Race Mower Project

[Billh51]

We finally finished up the construction part of the race mower build. We found a steering wheel and built a hub to get it mounted to the shaft assembly. Made a mount for the battery and wired up the chassis and tested it out. Everything works as it should, thankfully. We tore it all apart today and prepped it for painting, getting everything done that needed a primer coat. If the weather cooperates tomorrow, we should get some of the colors on. Not too far from trying it out.

 

[dave_r_1]

No test run before painting?

 

[Billh51]

No test run before painting?

It was tempting to try it out but there are a few things to be done yet. No throttle control and the slack chain sprocket is still on back order, should be next week. It was a thought though.

 

[dave_r_1]

I've just found that, for my projects where I fab up something that's mostly new, that it takes a couple of rounds of modifications to get it working well,

 

[Billh51]

I've just found that, for my projects where I fab up something that's mostly new, that it takes a couple of rounds of modifications to get it working well,

I think that’s true for most of us Dave. I’m sure we will be playing around with the castor and camber along with tire pressure to get it to corner well. We have kind of a baseline figured out and will adjust from there. Also could be some sprocket changes to take full advantage of the torque band on the motor. Hopefully we don’t have any major chassis changes to make. We are looking forward to putting it all back together.

 

[Billh51]

The weather cooperated for us and we were able to paint the colors on the mower over the last two days. Assembly is up next. We’re excited.

 

[Billh51]

Well we finally got back on our project after a little delay, had to go out of town for a bit. We finished all the painting and started and finished the assembly of the racer. Everything went well, we took our time making sure everything was dialed in as best we could. Hopefully eliminating any problems down the road. The motor runs great and the mower seems to handle quite well. The real test will be to get it on the track and make all the final adjustments to the front end and tire pressures.
We sure had a great time building it and I know my Grandson learned some new skills he can use in his shop class this year when school starts. Nothing like a project with the kids. Also, thank all of you that followed this project through and all the kind and interesting comments.

 

[Boswell]

We sure had a great time building it

That is so awesome. What a great project to teach the fundamentals of design and fabrication.

 

[tweinke]

Be sure to let us know how it all works out once on the track.