Re: (ET) Ground up ET build

[Larry Chace <RLC1 etnainstruments com>]

Greg Curran asked about wishes for a beefier ET.  What an interesting idea!

Greg, can you tell us where in the Northeast you will be?  I'm near 
Ithaca, NY, "centrally isolated" with plenty of winter weather, but 
probably not as severe as Maine or northern Vermont or New Hampshire. 
I have an E15 for plowing and mowing and an I-5 for hauling and 
snowthrowing.  The 700 foot long driveway is somewhat sloped, enough 
that the tractors clearly prefer to go downhill rather than uphill, 
especially with the snowthrower (aka "battery eater").
Both tractors seem to have about the same power, with the E15 running 
somewhat more slowly than the I-5. They are usually run with the 
speed control set to maximum, using gears to select the appropriate 
ground speed: LL for in-garage movements, L for hauling and meadow 
mowing, D1 for lawn mowing and snow plowing, and D2 mostly for moving 
from place to place.  Snowplowing and lawn mowing need more frequent 
fwd/rev switching, and so the E15's hand control is more convenient. 
For hauling, the I-5' foot controller and cruise control is 
convenient.  However, I added a switch to each tractor to avoid 
getting into electric speeds 5, 6, and 7.  On the I-5 that also gives 
an increased amount of dynamic braking.
For driveway clearing (700' by 12'), the E15 and plow do a great job 
unless the snow is too deep (a foot or more, depending on moisture 
content).  The snowthrower works well but it really drains the 
batteries; one trip downhill is all that they will tolerate.  I had 
to replace its drive chain once -- a truly unpleasent task (in the 
winter, of course).
I use a 3-bank 10-amp Minn-kota charger, plugging it into whichever 
tractor needs it most.  Both tractors also have their original GE 
chargers and the tractor garage has two 20-amp circuits, so both can 
be charged simultaneously.
Both tractors got new Crown batteries about 10 years ago.  There is 
no indication that I can see that they may be approaching their 
end-of-life.  The most annoying problem is the infamous reverse relay 
lock-up on the E15.  Even being VERY careful to aovid changing the 
FWD/REW switch while in motion, sometimes it just happens and that 
means pushing the tractor into the garage for relay replacement (the 
problem seems to be worse in the winter).  Luckily, the house and 
garage are at the downhill end of the driveway.
The I-5's brake is just barely adequate and the E-15 brake does 
nothing.  Luckily, the snow plow and mower deck provide a certain 
amount of braking.  Both tractors have chains all the time.  (The 
best part of the lawn in mowed with a Ryobi cordless push mower 
rather than with the E15.)
What would be good to have?  Eliminate the fwd/rev relay problem, 
have a less power-hungry snowthrower, have a good way to clean the 
bottom of the mower deck,
speed up the E15's transions from electric speed 1 to electric speed 3.

My father worked for GE and I enjoy seeing the GE monogram in the 
center of the steering wheel whenever I drive the tractors.
In Greg's situation, it might be good to have *two* tractors.  A few 
times I've had to use one of them to pull the other.  (When I had 
just the I-5, my wife said "you should have a spare".)
Larry Chace, Ithaca, NY  E15 and I-5