Old homelite WW Roller adaption Question.

[rgvkid]

Okay I know i read something about it before but can't seem to find it. I have an old st-155 Homelite wacker which runs great. Whan I take off the Rope spring housing to show the flywheel and shaft, there is a smooth female rod threaded onto the shaft which holds down the flywheel. the end of the rod has a square hole but when you put back the rope houseing after being cut back, the rod barely reaches the end of the houseing.

Are there any links or tips on how to mount a roller on this setup? Do I have to exclude the Starter rope? When i unscrew the rod off the shaft, the shaft extends past the flywheel about 1.75".

Thanks,
Charles

[deacon]

Ima gonna tell you how I do it. shoes does it different.

The housing is gone so is the recoil starter. I take the adapter, thing with the hole in it, off. Then I get myself a galvanized pipe nipple either 1/2" or 3/4 " your choice. I also get a galvanized end cap. Dead center of the endcap I drill a 3/8" hole. I tread the end cap over the drive shaft, then I use the adapter as a nut to tighten the end cap to the drive shaft. The I thread a 3 or4 inch pipe nipple into the end cap. And there is your drive wheel. It is the easiest way I know.

Now if you leave the nipple smooth you get about 80 percent efficiency with minimal tire wear. If you cover it with jb weld and sand you get about 99 percent efficiency but the tire wear is atrocious. Somewhere there is probably a decent compromise but I haven't found it yet.

Now Shoes has a way of keeping the pull start but I never figured it out.

[rgvkid]

Thanks Deac. Im going to try and weld a couples of washers on the nipple to reduce the girth of the end cap. I'll have to do some more research on Shoes to see how she did it. You both are great engineers and thanks for all your advice.

[deacon]

If you dont want to weld, use the black end cap from the hardware store. the one they use for gas pipe not the one for water. It is slightly small od. then file or find a little off of it. Very small amount needed to make it pop right in.

Good luck and yes check with shoes.

[Egor]

Deacon, I love how simple you have been able to make the parts for your bikes. Have fun, Dave

[deacon]

Just took a little bit of thinking about what is out there. I'm still trying to find a simple way to connect drives to chainsaw engines. Of course now that I have a welder it will be simple once I get enough practice in to make the drives. I am not about to screw around with those hard to get parts till I am proficient at this.

[Egor]

Deacon I came across an idea today. As I was out finding my way through the mess in the garage I came across the sanding drums for my drill. I got them from Harbor Freight tools for 7.95 for a complete kit. I was thinking that it would be easy to mount and you could change the friction material as it got messed up. I think you could get some from any tool store, the only thing mine are 2" in diameter. I think you could get less. Have fun, Dave

[Motormaker]

Egor,
I was thinking about using the same thing with no sand paper. I would think rubber on rubber is as good as you could get on a friction drive.

[deacon]

You know you could weld those to the end of a 1/2 pipe nipple with the rod inside the nipple then just screw the nipple into the end cap that you had bolted onto the flywheel. It would be a fairly easy wheel to make, To be honest I had never seen one of those before. My drill mount sander is flat not round.

[comfortableshoes]

I keep the pull start becuase I leave the housing on the engines. I mount the engine to the frame through the mounts that were used to mount the shaft to the engine. I use the same bolts that were originally used to hold the shaft to the engine.

Because i keep the housing and use the bolts/ mounting from the original shaft mounting I'm able to keep my pull start. It works out better for me that way... I hate having to pedal start them, once it warms up its easy to pedal start but not so much before hand.