Electric Motors
 

What is the best electric motor to buy for use in an electric lawn tractor mower conversion?

for the mower or for the tractor? for the mower the motor out of a tape reel from a computer from the 1960's or 70's works well and is about the right size, for the drive motor on a tractor a 2-3hp golf cart motor that has a support bearing on both ends would work well, altho they tend to be hard to find, a pump motor from an electric forklift could work well too, depending on the forklift it might even have some smaller motors in there that would work for the mower deck.

Maybe a small EV motor??
Electric Motorsport EV Parts

I'm very happy with my Mars ME0708 motor. Its a little pricy, but if you watch ebay you can sometimes find a deal.

http://www.motenergy.com/me0708.html

Yeah, nice motor..

EV Drives ME0708

Package Mars ME-0708 Motor, Alltrax 24-48V 300A Programmable Controller

Mars Brush-Type DC Motors ME0708 [ME0708] - $440.00 : EV Assemble, All for Electric Vehicle!

Even works well on a lightweight E-Bike.. Limited to 1/2 power..
YouTube - The E MTB

Thanks for the response, reason I asked was that I came across this motor, not sure how long it's been available but it looks like it was made for lawn tractor electric conversions.
Similar to the ME-0708 but has 2x the continuous amp rating (200amps) and a 1" power shaft that is similar to what you find on gas engines that have a 1" shaft.
No controller needed as rpm at 48volts are about 3600rpm.
This motor has enough power to drive the tractor and mower deck.
When mounted in the same location as the gas engine everything works as before.
ME-0708 can be done the same way, just need to use a bushing for the gas engines pulley to fit.

Anybody have any experience using this motor?

ME1004

Not me! I'm not an EV guy.. IC fer me.. :)

'48 VDC batteries. Capable of 200 amps continuous, and 400 amps for 1 minute. '
That sounds like a lot of battery to me.. What are you going to build up for 48v?

why no speed controller? a speed controller is going to save you time and money in the long run by saving the rest of your drive train wear and tear, it will also allow you to use a lighter duty contactor, otherwise your contactor will be seeing full load every time it closes, your batteries will last longer and your lawn tractor will be all around much smoother to operate.
As for the 200 amps... that seems quite high! at 48v that is 12hp! and not the sissy kind of HP that a gasoline engine puts out either.

The issue with the pulleys really isn't one. I got new pulleys for my motor off mcmcaster.com for about $12 each. The longer shaft is nice if your pulleys are supposed to sit down farther. In my mower it wasn't a problem though.

The motor won't pull a constant 200A, it'll pull what it needs to stay around 3600 rpm. In the case with my mower, it pulls about 25A just moving about, and another 50 to 70A while mowing depending on how thick the grass is. Having no speed controller works for me. But, Ryland is right, you'll need a larger contactor and it will wear out faster from the arcing that occurs when you power on and off.

Does this mower have a clutch & transmission like a car? Or is it a CV thing like my snowblower?

Even if it had a 10 speed transmission, a speed controller might still be
a good thing to have. Especially if you want to limit max RPMs & Amps etc.

A direct connection to the battery sounds like a way to pop a wheelie,
all the way over backwards.. Especially if the batt pack/driver CG was set rearwards.

Not hard to pop one with a gas mower..

YouTube - Poulan lawn tractor pop-a-wheelie

YouTube - MY DAD DECIDES TO POP A WHEELIE ON THE LAWN MOWER....