Winter fun - Project “Freedom” 440cc 2 Stroke 1054 Snowmotractor

[Pullstart 59,651]

I mounted up the TINY rear pulley and installed another idler into the hydraulic pump slots for fine tuning adjustments.  Remember, the slack in the belt gets taken up by the clutch action squeezing together.  
 

I also found the clutch spring is broken.  Hmm.  Stronger spring?  Higher stall?  Maybe the cams in the clutch have to do with that too…

 

 

 

 

[Pullstart 59,651]

The last parts 440 had a good spring.  Back in business!

 

 

[Pullstart 59,651]

Sorry @SylvanLakeWH… I can’t justify wrecking expensive tires today.  Trial number eleventeen.

 

 

[Pullstart 59,651]

I found the limits of the belt…

[Pullstart 59,651]

Had lots of fun doing it though!

 

 

[Maxwell-8 4,270]

curious how that input bearingg si holding up.

Any idea of the topspeed? 

[wallfish 15,918]

A cogged belt will grab that little pulley better

8 hours ago, Pullstart said:

Had lots of fun doing it though!

Can't tell from the big smile on your face but see a little mud spray on ya. The dry running instead of snow is probably a better stress test

[WHX?? 46,729]

Just......ain't .....right...

Oh well ... difference between men and  boys is the price  of their toys.

Glad to see yer havin fun Kev! 

[Pullstart 59,651]

@wallfish I met Mrs. P in town for a little school function and made sure to wash my hands and change my clothes.  She sent me to the boys room to wash my face!  

[wallfish 15,918]

Just now, Pullstart said:

@wallfish I met Mrs. P in town for a little school function and made sure to wash my hands and change my clothes.  She sent me to the boys room to wash my face!  

Man, if she licked her finger to wipe some off too that would've been the icing

[wallfish 15,918]

----

Edited February 22, 2022 by wallfish
erased. don't know why it's double posting again?

[Pullstart 59,651]

1 hour ago, wallfish said:

Man, if she licked her finger to wipe some off too that would've been the icing

she knew exactly what I was up to.  I got shunned like a dirty 6 year old at the supper table!

[Pullstart 59,651]

Coming soon… clutch system upgrades and MORE SPEED along with front ski wheels for summer time show puttin’ around…

[sjoemie himself 2,918]

4 hours ago, Pullstart said:

show puttin’ around…

By that  you mean like this right?

[Pullstart 59,651]

Weeeellll….  I’d love to, but I really consider the danger of many people all over the place.  There are too many hot rodded machines going too fast at the shows.  It just takes once… and no more cruising for everyone.  I’ll keep it low and slow like my bbq at the shows.  

[Pullstart 59,651]

I took the primary apart, milled one face and and turned the other on the lathe, then reassembled it as a pulley with the spring applying positive pressure always.  I’ll be reverting back to the Wheel Horse clutch tensioning system but may have to use a @Bens vintage tractors idler setup on the tiny transmission pulley…

 

 

[Pullstart 59,651]

This belt might actually work, I just found it in a pile.  I need to grab the clutch idler pulley and see where it all lays.

 

 

[Pullstart 59,651]

I also found a set of wheels and tires that’ll work to cruise the shows.  It’ll end up having a double shear mount and be supported by the top and bottom of the spindle bolts.  I’ll wait to get it all on the ground with the paddle tires mounted up again to see if I need to remove the springs up front for show season (or better yet pop the coil overs off a parts sled and cut the coils down to set the ride height).

 

[Pullstart 59,651]

But first…

 

Norman needs to be able to haul this year and he can’t do it like this!

 

 

[Pullstart 59,651]

@Handy Don @wallfish @8ntruck I’m looking for thoughts, ideas, help… let’s go bench racing!

 

So, I modified the snowmobile engine clutch to become just a large pulley.  Check.  Introduce  clutch pulley system, a hydro belt (remind me to measure it before I destroy it!) and it looks like I’ll be able to get it all going.  Well, I don’t think the engine has enough umph to start with a load on it, even in neutral.  Even after I pulled the belt and warmed it up, I shut it down, quick tossed the belt back on, and now it won’t start again.  It tries, it almost does, but just can’t quite.  It’s like the engine has zero torque to keep it running and it just dies.  
 

I’m sure once I get the belt guides set, maybe setting the parking brake might help, but I’m thinking maybe not.

 

[wallfish 15,918]

There shouldn't be that much resistance with the trans in neutral. One thing I did on a fast hot tractor (35-40 mph) was change the gear oil to motor oil to reduce all that friction of the heavy oil. The thinner oil will sling plenty enough to lube everything at those speeds and will stay cooler too. Oil can get pretty hot from all that friction resistance.

IMO you should keep that pulley as variable. That gives a big wide range of speed beyond just the throttle and allows for more taking off torque from a stop. Plus it clutches on it's own.

[Pullstart 59,651]

Thanks for the thoughts on oil selection!  Unfortunately the modifications I did to make the pulley diameter larger for more output speed rendered it not variable.  Hopefully though, it’ll allow me to come to idle, press the clutch pedal, shift gears, then let the clutch out and pull the throttle like a motorcycle or vehicle.

[wallfish 15,918]

Not being familiar with snowmobile engines, could the air temp have anything to do with it? Cold air is much denser so maybe a carb adjustment? Just throwing stuff against the wall.

Not to rehash since it's fixed position now but did you ever try the variable with the longer belt and the spring idler set up? The spring idler should allow that belt to ride high in the groove when the pulley closes all the way. Like it is now. Curious because I'm working on one now with a varible pulley

[Pullstart 59,651]

2 hours ago, wallfish said:

Not being familiar with snowmobile engines, could the air temp have anything to do with it? Cold air is much denser so maybe a carb adjustment? Just throwing stuff against the wall.

Not to rehash since it's fixed position now but did you ever try the variable with the longer belt and the spring idler set up? The spring idler should allow that belt to ride high in the groove when the pulley closes all the way. Like it is now. Curious because I'm working on one now with a varible pulley

You could be on to something.  I was thinking maybe more fuel, or different plug gap?  Maybe I’ll put the clutch back to opening and closing and see what happens..

[wallfish 15,918]

If you can make it variable again, the spring tension on the idler arm may need to be adjusted for tension until it allows the pulley to fully close but also not slip on the small trans pulley. That's the trick to see if it works with a small fixed pulley on the trans. Possibly some belt length changes too.

And you can go with a rubber sided belt which will grab the grooves more since the clutching is done with the variable. Also a cogged belt will bend a lot better around that small trans pulley. Something like this.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/5VX1120-Cogged-V-Belt-5-8-x-112in-Outside-Circumference/367796051?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=101007552&adid=22222222222307256484&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=o&wl2=c&wl3=74904337256595&wl4=pla-4578503886446703&wl5=&wl6=&wl7=&wl10=Walmart&wl11=Online&wl12=367796051_10001026921&wl14=5%2F8 cogged v belt&veh=sem&msclkid=fc4853c2bf4d10aa7002315410572b5b&gclid=fc4853c2bf4d10aa7002315410572b5b&gclsrc=3p.ds

If it works that thing would have great low speed torque and pretty good high end speed