[Kartbuilding] quick question

[Stephen Burke]

Hi,

Im glad you are finding the www.kartbuilding.net website useful. Onto your 
questions:
What Gearbox/Tranny to use for that 23hp engine. Well the simplest would 
be to get a similar ride-on lawnmower and match up the engine to suit. You 
will have to gear up the speed however as them lawnmowers can go quite 
slow :) Also - some of the cheaper gearboxes/tranny's from ride-on 
lawnmowers only have a basic tension belt clutch as on: 
http://www.kartbuilding.net/PlAnS/idler3.jpg  This is not the best type of 
clutch to use.

Also - is that 23hp engine of yours Vertical or Horizontal Shaft driven. 
I.E. is the drive shaft coming out of the bottom or side of the engine? If 
the drive shaft is coming out of the side, then I suggest you get a 
gearbox/tranny from a motorbike engine. On this page -> 
http://www.kartbuilding.net/gallery/v/Kart_Clearance_and_Memories/  you 
can see how I connected the gearbox from a motorbike engine to a 6hp 
engine. The benefits of this were:
A proper clutch, which I could connect to a clutch pedal.
Nice gear ratios which made the kart fast.
4 gears and a neutral gear.
Very cheap, as the gearbox was taken from a siezed motorbike engine. I 
simply cut off the piston and con rod, put a plate over the cylinder head, 
and drove the gearbox using a chain and sprocket. You can see the 
gearbox/tranny from a Honda50 at: 
http://www.kartbuilding.net/gallery/v/Kart_Clearance_and_Memories/?g2_page=4

If the drive shaft is coming out of teh bottom of your 23hp engine, then 
you things will be more difficult. You might be better off using the 
ride-on lawnmower gearbox and gearing it up. You could also use a 
differential in the middle of the rear axle to connect the drive from the 
engine to.

Dont spend too much money on the tranny/gearbox. If you are patient and 
look around, you might get a suitable one for little to nothing.

As for suspension, you might want to take a look at 
http://www.sadik.net/gokart/ where there is info and photos on setting up 
suspension for a kart.

Best of Luck,
-steve

On Tue, 10 Apr 2007, V wrote:
> found your site over the net....and its great with info and ideas. now i have a riding lawnmower with a 23 hp kohler in it. the problem with it is has tranny problems...so we bought a new one..so now i have this pan to pull this 23hp motor out, but i'm not sure what people use for gearbox's on those motors...trannies that is....do you have any suggestions...my plan is more of a mini buggy...which will be a hassle setting up the suspension...but oh well its a summer project.
>  thanks
>  v