My g1 hunting cart

[slonomo]

Originally Posted by WesJ

i saw in another thread you said you were getting a Plowman Muffler, did you get it installed? If so how is the performance?

Thanks,

Wes

Hey Wes! Yeah actually it worked out great. I installed the Plowman's muffler, jet kit, and performance secondary clutch kit. I went from 19 mph top speed (and slow getting there) to 19 mph before the end of my 150 foot driveway and a top speed of 26 mph. Good enough for me. The secondary clutch kit gives great low end, especially climbing hills. I haven't hit any big hills lately, but it crawls up my drainage ditch nicely now! Highly recommend Plowman's! Don Plowman is a great guy, been doing this for a long time and he knows what works and what doesn't. No BS. He's fun to talk to also.

[WesJ]

Thanks for the reply slonomo. I called and talked to Plowman yesterday and ordered a clutch kit from him for now, maybe in a year or two we will get the jet kit and muffler but right now this is for my grandma on the farm so she doesnt need the speed. The torque to pull a small trailer will be nice though, which is why I ordered the clutch kit.

Wes

[slonomo]

It will definitely make a difference Wes. None of these carts will win any races, other than against one another LOL. The muffler and jet kit didn't seem to make any seat of the pants difference as far as power goes, but I can tell you that two days ago I was plowing in my driveway with it, 20" drifts were no problem at all! I think the clutch probably has more to do with it then the muffler and jets. Good choice! You and Grandma will be happy with the clutch! Go Grandma!

[slonomo]

Well it's been a while since I've updated my build progress. It's been kind of a trial and error type period for the last couple months. After being able to use the plow a few times I realized two things:

1.) The TRX250 Honda atv shocks on the front of my cart aren't strong enough to keep the front end from "squatting" and almost bottoming out. I'll have to address this soon.

2.) The drive belt and clutches aren't right. I had no power when pushing, pulling, or going uphill with the plow on. So I had to address this immediately.

Here's what I did.

[slonomo]

I called Don Plowman at Plowman's Carts and asked for his advice. He suggested his performance secondary clutch kit and belt to increase torque and his performance muffler and jet kit to restore/increase the overall power characteristics.



After removing the old belt and secondary clutch I layed them out and compared all the parts. I noticed right away that the new outer sheave was made of aluminum and my old sheave was made of steel. Hmmm. Wonder if that is stock?


Stock outer sheave made of steel.


New outer sheave made of alum.

I also noticed that the inner sheave sprag was different, at least the way the plastic button shoes are located. Upon a closer look I realized how worn my old sprag and shoes were.


Old


New

The clutch spring was also different, no surprise there. But I was pleased to see that it is also different from the "white" spring that most places sell. Don told me that the white spring is too stiff and doesn't work well for the 2 cycle because it takes too much rpm to release and shift. Ok. So the red spring is thicker than the stock gold spring, but thinner than the white spring.



I also noted that my clutch ramps were really greasy. I don't remember greasing them all that much, but it must really warm up and fling all over the place. I installed only a shmear on the new ramps. Lesson learned.


Dirty


Clean

And of course the new parts went together just like I took them off, pretty easily. Except the new spring is definitely stronger because I found it difficult to install outer sheave and put the washer and nut on by hand. I had to get a wide ratchet strap and wrap it across the inside of the inner sheave and attach it to the frame behind the clutch and tighten it down. That works great as long as you use a thin enough material that you can pull it out once the sheave is installed and the strap is released. My strap got stuck between the two clutch parts near the shaft. It came out, but with some damage to the strap. I needed some new ones anyway.

I noticed that the belt rides higher in pulleys than on the old parts. I assume that will give a little more low end?


New setup.


Old setup.

I tried it out and right away I could tell a difference. Since then I have ridden it good about a dozen times and it seems to be getting even better as it breaks in. Off the line acceleration is better, more hit. It does accelerate faster to the end of the driveway (150 ft). Before it would reach 15 mph, and now it will reach 19 mph. Top speed seemed about the same at 21 mph.

I also installed Plowman's jet kit and performance muffler. The muffler out of the box was much lighter than the stocker. It looks almost identical too. It mounted right into the stock location without modification. The jets were straight forward. One on the outside of the carb body, one inside the bowl area. I compared the jet holes and the new ones were definately larger. They were not marked with sizes however.

With the muffler and jet kit installed I now can reach 21 mph in a shorter distance than before, and it will reach 26.5 mph topped out, although it takes forever to get there. Oh well, I wasn't expecting big block power anyway. It is a noticable improvement and I am very pleased.

Overall, I am very happy with the Plowman's parts and the performance gained from them. They were pleasant to talk to, especially Don, he's a riot! And he knows his sh**!! They shipped the parts right away, got them in the mail 3 days later. The quality on the parts was better than the parts I removed. The fit and finish was excellent.

I highly recommend Plowman's Carts, thanks Don!

[slonomo]

Now, on to the suspension issue.

Right now with the TRX250 atv shocks in the front, the ride height and the ride quality are just fine, at least with normal running around and off roading. Then I put the plow on and...ooops....they squish like a night crawler on a hot sidewalk. Not good! It almost bottoms out. And with that single a arm setup, any more than 2" of travel up or down really creates a bad camber angle and makes it un-drivable.

So....now for the new idea.

It seems to me for work applications a straight axle with strong springs would be the ticket. But for ride quality and suspension movement off road, ouch! So I think that a dual a arm setup like the long travel kits would be best. Yes the suspension will still squat with the soft shocks, but the tires will stay aligned and there will be very little, if any, camber change. Also the tires will not "scrub" and cause funky handling with the load.

Now, I have searched everywhere here on the forum and can't find anyone who has done a G1 with long travel front suspension. That's not to say no one has done it, I just don't see it here. So as far as ideas I guess I'm on my own.

I have thought of a Jakes/or Stretch Plastics long travel kit, but of course they don't offer one for the G1. Groundpounder's cart has this kit.

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/lifte...rail-cart.html

The G2 front suspension looks very similar and Jakes makes on for it, and it looks like the kit might bolt up with some minor modifications, but the hubs are very different. And I don't have any G2 hubs. And G2 hubs are gonna cost me probably $75 to $100 if I'm lucky.

I have thought of using an atv front suspension, and I saw this guy with a Cushman and a Honda 400EX front end. If he can do it, I can too!

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/lifte...atv-style.html

Here's my new project. I picked up an entire atv frame and front end from a 2001 Yamaha Warrior. I cut the front end from the rest of the frame and I widened it 8". I figure with atv wheels with no spacers this will give me about a 47" width. If I reverse the wheels around so the offset it to the outside it will give me 50-51" of total width. Perfect. The width right now with my current setup is approx 42", so either way it will be a better deal.



The metal straps there are just temp for mock up purposes and are just tacked for now.

I used a jack and propped the front end up under the cart and man do I like! It appears that it will be even higher than before with my Jakes 6" setup, but that's fine. I know I can adjust the mounting points on the coilovers to change the ride height, much like the Jakes long travel kit does.





With the wheels just propped in front of the hubs, at the mock up height the tires would be about 1 inch off the ground. So these photos represent the full extension position plus 1 inch. So if I setup the suspension so that it is riding at about mid travel, that would lower it 4" plus 1". So 5" lower than where it sits in the photo. I might have to raise the rear up a couple inches to match....DARN! Might be time for a swingarm relocation project....


So the only problem I see is.....HOW DO I ATTATCH IT TO MY FRAME!

This is where my fab skills come into question. Anyone can get the welder out, grind off paint, cut little pieces of flatbar and round bar and tubing and weld that thing in there, and it will probably hold. But I want this thing done right. Any suggestions?







I would like this to be able to be removed, so is a "bolt on" fab job make any sense, or am I just dreaming. Should I just "GO FOR IT"? And not worry about the crappy looking welds that my flux core welder will create? Or should I buy a better mig with gas? Or????

HELP!

[WesJ]

You could do about 3 or 4 tabs per side and bolt the front suspension frame to the yamaha frame. I love that you are doing this to the cart instead of just selling it and getting something different.

Oh, and on the welder part, the flux core welds can be cleaned up easily with a grinder with a wire wheel and flap disc.

Keep up the nice work, and thanks for the advice and the pictorial and tips on installing the Plowmans clutch, I should hopefully be doing mine this weekend if it comes in in time, I ordered it on Monday so I may not get it until next week.

Wes

[dwmmatt23]

Looks sick with the new front end, that's the exact route I'm looking to go with my new G1 as well, got one lifted and with CA plates which is almost impossible so want to keep this one. keep the pics comin

[yamarancher]

Looks real good ! I'd say you'll like it way better. Really cool build. looks like i'm gona bo callin plowmans, that secondary looks great.

[slonomo]

Thanks for the replies and the ideas. Anyone have any pics of what you mean by welding tabs on. I know what that means, but maybe an example of where to place the tabs. Should I use 1/8" generic from summit racing or should I make my own. This tubing on the atv frame is not that thick so should I match the tab thickness to it? I might be able to scavenge some tabs from the cut up section of the frame that I didn't use?