BarracudaBob
Harvesting free photons from clean fusion
I know how lucky I am
Interesting solar powered lawn care DIYer
- Thread starter Supervstech
- Start date
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
This time of year, with the ESS charged to 100% every day by noon, and the sun out until 10:00pm, this comes back to my mind too!
I figured the same, that was why I was going to do a ICE->BE conversion instead, and have control over the whole electric system, use off the shelf BLM and controllers. For me the costs would be the motors and controllers, plus my time. Would be a great 'winter' project while the lawn work is off the schedule. But what motors to use? The deck area doesn't have a lot of space for a standard brushless motor, not sure about those flat style "Drone" motors that might fit better, but will need some kind of protection from debris. What Hp does a 21" cutting blade need ? are there any low profile motors that are 3Hp? Can I use 48volt to match my existing DIY packs - or series up two and run 96volt? Not sure, but interested to discuss and share ideas.
BarracudaBob
Harvesting free photons from clean fusion
I have way to many projects and maintenance with my current "toys" to do a full conversion. It would be nice to know witch ones can be converted that are on the market now. I could see buying one and getting stuck with using their batteries. What a nightmare that would be.
As I get older the loud engine noise is getting annoying. It would be bad ass to have an electric lawn tractor. couple of panels on the shed to charge it.
There are some cool conversions out there, check this one out:
As I get older the loud engine noise is getting annoying. It would be bad ass to have an electric lawn tractor. couple of panels on the shed to charge it.
There are some cool conversions out there, check this one out:
Tractor Conversion to Electric
BarracudaBob
Harvesting free photons from clean fusion
DIY Electric lawn tractor conversion plans and kits
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electrictractor.net
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
There is this long running thread for ideas:
Ryobi Zero-Turn Mower SLA to LiFePo4 Conversion - (Updated - Build Complete With Pics!)
Hi. I'm new to the forum. I have a 48V Ryobi Zero Turn that runs off of (4) 100AH AGM batteries. It's been about three years and now I can't get through a full cut. I would like to upgrade to LiFePo4 batteries. I'm thinking of using these ones...
diysolarforum.com
BarracudaBob
Harvesting free photons from clean fusion
unfortunately that model isn't available anymore.There is this long running thread for ideas:
Ryobi Zero-Turn Mower SLA to LiFePo4 Conversion - (Updated - Build Complete With Pics!)
Hi. I'm new to the forum. I have a 48V Ryobi Zero Turn that runs off of (4) 100AH AGM batteries. It's been about three years and now I can't get through a full cut. I would like to upgrade to LiFePo4 batteries. I'm thinking of using these ones...
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
The first link - the tractor conversion they used a 13Hp single brushed electric motor and just removed the engine and installed the motor - BUT they removed the cutting deck, so no longer a mower, and that 13Hp motor cost him $606 (in 2020) now looking like $700 - ouch!! He noted that the original tractor transmission was not loving the electric motor and it's instant torque. I wondered about this too.DIY Electric lawn tractor conversion plans and kits
lawn tractor, tractor, electric lawn tractors, battery tractor, DIY project, electric tractor conversion, gas lawn tractor, electric lawn tractor, solar lawn tractor, zero pollution, no gas or oil, battery, rechargeable,
And rather than buy a single expensive big motor, I was thinking of separate motors for cutter deck and traction - more like the second link.
A worm-drive low rpm variable speed motor can drive the rear axel, using a very low Hp drive, and the mower deck can use two or three low profile motors to drive the mower blades. From the picture you see they didn't pick a low profile motor and it interfers with the cutting height for the deck, or lifting the deck when not in use.
I don't think it makes sense to install a single motor and drive a bunch of belt-drives to run the tractor - an engine needed all this extra belts and pullies to transfer the power, but the beauty of battery-electric is we can use wires, and if the mower is not needed those motors stay off and just use the traction motor (for pulling the wagon to the green house and moving 'stuff' around the yard.
Thank for the input, it reinforces a few things I was considering.
my ICE tractor is a 42 inch mower and has a 17.5Hp Briggs and Straton engine. I rebuilt it ten years ago after it threw a push rod, and it still cuts my 3 acres every week every summer, but I am itching to convert it this winter and cut the cord on needing gasoline and dealing with the noise. One cutting deck gimble is going out, so rather than swap that, I am going to let it limp through this summer and electrify it.
First thing, a 17.5Hp ICE can be replaced with about 7-8Hp electric due to the efficiency differences and torque.
But using two motors direct driving the cutting blades, and a third for the axel drive would reduce the total cost compared to a single big motor, and make more space for battery up front where the engine/gas tank used to be, without losing space for a motor up there.
More research needed to find suitable motors.
HarryN
Solar Addict
Husqvarna has been selling electric, fully robotic mowers for a long time. That is what I would buy if I needed to mow a big area.
www.husqvarna.com
Lawn mowers
Are you a homeowner, or a professional landscaper? Do you own a small yard in the city, or a large property in the country? Husqvarna has the right lawn mower solution for your needs.
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
But this is a DIY forum - So I accept the challenge!!Husqvarna has been selling electric, fully robotic mowers for a long time. That is what I would buy if I needed to mow a big area.
Lawn mowers
Are you a homeowner, or a professional landscaper? Do you own a small yard in the city, or a large property in the country? Husqvarna has the right lawn mower solution for your needs.
BarracudaBob
Harvesting free photons from clean fusion
The parameter wire less ones would be nice. I would have to see a bunch of wonderful reviews to believe that they could handle it. Sticks and other hard/large debris get caught it the little mowers. It take them all week to cut the grass too. Multiple self deploying cyclesHusqvarna has been selling electric, fully robotic mowers for a long time. That is what I would buy if I needed to mow a big area.
Lawn mowers
Are you a homeowner, or a professional landscaper? Do you own a small yard in the city, or a large property in the country? Husqvarna has the right lawn mower solution for your needs.
BarracudaBob
Harvesting free photons from clean fusion
That is fricken ausom! I am not there yet. I would buy one if I knew for sure that I could change out the batteries for DIY LPF
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
I have this idea in my head, that doing a lawn tractor conversion will be my first step,
followed by an ATV conversion,
followed by a Ram 2500 conversion...a guy gotta dream right?
followed by an ATV conversion,
followed by a Ram 2500 conversion...a guy gotta dream right?
HarryN
Solar Addict
It definitely is not a perfect situation. What I am interpreting is that they are good for mowing the bulk / open areas and not necessarily getting close to items like edges. The cutter on the bottom does not go all that close to the edge - probably for safety reasons. It is far enough away that it might be designed to run over someone's foot and not cut it. ( not that I would try that - but it looks like that is a design goal )
So it is a "potential time saver" rather than completely replacing the need for someone to be involved.
For mowing grass here, the humidity levels are very low, so grass clippings do not really decay. We also have pine needles, leaves and other debris that needs to be cleaned up. We sort of use the lawn mower + bagging feature like a vacuum cleaner for the lawn. If a mower cannot bag the cut grass - in this area - it is useless.
All of this gets sent to the local collection where they either turn it into propane / other burnable gas that is sold to propane tank users such as gas grills. Eventually the solid decayed part is put in piles that we can pick up for free and use in gardening.
BarracudaBob
Harvesting free photons from clean fusion
I agree with you. The heat and humify is so high here that everything breaks down. every now and then we have to sweep it up and put it in a compost pile. Have our own small mulcher for around trees and for garden. I'll wait until someone does a conversion on a current production model. The price should drop then too when sales numbers increase and competition kicks in.
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