Murray Hard Drive Project

[Hollowlog]

I will have to try that. I only have two chains on my setup. We put a brand new centrifugal clutch on it but what initially happened is the band of the brake went over and actually hopped onto part of the so causing a lot of extra friction. Then the clutch got pretty hot. I adjusted the brake by bending the mounting rod a little bit to make it not so close to the chain. We took it out for another test and it did better but still struggled to climb a small hill in the grass. Maybe the clutch was just too hot yet and not working properly. Also, maybe the axle bearings are not the best…

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Ahh.
My bad.
You have a CC on it. That's why you have no torque. Those are good for little tire asphalt race karts.
Your gonna need to step up into a CVT,
Like a comet 30 series, if you want to climb hills.
The cheap ones are good enough just change the belt for a good one.

 

[Denny]

A GENUINE COMET BELT!!!!

 

[JimD]

Guys, right now he got a clutch and jackshaft arrangement, no t/c. As you all know the tires are the killer which is why you want to switch to the t/c but he is still trying to do this with the smallest $$ outlay. I would skip the 40 and go up to 44 tooth sprocket . And you will need a longer chain since you are adding teeth. It will slow you down to 19.5mph but will help on the hill climb but not as much as the t/c. You will lose top end speed with the t/c but you will gain low end torque to get going. It is one one those things in life you can have your cake but you cannot eat it too.

 

[panchothedog]

If the kart is going to be used off road in a hilly area with tall grass no less, I don't think that the centrifugal clutch is going to hold up for very long. Especially with a young beginning driver where there will be a lot of on and off throttle situations. That is a death warrant for a CC. Instead of buying the 40 or 44 sprocket, get yourself a 54 ( 60 would be best, but might be too close to the ground with 16" tires ) and a $65 plate system 30 series torque converter from Amazon. Your kart will top out at about 24 mph in high range, but MORE IMPORTANTLY it will not only climb hills, it will actually accelerate up them. Also, continual partial throttle application or stop and go usage will have no negative effects. You will only need to run one chain. From the plate mounted jack shaft, to the new 54 or 60 tooth axle sprocket.

 

[Hollowlog]

Thanks for the suggestions. Only problem is the frame will not allow a much larger sprocket without cutting and welding. I did see a YouTube video of someone who added the TC with the factory Jackshaft. We may give that a try.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Once you go with a CVT you'll wonder why you ever bothered with a CC.

 

[Mike00]

Parts came yesterday and we assembled as much as we could after dinner and before bedtime for my son. The Jackshaft is rebuilt with really the only difference that the spokes we found did not match exactly. Instead of a 26 tooth sprocket, which connects to the 10t sprocket on the centrifugal clutch, we have a 20t. Hopefully that will be okay. Chain is all hooked up, however, we need to move the engine forward to get the appropriate tension on that chain. Fingers crossed, he will be taking it for his first ride tonight.

Is this what u use