A different kind of racer out of Horicon

[GreenFever]

I just finished building my first lawnmower racer. Thought you might find it interesting. It is a '79 108 with a 20 hp Briggs & Stratton V-twin. The bodywork is not done yet but I will worry about that next year. Plan to paint it up like a Liquidator but I want to make sure it will finish a race first. If you guys are interested I will post more pics and info.

[Matt]

[Hawkeye]

So how did it run???

[GreenFever]

Amazingly well. First time out I was lapping everybody. I was mostly able to out handle other mowers. Thinking about racing it on the ice this winter. Here is a link to my Youtube Channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/marticat83?feature=mhum It has most of my races on there. I plan on upgrading the brakes and steering for next year and maybe burn E-85 for a bit more power.

[lwb140]

when i was a pup the mechanic at our local consumer store had a 67 112 barrel fender tractor that was painted mean green and had liquidator decals on it .it was super cool but sold it for pennies a couple years ago never to be seen again it was a peice of LOCAL jd history for or community but its gone wade

[Hawkeye]

That is pretty funny. Looks like fun. What are the rules as far as setting up the tractors?

[JDT]

Do you always run ovals?
Any course with both left and right turns?

What is the longest course?
Are you able to reach top speed on that long track and what is top speed?

[GreenFever]

Wad painting my mower up like a liquidator was one of my first ideas and I still might do it but it might not not me as instantly recognizable as a John Deere to most people.
The rules for our local group frame no less than 4" from ground, must use a mower transmission and clutch, 20hp or less lawnmower sourced air cooled engine, 42" max width and bunch of other little rules but those are the main ones.
With the the gears I got in my mower right now it will run 35 mph. I think with the right gears it would do 50 if the lawn mower tires would hold up at that speed. The biggest track was a 1/8th mile go cart track but I didn't get a chance to race on that one. The engine has a stock cam with the governor removed so it quits reving at 5100 but I have not been able to reach that in race so I may need a bit lower gear for the smaller tracks.

[Hawkeye]

Are you running the Peerless transmission that came standard on those early 80's 100 series tractors, we had a 111 (now own a 180), I can't imagine either of those tractors going 35 mph. But I guess if you change gearing and have no RPM limit...

[GreenFever]

No not running the stock 800 transaxle but I am running a 700 peerless transmission. It is the same thing only it doesn't have the axle built in. They were only meant for 10 ft lbs of torque so you have to spin the transmissions fast. With a 8" puly on the engine and 5" on the trans and only run them in 3rd gear. Which is 1 to 1 and stronger than the rest. I then have a 12 tooth sprocket on the trans and a 46 on a 1 1/4" go cart axle. With that setup the transmissions it holds up pretty good if you remove the reverse chain inside and replace the grease with gear lube.

Oh and JDT as of right now we only run ovals. I would like to do a road course style track but so far no one else seems to like the idea. Plus I would have to do some adjustments on my mower right not it turns left real good but not so much the other direction.