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Re: (ET) " Tunes For My Tractor "
Hello Again,
Here's another installment of the Heavy Metal Garden Tractor tales:
April 28, 1997- From a post entitled 'Garden Tractor Update'
Hello to All,
I have been having an absolute ball with my newfound toy, the EV
garden tractor. Although it is far from being finished, it has already
been used for a variety of work projects. John Bryan posted about how we
used it to tow the White Zombie drag car from its Winter resting place,
but I would like to add how the scene looked from my perspective.
As John said, the tractor is only running on two Optimas at
present. They are very temporarily hooked up in a basic 24 volt series
affair, with a trusty old Ford starter solenoid being used as a
contactor. It is controlled via the 'handy, hey it's easy to use right
now' dash-mounted light switch. Eventually, the machine will have six
Optimas, making up a series-parallel 36 volt pack. The solenoid will be
replaced with a new compact size DAX speed controller and a proper
continuous duty type contactor. A DC to DC converter and a small gel
cell battery will also be on board, to provide 12 volt power for the
lights and the 120 watt sound system. Oh yeah...after the ignition key
and controller are all hooked up, the light switch will be reconfigured
to once again turn on the lights.
Currently, the driving process goes like this...push in the
clutch/brake pedal, select neutral, flip the light switch (motor whirs
to life and says, "Give me any more than 24 volts and I'll over speed on
you!"), chose one of seven speeds, select forward, slip the clutch...and
you're off! Gadzooks....this beast has some pulling power!
John and I were preparing to wake up the Zombie after its Winter
hibernation., where it unfortunately had sat outside (too many EVs and
stuff around for it to stay indoors). Sure, we could have grunted and
pushed on the car, until its four tires that had settled into the gravel
had broken loose, but with the little EV tractor at hand, it was an easy
choice deciding on how to move the car...OK, I'll admit it, I was
looking for an excuse to use the tractor!
The night before, John and I had gone to the metal shop, and
worked with Frank 'the metal god', to fabricate the battery support
trays and other items for the tractor. John and Frank sheared, cut,
and bent the pieces for the trays. This EV tractor's main purpose has
been shifted from lawn mowing duties, to pulling duties, so I worked on
a heavy duty mount that I could attach a trailer hitch to.
I wanted to make a setup that would mimic those found on most ICE
tow rigs, which are normally a square tubed affair consisting of a
female receiver and what is called the 'drawbar'. The drawbar is a male
square tube with a strong bent shape of metal welded to it that holds
the ball that the trailer tongue fits into. The drawbar slides into the
receiver (permanently mounted to the tow rig), then a retaining pin goes
through both pieces to lock them together. This setup allows one to use
different drawbars equipped with either a dropped hitch or raised hitch
to match various trailer tongue heights. These extra drawbars could also
have ball diameters in two available sizes, adding even more versatility
to the tow rig. With these type of towing setups, one can use one female
receiver, but plug in whichever drawbar configuration is needed, and I
want my little electric tractor to have the same capability.
I used 1/4 inch plate steel to create a strong base that was the
same width as the tractor's frame. I shaped it to follow the same
pattern as the under side of the rear box section of the tractor body
and drilled five large holes so that the unit would bolt under and
across the rear section, utilizing three of the factory holes already in
the tractor. Once the reinforcement plate was finished, I needed to
create the female receiver portion of the trailer hitch. The metal
shop's huge brake was used to bend another 1/4 inch piece of plate into
a 'U-shaped' channel, then a large hole was drilled through it for the
pin that secures the drawbar. We welded the channel under and in the
center of the plate, then mounted the assembly to the tractor to make a
receiver for the drawbar. This now allows us to use the same drawbars we
already use with our various ICE tow vehicles...simply pull the pin,
slide out the drawbar, take it over to the tractor, slip it into the
receiver, insert the pin...instant tow tractor!
OK, now back to the story....When John and I were ready to pull
the Zombie, I got in the car while JB manned the tractor. Perched atop
the garden tractor with a wide grin on his face, he looked like a
regular potato farmer from Idaho...all he was missing was a piece of
straw sticking out from his mouth! Then, JB hit the light switch, slowly
released the clutch, and tightened up the slack in the tow rope. I felt
the car start to move just a little, then watched as the tractor started
to spin its rear knobby tires, digging, and scratching all the way. At
one point, the tractor started to skew sideways a bit, leaving black
patches on the cement...I felt like a proud father! I jumped out of the
car and added a little aid in the form of an additional 200 lbs. on the
trailer hitch of the tractor...the tires bit, and the Zombie lurched
from its resting place, and began to be drug up the driveway. I ran and
jumped back in the car to help steer it in the right direction, and as
the locked differential of the Zombie fought the turn, the little
tractor just dug in harder and continued to pull and pull.
We washed the Zombie and gave it a thorough detail. It looks to
have survived being left outdoors very well, and is now heading off to
another new shop, where it will stay clean and protected from the
elements, and be prepped for the this Summer's electric drags. It was
pretty impressive, that the RedTop Optimas were fully charged after
sitting for so long.
A couple of days ago, I received a call from EV friend Dick
Finley. He was perplexed as he was trying to figure out how to get his
'95 Toyota extra cab out of his lawn (where the tow truck driver had
left it) on the side of his garage, down the slope to the street, then
up his short but steep driveway and into the garage. I ran to a
telephone booth, took off my glasses and business attire, ripped open my
button-down shirt to reveal the big 'S' on my chest, as I loaded up the
'little tractor that could' and headed off for Dick's house.
Upon arrival, Dick invited me in for coffee with he and his
delightful wife, Shirley. Peppy, Dick's tiny and hyper dog, was there to
great me and sit by my side as I unfolded the plan. Dick was very
skeptical that the tractor would have enough power to drag the 2500+ lb.
truck up and into the garage, but I had already seen what it could do. I
told Dick, that the only area of concern, was in the traction
department. We talked about how when the other four batteries would be
added, that the tractor would have better traction.
After I had devoured half a cantaloupe, we headed out to see
what could be done. I got the tractor out of the back of my truck, by
lowering the truck's tailgate, then backing it up into another steep
driveway across the street, so that the tailgate was about 6 inches from
the cement. With only two small Optimas installed at present, Dick and I
simply hefted the tractor out without too much effort. I switched on the
machine, and backed up Dick's lawn, where we connected it to the back of
the truck with a nylon tow rope. The tractor didn't have any problem
dragging the truck off the grass and down to the street. Dick was all
smiles, and the two of us couldn't keep from laughing. At this point,
Dick's neighbor had come out to see what was going on, and the guy
commented on how powerful the little tractor was. We stopped to show him
the little DC motor and the two small yellow batteries, and the guy was
amazed, as he asked."Where can I get one of these?"
With the Toyota backed against the curb across the street, I
maneuvered the tractor in front of it, and hooked onto the truck's large
tie-down hooks on its frame, so that I could drag it up the driveway and
into the garage. I selected the lowest of the seven forward speeds, and
let out the clutch...without the least bit of trouble, the little EV
tractor began to tow the Toyota across and up Dick's driveway! At the
steepest part, however, the tractor began to lose its grip, and the rear
tires started to spin. After several of these hopping and lurching
affairs, the tractor's tires finally bit hard, and the tractor pulled
steady as the Toyota slowly came into the garage. Dick and I were pretty
impressed!
Yesterday, it was time to once again, work on my direct drive
Datsun minitruck project. I needed to move one of the parts trucks out
from where it had sat for a while, and so the tractor was again used for
another tow job (nothing kinky being suggested here). A quick insert of
a drawbar, hook on the nylon tow rope, and without much effort, the
parts truck rolled out from its spot....what did I ever do without this
wonderful little tractor?
I am hopeful to have the new DAX controller in my hands this week
(Mark Kohler, are you listening?), and can hardly wait to hook up all
six of the batteries and run the tractor with variable motor speed on a
full 36 volts.
The tractor's clutch has a switch (leftover from the ICE version),
that engages when the clutch/brake pedal is depressed. I will use this
to either kill the motor completely, or perhaps insert a fixed
resistance in the pot box circuit that will reduce the motor's speed to
a slow idle, so that an overspeed condition will not happen if someone
were to have the throttle open fairly high, while using the clutch.
A standard safety item in most of these little garden tractors, is
a pressure sensitive switch under the seat, so that if the driver were
to be thrown off the tractor, the original ICE would shut down. I will
utilize this switch to do the same function with the electric motor.
I had posted before, about how I wanted to lock the transaxel in
forward and remove the clumsy and hard to use forward-neutral-reverse
lever in the middle of the tractor body, as the electric motor does not
need a neutral position and I will be electrically reversing the motor
for backwards direction of the tractor. I was grateful to list member
David Detienne, as he sent me a private E-mail about doing this, with
the following helpful comments:
>On many belt drive systems you can't just turn them >backwards. The high
>tension side will be a straight path, and >the return path will snake
>around a bit to keep tension (kind of >like a bike with derallieur
>(sp?)). So you might have to keep >reverse. However, as usual you've
>probably thought of >everything and it is no problem!
Actually, I hadn't considered this at all, and I was really
grateful for David's input. After I had read what he said, I too, was
worried, so I went out to see what would happen. I removed the tractor's
center cover again, and pulled on the idler pulley to check how much
tension was on it. Next, I electrically reversed the motor, and selected
the forward speed on the tractor. Hitting the 'Go' switch, I slipped the
clutch and the tractor started going backwards, as I watched the belts
and pulleys to see what would happen. To my pleasant surprise, the idler
hardly moved, and everything worked fine. I next hooked the tractor up
to a more substantial load, a tow dolly that weighs about 400 lbs. I
again, backed the tractor up with electrical reverse, and watched the
belts and pulleys...no problems. Then, I backed up a slight incline and
stopped the tractor. I selected the top speed (7th gear), and turned
the motor back on without using the clutch...with a strong lurch, the
tractor went backwards up the driveway, and the belts stayed on the
pulleys without any problems, so I guess my idea is going to work out
OK.
Thanks again, though, to David Detienne for at least making me
check out what I had not thought about. Things could have turned out
differently, and had the idea not worked, David would have saved me from
a lot of grief and expense. It's help like this that makes the list so
valuable.
By eliminating the forward neutral reverse gear selection and
removing the levers and associated hardware, it will leave an open the
cavity above the pulleys and belts in the middle of the tractor body. I
will install a subfloor to accommodate a 120 watt Phoenix Gold amplifier
and a DC to DC converter backed up by a small 12 volt gel cell.
To be continued......
See Ya.....John Wayland
----------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, May 22, 1997
This post was actually about Optima BlueTop batteries, but the
following paragraph from that post, mentioned the garden tractor
project:
.......I am beginning phase two of the electric garden tractor project,
where it will be transformed from its present temporary state (24 volt,
two battery, binary controlled machine) into a 36 volt, six battery,
solid state speed controlled powerhouse. I will be installing six of the
BlueTops in it.
----------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, May 28, 1997
This is an exerpt from a post about the second annual Canadian EV
Show. It was the week before the show, and I was talking about the
various EVs that we were planning on taking to that show, including the
electric garden tractor:
.......However, the latest version of the electric garden tractor should
be fully completed (stage two) and on the trailer with the cars. This
week I still have to stuff in the six Optima BlueTops and the 110 watt,
subwoofered sound system, as well as the speed controller and a new 12
volt system with a DC to DC converter. The tractor's cowl needs to have
a fresh squirt of red paint, and then with a lot of detailing, I think
that it will be ready for the show.
----------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, June 21, 1997
Post entitled 'Below the Belt Bass'
Is that a subwoofer between your legs, or are you just glad to see
me?I finally fired up the sound system in my newest EV, the Heavy Metal
Garden Tractor (as John Bryan calls it). I loaded up the CD changer, and
selected disc number one 'The Tractors', and played their tune 'Baby
Likes to Rock It'. Then, I dialed up 'Lost in Germany' by Kings
X....Wow, did it kick! ZZ Top was up next with 'Bang Bang' from their
killer new album 'Rythmeen'. Dusty Hill's five string bass went down to
the basement, and the sub-bass was terrific as I sat with a subwoofer
between my legs...what else could be better? (Well, I can think of a few
things, but this is a family show) The stereo imaging was fantastic, and
once mounted atop this weirdo little EV, it was really hard to get off
of it, although I did 'get off' from the great tunes!
The speaker setup is quite different than any other sound system
I've done to date. The most obvious difference, is that it's not in a
car at all, but its in a garden tractor...not just any garden
tractor...it's in an electric garden tractor! One of the other less
obvious things, is how I did the subwoofer.
In most high performance car stereo systems with a subwoofer, the
low frequencies are magnified due to an effect known as 'cabin coupling'
or 'bass transfer function'. This is where the interior volume, shape,
and size of the vehicle dramatically enhances the bass frequencies,
especially the lowest tones produced by a subwoofer. I knew that in my
garden tractor, there would be absolutely no bass transfer, as the
tractor is an open vehicle with no walls or roof to create an interior
chamber to facilitate any bass enhancement. To get any reasonable bass
impact, I needed to mount the sub in an area close to where the driver
of the tractor sat, so that the bass could be felt as well as heard...so
what better place to mount it, than between the legs of the driver?
Without the need for the forward neutral reverse gear selector
(it's electric, with no need to idle, and reverse is now done via a
reversing contactor) I removed the mechanism, and locked the transaxle
into the forward position. This left the center cavity in the main
tractor body wide open, except for the various pulleys and the main
drive belt positioned down low. Using 5/8" plywood and with a lot of
help from John Bryan while he was here recently, I designed and built a
sealed subwoofer enclosure with approximately 1/3 cubic feet of interior
volume. It is solidly screwed and glued to make an air-tight chamber,
and is a perfect match for the Phoenix Gold XS 084 eight inch subwoofer!
The enclosure sits inside the tractor's center body section, and rises
up about three inches higher than where the original metal cover used to
be, with the rest of the enclosure continuing down then forward from the
metal cover under the tractor's lower dash piece, so that a side profile
of the enclosure looks a little like a submarine. This was done to make
sure that the XS 084 sub had the ideal 1/3 cubic feet of air space it
required.
I designed a new metal cover for the tractor's center section, and
with the skills of Frank 'the Metal God', we fabricated it in the metal
shop, then had Louie Swan 'Gerhard's paint mentor' spray it red to match
the rest of the tractor. The new piece is 3" taller and completely
covers the upper exposed portion of the wooden sub enclosure that now
fills up the tractor center body section. The new cover has a round
cutout for the bass driver, and the geometric patterns of the Aramide
composite subwoofer cone looks cool against the bright red paint.
Two Phoenix Gold 4" coaxial speakers are mounted in custom speaker
pods that I designed. To actually create them however, I again turned to
my friends Frank Van Wagner and Louie Swan. After Frank expertly
sheared, cut, bent and welded the pieces of steel into the two pods, the
baton was passed back to me. With the tractor's main cowl cover and the
two metal speaker pods, I positioned them where I felt I could get the
best imaging and staging while sitting on the tractor, then passed the
baton to Louie. After riveting the three pieces together, Louie
performed his magical body work and paint. The result is a
wacky-looking, but very hip, modified tractor cowl that now sports twin
stereo speakers perfectly positioned for the ultimate in a realistic
sound stage effect.
A small 'chip type' amplifier (12 'real' watts rms per channel)
is employed to drive the two front speakers. Mounted under the driver's
seat on a metal pedestal is the big switching power supply type amp, a
120 watt Phoenix Gold beauty. It has a built-in low pass electronic
crossover, is mono-bridged to send its full output to the 8" sub, and
looks pretty tuff with its crinkle powder coat black paint against the
tractor's red body.
I built a new brushed aluminum cover for the lower dash section,
which now holds the throttle lever, an E meter, and a Sony XR-U770, a
high end AM/FM cassette CD changer controller, that has a trick
motorized front panel. This cool machine is linked to a Sony CDX-71 ten
disc CD changer mounted in the rear of the tractor, and with 'custom
file' capability, while listening to a CD the name of the album or the
artist (you can program the unit to recognize any disc and display what
you want it to) is displayed on the front panel of the XR-U770.
The top dash section has been modified as well. A new four
position keyed ignition switch is now mounted up high on the right side.
On the left side, the light switch is located in its original position,
but just below it is a new switch, along with a pair of LEDs. The switch
is a nice, flat stainless steel toggle type (real tractor-looking) that
serves as the forward/reverse selector. A blue LED lights up when the
ignition switch is twisted to the 'start' position and the selector
switch is in the 'Forward' position. When 'Reverse' is selected, the
blue LED goes off and a red LED lights up, accompanied by a backup
alarm.
The tractor's 12 volt system consists of a Vicor DC to DC converter
(thank you Otmar) fed by 36 volts courtesy of the six Optima BlueTops
stuffed under the cowl. The Vicor's output feeds a small Gel Cell 12
volt battery.
The rear steel fenders on this little tractor are pretty rugged,
but the rearmost portion of them was not supported by any brackets or
extra metalwork, so if one leaned on the back of them they would flex a
little. Frank and I came up with a new metal section that would serve a
triple purpose. After careful measurements were taken, Frank formed a
new rear body piece...of course, Louie squirted it in matching red
paint. The new panel is now the rearmost part of the tractor body and
spans the area between the two fenders and ties them together, with the
lower section being securely bolted to the tractor's frame. This really
firmed up the fenders! It also serves to make a new pocket right behind
the seat, where the CD changer now resides. The new panel's third
function, is to provide a mount for two small red tail lights on each
end of the panel, so that when I tool around through my neighbor hood in
the evening hours, I can be seen by approaching cars.
The speed controller I am using in this tractor deserves special
mention, as well. It is a DAX, 300 amp, 36-48 volt controller, that is a
work of art! It has a compact and unique cast aluminum body with sturdy
heat sink fins molded into the shape that has a rounded top section. The
high current connector terminals are robust, as is everything about this
controller. Even the DAX-built pot box is beautiful, and it has a very
tidy cable that plugs into the controller body with a snug-fitting right
angle connector! The controller has a great ramp up, and operates
silently, as all controllers should.
As I was readying the tractor for the Canadian EV show, DAX's
Marc Kohler made a heroic effort to put together the controller, then
next day air shipped it to me so that I would have it in time for the
show...now that's customer service! As it turned out, I failed to finish
the tractor in time, and feel as though I let Marc and our Canadian
friends down, for which I apologize. I still have more items to
complete on the tractor before I take it out for a thorough road test,
but will report back on how it all turns out, including a full report on
how the DAX controller delivers power while I use the tractor to drag
stuff around.
When I first hit the car stereo scene with my Blue Meanie electric
soundoff car, the first EV to ever compete in soundoff competitions, I
did so not only to have fun, but to also further my mission of helping
to change the image of the EV. I ran away with the 'lack of noise'
category under the International Auto Sound Challenge Association's
(IASCA) strict sound competition guidelines, with no measurable
alternator, or ignition noise. As a result, they had to modify the IASCA
rule book to acknowledge EVs (my goal all along), with a special
exemption for EVs in the noise testing section.
Later this Summer when I roll in with my purple electric Datsun
minitruck with a V8 subwoofer under the hood, but then also unload the
wacko-soundoff garden tractor out of the truck's bed, I should once
again freak these people out. In car stereo competition, one of the
hardest areas to get major point scores in, is in the 'sound image and
front staging' section of the test. The soundoff judge sits in the
driver's seat of a vehicle, then subtracts points for the sound quality,
if the music appears off-centered, with what is known as a 'blurry
stage' or 'poor imaging'. A high quality car stereo can indeed, have
fantastic sound image and front staging, but it takes a lot of effort
and hard work and is not easily accomplished. In the garden tractor, the
only place a soundoff judge can sit, is smack dab in the middle of the
speakers, with his or her legs wrapped around a throbbing
subwoofer...looks like IASCA might have to change their rule book again
this year, and either ban electric soundoff garden tractors, or welcome
another EV with open arms as they did two years ago!
See Ya..........John (wacky as hell) Wayland