Gas-Powered Wheelchair Conversion

Gas-Powered Wheelchair Conversion Put a motorcycle engine on a wheelchair and it’ll be equally at home on city pavement or driving on a country lane says Paul Scholand Ypsilanti Mich He built 2 gas-powered wheelchairs that are powered by 110 cc motorcycle engines with automatic transmissions and electric start     “A gas-powered wheelchair can take you places you might otherwise not be able to go I’d like to make them available to vets ” says Scholand     He used kits from www motivechair com that are designed to attach motors to wheelchairs The kit includes everything you need except the wheelchair engine and starter battery No modification to the wheelchair is necessary It comes with a 2-qt gas tank          The engine mounts on a subframe below and behind the wheelchair’s seat The subframe clamps in 4 places to the wheelchair frame The engine chain-drives an axle fitted with 2 friction wheels which rub against the wheelchair’s wheels The kit comes with levers that are used to brake and steer     “The wheelchair steers and brakes much like a skid loader ” says Scholand who installed a pair of wheelie bars on back to keep the wheelchair from tipping over backward        “It’s a self-starting self-shifting engine so you don’t have to work the clutch or shift any linkage There’s just a throttle and a kill button which makes it easy to use ” says Scholand “I went with gas power instead of batteries because the battery-powered systems I’ve seen don’t provide the same speed range and off-road capability They cost more too     “The engine comes with a carburetor restrictor plate to limit its maximum power You can drive up to 20 miles on a single tank of fuel Top speed is 15 mph     “You can remove the engine in 5 min and use the wheelchair conventionally ” says Scholand     He later added a FreeWheel caster wheel system that turned the Invacare A4 wheelchair into a 3-wheeler for off-road use www gofreewheel com He also reinforced the wheelchair’s foot platform supports to take the twisting force off the large third wheel     “With the FreeWheel installed your wheelchair caster wheels can roll right over any obstacle including curbs and go on dirt trails grass gravel snow and sand ” says Scholand     “I’d be glad to help anyone who wants to build their own gas-powered wheelchair  I can also train you on how to use it as there is something of a learning curve ” notes Scholand who’s selling the larger Invacare wheelchair for $3 000 and a smaller Quickie GTI powered chair for $1 400       Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Paul Scholand 960 East Clark Road Ypsilanti Mich 48198 ph 248 890-7226; paulscholand@yahoo com

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