ArturHawk 190 #1 Posted August 25 As much as I love my Raider 10, boy is it LOUD! Sometimes I need to grab firewood or move a trailer around the yard at night, and I would like to be considerate of the neighbors. So, I had the idea to make an electric wheel horse. I began the hunt for a non-working tractor for this project and finally found one this weekend! I took some time to remove the engine and almost all of the electric (wires for lights are still in place). Now I have a clean slate to work with for my new build. A coworker had some parts left over from an electric trike build that didn't work out too well. It consists of an 1800W 48V BLDC motor, Battery pack, controller, and the wiring to make everything work. He ended up not using everything because the 1800W motor wasn't strong enough for his application. At first glance, you might thing that motor won't work for me either. But I figure it should be plenty as a drive only motor, not for PTO. These transmissions have a crazy 400:1 gear ratio at the bottom end and somewhere around a 30:1 for high speed. Supplying enough torque should be easy enough. My plan to test this is to rough mount the motor with a pulley, put the nose of the tractor against a tree, and see if I can break traction in high gear. If the motor can't do that, then I will look into a bigger motor for the job. I will also have the benefit of the motor running at 4500rpm instead of 3600rpm, so I will be using a smaller pulley. I am hoping to keep the motor as small as possible for efficiency and longer drive times. My goal (subject to change) is to mount the motor underneath the seat and belt drive the transmission. The controller will go on the shelf the fuel tank used to sit on. The battery...is a triangle (remember, this was originally for a trike), so I am not sure where I want to put it that doesn't look silly. It's pretty thin, so I'm considering mounting it to the underside of the hood, which would make it practically invisible. Operation will be similar to the current setup. key for on/off, throttle lever for motor RPM, and maintain use of the clutch for changing gears. If everything works well, I will look into mounting a motor in the same location as the engine for all PTO implements. I want to keep the two systems on separate batteries, so I can run the PTO as much as possible, without worrying about being stuck in the yard away from the charger. Stay tuned for updates! P.S. While getting ready to make this post I learned about the E-141 (previously, I only knew about the Elec-Trak). When all is complete, I guess I will need an E-100 badge for the side. 5 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wallfish 18,351 #2 Posted August 25 Nice project. Personally I would skip the clutch thing since the motor doesn't need to continuously run like a gas engine does. You'll have complete control over motor speed and stopping it completely so it would still be easy to shift. I would use a chain to eliminate any possible slippage of a belt and you can adjust that speed and or torque ratio accordingly as needed with sprocket sizes. Looking forward to the progress as that's something I always wanted to try but never got around to it. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ri702bill 9,593 #3 Posted August 25 31 minutes ago, wallfish said: I would use a chain to eliminate any possible slippage of a belt John - what about a cogged timing belt drive, like on a Harley?? No lubrication needed & quieter.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wallfish 18,351 #4 Posted August 25 7 minutes ago, ri702bill said: John - what about a cogged timing belt drive, like on a Harley?? No lubrication needed & quieter.... Yeah, that would be the best. It's been a while since I was searching for that stuff but I couldn't find all the different sizes for cogs or belts. It kept bringing me back to timing belts and stuff for engines. Do you know of a place that sells that stuff in different sizes? I'd imagine maybe robotics or something like that Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 28,838 #5 Posted August 25 That is similar to the unit I was thinking of using for a Suburban conversion. Never materialized, but got some interesting feedback... Good luck! I'll be following along! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ri702bill 9,593 #6 Posted August 25 25 minutes ago, wallfish said: Do you know of a place that sells that stuff in different sizes? I believe Mc Master has them.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ri702bill 9,593 #7 Posted August 25 9 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said: was thinking of using for a Suburban conversion. That would take the "roast" out of the Nut Roaster!!! 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 28,838 #8 Posted August 26 1 hour ago, ri702bill said: That would take the "roast" out of the Nut Roaster!!! Although it might add the !!! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 60,667 #9 Posted August 26 In the event you have not seen this thread it is a good read. May give you some information or inspiration. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldlineman 1,551 #10 Posted August 26 Yes I believe a chain or a cog belt would work well, trying to get a V belt belt tight enough, and the side strain on the motor would not be good be. You could use a jack shaft with a belt to the tranny and a chain to the motor, just more parts and needs more space though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 14,232 #11 Posted August 27 Not counting any losses to friction, heat, etc. an 1,800 watt motor is roughly 2+ horsepower. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
