(ET) Tunes For My Tractor...Stereo Competition Day

[John Wayland <dat1200 europa com>]

Hello,
     Here is a bit more HMGT stuff....hope this isn't becoming too
boring for you guys:

Monday, July 7, 1997- From a post entitled 'Rockin 4th of July'

     Each year on the Fourth of July, our family joins other families
here in our little NE Portland neighborhood for a special gathering to
celebrate the holiday. It is something that got started years ago when
we'd congregate to watch our young children play with sparklers. As the
kids grew up, the yearly gathering evolved into a fun event filled with
barbecued food, music, and a collective fireworks display that got
bigger each year. Over the years the neighbors have relied on me to
provide the 'tunes' for the neighborhood party, as they are well aware
that all Wayland vehicles are setup with crank'n sound systems. The way
it usually works, is that the neighborhood teenagers pick which 'sound
vehicle' I should bring. The past few years that vehicle has been my
Mazda pickup (next year I'm sure it will be the Datsun minitruck), but
this year the overwhelming vehicle of choice turned out to be the heavy
metal electric garden tractor! 
      I have had quite a few projects running at the same time lately,
and ever since my failed attempt to debut the tractor at the Canadian EV
show in early June, I have struggled to get the rock'n tractor project
fully completed. I was determined to have the tractor ready for the 4th,
and got up early Friday and went out to the shop and rolled my sleeves
up (actually, it was already warm out, so I didn't have any sleeves to
roll up). But as the evening approached, the tractor was still in pieces
and not finished.
          At 7:00 PM, my wife pulled the plug on me, saying that the
barbecue was about to begin and that we had to get going. With my lower
lip in the 'pout position', I left the shop a defeated man, and went
inside to clean up, then Cheryl and I walked down to the barbecue. On
our arrival, younger children, teenagers and adults were all asking
where the tractor was, and I had to tell them it wasn't going to make
it. There was massive disappointment, as many of them had brought a
collection of CDs they wanted to test out in the garden tractor. 
      The twin barbecues weren't completely heated up yet, food time was
about a half hour away, and Cheryl was distracted and into talking with
her friends...so I told her that I was going back to the house to
get....uh, chairs and stuff! 
    I ran into the shop, and dove back into the tractor's cowl area. I
realized that I had two of the six Optima BlueTop batteries installed in
the lower battery compartment, so with a couple of 6 gauge jumpers, I
quickly paralleled them into 12 volts. Then, I use a few more jumper
leads and connected the main contactor, so that I could flip the forward
switch and get the tractor moving, albeit slowly. The reversing
contactor set was mounted and almost entirely hooked up, but I was in a
hurry, and opted to leave with the tractor stuck in the forward
position. A few more last minute alligator hook-ups, and stereo came
back to life.
      After moving numerous vehicles around and out of the way, I hit
the power switch and the tractor immediately began to move up and out of
the driveway. Down the sidewalk I went, with the stereo system
reverberating through the neighborhood! Rounding the corner and
descending down towards the assembled mass of partying neighbors, in
honor of Otmar I had Tower of Power's 'Diggin on James Brown' dialed in
and the tractor's 144 watt CD sound system was cranked! I pulled off the
sidewalk and onto the grass (it's a tractor....you can do things like
this) and maneuvered it around and near the barbecue pit area, and was
immediately mobbed by the happy music lovers who just knew I wasn't
going after more chairs! 
       In July 4ths of past, because of the wide range of age groups
there has been a small amount of conflict over what kind of music should
be played....Rock? Country? Jazz? Rap? Oldy-Moldy? Big band? But with
the tractor's 10 disc CD changer equipped with 'shuffle play', this year
the problem was solved. I had those interested to bring me the CDs of
their choice, then we loaded up a few cartridges. Regular 'shuffle play'
lets the CD player randomly pick tracks within a single CD, mixing up
the normal sequence. Being a more advanced changer and head unit combo,
the setup on the tractor has both 'shuffle play 1' and 'shuffle play
2'...the latter having the ability to randomly search the entire bank of
ten CDs. This turned out to be a big hit with everyone, and you never
knew what was going to play next.
       I'm always looking for new and exciting ways to turn on people to
EVs, and the heavy metal electric garden tractor seems to be a winner.
As it got darker outside, the tractor looked awesome with its blue LED
'ignition on' indicator glowing, the Sony head unit's face panel
back-lit with amber LEDs and flanked by the the E-meter's beautiful
display of red and green LEDs, and just behind the seat you could see
the green pilot light of the powerful Phoenix Gold amplifier twinkling
in the night, too. It was like the tractor had its own mini fireworks
display!
    There were quite a few new people at this year's 4th of July bash,
and as everyone took turns sitting on the tractor with big smiles on
their faces (Some of the ladies didn't want to get off the tractor and
had to almost be pried off), there was a lot of positive talk about EVs.
One neighbor said to their invited friends, "Oh this isn't the only
electric thing he has...he's got real cars, too!" Another commented,"I
rode in his white race car....I'll never talk about slow electric cars
again." It was a fun time, and there was certainly a lot of talk about
electric cars and the future of EVs...very positive and stimulating
conversations!
       The sound system was cranked continually from about 7:30 until
11:30 and the twin BlueTops never even broke a sweat. Preparing to take
the tractor back home, I realized that I hadn't hooked up the
lights...thank God for alligator clips! With a quick flip up of the
hood, and by robbing one lead and grounding another, the lights flashed
on. Hitting the ignition switch, the motor awoke on its 12 volt power,
and I hopped on and headed for home.
       Today, sandwiched between working on Dick Finley's truck, Bruce
Meland's Electra 600 van, a VW Rabbit conversion, and my three wheeled
EV cart, I hope to finish the power train of the tractor and get it up
to its full potential of 36 volts. Then, it goes to see Louie to have
flames painted on it's hood.
        Oh yeah....there's a new EV project on the horizon. While down
at the neighborhood party, I was taken into a garage where a minibike
with a blown ICE sat beckoning me to convert it.....hmmm, I think I can
squeeze it into my schedule....an EV minibike with a 1.4 hp PM motor and
Genesis batteries...the perfect run around 'track vehicle' for this
Summer's Electric Drags!

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

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

Tuesday, July 28, 1997- From a post entitled 'Outlaw Garden
Tractor...Banned From Competition'

Hello to All,
   The Heavy Metal Garden Tractor (HMGT) is finally done....whew!!!!
This was a project that was labor intensive, and  who's complexity I had
definitely under-estimated. But it has turned out pretty well, I think.
       As had become typical for me, there was another mad dash to the
finish line to get the tractor ready for a big EVent. The first time was
when I tried in vain to ready the tractor for the Canadian EV show in
early June, but failed to get it done. Next, was the big July 4th
celebration bash...yes, I did take the tractor, but it was far from
being finished and I had alligator-clipped the affair together and
limped it along on 12 volts (only two batteries in parallel). Then,
there was the July 10th OEVA meeting where I very much wanted to debut
the tractor as a running, fully completed project....nope, didn't make
that one, either!  
     Drum roll please........IT'S DONE! After a frantic weekend of all
day and late night fabrication, the tractor made it's first official
debut to the public this past Sunday afternoon, at the 'Car Toys'
sponsored 'Car Wars' autosound competition event held in Portland over
the weekend. A two day event, Saturday was opening day with 'Novice
Class' and 'Amateur Class' competitors battling it out, where Sunday was
reserved for the 'Pro Class'  competitors (my class). The Portland Car
Wars is a major soundoff (referred to as a 'key event') and all of the
major autosound manufactures, alarm systems manufacturers, radar
detector manufactures, and cell phone manufacturers always show up with
impressive booths and exotic demo vehicles. 
   I had called the International Auto Sound Competition Association
(IASCA) national office on Wednesday and spoken with president Darrell
Bell about my newest soundoff vehicle, the HMGT. He remembered my Blue
Meanie, and recalled how IASCA had to write in revisions in the '96 and
'97 IASCA rule books due to my electric car, that gave special
recognition to EVs and exempted them from certain test procedures in the
'Absence of Noise' section of soundoff competitions. He was absolutely
blown away when I told him about the HMGT, as he asked, "Did you say a
garden tractor?" I answered, "Yup, and it's got a rock'n sound system
that I want to compete with, and I just want to see if there are any
rules that might exclude me from entering it." He then said, "You know,
you've got too much time on your hands...a garden tractor?" He went on
to say that he was glad I was still doing off the wall stuff, and added
that the tractor would be a big hit at the Car Wars event. He said that
as far as he was concerned, there wasn't any reason he could think of
why I couldn't compete with it, but added that he would have to check
with the rules committee about my request to make sure, and that he
would get back to me.
     I got the return call from Darrell on Friday, but his excitement
level had dropped a few notches, and he was the bearer of bad news. The
tractor had been deemed 'banned' by the rules committee, as they quoted
page 64 from the '97 rule book..."During testing and scoring, judge(s)
must sit in the front seats of the vehicle facing forward. This applies
to all vehicles, including limousines. Competing vehicles must have at
least two front seating positions. Convertibles must be judged with the
top up (in place)." 
     Mr. Bell said that since it was a garden tractor, the  committee
considered it to be a convertible without a top, and also added that the
committee was concerned that the HMGT had no windows to roll up during
the sound quality test, as is also prescribed in the competitor's rule
book. He added that everyone on the committee thought that the idea of a
garden tractor with a competition grade sound system was a wacky but
cool idea, and that they felt bad about the decision, but didn't know
any way around the rules while still being fair to other competitors. 
    Mr. Bell was disappointed too, and thought that I would be upset
with the news, but I assured him that I was OK with the decision for the
time being. He gave me the phone number for a person on the committee so
that I call and try to get an exemption, but we both agreed that I
should at least take the HMGT to the show and have it tested just for
fun and for show. Darrell added that he thought the HMGT would be a real
hit with the crowd.
     I worked on the tractor from 6:00 AM Saturday, until the early
evening hours, taking only a short noontime break to remove the hood and
run it out to Louie Swan's body shop for some special paint touches.
Later back at my place, Bruce Meland had come over to work on his Jet
Electra 600 van, and to also keep me going on the tractor project. At
around 5:00 PM, EV friend Roderick Wilde (Wilde EVolutions) or 'Crazy
Rod' as I call him, came riding through on his motorcycle and joined in
on the frantic effort. At 6:00 PM the three of us piled into the Wayland
family 'Soob' and cranked on the air, then headed East past Gresham into
rural Oregon to retrieve the tractor's hood, as Louie had just finished
the last-minute yellow and purple 'scallop job' over the red base coat. 
     Sunday morning I got started at 6:00 AM so that I could
'theoretically' be at the soundoff by 8:00 AM in time for the
competitor's meeting, but by the time Bruce Meland showed up at 7:30 AM
(right on schedule) the HMGT was still in pieces! At 8:00 AM Jeffrey,
the 18 year old son of a good friend showed up (right on schedule) with
the thought of going to his first soundoff and to see the looks on
people's faces as I rode in on the HMGT....but I was still working on
the tractor! At 8:30 AM Lou Tauber called to see how things were going,
as he and his son David were planning to join us in the fun at the
soundoff, too. I told Lou that I thought I could be ready by 11:30. At
11:30, Lou and David showed up....but I was still working on the
tractor! Now, with Bruce, Jeffrey, Lou, David and John all crammed into
John's backyard shop at the same time, we all worked together as one big
cohesive team. It wasn't until 3:30 PM that we were ready to try out the
wacky tractor and load up into the back of the Mazda truck. By that
time, the soundoff was surely beginning to wind down (or so I thought!)
      Frustrated, tired, and upset that I had again, worked so hard to
get the HMGT finished, I almost didn't go to the soundoff, but Bruce
Meland and Lou Tauber were there to push me into taking it anyway. So,
with a lot of encouragement from my assembled friends, I decided to try
to get to the soundoff for a last minute entrance. 
    With a twist of the ignition key and the clack of the main
contactor, the LED status light and the E-meter awoke and glowed happily
in the dash. After selecting the tractor's lowest gear ratio, I eased
the throttle forward as the DAX speed controller silently sent the
command to the Westinghouse series-wound motor, and the tractor began to
move forward! Stopping, I flipped the stainless steel dash-mounted
toggle to the reverse position, hearing the twin reversing contactors
snap shut as the blue LED (forward) went off and the red LED (reverse)
lit up. Pushing the throttle again, the tractor backed up smoothly
without a jerk or blip...what a smooth controller! Next up, the Sony
head unit was turned on and within seconds, I was greeted by a throbbing
subwoofer between my legs and brilliant clear sound from the pod-mounted
coaxials...YES!!!!
      We fashioned a crude ramp from four 2 X 10's, as I guided the HMGT
up and into the bed of the Mazda. With everything tethered up and
loaded, we were finally off on our way to shake things up at the
soundoff!
       Taking the exit off the freeway, we could see the looming, giant
air-filled Godzilla monster standing guard at the Car Wars. We pulled
into the huge parking lot (still filled with cars), as Bruce told me to
pull over...."We have to unload it out here, so that you can just cruise
on in with the sound system blasting away...it'll really freak them
out!", said Bruce. Yeah, that was the way to do it. 
       Once off the truck, I selected AC/DC's Ball Breaker disc,  dialed
up 'Cover You With Oil', cranked it up pretty loud, selected 7th gear,
and floored the dash throttle to speed off towards the ocean of people
at the Car Wars testing lanes. 
       Just picture this if you can...there are all sorts of cool
rides...a black, lowered Honda with 16 inch mega-dollar rims...a deep
blue minitruck slammed to the ground...a silver Mercedes...a teal
Vette...and this bearded 46 year old man cruising through on an electric
garden tractor blasting AC/DC!
        They had just finished the final sound quality tests of the day,
but there were now perhaps a hundred people either running after me or
crowding around the test tent where I was headed. The judges
enthusiastically waved me through, and with a combination of cheers and
laughter, I staged the tractor and dismounted:

(IASCA sound testing dude) "You've got to be kidding us!!! This is wild,
man....wild!!! Do you want to test it out?"

(crazed tractor maniac) "Well I've been banned from competition, but it
would be cool to do a demonstration only test, if that's OK?"

(crowd is going nuts with excitement)

(IASCA sound testing dude) "OK, here's the IASCA test disc, please
install it....uh, where is the disc player?"

(crazed tractor maniac) "Well, it's got a cassette CD changer controller
in the dash, and a 10 disc changer back here."

(IASCA sound testing dude) "Gawd...he's got a CD changer on this thing!
OK, OK....stick it in there and let's hit it!"

        To make a long story a bit shorter....I was clocked in at 105
decibels, not bad for a garden tractor, and out of a possible 20 points
for the RTA section, the tractor hit a respectable 12, besting many cars
and trucks of the day! The crowd was very enthusiastic, and a good time
was had by all. A few judges sat on the tractor and pronounced that it
had an incredible sound stage.
       After the testing episode, I drove back over to the main tent
where all the factory demo cars and trucks were, and was mobbed by the
various manufacturers' reps and sales people. The owner of the Car Toys
chain, with a frosty canned beverage in one hand, strapped on the
tractor, hit the tunes, and sped off through the parking lot with a huge
grin on his face! After that, there was a steady stream of people
wanting their turn at the helm of the Heavy Metal Garden Tractor.
       To cap the day, we displayed the tractor with the hood open to
reveal the beautiful Optima BlueTops and the gleaming Phoenix Gold
battery connectors. On the under side of the raised hood was a
scotch-taped color poster of the National Electric Drags, showing two
EVs smoking the tires.

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