Converting a Lawn Mower to a Go-Cart

January 7th, 2010 Posted in Boating

Building a go-kart using an old lawnmower engine isn’t nearly as straightforward of a job as it might sound. That is due to the fact that karts and mowers are built differently. To use a mower engine, you’ll need to make some adaptations. Once you have done so, however, you can build a go cart for a relatively tiny amount of money.

Lawnmower engines are designed with vertical shafts. To convert them for go-kart use, you can’t just tip them onto their sides, because the oil in them wouldnot be in a position to circulate in order to lubricate the engine correctly. You’ll need a gearbox which will convert the motor you have to one that will operate a go-kart. As you can see, this is going to take some experience, and an amateur engineer probably isn’t going to be able to handle the job unassisted.

Here is one method of changing a lawn mower engine into one that will work on a go-kart. First off, you want to put a gear on the bottom of the engine which will turn gear that turns the spindle. If you’re like me, you wouldn’t have any idea how to try this and would need to hire it done ; however , with some mechanical skills or a friend who knows about engines, you should be fine with this step. What you’re needing is bevel gears with a disengage lever to separate them. You’ll also need brakes which will turn on whenever you pull the disengage lever. Shed the choke. Instead you’re going to need an accelerator pedal which can be installed on the floor of the kart near where your feet will be.

If you choose to search online for info about changing a mower to a small go cart, you’re going to find lots of conflicting information. What one individual will tell you to do contradicts the recommendation you get from somebody else. One website recommends the technique described above while others swear that it will never work. Therefore, unless you have basic mechanical skills and knowledge, or you like to mess around and see what you can come up with, you’ll doubtless be better off getting professional help or buying a ready-built go-kart.