Newbie: I need Brakes!

Hello,

You may have realised that I am new. I am 14 years old, and started making my own go kart. Can't see any age limits, so I should be fine, but I am very mature and quite mechanical minded for my age. (see my other hobby, Nobel200.com, my site)

I made my own racing all terrain mower (much like FearlessFront's Murray, the fast black off roader)

I saw on the rules that the ORM's had to have good brakes, well mine doesnt yet, thats why I joined this forum
It doesnt have a battery either, for now I jump start it since it is still being built, but I do have an area I will add a battery area.

Ok, here is the problem...
I have stock brakes on my mower. They where very good as stock with the stock pulley. I put a new pad on, havent tested it with the old pulley, but my new small one. Brakes don't do anything. Dont think it is the pads. Anyone know a good type of brake I can get for ,maybe a tenner at a scrapyard, or do I have to get mpre expensive things? I can pay a bit since it cost me a total of 4 euros so far, free mower, only bought fuel pipe, but I also like too keep cost as low as possible.

I made a new pulley, sicne the old one was handmade and all sharp. New one is professionnaly done, by my dad! I watched, but please don't think I say the go kart is mine but my dad buolt it. I built the go kart myself, the *only thinkg my dad done was the pulley. My brother aded the paint design, I done the black base coat.
A lot of mods have gone into it. Body lowered (but chassis same place, not lowered), so that means dash, bonnet and I removed the rear part of the body, just added an old bracket that cam of it to add the seat.

I have alos thought of making a small sort of trailer/rear seat for it. Mostly for playing around in the field, if I have a friend who likes it but doesnt want to risk driving it, might be fun.

Jonathan
PS: For more photos of the gokart/mower check MowKart.weebly.com

Welcome abord - Ive built a few mod tractors- none had brakes, so i know where youre comming from - i didnt feel comfortable not being able to stop my next build is getting a disc brake ( running a straight rear axle).

Since youre using the stock trans, ( i imagine unlocked), youll actually need 2 brakes - one for each axle . A cheep way would be search the auto junkyards for a small car's discs/calipers and use a motorcycle hydraulic master cylender - or search for a set of scooter/motorcycle brakes.


The other reason it might feel a bit wobbly is the ride height, with tall tires and stock steering, along with an unlocked front axle - its extremely unstable at anything over the stock 5-8mph - thats why i took my last mod apart, was extremely unstable - its top end i never saw, but im estimating at least 30 plus mph and it was a serious handful to drive.

Id look into getting some lower profile tires, lock the front axle ( bolt it solid to the chassis) - thats the easiest way to lower it and make it more stable.

I have had good luck with stock brakes, but not the stock set up. make sure the dowels are not rusty and move easily in the holes. then put on a stiffer spring or add a seperate brake controller (hand or foot) and remove the spring. A stiffer spring will give you more pull at the brake caliper. The tx brake is kinda like the monster trucks that have brakes on the driveline. the OEM stuff was not designed to stop big tires at 30 mph, but will work better when modified. the little 3/4 x 1 1/4 brake pads will wear quick and need to be adjusted constantly. some of the heavy duty tx's have a 2" round disc that works better but still have to be adjusted. A few even have a band brake that works well too

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Welcome abord - Ive built a few mod tractors- none had brakes, so i know where youre comming from - i didnt feel comfortable not being able to stop my next build is getting a disc brake ( running a straight rear axle).

Since youre using the stock trans, ( i imagine unlocked), youll actually need 2 brakes - one for each axle . A cheep way would be search the auto junkyards for a small car's discs/calipers and use a motorcycle hydraulic master cylender - or search for a set of scooter/motorcycle brakes.


The other reason it might feel a bit wobbly is the ride height, with tall tires and stock steering, along with an unlocked front axle - its extremely unstable at anything over the stock 5-8mph - thats why i took my last mod apart, was extremely unstable - its top end i never saw, but im estimating at least 30 plus mph and it was a serious handful to drive.

Id look into getting some lower profile tires, lock the front axle ( bolt it solid to the chassis) - thats the easiest way to lower it and make it more stable.

Thanks noth, wasnt expecting fast replies!

Dangerroustoys56, the ride isnt really wobbly, feels quite good actually!

I want to ride it hard off road, so axle may be best unlocked, but I guess you would know more than me

Would it be easy to add brake discs? I don have mush clearance between the hub and trans, might have to make it "poke out". My original brake affects both wheels at the same time, it stops the trans, noty an axle.

JP

Well as I was talking about brakes with dangeroustoys56, I have good luck using stock brake setup, but I make my own pads out of old automotive pads. Just cut them up to match the mower's pads. They wear much longer and grab much better. Also I just recently slotted the stock rotor on my offroad mower, 6 small slots per side with a cutting disc on my grinder (no pics my camera is broken) but it works better again. It is definitely the cheap way of getting decent brakes.

Ford Boi : Those modded stock brakes - how good are they for speeds over 20mph? Id actually like hydraulic brakes over anything stock, altho i have a manual disc setup and a band drum setup that ill install on my wizard and wheelhorse - im going to try the slotted brake and car brakes setup , might adapt it to my other stock mowers as well.

From my experience - i dont feel even remotely comfortable running stock brakes on a modifed tractor - im putting stronger/bigger ones on mine , just had too many close calls .

Well on my off-roader I can only go about 10-12 mph but they will easily lock up my 25" tires, and on my racer I can easily lock up my 18"x9.50" at up to 40mph. And my racer has un-modded stock brakes.

Ford Boi wrote:

Well on my off-roader I can only go about 10-12 mph but they will easily lock up my 25" tires, and on my racer I can easily lock up my 18"x9.50" at up to 40mph. And my racer has un-modded stock brakes.

Thats annoying, since I cut out moped brake pads... (racing moped)

Put the new pulley on tonight, but cant do any more, were going to a Monster truck event!

Should be up and running tommorow.
Jonathan

PS: what type of belt retainers should I use around the new pulley?

Regular bolts with a nut welded to the chassis for belt retainers ( or can be bolted straight thru the chassis - use a nut on each side of the chassis)- only drawback to the bolt thru is if the bolt is removed, the nuts have to be held back- tack welding the top nut to the chassis will prevent that tho - just make sure the bolt is the threaded at the bottom only type - if its threaded the whole length, the belt could shred on the threads.

When you weld the bolts to the chassis- make sure the bolt is in the nut or it can get distorted - plus its easier to hold it while its being welded.


Ford Boi: Ill try that on the mastercut ( since its the only stock MTD i have with wheels that can be removed easily) - thats the one that crawls with the brakes on ( due to a short rear belt- variable pulley doesnt swing back and forth like it should).

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Regular bolts with a nut welded to the chassis for belt retainers ( or can be bolted straight thru the chassis - use a nut on each side of the chassis)- only drawback to the bolt thru is if the bolt is removed, the nuts have to be held back- tack welding the top nut to the chassis will prevent that tho - just make sure the bolt is the threaded at the bottom only type - if its threaded the whole length, the belt could shred on the threads.

When you weld the bolts to the chassis- make sure the bolt is in the nut or it can get distorted - plus its easier to hold it while its being welded.


Ford Boi: Ill try that on the mastercut ( since its the only stock MTD i have with wheels that can be removed easily) - thats the one that crawls with the brakes on ( due to a short rear belt- variable pulley doesnt swing back and forth like it should).

Hey,

I just used the holes from my old bvelt retainers, see pics: ( I have 2 of them, only need to show one though)

I managed to drive it this morning, all fitted on. Its a lot better than bvefore, but I have a lot of belt slippage, I need to tension the belt a bit more, I can put it in gear and push it, pulley just spins.

Video soon maybe