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Old 05-15-12, 05:07 PM   #1
seanwa
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Default new to evs need help with lawn tractor conversion

I habe been looking into building an electricriding mower. I now have what i believeisa perfect doner mower. A crsftsman hydrostatic drive 19.5hp with a 42" mowing deck that was sitting at my parents house for a couple years. I tried to get it running and engine is seized up. Other than that it seems to be in good shape. I just dont know where to start with the conversion. I would like use as many used and recycled parts as possible. One reason is try and keep the cost down and also to recycle as much as possible. I dont have the abilty to machine parts or pay for someone to custom make parts. $1000 seems way to steep to pay for a kit.

Motor? I would like to use a motor that i can directly bolt the existing pullies and belt drive system to and run only one motor 24v? 36v? I have seen golf carts cheap, are the electric motors on them a good option since it would have the controler that could be reused also. Do i even need a controler? 24v would be nice because i would like to make the batteries easily removeable so i can have several sets for a total run time of around 6 hours just charge at night when im done for use the next day. But i can do the same with a 36v system also just more expense in batteries. Thinking deep cycle marine type batteries. So weight would also be an issue with a 36v system. I am very comfortable with doing ice mechanics but whole ev thing is new to me.

Also frim what I understand the shaft on the ice is 1" what scrapyard or repurposed motors have a 1" shaft for easy conversion

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Old 05-15-12, 05:16 PM   #2
seanwa
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Default pictures of donor mower

Here is the donor mower that was free .
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Old 05-16-12, 09:04 AM   #3
Ryland
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Golf Cart motors are great motors but if you don't have a machine shop then it will be useless because they don't have an output shaft! instead they have a female splined socket that is made to fit the differential on the golf cart, I'm working on designing an adapter for golf cart motors but I don't have any prices yet, I have some of the parts designed and I need to get the drawings back and send them in to get bids to have them CNC machined.

You might check around and see if there are any heavy equipment salvage yards near you, if there are you might see what they have for fork lift motors, the motors off the pump should be about the right size.

A golf cart speed controller should work find, there are two things you need to know about them, some of them have induction throttles and some of them have 0-5k ohm resistance throttles, the resister/pot box throttles are the older style and people like them, it also means you would have a volume style knob or a lever style throttle where the induction throttle speed controllers I think are only sold as a foot pedal.
The other thing to know is the two types of golf cart motors that are common, SepEx motors (one large set of electrical lugs and one small set of lugs), and series wound motors (all 4 electrical connections are the same size) the controllers for series wound motors will also work with permanent magnet motors.
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Old 05-16-12, 12:29 PM   #4
seanwa
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Thanks for your post ryland. I just read and old post about the golf cart motors and yes they are now off the list of possible motors. they are way beyond my skill level. And as. For the forklift motors my local scrap yard has has between 20 and 30 large forklifts they all look to be ice engine ran big sit on units. I think im looking for about 3000 rpm to match the rpm on the original mower engine. Can I get 3000 rpm out of forklift motor at 24v Im going to try this conversion without a controler. From my understanding the hydrostatic trans on the mower will act as the controler if I can get the dc motor to match the rpm of the ice motor and the blade is made to run at full speed of the briggs engine 3000-3500 rpm unless thats going to create to much draw on the motor at start up.
This is how I was thinking it was going to work. turn dc motor on which in turn engages the hyrostatic trans in nuetral then engage the blade as normally equipt via the belt drive. So I think all I need is just an on off switch motor. Is "slamming" the motor "on" bad. Does it need to come up to speed slowly like an induction motor.
Ok well back to the forklifts. Where is the lift motor located, the scrap yard is a pull it yourslf place. I also noticed they had a clark electric pallet jack there are the motors on these good too?sorry lots.of questions
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Old 05-20-12, 05:28 PM   #5
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ME1004 has a 1" shaft 3"long and enough power to drive the tractor and mower deck.
Needs 48volt battery pack and a contactor. No speed controller needed as it spins 3400rpm at 48volts, will not over rev.
Motor Motenergy ME1004 Permanent Magnet DC Pancake Brushed Double Magnet
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Old 05-21-12, 12:42 AM   #6
seanwa
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Thanks dh1. Looks kike im gonna have to bite the bullet and buy one. Looks like a no hastle plug and go for the rider. So darn expensive though. Gonna have to save up for it. Thanks for the great info on th motor
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Old 05-21-12, 12:12 PM   #7
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Don't think that you need that specific motor. It is a very nice motor and it is made for what you want to do. However, others can be used, so keep an eye out if you're looking to save money.

Also, you don't need a motor with a 1" shaft. Chances are your motor is going to spin at a different rpm than the gas engine anyways so you'll need to buy new pulleys for it to get the drive and mower deck to spin the correct rpm. Since you're replacing the pulleys you can have whatever motor shaft size you want.

If you're really looking to do a budget based build, it is going to take time to collect the parts as they come along at a reasonable price.

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