Two clutches

Status
Not open for further replies.

Jsprague31

New member
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Ottumwa iowa
Okay so this may be out of laziness or just lack of daylight to work I might go karts after I get off work since I don't have a garage to work in but here's my question so I have a Murray Explorer go kart that has a jackshaft and I want to know if it's possible to have a centrifugal clutch on the engine and on the jackshaft while on the other side of having you're normal sprocket on a jackshaft chain connecting to the axle cuz in my head I don't see why it wouldn't work since a clutch won't engage until it hits enough RPMs anyway so in theory once the clutch engages on the motor then I should also engage the one on the jackshaft thus working in sync right? And if it does work what are my downfalls and side effects going to be if I choose to use this method?
 

Kartorbust

Inmate #627
Messages
4,414
Reaction score
856
Location
Utica, NE
Yes it is possible, it's called a 2 speed jack shaft. However I'm not sure on how well it would work out on a go kart, they were popular on mini bikes. Two styles I remember off the top if my head is the Comet and Fairbanks I believe. The key to a 2 speed jack shaft is a spray sprocket, which can only go in one direction.
 

Jsprague31

New member
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Ottumwa iowa
What do you mean asprey sprocket hand where would I put it like on the dam mm be side of the jackshaft or the other side ill post a pic of what I'm dealing if with
 

Jsprague31

New member
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Ottumwa iowa
Here's a few pics of what I'm working with the motor I have on is I believe 8 horsepower Tecumseh with electric start I believe the displacement is 313cc
 

Attachments

  • 20190402_184606.jpg
    20190402_184606.jpg
    359.1 KB · Views: 13
  • 20190402_184602.jpg
    20190402_184602.jpg
    257 KB · Views: 15
  • 20190402_184543.jpg
    20190402_184543.jpg
    224.6 KB · Views: 12

itsid

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,563
Reaction score
245
Location
Ruhrpott [Germany]
Here's a few pics of what I'm working with the motor I have on is I believe 8 horsepower Tecumseh with electric start I believe the displacement is 313cc
Lool you have been screwed over ;)

that's never going to work, some doofus removed a TC (two interacting variable belt pulleys)
and just replaced them with ordinary cent clutches..

the problem is: you need to turn the SHAFT of the siver clutch for it to engage..
the engine can only rotate the BELL so it'll never engage!

You can remove the silver one, install a ~20T-25T sprocket in it's place and the kart should run (slow but moving)

but frankly.. just reinstall a Torque Converter

'sid
 

Jsprague31

New member
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Ottumwa iowa
On the contrary I didn't get screwed over I took a torque converter off because I was going to clean it cuz it kept sticking and somehow I got the spring messed up and it won't come apart so I got ****ed off and put it to the side until I had time to f*** with it and thought of this contraption for the meantime and didn't know if it would or wouldn't work so I posted on here to get some advice or any ideas and you have a good point I didn't think of that but what if I put the silver one on the other side of the jackshaft
 

itsid

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,563
Reaction score
245
Location
Ruhrpott [Germany]
Ahhhh.. I see..
okay so you just added another clutch not knowing it'd render the kart an immovable object ;)

Great..

if you put the silver one on the other end, it'd still not work (well)
here's why:
clutches have a somewhat fixed engagement speed (setable on some, but fixed either way)
means the clutch will start to engage (start moving the shoes towards the bell)
at around 1800 if not stated otherwise,
and usually full lock at around 2200rpm to 2500 rpm
(depending on make and model sometimes age .. let's stick with 2200 for sake of simplicity)

you rev up to 1800 and the black clutch starts to engage
If you add a gear reducing sprocket to the shaft the black clutch connects to (say at least 2:1 as that's recommended since you removed a TC)
the shaft now spins at 900rpm and the silver clutch on the other end won't engage at all
You now waste precious rpm to a non engaging clutch until you reach the max governed speed of the engine (3600 rpm)
at which point the silver clutch just barely starts to engage (1800 rpm spinning jackshaft)

since you have no rpm left in the engine, the silver clutch now burns out since it can never reach full locking speed

just get rid of the silver one and install a sprocket with twice as many teeth as the black clutch has.

dual clutches only work for two speed setups..
and one clutch must either be specifically made for such two speed setup,
OR use a sprag clutch bearing so the other one can "overrun" ..
such setup cannot be winged I'm afraid it's rather finicky in fact to get the gear ratios right,
otherwise the the kart will have a power drop as soon as the 'highspeed' clutch engages, drops speed because of it and the 'slowspeed' clutch has to take over again..
that goes back and forth until you either burned the lining off the 'high speed' clutch or you find a hill to drive down ;)

'sid
 
Last edited:

Jsprague31

New member
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Ottumwa iowa
Thank you for that knowledge I never thought about it like that I guess I'll just have to deal with the Warped spring on my torque converter because I have sprockets it's just that they are all too big for my jackshaft way too big for a couple of them and or not the right tooth size or not the right chain size I have 5 go karts one being Electric for my son and one other one that has clutch on a dead axle ( which in my opinion that makes it junk until I get the money to buy live axle kit) but every one of them five different size sprockets or chains or types of tc which is cool that each one is unique but I'd rather them all be interchangeable with each other but unfortunately money don't grow on trees lol but my current project I'm working on which isn't costing me any money so far it's turning my Yerf-Dog go kart into a sand rail/ dune buggy by chopping up my old four wheeler frame and combining the two together
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top