RE: (ET) To all EV enthusiasts: "clean air" mowing & towing, and more......

["David Roden (Akron OH USA)" <roden ald net>]

ETC launched a beautifully designed machine several years ago.  It had 
joystick control and zero turning radius -- no conventional steering.  
They announced the mower deck and promised other attachments to come.  It 
was discontinued, along with the deck, a while back when they decided to 
concentrate on marketing their "Electric Ox" model with conventional 
steering as an industrial tug.  

Now the mower is back.  I wonder if they've decided that Taylor-Dunn, 
Cushman, and other established industrial vehicle manufacturers are too 
much competition, and it's easier to sell in the zero-competition arena 
of zero-emission mowing.  

I hope they succeed, but I'm afraid that the price will put too many 
customers off.  The dual-motor design is elegant but not as cost-
effective as the simpler GE motor/transaxle scheme (which was plenty 
expensive in its day).  

Unfortunately, ETC has the same challenge GE had:  not enough people 
perceive the sky-high exhaust emissions from conventional tractors as a 
real problem.  If we could just get tractor makers to mount their exhaust 
pipes so they blow right in the operators' faces! <g>

GE ETs seem to be getting harder to find (unless you live near where they 
were built, where they seem to grow out of the ground <g>.  In other 
places the collectors are hoarding them, with some people who just need 
to mow their yards owning a half-dozen or more (where they keep them all 
I don't know).  These folks buy them for the attachments or for spares.  
Sometimes a collector will sell you one (stripped of all the scarcer 
attachments); just keep watching this list and post a request now and 
then.

For many people with pockets too shallow to consider the new tractor, and 
with no ETs in the neighborhood, a conversion of a gas tractor may be in 
order.  Small series motors are available from the electric vehicle parts 
vendors for $400 or so, and will actually have more grunt than the gas 
engine discarded.  A rebuilt Curtis controller will cost less than $300.  
Batteries will be $300 or so.

Add a hundred or two for a charger, another $100 for cables and other 
sundry items.  It should be possible to do a bare-bones conversion for 
around $1000-$1200 including batteries, using new and remanufactured 
parts, less if you snag some used golf car bits.


David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
1991 Solectria Force 144vac
1991 Ford Escort Green/EV 128vdc
1979 General Engines ElectroPed 24vdc
1974 Honda Civic EV 96vdc
1970 GE Elec-trak E15 36vdc