SCRAP-E (Electric Tractor Build)
 

hi all, i am going to start a new project. as the title states it will be a tractor build. but not just a normal tractor build because i am going to attempt to build it from trash(scrap laying around and i am off to a great start.. i hooked up with a scrap guy that brought me over parts from his pile.. it was pretty cool of him since it really is taking money out of his own pocket.since that is how he makes his living. i did help him out by giving him about 400' of chain link fence i ripped out and all the poles.. so he was happy and so was i since we both got what we needed.. now i have a good source for more parts and he does too.. after he left i want up to the golf cart shop which i made friends with the owner a couple of weeks ago.. he stumbled across my tractor i made for Pam and wanted to meet me to sub out some work and tech support for his electric golf carts he repairs.. anyway i stopped by there today and he made my day(i had told him i was in need of a rear axle and motor from a golf cat for my build ) he told me he had something for me and points to a golf cart. told me i could have the rear from it or i could take the whole thing for free.. of course i will be taking the whole thing.. that will save a bunch of money i would have had to put out of my own pocket..
so i am almost there with all the parts i need to start my project.. here is what and why i am doing this.. first i am tired of this TORO ride on either breaking down on me(it's only 4 years old) or blowing a belt they make replacing the belt so hard to put back in and they cost 52 dollars a pop just for the belt.. second i a tired of spending 15 dollars to fill it up each time it needs gas..
so i will make my own electric ride on mower to suit my purpose and how i think it should be.. but it will be simplified for if and when it needs any repairs.. so here it is:
the drive system will be the rear axle and motor of the golf cart the steering system will be either from a ride on mower or the golf cart, need to see what the golf cart steering involves( don't want to complicate thing on this build.
the deck for now it only 38" but will be a 48" deck when my scrap guy comes across one.. the motor for the deck will be a 2.5 HP motor.. both drive system and deck motor will be running off the same battery part which will be 36volt 125 amp hour. that should be plenty of power to cut the 2 acres i've been cutting lately( my grass and the neighbors grass) .. and it will also have a dump bed on it. i think it will be a fun machine when finished.. top speed will be 15 mph but we all know 7 mph is about the right speed for cutting grass but it's always nice to know you have that speed if you ever need it.. if time and money allows i will be setting up some fog lights over the drivers head for night time fun for the kids and me.. if all goes right this build may cost around 250 for batteries and another 100 for odds and ends i may need.. so once again this build will be electric(GREEN) and 80% will be made from scrap which gives it it's new name -SCRAP-E-

picked up the golf cart yesterday and bought it home.. i threw in some batteries to see if controller and motor worked, well it all works fine but now i have a problem.. the kids don't want me to use it for my build.. so til i get started this build i told them they can have fun with the cart til i figure out whether or not to use the drive system from this cart... here is a pic of the cart

Woo, great thread. I look forward to the build. :)

i've come to a decision that i will not use the steering system from the golf cart.. it's just too complex and the whole ideal of making this build is to keep everything simply just in case repairs are needed down the line.. so this morning i pull the whole steering system from a ride on mower i have as a donor. cool part about this is the way i took it out.. all i have to do is when i mount it to the new chassis i make it will just slide in and bolt down in one piece( i see this as a big time saver) i also pulled off the cutting deck.. so simple to do too.. only 4 pins hold the deck together to the tractor. the deck is 38" but i really need a 48" or bigger. so i called my scrap guy to keep his eyes open for one.. i have no doubt he will find one for me. til then i will have to use the 38" deck.. i have all but some square tubing that i plan to use.. here are some pics of the parts i pull today

last night i went over friends house to check out some steel he had in his yard. it has been sitting there for over a year, he picked it up from a work site he was working on and were trashing it.. well it seem like the right size and strong enough for what i am doing so he give it to me.. i think i have all the material i need to start this build.. all the material i have gathered up has been within my build budget.. to date i have spent ZERO dollars and i hope it stays on that number..

Great find. I love free material! :) Its good to have friends.

yes i like free stuff.. i gathered all my material and boy what a mess right now.. my neighbor looked at it and was amazed that all this junk will be turned into a tractor when finished.. i started to remove all the rivets front the front of the golf cart, i need to get to the frame so i can see how the brake pedal and lines are run.. this way i can run them the same way on it's new chassis.. here is all the material i am going to use.. the first pic is the steel on the right of the pic.. the second pic is the rest minus my car in the back...

hi all ii haven't been on for a while due to i've been sick so the build was put on hold.. but i am much better now so here are my plans.. i'm going to Georgia Friday to take the kids to see there mom for a few days before school starts.. when i get back i will be starting the build. i hope to have it done as quick as possible because my Toro is down ( as usual ) and my poor mini is having a hell of a tough time cutting these 2 acres.. due to all the rain we've had and the grass growing back as fast as i can cut it and much thicker too.. the mini is cutting it but if i keep working that poor little machine as hard as i've been i'm afraid i will lost the deck motor soon.. so i hope in about 2 week this build will be either done or at least up and running

aproldan,

Interesting project there...

I'm really curious what kind of camera are you using? It gives a very interesting look to the photos. It reminds me a bit of the Holga camera which has something of a cult follwing.


-AC_Hacker

i finally started the build and so far i have taken the controller out the forward/ reverse panel, disconnected the brake and removed the accelerator pedal..i cut the cart in half, and will be using the rear half since the motor and axle is what i was really after.. i also cut 4 pieces of steel the reinforce the frame because there is quite a bit of rust on the chassis.. all in all i got a lot done today. but there is still a lot more to do i will have some pics posted tomorrow

Nice to see some progress on this mower. Can't wait to see pics. :)

here are some pics from yesterdays work.. as you can see the rear end is from the golf cart and the front end is from the tride on tractor. as of right now all i am doing is cutting and dry fitting everything to make sure it fits where i need it. as soon as all if cut and fit right then i will be bolting and wielding everything together.. the look with the rear and front end together will not look like the pics i have towork on the look but basically it will still look like a tractor.. the motor in the front will be dedicated just for the cutting deck.. and the drive is in the rear just dedicated for propelling the tractor..i can't wait for this project to be up and running.. i think it will be a fun tractor to put to work.. i am also adding a horn to the tractor to drive the neighbors crazy since some of them say my projects are too quiet..

Looks like they fit together alright. Any problems with mounting the structural members together?

Just remember to leave enough room so you can access everything after it's all welded.

progress is very slow on this build.. lots of things running through my brain so i keep changing ideas on what i want and need to do.. here are some pics from today of what i might have it look like for now.. i added an old tractor hood i had laying around my bone yard. i also find a rear fender from another tractor that i cut in half to put over the rear wheels( it may stay but not sure)... i still need to make a dump bed in the rear so i may not need those fenders.. i have wood in the pics but that is only a reference/guide line for me not to go any lower then that, for that is where the batteries go and the height it needs to be.. sorry i don't have any more progress on this tractor but i am hoping the light bulb in my head goes on like all my other builds and project i have done.. so far this build has cost me $12.56 not counting the 500.00 for the motor for the cutting deck and the batteries which will cost $340.00.. so it will still be around $1000.00 when this is complete..

Its looking good. :) I like the idea of the dump bed. I have a trailer for mine and its great to have around.

i was working on SCRAP-E today.. i decided to make a bed for the tractor but first i needed to find some old wood which i did at my neighbors, he had a bunch of wood in his garage and he was glad
to let me have some and get it out of his garage.. so i made a bed and i guess 1/2 the rails done.. the bed is mighty wide but i kind of like it because it goes over the rear wheels so i don't have to use a fender.. what do you guys think? here are some pics of the bed..

Looks like it needs a front! :)

How big is the flat area? Is it tiltable?

yes was working on the front this morning.. i decided to use a white plastic fence board i have laying in the back.. i cut some pieces to use on the floor of the bed.. that will keep the wood from getting all torn up. here is what i got so far.. i may end up making a new bed out of the fence board if it ends up being half the weight..
the flat area of the bed is 27" long 42' wide and 14"" high. i want to make it a tilt bed but right now i need to finish making the a battery box, seat and foot boards. than i can run the wires,see where to place the controller and make a new dash board to put the switches,meters and i'm thinking of putting in a radio.. the color i am going with is black gloss and gold gloss.. the gold will be sprayed on the black to make a spatter effect.. i modified the spray nozzle on the spray bottle to make it do what i want it to do. here a few pics of what i am talking about.. pics really don't do any justice, but in person it really looks nice..

it's been a while since i have done anything with this project, haven't had much time for it. kids have been keeping me busy... but i have had plenty of time at night to think of a few different ideas... one was what to do with the cutting deck.. i really thought it would be good attach to the frame, but i thought about it and figure it may not be wise.. first i know the kids will be goofing around on it and don't want it to turn on by accident.. although i will have the key to active the deck but why take chances.. second was i want to keep this machine as light as possible for range when not cutting the grass.. so i decided to tow the deck when i need to cut the lawn. so i added some wheels and i will setup the deck with a hitch.. so all i have to do is figure a way to mound the motor to the deck.. so that will be around 150lb. i will tow rather then carry.. the other thing i was thought about was using the pvc boards on the bed.. problem was it weighed around 30lb. so i have a stash of laminated floor and used that for the bed.. weighed a total of 10lb. so i was only a 1/3 of the weight.. it will also be a lot easier to keep clean...so this is what i did yesterday and today.. kind of felt good to finally start working on SCRAP-E again.. here are some pics,,, oh and i went with reflector rather then using lights and sucking juice from the batteries.. i like the way they look.

today i worked on the front part of SCRAP-E i been noticing that i needed more room in front for my controller and direction switch.. so i rip the front off and cut a steel plate to reinforce the front end.. worked out good.. then i used wood i found dumpster diving and cut them to the length i needed.. the console will be much bigger now for all the switches meters and key switch.. it doesn't look like much right now but you will start to see what i am going for hopefully tomorrow.. when the kids and i go dumpster diving i alway grab the empty wire spools.. i grab them not for the spool but for the long bolts they have on them.. the reason i mentioned this is because i am finally going to be able to use them on this build.. which is going to save me money.. ever go the lowes and have to buy a 12 inch bolt, it adds up.. anyway here are some pics...

here are some more pics.. notice all the space i have to keep the controller protected..the controller will be mounted to a rubber mat before being bolted to the frame.. this will absorb any vibration and hard hits when using it for cutting the lawn.. and the batteries too will have a rubber mat..like i say, it doesn't look like much right now but it will come together soon enough...

been trying to work on SCRAP when i can.. and here is what i got so far... sorry not much done but very busy here with the kids.. got the switches in and volt meter.. made a granny seat and put in the forward/reverse lever.. i also got the motor for the deck ready to mound... anyone know how fast the deck blades should be spinning at? right now it is geared to spin 5400rpm.. will the speed turn the deck into a hovercraft..

I'd imagine the blade speed should be ~2500-3000 since most push mowers are direct drive from a small engine which is governed around 3000. I know on my mower (when it was still gas powered), the pulley on the deck are a bit smaller than the motor, so it spins even slower. I could take a look at my pulleys to get a better idea if you'd like.

I like the granny seat! It looks pretty comfortable. :)

that would be great.. and yes the granny seat is very comfy..:thumbup:

late this afternoon this project took a turn in appearance.. my neighbor and i were taking and i ask him to tell me what he saw when i took the bed off of SCRAP-E.. reason i ask him is because ever since i welded the frame together all i could see was a hot rod.. well him saw the same thing so i made templates out of cardboard with his help and we tape them together and BAM just like i pictured it in my head..so looks like i will go with the hot rob look.. i took some pics.. but they don't seem to do justice, because of the picture on the cardboard.. but it really looks cool in person.. i will cut the side panels out tomorrow and see what i have

Aproldan, you are an inspiration.

While snowbirding down south, I picked up a couple of 24V golf cart motors, now that I am home putting them on my tractors is priority #3. (after the honey doo)

The stock pulley sizes on my mower are 4.5" off the engine, and a 3.5" on the mowing deck. So, it looks like my deck is supposed to spin around 2300 rpm.

getting one step cloer....

got a little more done today. added a few more cross braces and cut the top for the back.. here are some pics.. was going to go black but now it is between red or a race yellow...

Looks pretty cool. What did you use to cover the top of it?

thank Daox:
neighbor of mine gave me 2 sheets of aluminum that he pulled off his horse trailer last month.. so i used that since it won't rust or tarnish in the weather..:thumbup:

Thats very cool. If I would have had more time to work on my mower I would have loved to have done a scrap build. Unfortunatley, it was my only method of mowing, so I needed it done.

anyone here live in Georgia near duluth? going up there next weekend with the kids so they can see their mom.. and figure we can meet some of the members in here face to face rather than just online......before check out any projects that you might be working on...