Pulley/mechanical question

[Tulsa_Fireman]

Home do-it-yourselfers! Men with wrenches and time on your hands!

I got a question. Homey's lawnmower thread got me thinking about it. First, some background.

I'm sure you all have heard of flipping the pulleys on a riding lawnmower to get hot, nasty, sexy speed. I've done that on an older 12.5 horse Murray riding lawnmower. Reworked the steering linkage, lowered and fixed the front end, reworked the throttle linkage to a foot throttle, transaxle pulley swap, bunch of stuff to make a fire engine red mow-chine capable of 20-25 miles per hour.

But there's more to be had without overspeeding that transaxle too much. The answer lies in a bigger drive pulley on the block. But I'm having one hell of a time finding pulleys in varying diameters with a deep enough valley to keep the drive belt mounted when the belt is clutched. A constant velocity pulley won't get it, because a constant velocity pulley will maintain tension clutched and we don't want that.

I need a pulley with a real deep valley. Preferably 5-6 inch minimum groove diameter. But I'm at a loss if such an animal even exists.

Any ideas? Resources?

[Leroy Lizard]

I'm not sure of your aims, but I use my lawnmower to, like, mow my lawn.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

I use mine to drive fast and kick ***.

[Harry Beanbag]

You know you can still get a DUI on a lawnmower, right?

[olevetonahill]

I use mine to drive fast and kick ***.

Tim Is that you ?

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/AV2MehkFcTw/0.jpg

[StoopTroup]

I'm not helping with any redesign for any of your DIY sex devices you sicko. ;)

[Okla-homey]

Spend some time on the innerweb. If such a pulley is in production anywhere on the fruited plain, I bet you can find it for sale on-line. As an added benny, if you buy it online, you can contribute to Tulsa's budgetary deficit because you won't pay sales tax.:D

[C&CDean]

WTF is a "5-6 minimum groove diameter?"

[sooner_born_1960]

Yeah. We need drawings of this thing.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

Sorry. Not an expert on sheaves.

The valley of the pulley. You'll notice on your riding mower, both the drive and deck drive pulleys are deep where the belt rides so that when clutched, the belt will loosen but remain in the valley of the pulley without having to have a ton of belt guides. I've already tried an industrial sheave, but the valley is only the thickness of the belt. Even with belt guides, given the amount of play the clutch puts in the belt, it throws the belt.

So I need a pulley that has a deeper valley, the part where the belt rides, so that when that belt is clutched it remains in the valley of the pulley but will still lose tension. Something a CV sheave won't do.

So essentially I need a drive sheave just like what's on the mower now. Just bigger.

[C&CDean]

Well then go ****ing buy one.

You're welcome.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

That's the problem. I can't FIND one.

Tried McMaster-Carr and a few others with no luck. Hence the post. Surely the tinkering minds of the SO would know something on where a fella would be able to get his hands on a sheave like this. I figured they'd be pretty common, but I guess I was wrong.

Without a stamped or aluminum option, I'm going to be reduced to trying to tack on some sort of fabbed plate stock to create a deeper valley on a cast iron sheave. I don't want to do that as I want to make sure I stayed balanced on the drive sheave to keep the vibration down, therefore preserving the seals and thusly, the life of the motor.

I'm having a hard time believing no one on this board has ever tried to make a riding mower haul ***. C'mon, fellas.

[Ike]

Surely a machine shop would be able to get this done for you...either by taking an existing pulley wheel and deepening the groove, or by simply making one from scratch.


a quick google search of machine shops in tulsa will probably point you in the right direction.

[StoopTroup]

Put a JT-8 Pratt Whitney on the damn thing if you are just wanting to go fast.

http://downloads.aerioncorp.com/images/advantage/engine_jt8d_2_low_386x496.jpg

[Okla-homey]

Put a JT-8 Pratt Whitney on the damn thing if you are just wanting to go fast.

http://downloads.aerioncorp.com/images/advantage/engine_jt8d_2_low_386x496.jpg

JT-8 Pratt Whitney? ppshaw. Everyone knows the GE F-101 is clearly superior in terms of its reliability, efficiency and thrust-to-weight ratio.

[StoopTroup]

JT-8 Pratt Whitney? ppshaw. Everyone knows the GE F-101 is clearly superior in terms of its reliability, efficiency and thrust-to-weight ratio.

True but either way....it's gonna get him way past the pulley performance. :D

Lets hope he takes video of the test run. :D

[Ike]

True but either way....it's gonna get him way past the pulley performance. :D

Lets hope he takes video of the test run. :D

Ahh, but since he's going all DIY on this, why not just make his own pulse jet instead. No moving parts too!

[Okla-homey]

Ahh, but since he's going all DIY on this, why not just make his own pulse jet instead. No moving parts too!

You ever heard one of those things operate? Deafening. The turbofan option would be much more neighbor-friendly.

[Ike]

You ever heard one of those things operate? Deafening. The turbofan option would be much more neighbor-friendly.

I'm not saying it doesn't have drawbacks...but it will save him a lot of maintenance.

[Okla-homey]

I'm not saying it doesn't have drawbacks...but it will save him a lot of maintenance.

Until he gets sucked into the pulse-jet air intake and is simultaneously roasted, mulched and spewed all over the neighborhood.

[Ike]

Until he gets sucked into the pulse-jet air intake and is simultaneously roasted, mulched and spewed all over the neighborhood.

ah, just roasted really...and spewed. Only mulched if the intake is designed a particular way.

Wouldn't the same risks exist with a turbofan?

Besides, with the pulse, the intake can be pointing the same direction as the exhaust if you make it a valveless pulsejet...which would make it more difficult to get sucked in, because you'd get roasted beforehand by the exhaust...

[Ike]

For instance, I was thinking something like any of the following images...

http://www.beck-technologies.com/products.html

[C&CDean]

I have a Hustler Z zero-turn mower that will not only run about 18 mph, it'll also mow at that speed. Besides, Murray is to mowers as BMW is to cars. POS.