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Messages - grantwt

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1
Chassis / Re: steering kit
« on: October 29, 2008, 01:30:27 am »
I cannot understand why there is so much camber in those axles. If you were driving mower with suspension I could understand it. Again its more a prefferance. And I have seen many racers run them with good results. Ec fully adjustable front axle w/o hub is 245.00 with hubs is 265.00. Steering column kit is I think 26.00 (Guessing) plus you need mounts. For the price its a good starter kit. There many different options. EC Distributing is just one of many and we to ARE a 1 stop race shop. Parts from the ground up to include all engine parts. Some shops are more budget freindly but its like anything else, its what you can afford and the quality you are looking for.

On the polaris snowmobiles, they came up with a steering collumn that could be tilted to adjusted to rider preference.  They changed it back to preset in a year or two (I can't remember how long) because they found they had complaints about people having endurance problems, due to the steering being set improper for the specific type of riding.  I think the EC axles suffer from the same over-adjustabuility issues that polaris did.  Some love them because they can adjust them to handle beautiful, while others are too impacient to dial the axle in, and are better off with an axle that while not perfect, gives them decent handling characteristics without them having to do anything.

2
Driveline / Re: a lil help for the new guy?
« on: September 11, 2008, 01:47:10 pm »
a 700 might be easier, but dont forget that if your on a budget, the 700 setup is a lot more expensive.

the extra money goes into better brakes (Well worth it), and hubs, sprockets, bearings, shaft are all needed for the jackshaft.

Like already said by many, many people, you need two bearings, two pulleys, and two sprockets doing either a jackshaft and a transaxle, or a transmission and a live axle.  The only way you can really claim a difference of costs with the setup is that you might save $5-10 going with a 3/4" bearings and jackshaft compared to 1" bearings and axle.  Most guys that I see use a 1" jackshaft though making the system just as expensive, and adding even more rotating mass to an already heavy transaxle setup

The biggest cost difference is the gas, and the scrap price you are going to spend getting a 700 if you already have a transaxle.

Grant

Edit:  I guess you might also have to spend on wheel hubs to get 1" hubs, but most are going to spend for 4-4 hubs anyways to mount alluminum wheels

3
Briggs Flathead / Re: 12.5 Opposed questions
« on: September 11, 2008, 01:34:21 pm »
So basically you are saying lengthen the pulse line by 6 inches or so.  I can't even imagine why that would do it, but I definetly am not agianst trying!  I'll give it a go next race!

Grant

4
Driveline / Re: a lil help for the new guy?
« on: September 08, 2008, 07:02:12 pm »
I have to disagree with you a 700 install and solid axle setup is far easier than a transxle and jackshat build been there built both.

Every time this comes up I think the same thing.  700 is easier.   Building mounts for pillowblocks or flange bearings is way easier than lowering a transaxle.  And, the 700 is easy to mount, especially if you buy the bracket from EC.  It is easier to mount than a good jackshaft system.  And the benifits of it are huge.  You can run a brake on the axle simply.  You can run an axle mounted brake.  You don't have to take apart the transaxle and figure out how to make it solid.  You get to run a 1.25" or 1" axle shaft.  You can change gear ratios simply by changing sprockets.  You can run gear lube and not have it leak out the axle shafts.  The chain is horizontal not vertical.  Do you really need me to go on?  The only disadvantages are finding a 700, and the cost of the axle and hardware.  Wait, that last one isn't even a disadvantage, because the extra money goes into better brakes (Well worth it), and hubs, sprockets, bearings, shaft are all needed for the jackshaft.

Ok, hope that wasn't too much of a rant  :lol:

Grant

5
Briggs Flathead / 12.5 Opposed questions
« on: September 08, 2008, 02:13:10 pm »
Hi all,

This weekend we had races in Princeton BC.  It was a whole lot of fun.  All of the races were super close with just about everybody competing evenly with others in the field.  It was pretty sweet.  This was the first time I have got to chase my dad and his 8hp with my new briggs 12.5 IC.  His machine is set up really nice for corners, and the light machine combined with his 140-150lbs makes him an 8 that can give most 12 hp's a run for their money.  I weigh in at about 200lbs, and my machine is a good 100lbs heavier when compared to his due to the fact I run a tranny (He is just a belt and jackshaft) and the heavy opposed.  But the opposed proved to have the torque to give my dad a run for his money.  We are pretty evenly matched now.  We run pretty evenly now, and the only passing happens on mistakes, or when my dad lets me past because he figures I have a better chance of catching the guy in front. :)

Anyways, one of the things I have been fighting with is our club seems to have forgotten the fact we run classes :roll:.  Because we only have 3 guys that run the above 12hp class, it always ends up that I run with them.  I am just fast enough that I bump up to the B-main and miss the C-main.  The problem is I am just fast enough to give the guys running 16hp a difficulty passing (not that I am blocking, but I definetly cant let them get the inside line), but once they are past, I just don't have the power to keep up.

One of the problems I am having is that the thing coughs and sputters when you hit bad bumps.  Does anybody have any idea why it would do this?  I put a vent in the side of the float bowl, but I haven't had any luck on getting the thing to not cough.  If anybody has any ideas of what else it could be I would appreciate it.  Any advantage I can get to help me compete against these larger mowers is a big benifit.  Thanks

Grant Wright

6
Chassis / Re: Pushing like a dump truck
« on: September 07, 2008, 10:22:17 am »
One problem I have often seen is people use lean too much going through the corner.  If you look at jason or many of those Ontario guys, they actually have cart seats, or seats that hold them in place instead of letting them lean.  Or if you watch seasoned veterans like George H, they sit on their seat and do not lean over too hard.

Sitting further forward, and more or less straight up and centered can help to shift weight off of your back left tire to help you turn.  Depending on how you're chassis is set up, you may have to lean to keep it on all 4, or you may also find that your leaning is actually what limits you from turning.  When you see guys sitting way back almost behind the wheels, and leaning like crazy on the corners, you know the only way they can pull that corner is to get the back end sliding out.  If you are like me, you're machine weighs 300lbs, and you weigh 200lbs.  Where my body is can make a huge difference on weight distribution. 

Just my .02

Grant

7
Post your Pics! / Re: Pictures of BC mowers
« on: September 03, 2008, 10:08:20 pm »
He does it with whichever kids are interested.  I never know who he will be building a new machine with each season!!

8
Post your Pics! / Re: Pictures of BC mowers
« on: September 03, 2008, 09:41:24 pm »
Sorry.  I screwed up the first time.  I edited right away but I wasn't fast enough!! haha

9
Post your Pics! / Pictures of BC mowers
« on: September 03, 2008, 09:34:22 pm »
Hi all

Thought I should post some pictures of me and my pa's mowchines. 


All of our racing mowers



My racing mower.  It has a 12.5 opposed briggs running to a P700



My dad's mower.  I has a 8hp horizontal, a belt clutch and a  jackshaft for a drivetrain



My dad built this mower with one of the girl's in his youth group.  He is a youth worker with a church in Keremeos.  The mower is a Junior racer and so it is governed.  It has a 12hp, a jackshaft and transaxle.



This machine was built by my dad and the help of one of his youth.  The machine has a 8hp and a 3 speed tranny.  My dad's philosophy on these mowers is that the kid helps and races as much as they want, but if my dad pays materials, he keeps the machine so he can keep using it for other youth once the kid is done with it.



This is our junkyard.  The most I think we have paid for any of these mowers is $25.  My dad has a lot of people offer him machines because they know he uses them with work



Now I know some will think that these machines need a good coat of paint, but they are the style we like.  We spend a lot of time making sure welds and fabrication is clean, and the machines are safe, but like the idea that they look like they were pulled out of the barn and raced.  Fortunatly we have not had our club enforce paint rules on us.  I thought I should also attach a picture of our 4x4's.  They kinda are the same with the oldie look.  My dad runs the '63 jeep truck, and mine is the '79 suzuki.



Anyways I hope you enjoyed that

Grant

10
Briggs Flathead / Re: reccomended oil for ARC rod.
« on: August 15, 2008, 11:52:39 am »
I love it when things fit that nice.  I was trying to take apart and clean a lathe chuck, and even though I had all the bolts out I couldn't figure out where it was supposed to split.  I thought the seam was hidden somewhere, but it turned out the seam was on the outside diameter, as in the open as possible!  And when I put it back together the only reason I could see the seam was the but of oil that squeezed out.

11
Tires / Re: cart tire question
« on: August 05, 2008, 01:56:34 pm »
Searching Tips:

Use , to indicate "or".  For example,

(gokart, gocart, kart, cart)

Above will give you anything with any of those words


In Ebay you a space indicates "and".  For example,

(goKart, gocart, kart, cart) (wheels, tires, burris)

The above search will give you anything with gokart and burris, or kart and tires, or gocart and wheels, etc


Another valuable search tool is quotation marks.  Quotations will give you exactly what you entered.  For example say you wanted a 12hp briggs motor.  Instead of searching everything that included 12 and briggs, you could search as follows

(12hp, "12 hp", "12 horse", 28cid, "28 cid") briggs

This may help, but if you aren't careful it can hide some items you may want to see.  It will however make sure 30,000 listings for 12 oz bottles of HP sauce don't show in your search.


Last pointer is the use of "*".  This is called a wild card in a search.  Doing a google search, searching Tach will also bring up Tachometer as Tach is contained in Tachometer.  However, Ebay will not do that.  It is better to do as follows with ebay.

tac*

This will bring up anything like tach, tachometer, tacho, etc.  Another advantage of this is it is good for words with plurals.  The disadvantage is it will often bring up unrelated words.  For example "tac*"  will also bring up "taco".  So when you do use this you will probably need to narrow your search down by either searching categories, or by adding another search term so it goes like:

(goKart, gocart, kart, cart) tac*

I did the below search looking for burris tires.  For it click the "Search title and Description box" just under the search.  Note that if you are using enough specific terms to narrow down the items, that option can be gold.  I almost always use it.  Also try to think what people would put in the description for your desired item.

(goKart, gocart, kart, cart) (wheels, tires, burris) grooved

I hope this helps you guys.  Play around with these different things, and you will be amazed by what you find.

Grant

12
Driveline / Re: pulleys and gearing
« on: August 05, 2008, 12:15:37 pm »
When people say that you should be running 1:1, it means that your shifting gears should be 1:1.  On a P700 that means a transmission ratio of 3:1 once the pinion reduction is accounted for.  The reason for this is those two gears are both the same diameter, and so neither is weaker.  In your 5th gear, 1 gear will be much smaller than the other, and therefore it will tend to split apart where the shift keys are.  The tranny I run now has a crack in the top of the case where one 5th gear tried to come out!!

13
Post your Pics! / Re: Ford LT 111
« on: August 01, 2008, 12:00:52 pm »
Dude, put the time in to lower and do brakes.  It might take you a couple of days longer, and a couple of bucks more, but the machine will be so much more fun.  If you don't do it the first time it wont get done because you will think the thing is crap and not worth messing with.

You make up your mind about what you want though.  If you want something that is a blast to do donuts, drag and race, you are going to need to put a couple of extra bucks and some extra time into it.  If you want something that will sputter and pop its way to 35mph, and then put you in the hospital the first second you try to turn the thing or stop fast, ell, I guess you are already on your way there. 

Just don't ever say to someone afterwards that you were playing with a modified mower.  When the doc asks you how you broke your leg or your neck, just tell him you were being an idiot!

Two days of work and a couple of bucks will really give you a difference of machine comparable to the difference of a pedal bike with a chainsaw motor mounted in it vs a proper manufactured dirt bike.

But hey, it's your choice.

Grant

14
Post your Pics! / Re: Building my sportsman
« on: July 31, 2008, 06:09:46 pm »
Dude killed the tin man and made him into a mower :omg:

Looks good!  Good job on the build.  I hope that your swath is actually 38" wide!

15
Chassis / Re: Roll Cages
« on: July 30, 2008, 03:53:16 pm »
I think the better way of preventing mower rollover injuries would be to put in the rules a maximum seat and frame height, as well as enforcing certified welding on all axles, spindles, and steering components.  Roll cages would require a whole body around you to keep your arms within and by the time you do that you no longer have a mower.  Growing up in a farming comunity I have known 3 kids that have broken limbs when they rolled their homebuilt off road carts.

Oh, I guess that full covering fenders would help to, but when does it become that mowers are no longer mowers?

Grant

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