lawn mower transmission...?

[joshpit2003]

I'm a big fan of pedal power. There are also a LOT of trails you can take a pedal powered vehicle on that would be illegal to take a motorized vehicle on. The nearest "Legal" place for me to drive off-road is an hour away... thats one of the problems w/ living in California.

 

[freakboy]

its called the road you live on ahah and turning one of these trannys over with your hand is near imposible without a wrench so its gona be hard as heck turning one of these just so u know.

 

[TurtleMann14]

i would just go with a drive train from a bike

a set for the front and a set for the back(and maybe find a way to lock them together, 90*out, if you want 4x4)

 

[joshpit2003]

it turning one of these trannys over with your hand is near imposible without a wrench so its gona be hard as heck turning one of these just so u know.

U sure about that? I read somewhere you are sapposed to be able to check for defects by spinning the input by hand and feeling how easily it turns.

Maybe thats the difference between running them w/ grease vs running them w/ gear oil.

I would imagine w/ a fine gear oil they would spin easy by hand... if there was "That" much friction on the gears then i dont think it would be a very efficient tranny.

lets just hope the friction is mostly comming from the grease and not the tranny itself.

if anyone out there could confirm or deny that would be appreciated, as freakboy brings up a good point.

 

[freakboy]

they do spin freely and smoothly but they are hard to turn without leverage on the input shaft. Im running a peerless 820 in my racing mower and you cant turn that thing over without a wrench on it... i think parts from a bike would be the best.

 

[joshpit2003]

i would just go with a drive train from a bike

a set for the front and a set for the back(and maybe find a way to lock them together, 90*out, if you want 4x4)

I would do that, but my application is going to require that the axles articulate... so if you know of a chain that can twist, please let me know. I've searched online and it seems that driveshafts are the only thing used when an axle needs to articulate.
I even looked for a sprocket that would allow for articulation

If you could imagine a sprocket w/ a ball/socket type inner that slips over a shaft, that was what i thought might work.
That would allow the axle to move while the sprocket corrected itself to align w/ the input sprocket. I'm not sure if that would work though, and it doesn't seem like this type of sprocket exists.

 

[freakboy]

could you adapt the bike stuff then have the axle coming out with two u joints?

 

[TurtleMann14]

^ best way i see to do it

would be an independent suspension though

 

[freakboy]

if u dont want independant you can just do a swing arm type deal?

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

You wont be going fast enough to need suspension.

 

[TurtleMann14]

i am not sure but i think he is going for a rock crawler type of deal

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

The reason it is so difficult to crank a mower trans by hand has almost nothing to do with the lube, its moving the mass of that geartrain(put a spoked pulley on one if you don't believe me). Parasitic drain+starting load from two peerless 700s and a full blown suspension setup would probably exceed what one average man can pedal.

 

[joshpit2003]

wow. lots of resposes. No for the independant suspension, just dont think I could get it really "flex". I dont think swing arm is an option unless I swing arm all 4 wheels (i guess that would also be independant suspension...but may work)...hum...?

does anyone have a peerless 700 and actually tired turning it? perferably one that hasn't been sitting in the yard for ages... maybe someone who rebuilt one? (maybe I should join the lawnmower racing guys forum and ask that question as well...)

anyhow, thanks for the info and suggestions... looks like the research continues.
(lets see if I can find a torque input rating to get this tranny turning)

also kenny, for what its worth its Two people that will be peddaling this.

-Josh

 

[TurtleMann14]

could be like this guy...

although its more along the lines of trailing arm

with out any type of sway bar an independent can flex a good bit

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

I'm saying a lot of waste is going into using a component designed to move 1000 lbs and eat 12+ hp without a problem, in an application where it needs to move a few hundred and you only have 1 horsepower at best.

 

[joshpit2003]

yeah turtleman, thats the first thing I thought of... he's got a youtube video of the thing in action: "chainlink" is the name of it. The creater actually lives 40 min from me. thing looks amazing. re-defines the world of off-roading.

I hear ya kenny, it most definatly is overkill. I'm not going for efficiency here, but as you said, if the thing is near impossible for two people to crank... then it isn't going to work.
(In whichcase I would throw an electric motor on the thing)

i'm guessing my vehicle is going to weigh approx 150-250 pounds. (a lot,... i know)
So there are a lot of bike parts that can't handle that kind of load... the problem i'm having is that the next thing up from a bike is a riding mower... which is 500+ pounds.

i think back on those rental bikes that you load 4 ppl into and two of the people pedal... the thing has to weigh at least 300+ pounds... and you can get those moving w/ only 2 people no problem... not the most fun to ride, but still no problem on flat surfaces.
If I can get the equivalent "fun factor" (or lack there of) on the flats as these huge rental bikes, then I'll be happy. now if only I could find one of those bikes and bolt a 700 series tranny to it...

 

[TurtleMann14]

i would say make the trailing arms deal....

run a jack shaft out though the pivot point of the swing arm and chain to the wheels

run bike sprockets to the jack shaft from the pedals

 

[joshpit2003]

yeah, that would be the idea... i'd throw a differential on the jackshaft too.
just not sure yet if I wanna go that route... im a sucker for straight axles.

 

[BriggsTwins]

cant beat the 100% of the time drive

 

[TurtleMann14]

i don't think that you would want to go straight, not saying that you couldn't, but it would be to costly

if you could make a hub for the sprocket like a cv joint and then had a way to stabilize the sprocket you could do it