(ET) Flex Blades

["Hazen, Dwight L" <hazen indiana edu>]

Anyone have any experience with these Flex Blades? Will they work on an
ElecTrak? http://www.grassmasters.com/flexblade.html

  Dwight 



Dwight L. Hazen, Indiana University, UITS 
Bloomington, In. 47408-7378 812-855-5367 hazen indiana edu
http://php.ucs.indiana.edu/~hazen/ Ham Radio wb9tlh arrl net


> -----Original Message-----
> From: LarryE3 aol com [SMTP:LarryE3 aol com]
> Sent: Sunday, November 07, 1999 9:50 PM
> To:   elec-trak cosmos5 phy tufts edu
> Subject:      (ET) RE: Follow-up story
> 
> Hi the story by Darryl (darrylmcmahon igs net, elec-trak) reminds me of 
> my
> 
> own E12S story.   About nine years ago (its been so long I can't 
> remember 
> exactly I saw an ad in the paper selling an electric tractor.  Being an 
> electrical engineer and interested in everything electric I inquired and 
> found it was a General Electric.  Not knowing anything about these units 
> I
> 
> decided it couldn't be passed up.  The owners said the batteries had
> frozen 
> one winter, but that it was working the last time they had used it.  
> 
> After purchasing it I did not have time or health to even find out what 
> I 
> needed to do to begin the restoration.  About three summers ago, however,
> one 
> of my sons being interested in seeing the tractor operation motivated us
> to 
> begin.  We soon discovered that the tractor had probably been outdoors a
> long 
> time after the batteries had frozen.  The front wheels were rusted into
> one 
> position, the control area behind the dash was filled with mouse nests 
> and
> 
> smelled of urine.  There was a lot of rust in places and it was clear 
> that
> 
> the electronic board was in very bad shape.
> 
> The first year we cleared the dust and debris, freed the front axles and 
> lubricated all the moving parts.  The next summer we attacked the rust 
> and
> 
> brought the electronics control board and forward/reverse control system
> in 
> for the winter.  Corrosion had taken its toll on the control board. We 
> carefully cleaned the board - one of the unijunction transistors' lead 
> had
> 
> corroded into two pieces.  Radio Shack had a replacement.   The 
> terminals 
> were unable to grip their positions any longer, but I decided that they
> could 
> be soldered in place after the board was reinstalled.  The speed control
> was 
> completely disassembled and one of the microswiches replaced.  These
> switches 
> seem to be fairly common - I had several in a can of cannibalized
> switches. 
> 
> Finally this past summer, with the major obstacles out of the way we 
> began
> 
> removing rust and repainting.  At the same time I decided to check the 
> web
> 
> and see if there was any information on the Elec-trac line - and low and 
> behold:
> 
> http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/kb13/misc.htm#electric had links to 
> Walt's 
> Electric Tractor Page for ELEC-TRAK pictures, specifications and
> accessories, 
> Technical Service & Parts (608) 868-6220 for parts and documentation and 
> Kansas Windpower (913) 364-4407 for some parts.  This web page also
> resulted 
> in finding:
> 
> http://web.starlinx.com/dwfh/
> http://www.igs.net/~darrylmcmahon/e10e15.jpg
> 
> I was elated to say the least.  We ordered a service manual to complete
> the 
> rebuild.  We wanted to check out all the wiring and parts before making
> the 
> investment in the batteries.  The week went by this summer and the front
> lift 
> motor seemed fine.  The charger was removed and checked out as well.  
> The 
> wiring all seemed to be in order.  We ordered new Trojan batteries which
> were 
> promptly delivered.  We installed the batteries as well as purchasing
> cables 
> and clamps to connect the batteries.  The moment of truth arrived when 
> we 
> were ready to energize the main disconnect and see if anything smoked - -
> - 
> it ran fine! . . . except in reverse - this was soon to be discovered to
> be a 
> seed the mice had brought in still wedged under one of the reversing 
> relay
> 
> contacts and probable wedged when we had used an air compressor to blow
> out 
> the Hunta viruses ;-)  
> 
> We have since found a couple of good things.  Wal-Mart sells an 
> equipment 
> yellow in a spray can that is a very near match to the original paint.  
> As
> 
> well at Wal-Mart, for all of you snow blade owners, there is a red
> tie-down 
> strap that is easily doubled over and sown at one end which makes a 
> great 
> lifting strap.  We have modified our blade to lift from the mower lift 
> position by welding a lift point on to a nut which threads over the main 
> blade rotation bolt.  The blades lowers with more control and lifts with
> more 
> leverage.
> 
> We have pictures being scanned that I will send out when I receive them
> back. 
>  
> We can't wait for the snow this year.
> 
> Larry Elliott
> Moscow Idaho
> larrye3 aol com