Thought I would introduce my new project that I have been working on. With two grand boys at home and "tractor" being a favorite word, I thought I would tackle a project with the boys in mind.
My plan is to take a small ride on lawn mower and convert it to an electric drive using a 24V motor from a reclaimed craftsman 20" push mower.
The ride on is a "Falls" brand that was made in Sycamore, Illinois. It is quite small but built of the old design where the engine belted to the transmission (3 forward, 1 reverse) and the transmission was chained to the axle (a true differential). This differs from the newer design of the transaxle found in most mowers today. This works to my advantage by allowing more wiggle room for gearing.
The 24V motor is the approximate equivalency of a 1.5 HP electric or 3 hp gasser. Plenty for ground travel with a 40 pound kid and a small trailer (I'll bet some of you are reading in to this already :coolsmile: ). The other advantage of using electric (other than the obvious) is that I can wire safety switches into any design I want.
There will be a switch on the seat (for occupancy) as well as in series to a switch on the pedal. The pedal will be configured as a "tension" pedal, meaning you push to go, not release to go(as in a clutch). As long as somebody is in the seat, when the pedal is pushed, it will start the electric motor and then as the pedal continues to travel it will engage the tension pulley to begin the forward/reverse motion. Release the pedal and everything stops. I have also considered wiring another switch to a "bumper" so if it bumps something, it will stop the electric motor.
I was originally thinking about retrofitting one of the available electric kids ride on toys, but they simply do not have the power or build to allow for a trailer, or maybe even a tiny snow plow (it could happen).
I currently plan on building a plate that will only allow the selection of 1st gear or reverse.
My bet is that the electric motor will not even grunt with my 240 pounds on it, but we will have to wait and see about that. So there is my GREEN conversion project for the cold months. Waddaya'll think? Crazy old coot - or cool papa Jags??
Edit: for a size reference, the front tires are 6" solid rubber and the engine is a 7HP Briggs, so as you can see, this is a very small mower. Also - no mowing will be involved, the deck is already in the dumpster. :lol:
My plan is to take a small ride on lawn mower and convert it to an electric drive using a 24V motor from a reclaimed craftsman 20" push mower.
The ride on is a "Falls" brand that was made in Sycamore, Illinois. It is quite small but built of the old design where the engine belted to the transmission (3 forward, 1 reverse) and the transmission was chained to the axle (a true differential). This differs from the newer design of the transaxle found in most mowers today. This works to my advantage by allowing more wiggle room for gearing.
The 24V motor is the approximate equivalency of a 1.5 HP electric or 3 hp gasser. Plenty for ground travel with a 40 pound kid and a small trailer (I'll bet some of you are reading in to this already :coolsmile: ). The other advantage of using electric (other than the obvious) is that I can wire safety switches into any design I want.
There will be a switch on the seat (for occupancy) as well as in series to a switch on the pedal. The pedal will be configured as a "tension" pedal, meaning you push to go, not release to go(as in a clutch). As long as somebody is in the seat, when the pedal is pushed, it will start the electric motor and then as the pedal continues to travel it will engage the tension pulley to begin the forward/reverse motion. Release the pedal and everything stops. I have also considered wiring another switch to a "bumper" so if it bumps something, it will stop the electric motor.
I was originally thinking about retrofitting one of the available electric kids ride on toys, but they simply do not have the power or build to allow for a trailer, or maybe even a tiny snow plow (it could happen).
I currently plan on building a plate that will only allow the selection of 1st gear or reverse.
My bet is that the electric motor will not even grunt with my 240 pounds on it, but we will have to wait and see about that. So there is my GREEN conversion project for the cold months. Waddaya'll think? Crazy old coot - or cool papa Jags??
Edit: for a size reference, the front tires are 6" solid rubber and the engine is a 7HP Briggs, so as you can see, this is a very small mower. Also - no mowing will be involved, the deck is already in the dumpster. :lol: