where can I get square rod?

[stuntpenguin007]

I'm working on a motorized bike right now. I plan to have a bike peg being spun directly by a weed whacker engine to the tire. Pretty much everything is good to go, except I need to find a square rod to use.

So basically like a screw, but not cylindrical, or threaded. I've tried google, but it'd help to know the technical name for square rod.

[vskid]

How big are we talking? What will it be used for, a support bracket? I would go to Home Depot or Lowe's and look at their metal selection. If you can't find what you need, ask the for help. What you want might be in an illogical place.

[jjhammerstein]

Home Depot only stocks square rod stock up to like 1/4". They have flat strip stock that's pretty sturdy though. It's all in the aisle with the screws and bolts, but farther down.

[bicostp]

I hope that weed whacker engine has a clutch.

[stuntpenguin007]

The rod needs to be about 1/4" X 1/4" X 6"

I'll look around lowes and a few other places to see what I can come up with. The rod is going to go in the rotating part of the engine, and the other end is going onto a bike peg. I've already got the bike peg hooked up to where the weed whacker head used to be.

By clutch do you mean something that disengages the engine but still keeps it running?

[bicostp]

By clutch do you mean something that disengages the engine but still keeps it running?

Yup. That's what a clutch is for. If you don't have one, every time you stop you'll have to pick the back wheel up off the ground or stall the engine.

You need to gear the engine down quite a bit in order to get enough torque to move a person. You need either a gear system (replacing the pedal crank is one way to do it), or a friction drive wheel on the back tire (not ideal; that's prone to slipping and you'll wear your tire out faster). Just driving the rear tire's axle directly with the engine won't work; a little 20cc 2 banger doesn't have the torque.



If it's an old weed whacker engine, you might need to take the exhaust off and clean out the carbon from the exhaust port. (After hours and hours of use, the exhaust hole in the cylinder wall gets clogged up with carbon buildup, so the exhaust can't escape as well as it should and the engine makes less power and doesn't run as well.)

[jjhammerstein]

They sell what you need at Home Depot.