Kart starters

[Brad Rose]

As I am getting closer to getting my kart going I realized I have no way of starting an engine. Just curious what you guys recommend. I was thinking of making or buying a belt starter.

Brad

[Romero Llamas]

Expensive, but compact. Comes with allen tip, Let him know what bolt you have.

http://www.bbtstarters.com/order

[doug tenney]

Not exactly like the urban legend of the guy who built a boat in his basement... at least we hope!

Brad, do you ever plan to run an oil clutch having a closed cover?  Or will your clutch nut always be exposed?
What engine type(s) do you plan to run?

[Jim Waltz]

Here's an idea.....

A plug-in starter, converted for belt use.

These old Coleman starters can be had fairly cheap, and actually do a dang good job.

And a lot less bulky than the old style "hand truck" type starters.

[Brad Rose]

LoL Doug! It's not quite that bad but close it seems at times. I plan on running an 820 with dry clutches for now. That's another thing what nut do I need for my clutch. I know the crank threads are left hand. I am in the phase of my kart build that I really don't know much about.

Thanks for the help!

[ted johnson]

Brad, McMaster Carr has 7/16-20 LH nuts for West Bend clutch or flywheel. GEM used to make extended nuts for nut starters, but I don't know if Viking is still selling those. Remember, it's always better to start a LH thread crank engine from the flywheel side. This means you're not trying to unscrew the nut with your starter. Ted

[Jim Waltz]

Brad.

Teddy may not realize it, but the re-incarnation of GEM has two kinds of nuts available for right wheel (clockwise rotation from the PTO end) engines.  Most all the 820's you will find, except a few really old one, will be this way.

They all have lefthand threads on the cranks.

Now, if you are only running a single engine, then a "plug in" starter is a very easy way to start your engine.

Most of the old Coleman starters you will find are clockwise rotation.  And parts are still available.  I have like three of these.

Because of the clockwise rotation, and the lefthand threads on the crank, what you have to use is a hex clutch nut with a 7/16 lefthand thread on one end, and a 5/16 righthand thread on the other end.  Yes, it is kind of goofy.  I made one from scratch myself during a period when these were not available.

You screw this on the PTO end of the crank nice and tight, then you screw in a 5/16 righthand thread sockethead cap screw into the big hex nut on the end of the crank.  Then when you hit that with the 5/16 hex on the end of the starter, it just tries to screw the cap screw into the hex, without unscrewing the hex off the end of the crank.

You can find these on Ebay all the time.

For the flywheel side, the make a lefthand thread nut with a 5/16 hex hole on the other end.  This way you can start the engine from the left side of the kart - but you deed a reverse-spinning starter..

These nuts too are on Ebay all the time.

Of course, if you are running dual engines, then belt starting is the way to go.

BTW, if you are using a plug in starter, you will probably want to get a ball-hex adapter tip.  It allows 25 degrees of misalignment in any direction, and makes starting much easier.  Some guy here on the Form makes and sells these, by the way.....

[Gary Wlodarsky]

Brad..talk to Jeff Brown, or Steve Welte,,the West Bend gurus....

starting with LH nuts is not a problem anymore,,,,that why God created jamb nuts,,,,,

gw

[Richard Stamile]

did any one ever try using a dewalt cordless drill to start some of these Kart engines
there are some that have some decent power some of the newer models even if you had
to by a new one  you would still have a tool to use for more that just starting  go karts
i assume it probably not enough torque

[Brad Rose]

Ok
Great information! I was looking for an engine with all these little things already taken care of but I'm learning a lot building up the one engine I already have.

I know where there is a starter on Craigslist so I'll look into it.

Brad