SpudFiles

Hey, I know this has nothing to do with spudguns so thats why its here. But, due to the vast amount of intelligence on the forum, i decided "What the hay?" Im building a Go Kart and my dad gave me a Lawn mower engine however, the drive shaft is vertical and i need it to be horozontal. Any ideas how to fix this or buy something to attach? If so, could you give me a link to an online place to buy it? Thanks guys, your awsome! 8)

put the engine on its side?

Yeah, that wouldn't really work because the oil would come out... Theres an oil pan in the engine that the pistons go into to lube them up and if it was on its side, then the pistons wouldn't be lubed, and that leads to tons of friction and immediate engine failure, potentially with a large BOOM

Use a 90° gearbox. Not only will that put the driveshaft horizontal for you, it will also allow you a slight gearing advantage if desired. Or, you could just get a straight 90° deal. I think they come in both clutched and unclutched models, depending on who you buy them from.

Unless you can reposition or replace the carburetor, you'll need to mount the engine with the drive shaft vertical, just like it is on the lawn mower. The carburetor bowl has to operate in a mostly upright position.

You can always use a 90 degree twisted V-belt and horizontal pulley to convert your torque from vertical to horizontal...the belt needs to be longish and aligned just right but it is possible. Obviously the ideal thing would be to use an engine designed to sit upright.

Check with Northern Tool at http://www.northerntool.com They have a good selection of Go Kart parts and may have a transmission or gear box that would fit the bill for you. I'm sure there are many other suppliers as well.

Whats the horsepower of this lawnmower engine?

--

dewey-1 wrote:In the long run, it will be more cost effective just to get a horizontal shaft engine.

There will be a lot less headaches and frustration by incorporating any angular conversions.

It may seem simple enough but it is not by any means.

Keep searching for a used horizontal shaft engine or a reasonably priced new one.

It will be money well spent towards a simpler installation and a whole lot more reliable.

Ding ding ding!!! We have a winner! No i'm not kidding. I really mean it, it's true.

brogdenlaxmiddie wrote:Yeah, that wouldn't really work because the oil would come out... Theres an oil pan in the engine that the pistons go into to lube them up and if it was on its side, then the pistons wouldn't be lubed, and that leads to tons of friction and immediate engine failure, potentially with a large BOOM

sorry i thought it was two stroke....

Mount it upside down. With the shaft horizontal. that way the piston will still get oil.

Or hows a bout a picture of the engine? It would realy make it easyer to get ideas

Spitfire wrote:Mount it upside down. With the shaft horizontal. that way the piston will still get oil.

Or hows a bout a picture of the engine? It would realy make it easyer to get ideas

Not a chance of that working.

Why cant you mount it so the shaft is horizontal? You may have to do some funny plumbing work to get the fuel and oil to flow right but thats half the fun.

ShowNoMercy wrote:Why cant you mount it so the shaft is horizontal? You may have to do some funny plumbing work to get the fuel and oil to flow right but thats half the fun.

Because of the design of the caseing to work along with the design of the rotating parts that make it work for what it was designed to do.

Horizontal craftshaft engines are best design for carting.

Yea, but if the piston setup is going sideways on the vertical setup then turning it so the piston goes up and down shouldn't have any negative affect. With the vertical setup the oil pan, if it has one, cant be on the bottom of the crank because the oil would interfere with the crank.

ShowNoMercy wrote:Yea, but if the piston setup is going sideways on the vertical setup then turning it so the piston goes up and down shouldn't have any negative affect. With the vertical setup the oil pan, if it has one, cant be on the bottom of the crank because the oil would interfere with the crank.

Show, have you ever disassembled one of these engine's?