(ET) elec-trak power, rear drive plates, was: Re: ELEC-TRAK in the UK

["Christopher Meier" <mr23 mn rr com>]

Yesterday I was swapping the rear tires (actually, flipping them around to
reduce the footprint for the summer), and found that the right side drive
plate had some rotational slop to it.  Got it off with the puller (after
removing
the locking bolt), and found that the key had worn the plate's inner
diameter
a few degrees.  Anyone else have this happen to them?  I'll probably be
calling Bill this next week to get a replacement, along with a new key. It
will
probably work fine for a while yet, but every time I reverse direction it's
probably wearing more.

Reason I mention this is if you're planning to get into tractor pulls, etc,
check these out first!

-Chris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Roden (Akron OH USA)" <roden ald net>
To: "Christopher GODDARD" <goddards chadwell1 fsnet co uk>;
<elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: (ET) ELEC-TRAK in the UK


> The ET "horsepower" ratings were pretty fanciful.  They were intended to
suggest
> that the tractors were about as capable as gas tractors of that hp 
> rating.
So an
> E12 can supposedly do as much as a 12hp gas tractor.  Based on my
experience
> with an E15, I can believe this.  There are folks using ETs in tractor
pulls over here
> with a fair bit of success.
>
> The wound-field motors are pretty darn stout.  You'll be amazed at how
strongly
> they can pull and how durable they are.  Many or all apparenly have an
internally
> connected series field, but the dominant field is the externally 
> connected
> separately excited field.  I've heard that the 4QD controllers work well
with these
> motors but haven't tried one yet.
>
> Some of the E12s, and I believe all of the E8s and E10s, had PM motors.
These
> didn't stand up well to overheating and are usually considered less
desirable than
> the GE wound-field motors.  In fact I can't think of any current PM motor
that
> would be a better choice than the wound-field for this application.
>
> I believe they all used Peerless transaxles, but I don't know what model
or models.
> Someone else here probably does.
>
> The mower motors are PM type but I have no data.  You can buy rebuilt
motors,
> new decks, and complete assemblies from Bill Gunn at +1 608 868-6220.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> David
> Akron OH USA
>
>