EcoRider - riding lawn mower electric conversion

[Daox]

I took a little time on Friday night to take out the bad battery. I also got a new charger installed on it. So, I'm currently running 36V which will work fine.

[Daox]

This past Monday I went and picked up a new 12V battery for the mower. Last night, my wife and I installed it on the mower. We also sharpened the blades on the mowing deck after we removed the snowblower attachment. There are a couple more things to do to get it ready to go for the season like grease things up and clean up some wiring. It needs to happen soon, that grass isn't getting any shorter on its own! I'll get some pics up a little later.

[Daox]

I ran into another issue about a week ago. I sheared one of the bolts that holds the rear wheel to the axle. So, I removed the good side to see that the axle tubes are slotted pretty horribly. I'm now open to methods to repair the damage.

[MetroMPG]

You mean that oval slot should be a simple hole?

Turn 90 degrees and drill a new hole?

[davidbr13]

The damaged hole needs to be welded up first since it has taken out so much material. Remember that slot is on both sides.

When drilling the new hole, see if you can put a hardened bushing in the axle, or at least use a bigger bolt. The axle material is too soft and malleable, and the fit too loose, so the relatively hard bolt "wallers out" (that's a technical term :-) ) the hole. A tighter fit may also help.

[Daox]

The problem with drilling a new hole is that the hole is beyond the lip of the rim. So, I can't get a drill & drill bit in that far.

[t4toro]

I have a toro proline 118 with a blown motor.
I often thought to convert it to an electric.
looks like you have a similar build.
I have only had random thoughts on how to do it.
How can I make a plan for this?

[Daox]

If you're mechanically inclined, its not too difficult. You have to find a way to mount an electric motor in place of the gas engine, and you have to find/make a place to mount a bunch of batteries.

[bmxeroh]

Have you came up with a fix for the axle tubes? Looks like you're going to need to remove them from the rim, fix/replace, and weld them back in. Perhaps a holesaw in a a drill press the same size as the axle, cutting it from the backside? That way your not making the hole in the rim any bigger, and you can just weld in a new axle tube.

[jeff5may]

Originally Posted by Daox

The problem with drilling a new hole is that the hole is beyond the lip of the rim. So, I can't get a drill & drill bit in that far.

Here's an ancient farm tractor secret. You can't ask how I know, and I won't tell anyway.

Scrounge around and find some iron pipe that will barely try to slide around the axleshaft. If it gets stuck and won't go on far, that's ok. as long as the ID of the pipe is close to the OD of the shaft. Chop it down a couple or three inches long and drill your 3/8 or 7/16 inch holes through the center.

Using a sawzall, portaband, or band saw (or grinder with cutoff wheel, or cutting torch, or whatever...), cut the pipe straight down its length perpendicular to the direction of the through holes you just drilled. This will yield you two collars you can sandwich the axle tube and axle between. Test fit the collars onto the axle and shaft with a shiny new bolt, making sure there is a little wiggle room between the collars and the shaft: you don't want the collar halves wedging against each other, not even when they are tight. If stuff doesn't fit tightly, a ball peen hammer will convince the collar halves to submit. As long as the halves don't touch, they will self-center where they belong.

If you really want it to be permanent, paint or epoxy the axle where the collars will hide it and assemble wet. Tighten your bolt before the stuff sets up or skins, and once it does dry, it's almost as strong as a weld. I myself usually just spray paint everything once it is assembled tightly. It acts as loctite on everything.

Hope this helps,

Jeff