Westwood T 1200

[Steve G 18]

Been having another look at this today and have come to the conclusion that the clutch isn't so great after all.  The main problem is that the pulley, although OK going forwards makes it go too fast in reverse. I think the gearing of first and reverse aren't the same. 

First plan is to try and turn the clutch pulley down, it should be a lot better if I can get it closer to the size of the original. 

 

The other problem is that the engine speed is quite high to make the clutch engage. 

 

I though I ought to let anyone thinking of buying a clutch before they go and order one, if I can't fix it I might put the original mechanism back on and go back to the slipping belt. 

[Wristpin 400]

Best described as a bit of a ****. The attached shows the internal setup of the Peerless 800 series transaxle and while reverse does not use first it does not lend itself to any alteration of ratio. 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3b82x2vltstxn3n/Peerless 800 series trans0001.pdf?dl=0

I'm not quite sure from your last post whether you are saying that you have to rev the engine too much to engage the clutch or whether the idle speed from which it will accelerate without bogging down is too high for the clutch to disengage?

I know that it involves more cash outlay but I believe that you will save yourself a lot of grief by going the hydrostatic route. If your present 'box is in good condition with no slipping or lurching (worn selector keys and their corresponding spur gears), it has a value to offset against a hydro box.

PM sent

 

[Steve G 18]

Thanks for the manual I just found a complete one to download that does all peerless gearboxes and grabbed it quick !

I have been looking at the gearing and even if I turn the clutch down to the minimum it will be about 110mm diameter and to get back to the original ratio I would need to enlarge the rear pulley to 300mm !

The problem with the revs is that you could pull away at idle speed but the clutch won't engage that low.

 

Now I know why nobody has tried fitting a clutch like this before ! 

[Steve G 18]

I've got nothing to loose by trying it so I turned the clutch pulley down as small as I dared today. Not sure what it was made from but it was a bit of a struggle on my little lathe. 

 

 

The before and after. I've ended up with the smaller of the two pulleys I found for sale, if they had any in stock. It was 128mm OD and is now about 110mm. If I do decide to get a bigger pulley for the gearbox it won't need to be quite as big now. 

 

       

 

 

Todays other modification, or rather quick lash up to see how it worked was to fit a foot throttle. I've seen people have fitted bike brake levers so for now I have done similar using an old racer lever I straightened up a bit. The hole in the bit of wood isn't a clever design feature it just happened to be lying about. The good thing is it actually allows more gentle take offs so I will give it a try tomorrow to see if it's any more driveable now. 

 

 

 

[Alan 1,273]

Like that brake lever / throttle idea even if it does sound like it wants to go and stop at the same time.   Could possibly use that arrangement on my Half a Horse / trailer build.

[Steve G 18]

After trying it again I have given in and re-fitted the standard pulleys and throttle etc.  Even after turning the pulley down to make the gearing the same as the original I need to get a 300mm diameter pulley to go on the transaxle. There are fairly easy to get new, about £30.

I'm not convinced it will work all that well though as the engagement speed for the clutch is quite high.  You probably need 3/4 throttle to get it going  whereas the normal clutch will let you potter along at idle. 

The throttle pedal worked OK but needed a far heavier return spring on it.  An alternative I've seen on small quad bikes it a combined brake lever with a thumb throttle, depends if you have a steering wheel of handle bars though.