EcoRider - riding lawn mower electric conversion

[Daox]

Alright, I got the mower running again today. It took a bit more work than I first thought.

I got the replacement bearing, but when I went to put it together I noticed this:



The shaft is worn / damaged where the bearings sit. This would toast the new bearing. So, I ended up purchasing a new shaft assembly.

It all went together just fine. I sharpened the blades for the first time in a few years (wow that was too long to wait).

While things were apart, I decided to tweak things a little bit too.

I replaced the driven pulley on the mower deck. I went from a 3" to a 3.5". This slows down the blades about 15%. The objective here is really to lessen power draw. I wasn't able to test this yet as my ammeter is actually broken on the mower. However, I look forward to seeing how this has helped.







I also added a battery acid protection shield over the motor. When I roasted the motor before, it was because the battery dripped acid down into it onto the commutator. This was a fairly simple deal with a bit of sheet metal and my bench vise.









So, how did it all work? Really nicely. It is very quiet now. Before, the mower deck made lots of noise. It sounded like a big blower fan. Now, its not bad at all. And, thankfully the mowing quality is not effected. My grass was very long from the mower not running for the past ~2 weeks. It cut through it like butter. If anything, I would say it bogged down less than it used to. This makes sense as there is now more torque going to the blades.