I had a go-cart with an engine like that when I was a brat in high school. You could look in the port and see the piston slapping back and forth. It was LOUD! And yes, cent-clutches are as small as a small chainsaw needs. ---Greg
They get pretty small, Glen. Figure, gas weedeaters and chainsaws have them. The one in the pic is huge in comparison to those. We used to put those things on cobbled-together motorbikes made from Schwinn Stingrays. Then there were the "torque converter" centrifugal clutches like those found on the old mopeds. Those were not only centrifugal clutches, but also had pulleys that varied in diameter depending on the RPM. Put one of them on one of those motorbikes, and that 1.5 HP Briggs & Stratton engine could get that bike up to about 60MPH!!!
And look at the EXHAUST PORT!!! 'Better keep your leg out of the way!!! I'm also not seeing a throttle control... My dad built something like that for us from a pedal car. He put this MONSTROUS old Tecumseh engine on the back of the thing and ran a chain to the sprocket on the rear wheel axle. The engine was gigantic but probably only put out about 2HP. My mom saw that thing, said NO F**CKIN' WAY," and we never saw it again...
I had a go-cart with an engine like that when I was a brat in high school. You could look in the port and see the piston slapping back and forth. It was LOUD!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, cent-clutches are as small as a small chainsaw needs.
---Greg
They get pretty small, Glen. Figure, gas weedeaters and chainsaws have them. The one in the pic is huge in comparison to those. We used to put those things on cobbled-together motorbikes made from Schwinn Stingrays. Then there were the "torque converter" centrifugal clutches like those found on the old mopeds. Those were not only centrifugal clutches, but also had pulleys that varied in diameter depending on the RPM. Put one of them on one of those motorbikes, and that 1.5 HP Briggs & Stratton engine could get that bike up to about 60MPH!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd look at the EXHAUST PORT!!! 'Better keep your leg out of the way!!! I'm also not seeing a throttle control... My dad built something like that for us from a pedal car. He put this MONSTROUS old Tecumseh engine on the back of the thing and ran a chain to the sprocket on the rear wheel axle. The engine was gigantic but probably only put out about 2HP. My mom saw that thing, said NO F**CKIN' WAY," and we never saw it again...
ReplyDeleteThere's an inch n a half to two-ish inch centrifugal clutch on all small to small/medium chain saws. Not sure what the smallest would measure.
ReplyDeleteI think the clutch is in front of the driven wheel.
ReplyDelete