This has to exist, right?

Kracer46

New member
I recently got into a discussion with my friend who was trying to adapt an old tractor disc clutch onto the axle of his kart so that he could run a cable and lever to it i.e. a 'manual clutch'. I then got to thinking...something like this has to exist? After searching for awhile I couldn't find anything specific for karts that you could run on the axle or a jack shaft that would let you disengage the motor like a car. The only thing I found was forum posts of people asking the same question. Is centrifugal really the only option for kart clutches, other than a torque converter? I guess it makes sense since you don't need to shift gears in a kart, but something tells me it might have an advantage in my neck of the woods (outlaw dirt track racing!). Does anyone have any good ideas on how to fabricate something like this, or that has tried this before? I've got a garage full of tools and all the time in the world... :cool:
 
If you get a mx engine or a quad engine *with* the transmission still attached you can have a manual clutch setup were it also allows you to shift gears.

Getting it mounted is the hard part.
 
Before the old site went down someone was advertising a new clutch they built similar to watch you are searching for. You could engage it yourself via a hand operated lever or a cable and lever mounted deal if im not mistaking. Hopefully they will see this and full you in. Hope this helps
 
sandhillbandit, can you send me a PM with a link to the website you are talking about? I'd rather not reinvent the wheel if I don't have to!
 
Yeah, I remember that post. Most told him it would be better suited for other sports though. Im thinking he was gonna try junior dragsters? I cant quite recall. But he had a prototype built and maybe had video on youtube. I don't have the link though.
 
Okay with a little more searching I think I've found what you guys are talking about. Bummer the clutch is only for a 3/4" motor I'm running a 1" bore right now... But man what a cool piece of technology!! From the videos it looks like it hooks up really well, and it looks to be pretty well built as well. Has anyone bought one of these clutches from them? I'm thinking I could adopt it to my 3/4" jackshaft fairly easily...
 
Yep that's the one. Seems like the only company I could find that are doing something like this. I found an industrial type clutch that could probably work for what I'd like to do but they wanted $1500:mad:
 
The downs brother is the clutch they advertised here, and they have a 1" design in the works. Remember seeing them post about it because some outlaw racers were interested.
 
He's sending me a clutch for testing and a magazine writeup.... I'll post back results here once they're publicly available... ~Ted
 
I just got a chance to talk with the owner, very nice guy. I think I'm going to order one and give it a try. From user reviews on other forums it sounds like it is a quality clutch. My guess is that it will catch on with open class and outlaw racing if it works as well as advertised. I'll keep you guys posted after i try it out!
 
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