The batteries were full, but they are getting old. I had replaced 2 this summer, last I checked the SG on the remaining 4 was still good. I probably got about 400’ total, but this was almost 2 feet of snow, it was over the top of the snow thrower. We were actually backing the tractor up every 10 feet or to shovel the snow in the next ten feet on to the already cleared spot so the snow was below the top of the snow thrower. Plus I had to get through where the plows had left the snow at the end of the driveway which was probably 3 to 4’ high.
3’ out of the garage was probably an exaggeration, but I had chains and in the lowest gear. I could probably have used more way in the back. The snow was over the top of the blade in some spots. The big problem with the blade was there was nowhere to push it.
I want to say it took at least an hour to get to the end of the driveway, So maybe I was running the thrower for an 1.5 to 2 hours. As soon as I would hit snow, the usage gauge would move above the red level and start to peg against the right wall of the meter. So I would peg, then stop, let the usage fall and let the drum spin back up to speed, then move forward again… and repeat.
From: William Martin [mailto:martinsprinklerdesign yahoo com]
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 11:26 AM
To: Banks, Michael J.; elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
Subject: Re: (ET) Hybrid Electrak?
How long did the tractor run with the snow thrower running? Did you have a full charge? How old are your batteries?
You should get alot more run time out of your batteries than a 200' strip.
I'm assuming you made it 3' with a blade attached.?? Are you running tire chains? I can push through a snow pile bigger than my E15 with the blade, tire chains and no weight on the back. I would think you would be able to also in one of your low gears.
As for a hybrid...that kind of defeats the purpose of our electric tractors doesn't it?? :) You would need a setup to generate 36 volts at very high amperage if you want to run the tractor and the snow thrower. Sounds expensive to me.
I would check the batteries. You may be due for a new set or have a bad one.
Good luck.
Billy
From: "Banks, Michael J." <BanksM zhi com>
To: elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
Sent: Fri, January 14, 2011 10:25:10 AM
Subject: (ET) Hybrid Electrak?
I have a 200’ driveway that is paved and flat, but here in New England we just got hit with 19” of snow. The E12 tractor got about 3 feet out of the garage before it couldn’t go any farther. I put the snow thrower on and I made it down the driveway and almost back to garage before my batteries didn’t have enough charge to throw snow.
Has anybody tried hooking a gas powered generator up to the tractor to extend its range for extreme cases like this?