Re: (ET) " Tunes For My Tractor "

[John Wayland <dat1200 europa com>]

Subject: 
                          Re: (ET) " Tunes For My Tractor "
              Date: 
                          Fri, 24 Sep 1999 08:14:09 -0700
             From: 
                          John Wayland <dat1200 europa com>
                   To: 
                          "Humphrey, Timothy"
<HumphreyT neads ang af mil>
                BCC: 
                          dat1200 europa com
References: 
                          1


Hello Dan, Dennis, and Timothy,

>I was going to respond with basically this same info, however I 
>remember reading just recently a web page about John's tractor 
>that detailed the tractor. Completely spec'd out the whole thing. 
>But I can't seem to find it anymore. Would you happen to know the 
>url? 
>John?....John?......HEY JOHN,.... turn down your tractor and give us a 
>hand.

   The best site to see it and read the specs, is at the EVDL Photo
Album:  

<http://members.xoom.com/evalbum/038.html>

   Since the information was posted there however, the HMGT has been
repainted with a terrific new wild scheme over the factory red finish.
Now, there are real flames
instead of the simpler scallop types, and they are overlaid on top of
a holographic silver paint splash on the hood that changes to purple,
orange, red, and blue
as one walks around it in bright sunlight.

    This might be interesting for you as well:

The first time I talked about building an electric garden tractor, was
when I mentioned it at the end of a post which was in response to
questions  about speed controllers:

Monday, February 24, 1997

......Stay tuned for my newest EV project.......an electric garden
tractor (I'm converting a beat-up Wards gasser)....complete with a
Gerhard Wagner paint job, Optima batteries w/gold plated connectors,
chrome wheels, Quartz-halogen lighting, DC to DC converter, and a CD
sound system w/subwoofer.....should have it ready to haul kids in a
small trailer and tools and stuff for the Oregon Electric Drags this
Summer!

See Ya........John Wayland

----------------------------------------------------------

Monday, March 17, 1997- From a post about garden tractors

Hello to All,
     A while back I wrote the following:

Stay tuned for my newest EV project.......an electric garden tractor
(I'm converting a beat-up Wards gasser)....complete with a Gerhard
Wagner paint job, Optima batteries w/gold plated connectors, chrome
wheels, Quartz-halogen lighting, DC to DC converter, and a CD sound
system w/subwoofer.....should have it ready to haul kids in a small
trailer and tools and stuff for the Oregon Electric Drags this Summer!

     There has been recent discussion about garden tractor EVs again, so
I thought I would ad an update on my tractor project to the mix. 
     Everyone has their own set of goals and design parameters for their
respective EV tractor projects, and these set the tone for how the
finished machine will ultimately turn out. Some simply want a sturdy and
powerful electric tractor for use around the yard or farm. These
tractors will be used as snow plows, lawn mowers, graders, etc. 
       I saw a great example of this type of tractor while I was at the
APS races in Phoenix. Dennis Berube, the radical EV dragster guy (11.07
in the 1/4 mile) from the area, had his electrified garden tractor with
him. It is most likely a converted John Deer, judging by the green color
and robust construction, but I failed to actually look to see what kind
it was. Dennis used a Jack & Heintz model G-32 aircraft generator,
identical to the one I have in my shop at the moment, as the drive
motor. It is a shunt wound motor, is mounted horizontally, and has a
pulley and belt setup connecting it to the tractor's drive gear. Dennis
used three Optima YellowTops connected in series for 36 volts. Being a
shunt wound machine, the motor is simply turned on at 36 volts with a
full field as it screams to life with the characteristic aircraft
generator turbine-like whine, while the tractor's belt drive is in the
neutral mode. To take off, Dennis just releases the clutch, and with an
authoritative lurch, the tractor jumps off from rest. To accelerate,
Dennis uses field weakening, and when he hits it hard, the front of the
tractor just about pulls off the ground! He says he can mow continually
for over an hour, and that he uses the tractor to pull just about
anything he can think of. Dennis and his tractor were a real favorite at
the races this year!
       As some may have gleaned from the first mention of my tractor
project, it will have a slightly different attitude and purpose in life.
The mowing attachments have been jettisoned, as well as all unnecessary
levers and pedals. I want to use my tractor as a fun run-around type EV,
that can double as a tow vehicle to pull a trailer, another EV or a
wagon full of kids. I have also taken it on as the ultimate challenge
for doing a trick car stereo (tractor stereo?) installation, and I hope
to have it ready in time for the Oregon Electric Drags this August.
      My Wards tractor is a little smaller than Berube's machine, and it
has a different drive configuration, too. The original gasoline motor
was mounted vertically rather than horizontally, with a belt and pulley
connecting the front engine to more belts and pulleys in the rear, that
eventually drive a cast aluminum differential. There are currently seven
forward speeds and one reverse. Like Berube's machine, mine has a clutch
pedal that when depressed, releases the belt tension. But I plan on
simplifying the whole setup, and when the project is finished, there
will be no clutch or individual gears...just a single forward speed with
an electrical reverse mode.
      I have a 36 volt, 4 hp golf car motor that is perfect for this
project, and it is already in position. The motor has external
connections for the brushes and field, so electrical reverse isn't going
to be a problem. 
      Unbelievably, there is room under the cowl for six Optima YTs
(half as many as my Datsun), so the little tractor should have great
range, with lots of pulling power! The batteries will be connected in a
series parallel arrangement for 36 volts. 
     There will be a small, separate 12 volt gel cell battery fed by a
DC to DC converter, to power up the tractor's lights, horn, and other
accessories.
    A 275 amp speed controller will give the tractor smooth and quiet
acceleration, with only the pleasant whir of the series wound motor to
listen to...that is, until the sound system is cranked up!
     With the various pedals and linkages removed, there is room at the
end of the foot rests to build perforated, sturdy steel speaker
enclosures that will each house a 6.5 inch coaxial speaker. The single
driver's seat is positioned exactly in the middle, so the stereo image
and sound stage should be fantastic. In the rear, just underneath and
behind the seat and  between the heavy gauge tow brackets, will be a 10
inch subwoofer in a sealed enclosure, firing backwards. A high power amp
will provide the juice for the sub. Under the cowl, right where the gas
tank used to be, is a perfect space where the 10 disc CD changer will be
mounted.
       The dash panel will be simple...with an ignition key, an E-meter,
a 12 volt system gauge, a 'ready' light, a 'charging' light, a throttle
lever, a light switch, a reverse switch, and sound system controls.
        To dress the little tractor up, I will be totally going over
every inch of it. There is a little metal work to be done, and a fresh
coat of paint is needed. The tractor was originally red in color, and I
want to keep it red, but before Gerhard gets through, it will more than
likely have pearl in the final coat.
       The front axle-wheel system is very primitive, with no bearings
to speak of, but rather, the wheels are greased and simply slide onto a
metal shaft with a cotter pin used to retain them. I intend on replacing
the setup, with full ball bearing type wheels that will fit snuggly onto
the shaft, and be secured with a nut.
     Speaking of nuts.....I wonder what the soundoff judges are going to
do, when I pull into this Summer's 'Car Wars' with an electric tractor,
soundoff machine?....time for another rule book change, I guess!

See Ya........John (slightly crazy) Wayland

----------------------------------------------------------
        
Saturday, April 12, 1997- From a post entitled 'Heavy Metal Tractors'

Hello to All,
       Some may remember that I had found a forgotten and beat up Wards
garden tractor a while back, that  was literally sitting in the weeds
out in rural Oregon. When I first laid my eyes on it, I knew this was
something that I just had to have!  
        I had been out to Gresham Bodyworks talking to the owner and
head bodyman, Louie (mentor to Gerhard Wagner, E-car's paint master).
When I asked him about the lonely old tractor sitting out in the rain,
Louie told me how it had thrown a rod years ago, and that it had sat
where it was ever since. I talked about how a nice electric motor and a
few batteries could bring it back to life, when Louie just about begged
me to please haul the hulk away...which I gladly did. Later, after I had
it home and torn apart in my shop, I began to formulate my plans to turn
it into an electric soundoff garden tractor.
      As things have turned out, I recently came across another tractor,
that was in far better condition, that had been stored indoors for
several years, due to a non-functioning ICE. A fellow had called me to
talk about low voltage NEVs, and to see if I knew where he could get a
motor. He was looking for a powerful unit that could run on 36 volts and
provide regen as well. I told him that I had an old aircraft generator
that was sitting around my shop that I had planned to use in one of my
odd ball projects.  I talked about my wacko idea for an EV garden
tractor soundoff machine, and he was excited to tell me that he had a
similar tractor in storage. His machine was an MTD, and the more we
talked, it became clear that our two tractors were almost identical.  I
mentioned that I had found a 4.5 hp golf car motor that I was going to
use in the Wards tractor instead of the generator, and that I could let
the generator go to him. We ended up simply swapping my generator for
his MTD garden tractor, and away I went with tractor number two.
       With the two tractors sitting side by side, I was pleased to see
that they were made by the same manufacturer. In fact, it appears that
all of Wards' garden tractors, as well as those made for many other
retailers, are made by MTD. The two tractors that I have are about as
similar to each other as a 60's Ford Mustang and the same year Mercury
Cougar, or a 70's Ford Pinto and the same year Mercury Bobcat, or a late
90's Chevy Blazer and and the same year Oldsmobile Bravado. They are all
really the same machine, with only minor changes in body work and
options.
       The Wards unit has about 3 more inches of vertical space under
its taller, louvered cowling and there is a lot more available space for
batteries and components. I also like the styling of the Wards tractor
with its more squared-off look, than the MTD. Nonetheless, I have first
began converting the MTD since it was so much cleaner and easier to get
started on right away. The MTD has a perfect seat that isn't all
deteriorated, and the paint and body work is pretty nice, too.
     I can still stuff in six Optimas as I had originally planned for
the Wards, under the smaller more rounded MTD cowling, but it will be a
very close and tight fit. Just for peace of mind, in addition to the
usual insulated battery terminal connectors, the underside of the metal
cowling will be lined with 1/4 inch self stick rubber foam. 
   The 36 volt, 4.5 horse golf car motor made by Westinghouse that I
traded a few items for, is a small but powerful series-wound type. It
only weighs about 35 lbs. or so, and has external field connections so
that electrical reverse can be employed. I think it is an ideal choice
to power the MTD garden tractor. This motor has two long bolts that go
from the motor face (cast aluminum) through to the other brush holder
end (cast aluminum), so it was real easy to remove the two nuts, then
pull apart the motor, so that I could inspect and detail the unit. 
     The bearings are still in great shape, and so are the brushes and
commutator. With the motor taken apart, I cleaned the main motor body
and gave it a fresh coat of Krylon black paint. I polished the field
terminals, and replaced the old nuts and washers with new hardware. I
also thoroughly cleaned the aluminum end bell pieces. The brush
terminals are smaller than those on the field windings...no
biggie....but it's interesting to note.
     I found that somewhere in this motor's life, someone had replaced
one of the brush terminals with a brass bolt that was too short, and it
did not match the other brass terminal bolt. The shorter bolt was also
bent and it's threads were screwed up. They had also used some kind of
funky plastic washer, behind the shorter bolt, instead of a fiber washer
like the factory had used. It all just looked tacky to me, so I went to
the local hardware store and bought two new, matching brass bolts, along
with new fiber insulating washers, and replaced the old bolts and
washers with the new ones....looks real clean and nice now.
      Since I wanted to mount this motor vertically, like the original
gas engine was, I needed to modify the motor face end bell. So, while I
had it off from the motor, I carefully drilled and taped four holes in
it, so that the motor face had mounting holes in it like those on an
Advanced DC type. This allowed me to face mount the motor to a 1/4"
aluminum plate that I made, that then bolted onto the existing steel
plate that the ICE was mounted on. The steel plate has four large holes
in its perimeter, that use rubber isolators. Bolts go through steel
sleeves in the middle of each of the isolators that secure the whole
thing to the tractor's frame.
      Before I had taken the motor apart, I did some work with the old
drive pulley assembly from the ICE. The assembly from the ICE just about
fit perfectly onto the electric motor's shaft. It was actually a double
pulley unit...two pulleys on a common shaft...a small drive belt pulley
closer to the engine, and a larger pulley about three inches down the
shaft that drove a large belt that ran the mower  blades. On the ICE,
the pulley assembly was held in place with a shear pin that was knocked
through the two opposing holes in the pulley assembly shaft. 
    To modify things for the electric motor, I first cut off the larger
pulley from the assembly and discarded it (no need for it anymore, as
this tractor will never 'see' a yard to mow, and it was extra rotational
weight that I didn't want to waste energy spinning). I then drilled out
the two opposing holes in the hub shaft, and tapped them so that allen
head screws could be used. I next slid the single pulley hub assembly
onto the electric motor shaft...it fit, but just a tiny bit loosely. I
didn't want to buy a new pulley, when this thing was so close to fitting
perfectly, so I did my usual thing....I got creative.  I knew that I
needed a very thin, shim material made from steel or something like
that, and I found just what I needed in my bone yard of parts!
        The motors that are used in car tape decks are small DC units,
that are encased in a larger housing, so that the mechanical and
electrical noise the emanates from the motor can be shielded from the
sensitive electronics of the stereo.  The small motor is wrapped with
about two feet of this very thin metal, about 1.5 inches wide, to get
rid of magnetic radiation. The wrapped motor is then fitted into a
slightly larger external metal case. I took apart one of these motors
and robbed it of the thin almost tape-like metal stuff. I used just
enough of the stuff to make one clean, non-overlapping wrap of the
motor's shaft, then positioned the pulley onto the shaft and lightly
tapped it on with a hammer....nice and snug.....perfect! Next, I
tightened the allen screws, allowing one of them to nestle into the
motor's keyway on the shaft.
       I hooked up the motor to 12 volts and spun it....the shaft didn't
wobble a bit! While it was spinning, I used a wire brush to clean the
pulley....kind of a Wayland style lathe! I then painted the pulley to
make it look brand new.
         With the above mods completed, I positioned the electric motor
and adaptor assembly on the tractor's chassis so that I could slip the
original drive belt around the pulley. With everything bolted into
place, it was time for the test drive!
     It was only a brief run up and down my driveway a few times on a
single Optima 12 volt YellowTop, and even though the overtaxed (very
light gauge) temporary alligator jumpers were beginning to smoke, the
tractor worked! The loudest noise emanated from the various drive
pulleys in the middle of the tractor, that obviously need some new
grease and or new bearings.
        Stock, these MTD tractors have a lever in the middle of the
tractor body, that shifts the transaxel from reverse, to neutral, to
forward. I will be locking it in the forward position, then removing the
linkage to free up space in the center body area for other goodies. I
certainly don't want a neutral position for anything, especially with a
series motor that could over-rev, and I will be electrically reversing
the motor to enable the tractor to back up, so there really isn't a need
to keep the mechanical shift feature.
        There are seven forward speeds that result from placing a lever
in preset selections that control the variable drive pulley, that I will
more than likely keep. The lowest positions will help give the little
tractor pulling power, as it will be used for towing race cars, tow
dollies, and a small trailer with seats for people. The highest
positions will make this little electric garden tractor really sing
along when I'm out for a fun cruise with the CD player crank'n out
rock'n tunes!
       Frank 'the metal god' and I will be fabricating battery supports
and other brackets in the metal shop this week, that will allow me to
get everything finished. 
           I am looking into different wheel and tire combinations, and
have found some pretty trick aluminum mags that are used on 'Banshee'
type ATVs.  These are almost identical in size to the rear units on the
tractor, only at a much higher quality level. For the smaller front
setup, I am looking into go kart units. The new machine shop E-car is
now using, will be creating new wheel hubs and brakes, so that full ball
bearing wheels can be adapted to the tractor.
       The Wards tractor is not forgotten, and I will be media blasting
its body panels in preparation for all new paint. I obtained a 7" GE
series motor, that was used in a very large fork lift as the main
hydraulic pump motor. I removed the end bell from it, and milled away
the cast flange, to expose the motor's output shaft. This is a real
robust, fan-cooled motor, that is rated at only 18 volts. At around 80
lbs. or so, it is a heavier motor than I really want to use....but
hey...it was free! Unless I come up with another cool little 35 lb.
Westinghouse motor, I plan on doing the Wards tractor as a 24 volt
system, using this over-size GE motor. It is much longer and larger than
the little Westinghouse motor, so the extra height under the Wards
cowling, will come in handy.
     The battery stack for the Wards tractor will consist of six Optima
batteries, too, only in this application, there will be two YellowTops
in series at 24 volts, with three banks of them in parallel, giving a
total battery voltage of 24 volts. The finished Wards tractor won't be
as light, nimble, or as fast as the MTD, but it should have massive
pulling capability!
       Both tractors will be equipped with CD sound systems....of
course! At present, my plans are to use a ten disc changer in one of
them, and a dash-mounted AM-FM CD player in the other.  One of the
tractors will be an all out, high performance audio machine with full
amplification and a subwoofer (most probably the MTD), while the other
will have a more subdued, simpler system. 
     There's nothing like a little AC/DC pumping out from a working
tractor, as you plow the lower forty! OK, OK....in my case, I won't be
plowing anything, I'll leave that sort of real work up to Russell
Groves!

See Ya.......John (concrete farmer) Wayland
-----------------------------------------------------------
    There is quite a bit more about my tractor project than the above,
if you are interested. It would take two more emails to send you the
rest of the story, including a fun soundoff story entitled 'Below the
Belt Bass'  ....let me know if you want to read the rest of this stuff,
and I'll send it to you guys. 

See Ya...........John Wayland