

https://youtu.be/4bK4YIbr7Ps I use a 6.5 212cc engine with a torque converter/CVT that I got on ebay for 60$. Works amazing! Would make a good monster mower or offroad mower.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Go-Kart-Torque-Converter-Clutch-Kit-3-4-10T-40-41-and-12T-35-Predator-212CC/311969384646?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 this is what I use. 3-4 times more of the low end of a centrifugal clutch.

Last post was in 2011, you're most likely not gonna get a response out of the original poster...

Yea, would be interesting though if people wanted to build an offroad mower out of a horizontal shaft engine with TC. I was just searching and found it.