(ET) E15 operational. Rusty, but operational.

[Chris Zach <czach computer org>]

Well it arrived: My rear battery box from Jim. I thought it would be an 
ok thing, I was wrong: It is *FANTASTIC*.

The construction is top quality, all of the bends are there, the holes 
line up, and it looks very very sharp. There was just enough give in it 
to make it over my frame rail repairs, and the yellow color is nice.

With it on my tractor I cut the top off of what was left of my old box 
(which had literally disintegrated) and sat down on the tractor.

The box is a bit higher than the E20's, which is nice since I am tall 
anyway. Bit more comfortable. I can't put any weight on the left side 
footboard because it's totally rusted. But with my foot on the right 
board I was able to drive the tractor, hook up the trailer, and use it 
to haul leaves (picking up/bagging with my Craftsman gas tractor, the 
E20 is in the shed with it's mower deck still on).

Runs well. One big problem, I was moving forward and while going to stop 
I moved the lever over to reverse. Boom, tractor no work. Mind you I 
didn't *go* into any reverse speed, just switched into reverse. Checked 
the relay, it had blown one of it's contacts sky high. Since it's a 3 
pole relay though I just switched to another set of contacts and got 
back on the road. But man, that design is bad. I have a MOV on there, it 
didn't stop the explosion.

Other than that it's nice. I'll probably put in 60 BB600's and use it as 
a mule. I still need to get the brake pedal shaft un-frozen, but that's 
another project.

Really, I'm amazed this thing is working. This is the one that was in 
the leaves, had the whole back rusted out, needed rails welded to the 
frame (with my trusty Elec-trak welder) and had the controller board cut 
out of it. Not to mention relays and all electronic parts were in a box. 
The steering was frozen too. But with a lot of welding, and patience 
with the controller board (that needed all the diodes replaced) I 
managed to turn it into a complete rust bucket.

Now it's a rust bucket that I can drive. I'll post some pics later. In 
the longer term (ie: next spring) I think I'll try welding on the old 
fenders, and maybe fabricate a support for the rusted running board. But 
overall I don't know if I can stop the rust, it's really rusty on the frame.

At least it has a beautiful new box.

Chris