I have a hustler and I cant find any posts on replacing the belt drive with chain. I saw a MaxII for sale one time that had a motorcycle engine in it with a chain drive to a T-20 using the motorcycles clutch. Im open to any ideas really I just want more power and I really want that belt gone unless someone can make a good argument for keeping it. Oh and is there anyone out there rebuilding T-20s for a good price?
Crackpot Cruiser
i know a few guys that run motorcycle engines in their Argo's and Max's , it's a bit tricky getting all the linkage hooked up but it seems to work well for them
He who has not cruised the back country in a 6x6 , has not lived life to it's fullest
A Mans level of mechanical education directly corresponds to the level pain suffered while getting it
The drive belt along with the primary clutch (engine) and the driven clutch (transmission/t-20 in your case) act as a C.V.T. continuously variable trasmission.
As the primary starts squeezing together it acts as a small dia. pulley, with the driven being large. Low gear ratio. At speed they switch, making a higher ratio.
To chain drive you would limit yourself on speed/torque unless you used another transmission with changeable gears, like the motorcycle trans. The CVT is a good system and is still used on snowmobiles, quads, utvs and even some new cars (chain belt instead of rubber belt)
I'm a believer that there is always a better mouse trap...but I think its gonna cost a lot of time effort and $$$ in this case.
The drive belt along with the drive clutch and driven clutch basically eliminate the need for a seperate "Clutch" control while automatically transferring as much power between the engine and trans by variating pitch on each pully. Yes, you could go with a solid chain drive, but then you would have to deal with actually shifting between gears due to the fact that you MUST have a transmission above and beyond the original trannies in your machine. The exhisting tranny only controls direction and steering (One in the same). It does not control speed or torque. That's what your belt and drive/driven clutches do. What we refer to as transmissions on our ATV's are actually transfer cases that just transfer the power from the clutches (that act as a sort of automatic transmission) to the wheels. As the other members mentioned, yes it can be done, but is it worth the work for simple folk like us?
It's all just nuts and bolts.
I would probably just get a bigger more powerful higher reving engine and keep the belt drive it would save on money and alot of headaches. I put a honda big red 200E engine in my gip-sea with the built in 5 speed it goes pretty fast in a straight line but has a lot of trouble turning you have to shift way too much and that has a automatic clutch but its still hard to control and very hard to keep cool I am looking for an engine and cvt setup to replace the honda engine I havent had much luck with the setup but mabe you could get yours to work that way. I just like the cvt setup because its always in the right position all the time.
1969 Gip-Sea four stroke conversion 1983 honda Big Red 200E engine
1969 ATTEX ST/300/D four stroke conversion 18HP vanguard V-twin
Man I wouldn't do the conversion. Lots can wrong for one the engine, how long will it last with a chain drive? Remember the 2 cyl. have no vibration damper the belt drive clutch acts as a damper. Keep the belt tight and the slippage at a min.
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