The tractor came with the optional rear bracket that holds a hitch ball for towing trailers. Two bolts hold it into the rear frame rails and it's got quite a bit of surface rust but is very solid. Someone used two different bolts, two different nuts, and the bolts were absolutely rusted/welded into the frame, ended up finally getting the bolts using PB-Blast over-night and an air-chisel, what a mess for two simple bolts.
Does anybody have a spare metal seat bottom they wouldn't mind selling? I'm talking about the one under the seat foam and it has two welded nuts on it to hold the seat to the metal frame. My seat bottom is utterly destroyed from sitting outside and soaking in water. The foam is surprisingly "ok" after drying out in the sun for a week and I can probably use it over again.
The plastic headlight covers, are they available somewhere? Mine are cracked around the bolt holes.
As I reported in my first message the tractor moves (forward/reverse) at speed #1, which I suspect is called "Start", the first micro-switch of the speed controller. Moving to the second micro-switch I can hear the 1A contactor activate, verified switched 36v at the the contactor leads, but the speed of the motor does not change. When I check for continuity on the contacts of 1A they seem to be permanently closed, shorted. Is that a common failure mode? I can hear the contactor open/close but there is always continuity on the load side. This would explain the lack of motor speed change, it is always in speed #2. Am I looking at needing a new 1A contactor to fix that speed problem? Any other thoughts on this?
I have three 12v deep cycle batteries and was hooking up three battery chargers after unhooking the batteries, temporarily. I found a local company that services the little electric scooters at Walmart stores and routinely sells used components from these installations. I bought a Minn Kota MK330PC battery charger for $40 which permanently connects to three batteries, and will charge the three batteries simultaneously at 10amp each without unhooking the batteries, regardless of series or parallel battery wiring. It is water-proof and weighs I'm guessing 7-8 pounds, surprisingly beefy little thing. It will also equalize wet-cell batteries. These chargers run just shy of $300 on Amazon so $40 is a smoking good deal. It has four mounting holes so it will mount in the tractor permanently and I'll be adding an external 110v receptacle for plugging the tractor in to charge, using the power cord you find on your computer power-supply, with a closing moisture-proof door. I will probably remove the factory charger and bolt the new charger to that front panel. They have more of these chargers if anyone wants one.
Some photos show tractors with batteries contained within plastic bags and others do not. What is the advantage of putting the batteries in the bags, to contain accidental spillage of a cracked battery?
I have spent a lot of time reading the abundance of information and knowledge online, including the old emails from this list. A hearty "Thank You" to everyone that makes these resources available.
------ Original Message ------ To "David Kirk" <david kirk net> Date 4/30/2024 8:28:41 AM Subject Re: (ET) Introduction from Michigan
David, welcome to the ET discussion list. I enjoyed your story and the video clip. I look forward to hearing more as you proceed with your project.