Author Topic: Kamloops, BC mod class racer  (Read 15402 times)

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Offline turbo_bird

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Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« on: September 08, 2018, 10:38:41 pm »
Hi all, I've been wanting to build a racing mower for quite a few years now, but never really had anywhere to race one, but I moved a few years ago and the local fall fair runs a race every year. Time to get off my butt and get building. They don't really follow any official rules that I know of, so things will be different from a lot of other builds on here. I'm not allowed to run a centrifugal clutch on the engine unless it's a snowmobile type, only L shape spindles are allowed, 5" minimum ground clearance, turf tires only, and no engine mods. I've got a few old mowers to scavenge from, and I'm trying to do this for as cheap as possible. I've got an old Toro that I'm going to rob the 3 speed transmission from, an MTD that's going to donate it's 15.5 Briggs, and an old Craftsman for the frame. The local guys run two mod classes, up to 17 HP and up to 22 HP. I haven't got any building done yet, just reading and taking stock of what I've got for parts. For tires I've got a new set of the most aggressive looking turf tires I could find, 15"x6x6 for the front and 18"x9.5x8 for rears. I was planning to use the Foote transaxle out of the Craftsman, but reading about them being weak I think I'll switch to the transmission out of the Toro. That will also let me get my seat lower. That's about all for now, I better pressure wash some of this junk and start tearing stuff apart.
Kristian

Offline turbo_bird

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Re: Local mod class racer
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2018, 11:05:39 pm »
The Torro that's donating it's transmission. It's an old 3 speed, but that should be ok for what I'm doing.

Offline turbo_bird

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Re: Local mod class racer
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2018, 07:20:09 pm »
I got a couple of my donors tore down today and had a look at what parts I have. I'm going to have to pick up a piece of 1" round for my rear axle, and somehow adapt my wheels to fit it. The wheels I have are for a 3/4" axle with a square key. I may just turn down the ends of the 1" to 3/4", that would probably be the simplest solution. I should be able to make them nice and tight too. The 3 speed transmission I have is going to be belt driven from the engine with a tensioner as my clutch, seeing how I'm not allowed to run a centrifugal clutch on the crank. Then it will be chain drive back to my solid axle. I pulled apart the transmission today to check it out and clean the grease out, as well as take out the reverse chain. It's a Foote with bushings instead of bearings, but it should hold up  a with a bone stock 15.5. I'm not sure what frame I'm going to use now, the one I was originally planning to use is only 12" wide, but will give me a 42" wheelbase. The other one is 17" wide at the rear and tapers to 12" at the front and will give me a 40" wheelbase or so. The rails are parallel for about the half the frame, then taper in. It's also just a pair of stamped c channel rails, where as the other one is one stamped piece and very flimsy for the weight. I'm leaning towards the wider one because the axle will be better supported.
Kristian

Offline Negrey

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2018, 01:08:29 am »
Are talking about Barriere? Or does Kamloops have a race too?
Evan

Offline turbo_bird

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2018, 01:10:43 pm »
Are talking about Barriere? Or does Kamloops have a race too?
I'll be racing in Barriere. I live in the middle, Kamloops is just the nearest city. Are you one of the Barriere racers? I think they do some racing in Armstrong too, I might head that way as well.
Kristian

Offline Negrey

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2018, 04:50:12 pm »
I'm from the West Kootenays and I race with the North Okanagan Lawn Mower Racing Club. This past weekend we were in Salmon Arm Friday/Saturday and Grand Forks Sunday. Busy weekend! Armstrong race is our club, Thanksgiving Saturday.
Evan

Offline turbo_bird

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2018, 07:08:07 pm »
Cool, I didn't know there was any racing in Salmon Arm. My in-laws live there, maybe I'll have to visit them more often. If I have something put together for Thanksgiving I might try to get to Armstrong for the race. What classes and rules do you guys run?
Kristian

Offline MOWtaku

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Re: Local mod class racer
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2018, 12:14:31 am »
I'm going to have to pick up a piece of 1" round for my rear axle, and somehow adapt my wheels to fit it. The wheels I have are for a 3/4" axle with a square key. I may just turn down the ends of the 1" to 3/4", that would probably be the simplest solution. I should be able to make them nice and tight too.

I have reservations about this. From personal experience, on an old racer I built, I had a jackshaft that was 3/4" and had the ends turned down to 5/8". The one end that gave me problems a couple of tiies was the end that had my drive sprocket on it, as the chain was spring tensioned. It broke right at where i had turned it down. I went to straight 3/4" and never had any problems afterwards. The axle diameter your using is a larger, but I'm worried that the shoulder where you stop your cut will become a stress point.
Zach Jensen
Irene, SD

Offline turbo_bird

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2018, 11:05:45 am »
Thanks MOWtaku, I was thinking about that too. With a radius at the end of the cut it should be ok, but I might be better off modifying the wheels instead. I have to run steel wheels, so no go-kart stuff here. I could get some 8x7 trailer wheels though, but they're pretty heavy.
Kristian

Offline Snapper#67

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #9 on: September 12, 2018, 11:19:10 am »
May  I suggest 3/4/5 bolt wheels say off a golf cart, being 8" and running the appropriate hubs with 1" bore and setting your width and locking them in place? Might be a more simple solution and you can still run your 1" axle with no modifications
Gotta risk it to get the biscuit!

Offline turbo_bird

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #10 on: September 13, 2018, 12:42:04 pm »
I don't golf, so I hadn't thought of golf cart wheels, thanks. I also just realized I've got a crappy little chinese quad out back that has 8" wheels, so I might just rob those for now. I should be able to use the rear brake too. I won't be able to get anything done for a couple weeks though, I'm away from home two weeks at a time for work. I might also see what I can find for some 1.25" tubing locally for my rear axle, might as well go straight to the good stuff. I think I'm going to pick up some 16x6.5 tires for the rear too. They're only $23 at our version of harbor freight. They'll let me get my butt a bit lower between them. The same place also has 8x7 atv wheels for $30, those should do the job.
Kristian

Offline Snapper#67

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #11 on: September 14, 2018, 06:48:04 am »
Sounds like you're on the right track , cheers from Canada's east coast!
Gotta risk it to get the biscuit!

Offline turbo_bird

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #12 on: September 16, 2018, 09:56:02 am »
Sounds like you're on the right track , cheers from Canada's east coast!
Thanks, good to see there's a few Canadians on here too.
Kristian

Offline turbo_bird

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2018, 10:17:01 pm »
I've been mostly just figuring out what I can use for parts so far. The ATV wheels I was going to buy are apparently discontinued and no longer available, so I picked up some 8x6 trailer wheels with a 4 on 4" bolt pattern. They were way more expensive, but they came with tires that I can use on my boat trailer, so figured that was worth it. I picked up bearings for a 1" axle, and some other stuff like sprockets and hubs for them and my brake rotor. I was thinking of building my own wheel hubs using split tapered hubs to keep them tight on the axle, but then I found these go-kart hubs in Canada for what looks like a decent price.
http://www.kartworks.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=198&products_id=1229
Would they be strong enough for racing on a fairly rough surface? They'll certainly be lighter than what I was thinking, and require less fabrication. I mounted one of my new tires to check the diameter, and they're 15.5" inflated to 15 psi. I need 5" of clearance to the chassis, which is 2" tall, so this means I'll run my axle above the chassis and not have to notch anything. If I ever switch to smaller tires I'll have to change things up, but I'll cross that bridge if I ever get to it. I've decided I'm going to use the chassis pan from the Craftsman. I can reinforce the frame in basically any way I see fit, so I'm going to weld some reinforcements to the outside rather than the inside like most do. I got the pan all cleaned up today and came up with a bit of a plan at least.

Offline Negrey

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Re: Kamloops, BC mod class racer
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2018, 08:35:17 am »
Double check on those hubs, they look like only 3 bolt, and the studs are too small anyway. http://www.kartworks.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=198&products_id=1690
Evan

 

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