Re: (ET) Elec-trak snow thrower performance

[Rob Brockway <getractor yahoo com>]

I had an early snow blower with series windings and speed limiting shunt.  Later models may have been more efficient.  My unit pulled 40-50 amps just spinning.

 

I have a 175 foot drive.  The last 40 feet is 4 cars wide with a wall that requires most of the snow is thrown to one side only.  We average 65 inches a year or so.  The blower had its limits, but I found it to be better than the 8 hp bolens tractor snow blower that it replaced.

 

You can definitely use the whole battery pack doing the job after a big storm.  Also I keep the tractor in the garage (about 45 degrees) so the batteries are not "cold".  I coated the rusty shute with epoxy to minimize clogging.  Big problem in the wet stuff.  I have an incline at the end, but found chains alone were fine.

 

Biggest improvement for me was putting in a speed controller on the tractor.  It allowed me to match the speed to the job and back up quickly.  I later switched to a conversion of a two stage and gave the blower to a friend.

 

I think it is very effective.  I never had to fire up my gas thrower to finish the job.

 

kingLightning <MakingLightning comcast net> wrote:

> I have an Elec-trak snow thrower and an E15 but have never hooked the 2 up
> and used them.
>
> I was wondering what kind of performance and experiences that any of you
> have had with them. Do they get plugged at all? What happens when you really
> load them down too much, a gas one just groans and will stall at worst. What
> kind of snow can they handle? Do they throw it as good as a gas one?
>
> When you have the snow thrower on an Elec-trak, do you have to have
>  wheel
> weights? I am not sure how the weight and weight distribution of an
> Elec-trak compares to something like an old John Deer 110 garden tractor and
> snow thrower. On that I had weights, chains, and the tires filled with
> chloride, and it worked fine, but you could still tell it was front end
> heavy.
>
> I live in Michigan and have a 125ft driveway.
>
> I understand that the E-20 motor can be run at 48v, let's say you scrap the
> wiring and are using an Alltrax controller. I guess it is a matter of heat
> with them and you probably are not putting the full 48v and maxed current
> for very long periods of time.
> Can you run the snow thrower motor at 48v too? 
> My electric lazyboy project is all 48v and I was considering mounting the
> snow thrower on that in the winter.
> Can the mower motors run on 48v? Anyone know? 
>
> Kevin
>
>
>
>
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