friction roller idea - cheap easy replacement

[5-7HEAVEN]

To those who are inexperienced or just don't know,,, the majority of tire wear by a friction drive,, is the RIDERS fault !!

I heartily agree. Whenever my adjustment's out, my tire takes a grinding...literally.

 

[Dadkins1]

I agree Esteban - most peole run them with the roller mashed down on the tire, on mine -some slippage is allowed - on my set up the motor is on a swing arm controlled by a handle on the top cross bar, the torque of the motor spinning the urethane wheel on the tire keeps the engine pulled "down" on the tire and tends to slip very little. Very infrequently I will have to pull back on the handle to "set" the engine on the tire, it does have quite a bit of friction in the linkage in order to hold the engine up - or down. works great for me so far !

 

[Mountainman]

my little friction THING

I keep adjusted only tight enough so as not to slip -- no more
tires seem to be holding up real good

if I cross where someone is watering their lawn -- it's a slipping real fast

just ease up and let it go as I ride that THING

 

[Esteban]

If you look at the bike in my avatar, it is powered by a friction drive 1hp. motor. Motor was made late 1960's-early 70's. The front tires will dry rot before the tread wears out.

 

[WINDY CITY BOB]

OK, this is either a stroke of genius or just plain stupid, you tell me.

Reading all I can on here about friction drives, as I have a nice little Homelite 32cc motor just sitting there begging for something to do. A lot of threads talk about the sand/JB weld coating, and it got me thinking. My Solex 3800 has a drive wheel that is "carborundum" coated. Looks like a sanding sleeve to me... So I says to myself, hey, what about your Ryobi spindle sander in the woodshop? It uses these rubber sanding drums in varying diameters. You slip a sanding sleeve over the rubber drum, then tighten down a nut against the rubber drum which expands it tight onto the shaft, filling the sleeve. I know I have a 1 1/4" diameter drum and some medium grit sleeves, so what ab out using this for a friction drive on the motor?

When it wears out, just unscrew, slip on a new sanding sleeve (like $6 for a 3 pack) and tighten it back down.

Any ideas why this wouldn't work?

IT WILL DESTROY THE RUBBER ITS ON THAT'S WHAT SANDPAPER DOES, REMOVE MATERIAL. Just my thought. Great idea though.

I'll try to post a pic of the sander to let any non-woodworkers know what I am talking about.

 

[darwin]

It's been my experience that steel knarled rollers will wear a rubber tire out faster than just pedaling the bike. I prayed for it not to wear out sooner but it hasn't happened yet. That prayer was said 10 years ago and many tires have passed on to the tire heaven in the sky.