Engine driven topper

[Welshy12]

Hi, ive been looking for an engine driven topper for some time now but the prices of them are ridiculous!

Now ive been toying with the idea of building my own, i have an old kawasaki 300cc quad here with a knackered gearbox, could i simply mount this engine on a 4ft topper and simply make a shaft to drive straight into the pto gearbox?

The weight would be an issue but i have a very powerful quad with low range, also would have to make a tow bar and a framme for the wheels.

Your thoughts?
Thanks

 

[marco]

And some sort of rubber damper to take the shock loads off the engine?

 

[Welshy12]

Ye similar to the rubber doughnuts on a normal topper, would you think its possible?

 

[Mur Huwcun]

The only issue I would think would be cooling the engine as it will be continuously under load and not moving much, is it water or oil cooled?

 

[Welshy12]

Water cooled, there is a small radiator on the front of the bike, perhaps fix this on the topper.

 

[the-mad-welder]

@Deutzdx3
He knows a bit about toppers!!

 

[TripleSix]

I wouldn't imagine the quad engine would be more than 12hp?
Maybe 15.

Depends on what you're wanting to top.
Our 5ft flail topper can put 36hp 3 cyl diesel on its knees.

 

[Deutzdx3]

@Deutzdx3
He knows a bit about toppers!!

Have a little knowledge of them for sure. I have 4ft bodies if of any interest. More to making one thats reliable than meets the eye. Ping me a DM can discuss. [emoji106]

 

[Welshy12]

300cc kawasaki engine is whaf i have

 

[Deutzdx3]

300cc kawasaki engine is whaf i have

Is it worth using? A lot of messing about when you can buy an engine for several hundred. Probably worth selling the engine and parts from the broken quad and putting that money into a Loncin which will serve well on an atv topper.

 

[Welshy12]

Good point there

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

300cc kawasaki engine is whaf i have

I don’t think 300cc will have enough grunt for a 4ft flail, not unless you’re topping a very well manicured lawn.

 

[Deutzdx3]

For a flail 300cc won’t be enough. You need 600 min for it to go through thick stuff with out stalling. 18hp Kawasaki engines are the best.

 

[Welshy12]

Was thinking a 4ft pasture topper seen a few about.

 

[Deutzdx3]

Was thinking a 4ft pasture topper seen a few about.

300cc would be ok for a rotary. But you need a vertical shaft to drive the belts.

I have bodies and spindle hubs and blades I would be happy to sell to you if you wanted to do one your self. I would look for a second hand one to be honest. They are so expensive as horsey people buy them as they don’t have enough land to warrant a tractor a lot of the time.

 

[nick...]

I don’t think 300cc will have enough grunt for a 4ft flail, not unless you’re topping a very well manicured lawn.

I’m with you on this.that motor will have a severe lack of torque too and it’s not designed for continuous heavy loads either
Nick...

 

[nick...]

I have a John Deere x584 lawn mower,24hp I think and 54 inch deck.its fine on short grass and in the dry but longer wet grass will really pull it down.thats a v twin too
Nick...

 

[Welshy12]

I guess having a look for a cheap ride on mower to salvage would be a better option, most of these ones thats been manufactured are only 15hp roughly, makes you think what are they actually capable of ....

 

[Loftyrules]

I’ve got a quad topper with two direct drive engines onto the blades, works great and has a special design to kill the engine if you hit anything. However it doesn’t like rough ground or tough conditions, it’s currently in to have engine number 3 replaced, essentially the woodruff key is supposed to break but it doesn’t so the shaft gets too much wear and is knackered.
Shame as it was a popular service for my contracting business but I can’t afford to keep replacing engines and all quad stuff is too light for regular contracting work

 

[Welshy12]

Thats the exact reason that i think i could be able to build a tougher machine