Belt Clutch

[my_mini_bike]

I find these quiet interesting.. Home-made belt clutches.

They are your basic belt drive setup, but it is setup so that the belt is belt slack and the engine can idle freely without the belt spinning.
However, there is an independent third pulley wheel, freely spinning which moves up and down;
When in the up position, the clutch 'engaged' taking up the slack in belt, making it taught and therefore giving you your drive.
When in the down position the clutch is 'dis-engaged' leaving the belt slack in it, so therefore is no drive and the belt cannot spin so you dont go anywhere.

Pretty cool, huh.
Works in theory, rightt??

Ive seen a few go karts for sale on ebay, with these claiming that they work just fine...
Has anyone every experimented with these or have any experience with them?

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[gocartkid]

That's the same setup that pretty much all belt driven LT's and GT's use.

 

[modelengineer]

I have that setup on my kart. I'll try and get pictures soon.

Works fine, belt lasts for ages, even if you slip it heaps.
The only problem is if you're starting on a steep slope and you slip the clutch while not moving it can cut straight through it in no time. But as long as you are moving when slipping it then the wear is shared over the whole belt and it will last for ages.

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

More fun can be had with a manual clutch, can you say wheelie? Probably a bit easier to unlock the rear end on a live axle. Of course more thinking and footroom is required.

 

[adriang]

i have a riding lawnmower and it uses the same system for its brrake/clutch