First post/check out my project/advice welcome!

[jerkmybait]

Riding Mower to Go Kart Conversion

Got a free john deere s92 lawn tractor for free off of craigslist and I am turning it into a go cart! The only catch was that it had caught on fire! The starter, battery, spark plug, and all the wires were melted! Heres some pics:

No before pics of the fire damage but I took these off:

Kept taking it apart, peice by peice:

Now I have this cool frame!

Since the old engine was toast due to the fire(B&S about 10 horse), I just took off some parts but decided to use this:

 

[anderkart]

Welcome to DIY, looks like a cool project. Sounds like a 10 tooth clutch would probably work out alright.
What diameter are your rear tires?

 

[Tony]

looks like a nice start. what kind of axle are you using?

 

[jerkmybait]

Thanks guys for the replies.

I think I am just going to use the axle assembly from the old mower. It has a 60 tooth sprocket and a diff (which actually looks pretty good quality which surprised me). You can see it in the 2nd picture.

The rear tires from the old mower are 15 inches. Might get some smaller ones though, maybe 4 matching wheels/tires.

Ordered the clutch today from northern tool, a 10 tooth for my size 41 chain(that also came with the mower). I hope it is here by the weekend and I might get this thing running.

Total cost so far is $50 for the clutch and $90 for the motor. My original plan was to use the 3.5 hp Wisconsin motor (orange in the 3rd pic), but with the 6.5 being pretty cheap I figured I would go that route and save the 3.5 for another project.

I will update as I go along, like the site, glad I found it

 

[Tony]

I think you could have gotten a better deal on the clutch. I got my 10 tooth 41 on ebay brand new for $25.

 

[jerkmybait]

The clutch was actually $39 but with shipping I just rounded up to $50. I probably could have picked it up cheaper on ebay, but I prefer to deal locally on CL or order from a reputable dealer.

Took it to the carwash and cleaned it up real good today, it will be running soon. I will keep updating the post and take some good pics as I'm putting it back together so that it will hopefully help someone else doing a similar project.

 

[jerkmybait]

Here's the video of it on the first test run!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY5vLsOLQAs

 

[solomon]

Thats cool!