i am trying to speed up my riding lawnmower and my friend said to put a gokart transmission on it with a clutch but i need to know where to get one for cheap, if anyone can help me out it would be great

-- Sam Hutto (blondeboy530@yahoo.com), October 12, 2004

Answers

Assuming that your lawnmower has a verticle shaft engine with a belt driving the transmission, you will need to install the largest diameter pulley that will fit on the engine, and the smallest dia. pulley that will fit on the transmission. Keep in mind that most lawnmower transmissions are packed with grease upon assembly and most use bushings instead of bearings. The grease will fly off the gears at high rpm and will overheat, and eventually fry. I have successfully drilled and tapped a hole in the top of these transmissions and put in 90 wt gear oil, and they will survive a LONG time. You may get a little seepage, but it's not usually an issue. I did these modifications to an old Whites rear engine rider with a 7hp Tecumseh, it would pull wheelies and run 20mph. I built an intake that held two carbs, ported the crap out of the block, and trashed the governer. Eventually, I exploded the engine at about 7,000rpm, and wasted the entire block, twisted the crank, broke the cam, rod, piston etc. God it was fun while it lasted! Don

-- Don Moore (trinity@morgan.net), October 13, 2004.

Oops, forgot something. If your lawnmower uses a chain from the transmission to the axle, you can also put a larger sprocket on the transmission, and a smaller sprocket on the axle, this will increase the speed of the machine without changing transmission rpm. Taller rear tires will do the same. If you have a transaxle, you're pretty much stuck with the pulley change, and taller tires. Pulleys are a cheap way to double or triple you're mph. NOTE, most lawnmowers don't handle well at high speeds!

-- Don Moore (trinity@morgan.net), October 13, 2004.