hustler power

[6wheelie]

I have a 20 hp koler engin in my hustler. I have had the T20 rebuilt and have put a larger cvt with stiff spring on the tranny. But im still having trouble going up steep hills with trax on. Any advice

[brushcutter]

If you are sure that you have the correct tension on your belt, then some other options would be a smaller sprocket on the transmission shafts. But first try going to a 40 tooth on your axle.

To check tension on your belt you should have 3" total deflection up+down with the pressure of your little finger only.

[6wheelie]

yes i had to do some expermenting on the belt but i found one that fits good and now its more just the motor boging down to the point it wants to die.

[brushcutter]

Tell us all you can about your Hustler, the more we know the better we can help. How many teeth are on your main sprockets? What engine was in your machine before you went to the 20hp and how did it perform? What cvt setup do you have? Also Is the engine you have tuned for the altitude where you ride? Tracks require more power than wheels, have you tried the same hills w/o the tracks?

[6wheelie]

I counted 40 teeth on the axel sprocket that the chain from the T20 first goes to. the midel axel has 3 sprockets the 2 smaller ones have 27 teeth and the middel has 40. Yes I tried the same hill with out trax and spun tires 22" raw hides. the point is i could not get up it so I waned to with trax. before i did not have the traction make it now i have traction and not enough power.
The new cvt was out of a snowmobile I just had parts and my cvt stock was 2in smaller than the one i put in. I figured the bigger the more torque whitch was true. the stock cvt just spun the belt on a hill with out boging the motor. even with a brand new belt. the new cvt has a adjustible spring
1-4 4 being the stiffest it is set on that. now the belt dose not slip but the motor wants to die. maby i am wanting to do to much but the hill im trying to go up is 35% and I was told these 6wheelers will go up a 45%.thanks for the feed back if you need any mmore info let me know

the motor was stock at 20 hp kolher 4 stroke i had the carb rebuilt and seems to run good

altitude 4000ft grand junction colorado

[brushcutter]

Tracks require considerably more power than tires as you are already aware, judging by your posts. This may require more hp. Just out of curiosity, I have heard of the tracks slipping on the tires, but this usually happens with wet tracks/tires, and as you haven't mentioned it, my guess is that is not the case here. Going to a 42 tooth might work, but if everything is engaging as you've said, more hp may be your best choice.

[mudbug3]

brushcutter ,

The 40 tooth sprocket looks like a pretty close fit ,and going to a 42 tooth sprocket would seem to leave little room for tub clearance.

[6wheelie]

yes the trax take away alot of hp but i guess I was trying to sub traction for power. I guess I dont know the real capeabilites of a fully functionable ruber tire machine and a tracked one. I have been rebulding this thing for 2 + years. I had 2 hustlers compete with 2 track kits and 1 axel extenion kit. Now I have 1 running machine using the other for parts eventually it will be gutted for parts and turned into a trailer. do you think the 20hp 4 cycle is better it is much newer or the 38hp 2 cycle it was older and not working but i still have it.

[6wheelie]

also not trying to push selling stuff but i have a factory hustler aluminuim roll bar i would trade for parts for hustler just putting it out there.factory parts are hard to find and i see a lot of hustlers on this site.

[brushcutter]

Some one might jump on the rollbar, but for safety's sake you may want to put it on your machine if it doesn't already have one, cause it seems that you are in some steep country.

About the old engine, I'm personally not a big fan of two strokes, because I like to putt putt around, but more power is more power however you get it. I'll bet you could swap it for a bigger 4 stroke if it were running. Talk about a screamer 38 hp YIKES! Yeah definitely get it going then decide what to do. On second thought What would you take for it?

[mudbug3]

6wheelie ,

The 20 hp Honda makes a really nice motor for a Hustler. I think installing 13 tooth sprockets on the T-20 out put shafts,,plus the addition of a red spring on the T-20 clutch , would help things too.

[6wheelie]

I do have a roll bar on mine the other is extra. what are you infering on the roll bar or the motor. make me an offer on either. I dont want to get in trouble for soliciting so if we need to go privite thats fine. my e- mail is
winton84@gmail.com . Im kinda new to this computre thing but i might be able to send a pic. thanks for your healp so far.

[jerseybigfoot]

It sounds like the clutch setup is not quite right. Check your engagement rpm if you can. Too low an engagement may cause it to stall. Do you need a running start to approach the hill and the engine stalls your CVT may not be back shifting. if you start the Hustler at the base of the hill does is stall also?

[6wheelie]

it usually stalls 1/2 way on a long steep hill. I can use momentum to get up the smaller ones. The cvt dose not slip.

[LarryW]

I agree with jerseybigfoot that the cvt may not be right yet.

The only other thing I can think of is the motor. I have done 3- 4 stroke swaps that require more throttle travel. The throttle lever travels"let say an inch" and it needs "an inch and a half". not real numbers just saying. When not running the throttle will appear to work normal. But when running the governor pulls the throttle back. 2 of the swaps I just eliminated the governer which was a night and day difference in all around throttle control and engine performance. The other swap is the tecumseh 8hp in my st300 little lil truck conversion. But that is mainly my sons who I want to keep slow so worked out good. But I think he is getting good enough for me to open it up some. Caution needs to be used when over riding the governor prevent over revving engine damage. I have also help few other members with the same problem. Really its no differant then a car, you cant sit there and hold it wide open. You also cant go 40mph in a machine geared to do 30.

I would see if you could eliminate the governor for testing or maybe have someone carefully manually throttle it on the carb while you drive. Someone with knowledge of over revving and sticking there hand where they dont belong, lol. Just be carefull! Have fun!