2 cylinder, 4 stroke, Kohler, ultralight aircraft engine conversion
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ย. 2024
- 2 cylinder 4 stroke Kohler ultralight aircraft engine conversion
If you want to build one or need more information, then just send me an e-mail redbiplane@hotmail.com.
Dude, it is about time the AC engines become affordable.
Please please when a pilot yells CLEAR ! Wait for a couple or three seconds. Love the four stroke engines on airplanes, Great video. Sorry just one small comment about aviation in general. Clearing the Prop is a aviation must, and has been taught since day one. But, and so many pilots do it wrong. Please please when a pilot yells CLEAR ! Wait for a couple or three seconds for anyone to respond. I do be leave that is the purpose of the call out. Example I was involved in a near chop chop situation situation as my buddy called CLEAR and hit the stater before I could yell "NOT CLEAR". I was not injured but had to roll under the aircraft and crawl out between the landing gear. He was a lot bigger than me and wasn't injured in the debriefing.
I rant about this all the time.. I get so annoyed when people yell clear prop and instantly turn the key.. it defeats the purpose of yelling it in the first place.
I was giving a prop to a crazy azzed pilot in a Super Cub. The tarmac was ice and packed snow. I gave the prop, slipped, and fell between the landing gear. The pilot went immediately to taxi and ran me over with the tail wheel. I wasn't hurt per se, but I was taken to the emergency room for a check over. The idiot that ran me over? He swore he didn't realize he had ran over me with his tail wheel. Maintenance records showed the Cub hadn't had an annual inspection in many years. Radio would not work. Artificial horizon had been removed. A real flying shite pile. The last I heard, the pilot had done nothing to bring the airplane up to snuff, kept flying anyway, and had to make an emergency landing in a hay field full of large bales. Bale 1, aircraft 0, end of game.
You did good with this trike mod and your video presentation was both informative and comprehensive. I don't understand why 18 people would give a thumbs down. There were some comments made by people of obvious intelligence and knowledge that you may want to give serious consideration to, for the sake of improving your design and for safety. After all, you can only stay airborne so long as your power plant continues to work properly. Wish you many happy flights to come.
um....maybe all the rotax dealers
I designed, built and test flew the first "Rogallo Wing" trike, around 1971. It was powered with a JLOL297 two stroke, pushing a 4.5 foot two blade prop of my manufacture at around 4500 engine RPM via a 2.1/1 helical gear reduction. My next project was a hovercraft called Vanguard (which I used to sell as builder kits.) It was at a time when the first Briggs "Vanguard" came on the market, ( the name is pure coincidence, but 4 stroke wins over the two stroke) around 1990 perhaps. I worked my way up to a Stock Kohler 26HP with gravity feed fuel and no muffler by 1991. History repeats itself, almost.
I’ve gone over 5,000 hours on all my v-twin Kohlers before replacing them. Even then they still ran like a banshee, they just burned a quart of oil every day haha. changed the oil every 50 hours of service. I live and die by them. The biggest issue I’ve ran into is a crankcase seal going bad. Lawn care use on it
I've been using these engines on Flooring equipment like concrete grinders, tile scrapers, and large industrial vacuum machines and we find these engines rock solid dependable even tho they do see a lot of abuse in this industry, and we run ours on propane.
These engines should last and last in your application where it will be much better maintained. I'm sure you're getting better than 27hp out of that engine as well if you're running it up to 5500 rpm instead of the governed speed of 3600 to 3800, especially with that larger carb and properly jetted it should be pushing at least 40hp the way you have it set up, and probably closer to 45hp if you run it at 5500 rpm engine speed. I have seen one of these engines push 100hp but it had upgraded internals and was turbo charged, and around 70hp normally aspirated, but you want to stay with stock internals in order to keep the engine as reliable as possible (you can upgrade to stronger rods and pistons for even more reliability, but I wouldn't mess with higher compression ratios or hot cams which could wear one of these engines out faster).
Personally I would say any of these engines, Kohler, Kawasaki, or Briggs Vangard engines will do very well in aircraft applications
they come from the factory rated at 42 hp @ 4500 rpm. I had one. factory built for aviation ultralights. a lot of power. sips gas.
I would highly suggest putting safety wire on those mufflers. I have seen those exact mufflers crack and go into the fan on a hovercraft before and it shot through the side of the duct like a cannonball.
Which is why you safety wire AND silicone them.
A constant velocity carb does a LOT to compensate for altitude changes but if you are below 3-4ooo feet.. wont matter much.
Interesting and yes, lithium is vastly better than lead.
I did a bit of math and it seems a 1.3m prop (bit over 4 feet) doesn't cross the speed of sound at the tips at 5000rpm so has anyone ever tried a 1meter prop directly on the engine? Just seems a lot more elegant to skip the gearing and maybe a bit of cowling to help the air flow better around the engine and help the smaller prop. If we can use automotive engines directly it all becomes easier. With smaller prop and no gearing we might also consider 2 engine designs.
Nice set up. Put your seat belt on before cranking it. You never know what might happen and you need to be in control, not just holding on!
Very nicely re-engineered to suit your application!
Likewise, very nice presentation, narration and information!
Thank you for sharing your really neat installation.
What a great setup you have made. Can I suggest that you might look at lock wiring things like the filter, encapsulating the chain etc, because anything going through the prop is a disaster waiting to happen. It would be just as bad or worse than the cast iron flywheel you mentioned. I only state this because you have done a great job of reducing weight and I’m not sure if the mast would take the shock of a damaged unbalanced propeller for any amount of time. All the best!
Great design & build! Like you mentioned smooth as silk. I was really amazed how smooth it is. Like H Bethune mentioned there didn’t look to have safety wire on some of your critical components? One item in particular that I noticed that showed high vibrations was the air-filter itself. Maybe consider at least safety wire the chrome cover to the bottom black carburetor attachment piece. And safety wire the assembly to the carb. These have a tendency to vibrate apart sending the pieces into the prop. Then again maybe your still in the design and test phase? Not sure but I personally have had several items vibrate loose in time on my aircraft so I am a big preacher of the need for safety wiring anything and everything. Loved your design and adaption of the motor. Can’t wait to see it fly!!!! Fly safe my friend.
the chain seems to be flapping around pretty much. You might want to consider an idler pulley!
Shaft might have a slight wobble
He explains that in the video. Not an issue.
C7K
How about 4 inches off the side of the block bearing are u kidding me yea I like to put the cog as far away from the side cover as I can wtf dud its about people being safe not money get I just stop with my hole point just use good judgment people!!
Honda and other Asian designs use guides which eliminate bearings on chain designs.
Kathleen Shaw is 100% correct please consider a redesign of your setup. internal combustion engines especially small v engines tend to pulse the crankshaft pretty hard and at some point will cause the crankshaft to fail the way to prevent this is to incorporate a harmonic crankshaft dampener
every power stroke causes the rod pin to bend past center then snap back past center in the opposite direction, this happens several times before the next power stroke the crankshaft can only put up with so much of that before it fails .... also consider the amount of stress placed on the thin cast aluminum block ( the engine block) due to a considerable amount of leverage held down with only four bolts.
he has a huge flywheel on it.
Sounds like more than 3600. I could be wrong. Also my experience with Kohler has not been good at all. I don't trust them anymore on my lawn equipment but maybe in this application it will hold up. Good bit of engineering on your part very impressed 👍
I saw a video of an ultralight that used 2 separate 200cc engies and it had plenty of power to take off and was able to cruiz with one of the two engies set to idle as a demonstration. They were honda engines but equivalent to preditor 212 engies. They were modified with billet aluminum rods and billet aluminum fly wheels with custom fabricated belt reduction drives. Proof that these cheap engines can be used in place of $3000+ 2 cycle engines.
The slapping reduction gear chain is not right. Yes, i'm sure it has a sweet spot but, it can be improved.
I'm not sure how well it would work but, on my old Harley, there's a nylon tensioner/dampener of light weight and long life. It surely is lighter than a chain idler. I also agree with others on here that a sealed double row chain, even with it's more friction, is better than what you have. But, obviously, im no expert. I'm a metal fabricator.
Thank you for such an enlightening video. I enjoyed it all.
Awesome idea and excellent work. I wonder if a smoother transition in the intake manifold might bump horsepower a bit.
It would a long radius bend there and more open exhaust plus you could port and polish the heads there's lots of little thing that can be done to get up gains of 5-10 more HP. Or you could just turbo it LOL
I loved the finned crankcase for oil cooling. Kohler used to be top flight, but I think they arent anymore.
If you could find a housing that takes old style tapered roller bearings it would be better. Those dual tapered roller bearings can handle a ton more axial loading. Maybe clean, inspect and repack annually.
Love your story. Truly know your stuff. Thanks for your effort.
The chain jumps around due to off center sprocket gear. According to my EXPERIENCE it needs only a few tens of a milimeter to do that.
Ive always imagined one of these in a 2 place motor glider
Brings back fabulous memories of my old trikes and magic what 'smithy' skills can achieve! Only thing concerning myself is total lack of any restraining/safety wires anywhere - or have I jumped-the-gun?
Nice man, I was thinking about doing the same thing just with a plane.
Thank you for this, this is really awesome. I am new to this stuff and am just interested in it just for fun no real plans to do anything. I have always wondered if this could be done but never seen anyone use anything but Rotax or the like. Thanks again
Saw this engine in a Backyard Flyer....sounded like a Harley.....great engine.
Most likely the similar Generac V-twin, dubbed the Big Twin by the BYF folks. Briggs & Stratton also does a similar V-twin.
Would suggest the engine sprocket be mounted closer to the engine, to reduce overhung load on the engine crankshaft and bearings. The prop sprocket of course would need to be brought closer to the engine to maintain chain alignment. Is prop shaft made from 4140 or similar high tensile material ?
I noticed the same thing about the engine sprocket, I had a problem in industry on a salt spreader where someone mounted the sprocket to far from the load on the chain , and the engine shaft snapped in half !!!!
It should be possible to calculate just how much power and torque the engine is making from prop diameter,rpm and blade pitch? Very impressive work. Use a Magnum in a racing hovercraft I built for a customer. Performance suggested a power output of 35 to 37 horsepower after very similar modifications. Next step will be to modify it to a twin plug setup for dual redundancy and a bit more torque and power. Plan to squeeze in 10 mm plugs. Idea copied from a BMW boxer twin engine that was fitted to a microlight aircraft.
a later model harley sportster has a carb with a diaphragm instead of a float bowl I thing it would be safer on a airplain they work great I have one on my 1953 FL works fantastic
Wilber and orville Wright would salute you
This is my concern. Belts tend to give you a warning. They show wear, start flinging a string, or make noise. In my experiance chains have a tendency to just go. Like break or come off without warning. Your thoughts?
Belts and chains have about the same life expectancy. AND both give warnings about when they are starting to wear.
Would it benefit from a brace between the redrive and the vertical yellow square tubing. Seems that there might be a moment on the engine case from thrust.
Awesome product. Do you think it can work for a 2 people trike or it won't be enough power? I dont know if there are these type of engines in 40+ hp
Slap one of those on a boat and Bob's your uncle instant airboat!
Would like to see part numbers and sources!!!!
I love creating machines with aluminum. 👍☺
What dose it weigh including fluids and gearbox.
I work for a Generac generator dealer and have access to engines ( used ) that can be converted for UL aircraft use. Have a few just collecting dust if anyone is interested.
How much?
Yes i am interested, please contact me at Lee@A-Fab.com
Very interesting had me glued to it
I've done this I put a 503 rotax on a 16 ft Jon Boat you can't even get it on plane so you better get a boat that doesn't have to get up on plane that means a real wide boat, you'd be better off to build your boat out of sheet aluminum and styrofoam to get the size you need and it would work great, jon boats don't work, you get the size you need and then it's too heavy Waters a different Critter when it comes to these motors takes a lot more horsepower than what you think good luck
Love the build
So let me understand correctly. The engine as it sits there now, cranks out at 2000RPM? That would be ideal for say like a Ultracruiser or something that's swinging a decent sized prop, if I'm not mistaken.
Why haven’t you gone to EFI, the engine is solid, fit for purpose and it seems to me it would benefit both the engine and operator from EFI, the Swissmotor seems to run well 4 stroke 250cc 2 cylinder PPG motor.
Thank you for the great video!
I wouldn't personally trust single row chain in that application, mainly due to the harmonic loading, it will be the one thing that causes a failure, especially with a lightened flywheel.
The only way around it would be a torque cushioned drive, or possibly running duplex chain or belt. The coupling you prefer is a Taperlock fitting, they are heavy, but good when working within spec. Your pepper pot mufflers will be costing some horsepower, but they are light and cheap.
The smart spark CDI units provide electronic advance for smoother torque curve and better fuel burn. They will let you tune the motor to a wider RPM range than fixed type.
Not a fan off that chain drive.No tensioner.Toothed belt or multi v belts for me please.
What is the size of this Mikuni carb in milimeters on your engine ?
When did John Goodman start flying trikes?
Lets see a follow up on reliability and lessons learned.
Have you changed the cam in this engine? I'm actually surprised that you are running it at such high rpm, is there a reason you need it to Rev higher?. I have the same engine, that I was planning on converting for a plane I'm building. But I was planning on running about a maximum 4500rpm maybe less.
In general, the higher the rpm the more air it pumps and fuel it burns, therefore additional horsepower.
The cost of doing so is exponentially higher chance of failure, and a bit higher fuel burn plus general wear and tear.
For most Trike and Power Parachute guys they don't mind landing in fields. But for fixed-wing heavier than air, you don't want to put this in something that can't land in a field with ease. And that won't kill you in a mild crash. (Im a fan of the SD-1 and MC-30, but the foam ribs and wood fuselage structure in those designes will only add injuries if you fail to land in a safe place upon engine failure).
4,500rpm is already going to reduce the life of that engine from many thousands of hours down to the low to mid hundreds of hours. But if you don't rev it up, it's low on power and has a poor power to weight ratio. So 4,200-4,500 is probably a good compromise. Put effort into losing the weight in the motor and the airplane: Lower aspect ratio wing, lighter structure, etc. And build for reliability and safe fuel system... Not like those other guys who use plastic lawn mower fuel filters inside the cockpit with them...
How much it costs?this motor?
How many hours do you have on it now? What is the total installed weight and HP? Thanks for sharing!
Awesome set up!
You could yry more pitch? You nees the prop to dig in and be within the rev range it sounds really good. Variable pitch prop ??? It's not about speed but climb rate rigjt?
I have a question for you what is the weight of motor by it self without the proper or anyting
Did you put stronger valve springs ?
What fuel pump do you run I see you there on the valve cover is it vacuum style
Are the valve covers plastic? I bet they would be easy to duplicate with a 3-D printer with a customized logo and wild colors using ColorFabb filiament...
how light are these? expensive?
Put a chain tensioner on it. It flops around like a drunk sailer
Do you need to do something on oil pan? How much of angle rotation is maximum
hmmm. No thrust bearing? Just two conrad ball bearings are enough. I'd never have guessed.
Would you trust a predators engine
I would recommend a chain sprocket idler
He did,you can see it in part 2.This vid is5 years old
Douglas Knutsen I’d think a two-row chain and sprocket would be more durable.
the gearbox is off the chain? is it strong ????
It runs but does it fly
Carborator held on by a single hose clamp!
Should be safety wired too, or another bracket.
all aircooled engines have to run a richer mixture for engine cooling purposes. nature of the beast. how much finning you have especially in the clyinder heads will determine how long you can go without forcing air over the engine... look at motorcycles...for good design practice, and how they fair during long periods at rest. then look at the engine you just stripped or fans, and ask yourself.. how much cooling fin area do I have in comparison.
Whqt enggine models?
I want to know about engine details .... How much does that engine cost....? How to get this English....I also want all the details of the engine and with thesis... Please reply my messages...
Update: aircraft batteries must be obsolete seeing that LiFePo motorcycle batteries are widely available.
Any motor mounts? Also, plenty of chain slap.. something to consider
i've got a bike that does that. turned out that the chain was dry and the links were sticking together
Nice video
Saweet
Thanks
If I send you an engine will you make it just the one you just showed me? If so, how much?
Excellent video... what is the make and model of the trike frame? 27hp... what wing are you using and normal cruise speed?
I need this engine can,, can you help give this some information
Where can I find that flywheel?????
Sir how much price in this engine. I Need a engine for my hung glider.
Nice
Can you at least make a video of this thing flying? If you made one, I haven’t ran across it. Thanks
The Backyard Flyer uses a twin cylinder Kohler engine, there is video of it flying etc.
725 cc is a 24 hp in lawn mowers. 740 is 27 hp but I think Kohler had to revise these figures downward when challenged. Who knows what the real HP is.
I'm working on building an Affordaplane, and would like get some more information on the build. How hard is it to build up if you have simple mechanical skills but not computer savvy? Can you put together a " how to " video? Or if you are on the East coast, between Florida and VA, could I meet up with you and get you to talk me through it?
Thanks,
Bill
You would be better to talk to people who have responded to the affordaplane video interview at
th-cam.com/video/28HYk-tjf_w/w-d-xo.html
@@ultralightnews thanks. I will try and find them. Thanks.
How about using a Predator engine from Harbor Freight ?
The predator V-twin is only 670cc and 22hp as opposed to this 28hp 725cc Kohler. That being said there are performance parts for Honda and Honda clone (predator) engines which increase power significantly that people use for go karts and other stuff. The predators are basically just Chinese versions of a reverse engineered Honda engine and quality may vary. I used to work for a honda power equipment distributor. Honda motors cost more but are made from much higher quality parts and you get what you pay for. Built for commercial/industrial use. If it was keeping me in the air I'd rather not have something built from Chinesium. Just saying.
✌️nice! What is the fuel consumption: per/hour❓🤔
About 2 gallons per hour at cruise.
@@ultralightnews 🤙
@@ultralightnews 0к & what is the static trust for Werner motor 3V❓🤔
I saw the original video years ago, tried to contact this gentleman and never got a reply. Great idea but it apparently hasn't gone anywhere.
How to buy sr this engine
you could have a similar engine by moto guzzi that is stronger built, more power,larger displacements available,about the same weight,overall built racing strong 8000 rpm.
Rpm too high.Max 3000,and direct drive best.Forget belts,chains and reduction gears.More reliable setup .
u running that chain dry?
Like on any motorcycle.
@@indigo196799 motorcycles worth their salt run sealed o-ring chains and do not flop around like that.
Price
You could make some reducers and utilize some sport bike/ motorcycle mufflers which use a straight through core and repackable fiberglass canister housing. Also tjey sound excellent and can be run with or without the decibel reducing inserts. You could have dual Yoshimura cans facing down which would be sweet from the pilot seat. Look up Steves Cycle Salvage in Georgia phone 229-386-8668. You are engineering, designing, building, tuning and tweaking we are brothers except you fly and I ride. They are both hugely rewarding and therapeutic and both demand perfection. They have no sympathy when life is involved. We both love being close to death because it makes us feel so alive. State of Grace time to race. Just a saying I used in the past. At 54 I don't bounce no more. Both hobbies are extremely dangerous. Maybe it's time to try ypur sport!!!. Peace and fun to ya and love the time, care and perfection you put in your projects. Thanks John
700+ cc and only 27hp?
It's an industrial motor so its super under stressed... Also that 27hp is at 3600rpm, so I bet it has a fair bit of torque.
versus my rotax 447 at 45 hp.
@@thehark6247 2 stroke man, different animal all together, id take the rotax too
@@thehark6247 You might as well just start comparing diesels as well
The Russian are making clone Rotax
Why in the world did you employ that sharp 90 deg intake manifold as this is very restrictive. On the Cheap you could go with 2 smaller China knock off carbs that would be much more efficient. Also since you are running a sprocket to reduce the prop speed you don't need to rap the engine so tight, and from experience I wouldn't run that engine that fast, 5K is pushing the Big Bang limit. If you ran the engine at it's old 3600 speed you can simply lighten up the stock flywheel and it won't go BANG in flight. Built a shitload of go-cart engines and there is a better method to make it happen.
Have you ever consider to go with propane cause Kohler make EFI propane engine , the propane is lighter than gasoline save 20 pounds for 10 gallons , cleaner cylinder , cooler engine, and with EFI no problem with altitude it adjusted automatically , did you see this video ?
th-cam.com/video/bePaRiBIREg/w-d-xo.html
I am with you the aircraft engine are over priced since now engine are really reliable !
I had one till everything was stolen.
Kohler commander
1/2 vw made the 2 strokes a joke.
cant say i like your manifold your probably losing some power with that