RE: (ET) Do Tractors Swim

[Klein Robert W NPRI <KleinRW Npt NUWC Navy Mil>]

Dan... You are my new hero!  Seems like a perfect place for a kill switch 
tethered to your wrist.  Keep smiling.  Bob



-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Eyk [mailto:danieleyk yahoo com] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2005 1:57 PM
To: GE e-mail Elec-trak
Subject: (ET) Do Tractors Swim


Hi all, this is related to our board in that it is an
Electric Tractor. Some of you may know of him from
other EV sources. I thought you might enjoy reading
his experience. If you know this guy, you know that he
is really experienced in EV'S. Dan Eyk

Almost Submerged the Heavy Metal Garden Tractor! 
<http://www.plasmaboyracing.com/blog/?p=13>


With all the recent interest in electric garden
tractors, my tale for today is timely. First, it was
Steve's swimming hair ball, now it's diving tractors?
OK, here's the deal.....I'm helping my wife in our
backyard doing un-Plasma Boy like 'yard stuff'...after
all, it's a long three day 4th of July weekend, the
weather's a near perfect 71 degrees or so, and there's
no rain right now. We had a big, very special lemon
yellow Rhododendron that's been in a large 3 - 4 foot
diameter pot for many years now, unlike all the other
Rhodies we have planted all around. This one came from
a nursery in this big pot, but we had finally decided
to make a new place for it and had dug a deep hole to
plant it into. This thing probably weighed 400 lbs. in
its big pot, and we needed to move it from the crowded
side yard where it had sat for several years next to
the large stone wall and the corner of the house
garage. Those who've been to our place can probably
visualize things as this story progresses.
In between yard stuff, I'm also working on the race
car, organizing my EV shop, and doing other more
Plasma Boy-like stuff. Soooo...my wife is wondering just
how we're going to move this big heavy plant the 25
feet or so we need to get it over to where its new
home is, when I pronounce that my recent rework of the
Heavy Metal Garden Tractor (HMGT) is complete, and
it's up and running, ready to show her what it can do
with its fresh pack of 6 Exide Orbitals.
As she and I are digging this big hole in the ground,
the HMGT is poised near us in the small wooded back
yard, her favorite Eagles CD in the slot, tunes
playing in full fidelity, though at a more a subdued
volume so as not to bother our neighbors. The time
comes for the work to be done, and after securing a
nylon tow rope around the base of the big pot with a
second tow rope connecting it to the tow hook on the
rear of the HMGT, it was time to let a little electric
torque help us out. With Cheryl at the controls and in
the tractor's seat, I was keeping the plant upright.
Without much trauma the little garden tractor
effortlessly tugged and pulled the big potted plant as
it slid along the ground while I guided it and kept it
from being toppled over.
After successfully moving the plant to near the hole,
we then needed to get the plant out of the pot, and,
do it while not destroying the pot, as my wife wanted
to keep it for another replanting project. It's not
that easy, when it's so big and heavy, and try as we
did, we could not separate the plant from its
pot....enter the HMGT again. We carefully tied two nylon
tow ropes around the tree-like trunk of the Rhodie and
hitched the other ends to the tractor. I gave the HMGT
about 1/2 throttle as it started to tug, then begun
spinning both rear tires by itself, as I was off the
tractor and helping Cheryl pull the pot away from the
compacted root ball. It worked, as suddenly the whole
thing came loose from the pot......unfortunately, so did
the nylon tow ropes off the tractor's tow hook
Off went the tractor, dead straight towards our back
yard fish pond that's about 3 feet deep! I hadn't
noticed, but the speed selector of the variable
pulley-tranny affair, was in 7th, or top speed. I
mean, it was heading dead-on at the pond's end flat
rock, which overhangs a 3 foot deep hole large enough
to easily swallow the entire tractor! As it sped away
towards the pond it ran over and flattened my wife's
designer largish sized watering can (not good) then
smacked into a potted small tree tipping it over and
moving it out of the way, then into two more potted
plants. It was about a foot shy of flying over the
rock as I caught up with the runaway tractor and did
something I normally try not to do...flip the reversing
toggle switch under load! Instantly, the motor
reversed, the controller lived through the ordeal, and
with rear tires churning up soil and rocks, the
tractor barely missed going into the pond and was now
really pissed off and coming backwards at me! I was
able to leap aside and pull the throttle down where
the possessed HMGT simply went silent and sat
there.....whew!
I tell you, it was really weird! An inspection of the
front of the tractor showed no signs of
damage....nothing. The watering can was pretty lunched
and one of the pots was cracked, but the front of the
tractor looked fine. Once I had the tractor back in
the EV shop, I found the front tie rod was bent, but
that was an easy fix.
See Ya....John Wayland 


Daniel Eyk
Vancouver, Wa.

Electric S-10 project
E-15 project

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