RE: (ET) Question on converting a lawn tractor to electric

["Elie, Larry (L.D.)" <lelie ford com>]

Don, 
I had an older 20 HP Bolens (yours is a 56" deck, not a 60"... 60" was 
only on later tractors or those over 20HP) so I have a feel for what 
you want to do.

The answer is, yes you could convert.  It has been done.  It isn't all 
that 
easy.  First, try to find a DC motor big enough to sort of work; give up 
on 
18 HP, if  you found 9HP that would be great.  More like 5 HP is more
likely.  
A 5 HP DC motor will set you back as much as a used GE, but that's another
story.  
Now you still have to worry about a battery pack to handle all that power. 
 
The Bolens hydrostat has an efficiency of about 60%; not a good sign for
battery 
life.  To keep the hydrostat up to pressure, you have to spin it at a
significant 
fraction of it's normal RPM-- ALL THE TIME!  Yes, you could drive the deck
off the 
same shaft.  All that power adds up.  Think about it; if GE had thought 
that
they 
could just put a motor in a normal tractor, deck and all, don't you think
they 
would have done it?  Controls have gotten better since 1970, but motors
haven't.  
With the 6 pack of batteries of the GE, I'll guess you would run the thing
down 
in less than 1 hour on the Bolens load.  Can it be done?  Sure.  But it
would 
work better with a mechanical transmission and belt drive, and still would
probably 
cost more than a used GE.

Larry Elie



-----Original Message-----
From: Don Cohen [mailto:bond007d netsync net]
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2000 12:08 PM
To: electrak list
Subject: (ET) Question on converting a lawn tractor to electric


Hi all,
I am new to the list and have been observing for a few weeks.  I don't own
an ET (although I would like to).  My question is: Is there any reason I
can't convert a gas engine lawn tractor to an electric?  I have a good 
sized
Bolens 1886 Husky hydrostatic lawn tractor that currently has a Kohler
engine.  Why couldn't I take a tractor like that - remove the engine and
replace with an appropriate electric motor, batteries, electronics, etc. 
and
have it work just fine?  The accessories I have are a snow blower, a plow
blade and a 60" (I think) mower deck.  The deck, plow and blade are lifted
and positioned hydaulically.  Forward and reverse speeds are controlled
through the hydrostatic transmission with a foot pedal.  With an electric
motor of proper size and rpm, it seems like I would just need an on/off
switch and the motor would run full speed so full power would always be
available to the hydrostatic drive and hydraulics.  From my perspective, it
seems like it would be pretty easy to do.  What am I missing?  I'm sure 
this
has been thought of before and there are good reasons why someone would 
want
to go throught the trouble of securing and then refurbishing an ET vs. what
I suggested.

Hoping for some feedback!
Don cohen