Homemade compact equipment is great for moving off-road while fishing and hunting. It’s not difficult to make a lightweight tracked all-terrain vehicle with a Lifan engine in a home workshop with your own hands. The vehicle will greatly simplify movement on muddy roads or wetlands.
Homemade buggy with Lifan 15 l/s engine
The front suspension is double wishbone on shock absorbers from the Voskhod motorcycle. VAZ 2108 hubs and ball joints, homemade A-shaped suspension arms are welded from a square profile.
Author: Eruslanov Alexander
And so, let's look at the technical features of the presented homemade buggy.
Materials
Tools
Step-by-step photos of assembling a buggy with your own hands. Shock absorbers motorcycle "Voskhod" 4 pcs
VAZ hubs
Calculation of gear ratio reduction.
A-shaped suspension arms.
Buggy suspension A-shaped double wishbone (homemade) with hubs and ball VAZ
Installing the suspension on the frame.
Steering VAZ
The rear suspension is pendulum type. Attaching the pilot's seat to the vehicle frame. The bottom is welded with sheet metal.
Site for installation of internal combustion engines. Priming and painting of the frame and suspension elements of the buggy.
Source
Recommendations
The joints of the frame parts must be reinforced with gussets made of sheet steel. To make the design more correctly, it is advisable not to limit yourself to simple drawings, but to use large-scale models. It is immediately necessary to provide attachment points:
- engine;
- shock absorber;
- seats;
- fuel tanks;
- pendants
It is advisable to install the engine so that there is a free flow of air around it. This rule is important even when water cooling is used.
You should definitely take care of the appearance of the vehicle. An elegant, attractive appearance is often created through chrome surfaces and individual parts. To make using a tricycle more comfortable, it can be equipped with fog lights, speaker systems, and so on.
The front part is often made on the basis of silent blocks. The rear main rail is equipped with fasteners that support the body. It is advisable to use tractor generators as a source of energy in electric tricycles. The gearbox and axle shafts can be bored to size on a good lathe. The installation of an electric motor capable of pumping additional air will help prevent overheating of cylinders made of aluminum.
How to make a tricycle with your own hands, see below.
Tricycle with Chinese engine
Hi all! As you already understood from the title, this article will focus on a tricycle with a Chinese Forza engine (similar to Lifan). Initially, the tricycle was made from a Ural motorcycle, which is discussed in detail in the article of the same name. Here we will consider the process of installing the engine, connecting it to the Zhiguli gearbox, preparing the mount for all this, and related issues. So, let's begin.
If you don’t want to read a lot, there is a video whose content is similar to the article:
Why is all this needed?
The answer to this logical question follows from the shortcomings of the native Ural engine and transmission. Namely:
It seems like little things, especially considering that the trike has never seriously let us down, but it would have been better without them.
Plus, it was just interesting to cross a Chinese engine with a classic gearbox. It was interesting what would come of it. And it turned out quite well.
A few words about the engine
Initially, it was planned to install exclusively a 15-horsepower Lifan with a reduction gearbox and automatic clutch. But the practice of using a trike in the forest has shown that the average speed of movement rarely exceeds 25-30 km/h. Due to the fact that all the roads are overgrown or swamped, traveling at high speed is either impossible, uncomfortable and even dangerous. Therefore, it was decided to go with the Lifan engine with a power of 6.5 horsepower, also with a reduction gearbox and automatic clutch. It cost 2 times less than the 15-horsepower one, plus I had a little experience in operating this particular engine and confidence in its reliability. An acquaintance drove a motorized towing vehicle with such an engine for several seasons under very harsh use. What I wasn't sure about was whether 6.5 horsepower would be enough for a tricycle weighing about half a ton. Looking ahead, I will say that it was quite enough.
Forza engine - analogue of Lifan
It so happened that the seller did not have the 6.5-horsepower Lifan with the required shaft diameter for the gearbox, but there was a FORZA engine similar to it, which, in addition, cost a thousand rubles less. The characteristics are the same, the dimensions are the same, time will tell in terms of quality and reliability, fortunately there is a one-year warranty. Everything (motor and gearbox) cost about 9,500 rubles.
It was immediately decided to use the box from the classics. We found an old but working 4-mortar on Avito for only 1,200 rubles. These boxes are very reliable, I think it is the most durable component of the tricycle.
How to connect the engine to the gearbox
Everything is simple here, with the help of stars and a chain. I had to tinker a little with the star on the box. The splined part from the Zhiguli clutch disc was machined for it and simply welded into the star. In this way, the star was easily put on the input shaft of the box, which, in addition, was inserted into an additional bearing outside the box.
Connecting the engine to the gearbox
In our case, the box shaft rotates in the opposite direction, because The bridge was upside down and I didn’t want to re-weld the fastenings. Plus, with this rotation, the layout turned out to be the simplest and most compact. As for the cardan, on the side of the bridge there is a regular crosspiece, and on the side of the box there is a native Zhiguli rubber coupling. Everything works great.
In general, the frame remained unchanged, with the exception of its upper part. To place the engine approximately in the center, I had to cut out the top part of the frame and weld a kind of frame in its place.
Exhaust system
The original exhaust of the Chinese engine was not satisfactory due to the high volume and smell of exhaust gases. This is because the muffler was almost in front of my face. So an elbow was welded and connected to the old trike muffler mounted higher up on the other side.
Homemade muffler for a Chinese engine
Headlight
The engine is not equipped with a lighting coil, so the battery is used as a source of electricity, which is pre-charged before a long trip. In this regard, the standard Ural headlight was replaced with a 9-watt flashlight with 3 LEDs, the light of which is more than enough when driving on light off-road conditions. It was, of course, possible to match the LED to the standard Ural headlight, but I decided to replace it completely. Using a switch on the handlebar, you can turn on either this 9-watt headlight or two 12-watt ones located on the arch.
Gear lever
Initially, the lever was short and suitable for the right hand, which is very inconvenient in movement. Therefore, it was decided to lengthen the lever and bring it under the left hand. Now, in order to change gear, you don’t need to lean over and take your hand off the gas, which is much more convenient.
Muffler
The previous muffler was simply welded to the frame, which limited the engine's movement to tighten the chain. Plus it was too heavy. The new homemade muffler, although direct-flow, reduces engine noise better than its original muffler. In addition, it is not welded to the frame, but bolted, so it does not limit the movement of the engine.
Top chain protection
It is necessary, first of all, so that when overcoming a ford, water does not fountain upward from the chain.
Additional small tool box
There are essential tools there: a set of keys, a funnel for refueling, etc.
Engine switch
Due to the fact that my standard rotary switch broke twice, I decided to replace it with what I think is a more reliable one. I bought it on Aliexpress for about 70 rubles. I attached it to the frame under my arm, next to the engine. It's still working.
Tachometer
I also ordered from China. It cost about 400-odd rubles. Quite a cool and useful thing. Shows the current engine speed and works as an hour meter. But he is afraid of vibration. After a while he simply switched off. An autopsy showed that the battery was soldered there and its negative contact was unsoldered. I couldn’t crawl up and solder it properly, so I pressed the battery down firmly with a sponge and closed the lid. It's still working.
By the way, thanks to the tachometer it turned out that the engine spins up to 4,500 rpm instead of the required 3,600 rpm. The speed controller is probably faulty. In principle, it’s okay, because... I rarely rev it above 3,500 rpm. The tachometer can be adjusted to any gasoline engine, both 2- and 4-stroke. To connect, simply wind the tachometer wire onto the spark plug wire. I actually wound it around a candlestick - it was more convenient.
Result
The trike turned out to be quite suitable for use. Of course, there cannot be special dynamics with such power, and it is not needed. As I already said, the average speed in the forest rarely exceeds 25-30 km/h, and even then on a relatively flat surface. The power of this engine is enough to confidently maintain a speed of around 20-25 km/h in 4th gear. Then there just isn't enough momentum. I'm thinking of increasing the maximum speed with the help of stars. Now with 15 teeth on the motor and 35 teeth on the gearbox, the speed is as follows:
As for traction, there is plenty of it. The trike pulls away easily even in third gear. It’s possible in fourth, but there’s already a load on the engine and clutch.
In general, the power of this engine is quite enough for confident off-road movement, and thanks to the good “lowering” and reverse gear, the cross-country ability has increased noticeably.
Additional tips and warnings about the mini tractor
If you have a sufficient amount of money, then you can buy some old Zhiguli, Oka, walk-behind tractor to use it as a “donor” for a future homemade mini tractor.
You can purchase it without documents, and it’s quite used, so its cost will be approximately 25-30 thousand rubles, which is relatively little compared to a ready-made mini tractor.
The essence of this advice is simple: in order not to look for spare parts and parts everywhere, you can take everything from one machine, i.e. gearbox, clutch, etc. By the way, the car body can then be sold.
Also important is the registration of a home-made unit with the traffic police. Of course, you don’t have to do it if you don’t plan to travel outside your garden, but for those who plan to use public roads, this action is necessary.
The fact is that a minitractor, even a homemade one, is classified as special equipment, and therefore requires mandatory registration with the inspectorate. If you do not comply with these rules, the employee may impose a fine on you, and the vehicle itself may be removed to the impound lot.
Tricycle with Chinese engine: 2 comments
zdrastvujte, po moimu, jesli ustanovite drugije zviozdacki, srzazu izceznet vsie chorosyje kacestva etogo, eee, transportnogo sredstva
