cart question(stupidity content.)

in the pursuit of grassroots i have decided to build my own dirt cart. cheap. i mean stupid cheap. ok, so im sure someone here has ventured into the realm that i am about to jump into so i figured id ask how realistic some of my pipedreams are. ok first things first, powertrain. i figure cheap is better, so i am going cheap. well free. i have an old chainsaw motor, would this be capable of moving a person? i think a 5h b/s would of course be better, but i have no money(my car is getting a new clutch), so thats out of the question. i like sprockets, so i wanna put some on, as in some derailuer gears from an old bicycle. i was thinking it goes like this, big sprocket on axel, small sprocket on motor makes for faster(not faster accelerating) cart. at least thats what i think. the whole chain shifting sounds cool until i have to stop, i need a clutch of some kind for when i wanna not stall. i have ideas but they are stupid. since i wanna go around in the dirt i kinda want a suspension to try to soak up bumps. i was thinking about reverse sprung damperless set up, i know that will work because it makes sense. this however, does not. trampoline springs. mounted upside down. i told you it was a stupid idea. any one do something like this before? i can weld, so the frame it self isn't going to be an issue, i have the building itch, all these things are free, i know its dumb, but i just can't help but think about the fun if it did work.......

Once again, from the man who brought you the Locost:

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Off-Road-Buggy-little/dp/1859606423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222256264&sr=1-1

Unless you're really looking to BUILD something, you might also want to consider picking up a used Suzuki Samurai, they're dirt cheap in the states and they're basically street-legal off-road karts.

well yeah, but i have a car thats in the shop and i'm antsy with nothing to drive, i really wanna build something stupid but not do it stupidly. besides, that book is over my budget of 15 dollers. i have everything, just wanna see what people think could be done better. oh and samurai are fun, but there have been 4 240zs for 500 bucks this last week, if i had the money for one of those puppy's i would be in a very happy place right now

what are you doing for wheels and tires?

If your using a high profile tire your probably better off having a solid frame with no suspension.

Or one other option is having "seat suspension" ie. Lots of padding.

I guess what I am getting at is your probably better off with no suspension at all than you are with bad suspension.

A chainsaw doesn't have enough torque to drive a go-kart. I bought an old edger at a yard-sale, and used its engine. It was about $20 once I had found a clutch. Also, you have the gearing backwards. Small sprocket on motor-large sprocket on axel = faster acceleration. The opposite would provide greater top speed. As far as suspension goes, my old dirt kart just had a sliding pillar suspension with a spring on the top and bottom, like they use in Morgans. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it got the job done. One last thing: slicks are a ton of fun on wet grass in a go-kart. Have fun.

If you look at the history of go carts, from the mid 1950s through the 1960s for the most part they all used chainsaw engines.

Stihl Information said:This saw was still too heavy for comfortable operation, but it led the way to the introduction of the Stihl BLK saw in 1954. At 31 pounds and 4.5 hp, the BLK was the first truly portable chain saw.

Chain saws used to be much, much bigger.

If you're looking for cheap suspension ideas, you may want to check out junk mountain bike shocks...you know, those generic Mongoose/Roadmaster/etc. Chineese junk bikes. Almost all of the full-suspension ones I've seen use the same shock/spring setup. It certainly isn't a "good" unit, but you should be able to find them for free - I have 2 I've picked up for nothing so far.

The rates are reasonably high & I doubt they have much damping, so it'll take some work to figure out a bell-crank or similar setup(or maybe you can just copy the geometry from the bike & get close enough?)that will give you the correct wheel-rate. But hey, free is free!

Truly stupid but that's why I like it... Why not combine the chain saw motor to an old mountain bike? Keep all the gearing and build a four wheel frame?

Sure you need to find some old bikes but why not their damn near free!

littleturquoiseb wrote: Truly stupid but that's why I like it... Why not combine the chain saw motor to an old mountain bike? Keep all the gearing and build a four wheel frame? Sure you need to find some old bikes but why not their damn near free!

that is why i love people who throw things away. thats how i got the motor and the inspiration for the project. but i am starting to think that derailuer gears wouldn't even be that cool for the hassle. i think im going to try to build this weekend. i like that mountain bike damper idea, and the reason i want any sort of suspension is for non comfort reasons, i wanna keep as much tire on the ground as i can.

in for spectacular failure vid when you yump it