# Electric conversion of a lawn tractor.



## Jags (Nov 30, 2010)

Thought I would introduce my new project that I have been working on.  With two grand boys at home and "tractor" being a favorite word, I thought I would tackle a project with the boys in mind.

My plan is to take a small ride on lawn mower and convert it to an electric drive using a 24V motor from a reclaimed craftsman 20" push mower.

The ride on is a "Falls" brand that was made in Sycamore, Illinois.  It is quite small but built of the old design where the engine belted to the transmission (3 forward, 1 reverse) and the transmission was chained to the axle (a true differential).  This differs from the newer design of the transaxle found in most mowers today.  This works to my advantage by allowing more wiggle room for gearing.

The 24V motor is the approximate equivalency of a 1.5 HP electric or 3 hp gasser.  Plenty for ground travel with a 40 pound kid and a small trailer (I'll bet some of you are reading in to this already :coolsmile: ). The other advantage of using electric (other than the obvious) is that I can wire safety switches into any design I want.

There will be a switch on the seat (for occupancy) as well as in series to a switch on the pedal.  The pedal will be configured as a "tension" pedal, meaning you push to go, not release to go(as in a clutch).  As long as somebody is in the seat, when the pedal is pushed, it will start the electric motor and then as the pedal continues to travel it will engage the tension pulley to begin the forward/reverse motion.  Release the pedal and everything stops.  I have also considered wiring another switch to a "bumper" so if it bumps something, it will stop the electric motor.

I was originally thinking about retrofitting one of the available electric kids ride on toys, but they simply do not have the power or build to allow for a trailer, or maybe even a tiny snow plow (it could happen).

I currently plan on building a plate that will only allow the selection of 1st gear or reverse.

My bet is that the electric motor will not even grunt with my 240 pounds on it, but we will have to wait and see about that.  So there is my GREEN conversion project for the cold months.  Waddaya'll think?  Crazy old coot - or cool papa Jags??

Edit: for a size reference, the front tires are 6" solid rubber and the engine is a 7HP Briggs, so as you can see, this is a very small mower.  Also - no mowing will be involved, the deck is already in the dumpster. :lol:


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## Delta-T (Nov 30, 2010)

I say cool beans, it'd be even cooler with a flame thrower on the front instead of a plow.


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## Jags (Nov 30, 2010)

Delta-T said:
			
		

> I say cool beans, it'd be even cooler with a flame thrower on the front instead of a plow.



Good idea but I gotta keep the front open for the feller/buncher attachment.


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## Shari (Nov 30, 2010)

Well, my vote is "Cool Grampa"!

When our kids were small we inherited a Toro rider with a rear engine.  Mower deck was bad, steering wasn't the greatest, only 1st gear worked - but hey, our sons had a blast riding that around the yard like a 4 wheeler!

By the way, a friend of ours has a 1970's vintage GE electric rider, original equipment electric that is... It's an interesting machine!

Shari


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## Jags (Nov 30, 2010)

Shari said:
			
		

> ...our sons had a blast riding that around the yard like a 4 wheeler!



Yeah, thats kind of the same idea with this conversion.  The electric motor part is just a bit easier to deal with for me because they are still pretty young. No hot engine.  No flammable fuel, etc.  They will be watched carefully and taught proper operation.  I have even thought of how to wire up a remote shut off in case they aren't paying attention, but that might be going a bit far.

Those old electric GE tractors are quite collectible today (pretty cool in their own way).


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## midwestcoast (Nov 30, 2010)

Cool project!  Check out this link: http://ecorenovator.org/introducing-ecorider-riding-mower-electric-conversion-project/
searching EcoRider on the ecorenovator blog & forums will bring several more posts. I never followed the build, but the project looks to be well detailed on the posts.


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## Dune (Dec 1, 2010)

Thats what I'm talking about! Good practice for your next cat-track wheel chair conversion too.


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## Gary_602z (Dec 1, 2010)

What are you thinking for batteries? 6V or 12V? How many?

Gary


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## Jags (Dec 1, 2010)

Gary_602z said:
			
		

> What are you thinking for batteries? 6V or 12V? How many?
> 
> Gary



I actually have a free source for 24V cells used in hydraulic lifts and such.  I also have a couple of good 12V 78AH deep cycles from a fairly large UPS that should give a run time of approx. and hour or better.  Keep in mind that this would be consistent run time.  At an idle it uses NO juice.  I'm thinking that after an hour of run time - I will be tired of chasing this thing around the yard.    Who knows what the run time of the 24V cells would give.

Note to Jags: put a key shutoff in line.


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## Jags (Dec 1, 2010)

Thanks for the link Midwestcoast.  It appears that he is going a few steps deeper than I am.  He actually wants a riding mower as the finished product.  Looks like he is going about it in all the right ways.


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## billb3 (Dec 1, 2010)

If that little motor doesn't have the HP, you can always start finding golf cart parts.


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## Jags (Dec 1, 2010)

billb3 said:
			
		

> If that little motor doesn't have the HP, you can always start finding golf cart parts.



And there are lots of them out there.  Thought about going that route, but then you need a controller and other stuff.  I am willing to bet that this motor will have more power than necessary.  As a matter of fact, I may keep a loose drive belt, just for another safety feature.

One neat feature of this motor is that the way it was designed, it had a safety feature (as most new mowers do), that you had to hold a lever against the push bar of the mower for the motor to run.  This is a low amp line that goes to the motor that engages or disengages the solenoid for the "real" power (high amp).  In other words - light duty switches (safety switches) can run the motor.


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## kinshipknight (Dec 1, 2010)

Very cool man. Let us know how it tuns out!


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## kinshipknight (Dec 1, 2010)

Very cool man. Let us know how it tuns out!


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## Jags (Dec 1, 2010)

kinshipknight said:
			
		

> Very cool man. Let us know how it tuns out!



I sure will.  I should have a couple of more pics coming.  I was fitting the motor to the frame last night ( I need to readjust the position a bit).  I hope to get an accurate reading on the RPM of this motor to try and match the drive pulley size to be close to the original ground speed.  The gasser would have run at about 3600 RPM - but I doubt if the electric runs that fast.  We shall see.


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## homebrewz (Dec 1, 2010)

Very cool project. You should make a video. 

You could even at some point build a solar charging station for it.


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## Jags (Dec 1, 2010)

homebrewz said:
			
		

> You could even at some point build a solar charging station for it.



When the ROI makes sense - I will have the whole house on solar. ;-P


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## Adios Pantalones (Dec 1, 2010)

It's too bad that you live so far away- you seem to have time to burn (I could put you to work building/destroying stuff for me)


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## Jags (Dec 1, 2010)

Adios Pantalones said:
			
		

> It's too bad that you live so far away- you seem to have time to burn (I could put you to work building/destroying stuff for me)



Ha ha - it may appear that way, but I'm just not a very good sit-er-down-er.  After I got home from work (5:30 p.m.) cooked supper, played with the boys for a bit, go out to the shop and play some more, I walked into the house at 10:00 p.m.  Get up and do it again.

I got more stuff that I would like to do than the time I have left to live.  I would love to get deeper into wood work, Biking, ornamental metal work, carving, and a whole host of other things.  Just dealing with a 115 year old farm house and a 5 acre yard and large drive (to plow) is a job in itself.  Then throw on a cabin on the Mississippi river, a hand full of old tractors (my main mower is a 1939), current hobbies, and hell...just typing it makes me tired. :lol: Its not very often ya see a half hyper dude that weighs in at 240 pounds.  I should be skinny.  

But I do like building and destroying stuff. :coolsmile:


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## Adios Pantalones (Dec 1, 2010)

You sound an awful lot like me... only 60# more


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## Jags (Dec 1, 2010)

Adios Pantalones said:
			
		

> You sound an awful lot like me... only 60# more



I feel pretty lucky that I have the facilities and equipment to pretty much get any job done that I want to.  With a full shop and a whole bunch of tools at hand, I dream up all sorts of stuff to do.  Then of course there is the storage of all this junk - My shed is 54x74 and just full of treasures. :cheese:. Thats not even counting the building that my shop is in (40x60)  Jeesh - thats a bunch of stuff.


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## Jags (Dec 3, 2010)

Moving along on the build - I ran a hand held tach on the motor.  It appears to run at 2700rpm no load speed.  That should work well with the ONE pulley that I have, that fits it.  The original drive pulley was 2.5".  The one I will be using is 3".  So going from a 3600 rpm gasser to a 2700 rpm electric with this pulley arrangement should get me close to the original ground speed.


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## Jags (Dec 6, 2010)

Good news - after actually LOOKING at the inline fuse - it is a 30 amp which will yield about 720 watts.

A test run has been completed.  This motor has no problem with pulling a 240 pound human through 6" of snow.  WHOOHOO!.
1st gear plenty of power
2nd gear - still no problem
3rd gear it worked it pretty hard in the snow, but on flat, clean ground it ran quite well.

I would guess that this is running a little faster ground speed than the original gasser, but 1st gear should be quite manageable for the young 'uns.  My concern at this point is that in first gear, this thing is pretty powerful.  It will pop the front wheels off of the ground slightly - if you do stupid stuff (hey, this is R&D, I gotta test it. :coolsmile: )


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## Dune (Dec 6, 2010)

An ideas on range yet?


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## Jags (Dec 6, 2010)

Dune said:
			
		

> An ideas on range yet?



That will be a direct result of battery capability.  I am thinking on the small side, because after chasing this thing around the yard for an hour, I will be done.  I need to outlast the batteries. :lol:


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## backpack09 (Dec 6, 2010)

It will be easier to keep the nose on the ground if you hang the batteries off the front bumper...


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## Jags (Dec 6, 2010)

They aren't out front, but they are tucked under the hood.  I don't think anybody would intentionally do the things I did to make it happen.  I was looking for "worst case scenario" type things.

I think I will leave the bumper as a bumper.  Banging batteries would probably be a bad thing.


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## Delta-T (Dec 7, 2010)

wheelie bar...like a dragster. the plow might give you enough weight in the front to keep it down too.


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## daveswoodhauler (Dec 7, 2010)

Jags, Just wanted to say this is a cool thread and project.....wish I had the knack of being so creative.
Thanks for posting.


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## Jags (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks Dave - even as a youngster I was always messing with something.  I have created some -umm- unique things in my time.  Electric can crusher, old 049 airplane engines mounted on toy trucks, 360cc 2 stoke go cart (with slap stick shifter- dang fast), trailers, front engine/blower-rear steer snow blower, now this "thing" - just to name a few.

I will be building a small, lightweight, 2 wheel wagon to go on the back of this thing soon.


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## ccwhite (Feb 1, 2011)

That is a cool project Jags. Kids enjoying it by now? Or waiting for snow to melt?


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## begreen (Feb 1, 2011)

Definitely has inspiration potential if it works well.


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## Jags (Feb 1, 2011)

Well - it works well.  I have tested it for power and it has plenty.  In first gear with me (240 pounds) it will pull me through a ditch pretty easy.  So I see no problem with it carrying a 40 pound kid and a small trailer.  It is fully functional now, but because kids are involved and need to do some tin work to hide all the wires and batteries.  And to block out 2nd and 3rd gear.  The thing runs a bit faster than stock, so anything over 1st is too fast for little ones.  I gotta be able to catch this thing.  I am thinking of putting a big palm button on the fender for an emergency shut down.

I have even thought about a wireless shut down system.  I could rig one of those up pretty easy.  That way I wouldn't have to drop my beer and leave the lawn chair.


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## Delta-T (Feb 1, 2011)

why would you have to get up...clearly your chair has caterpillar traction.....but i'm missing the cup holder, you may spill your beer.....maybe it is best to have the remote stop....what a dilemma.


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## Jags (Feb 1, 2011)

Delta-T said:
			
		

> why would you have to get up...clearly your chair has caterpillar traction.....but i'm missing the cup holder, you may spill your beer.....maybe it is best to have the remote stop....what a dilemma.



To tell ya the truth, the more I think about it, the more I am liking a remote stop.


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## Jags (May 20, 2011)

Update:
First test with young uns'.  Test is successful.  I made a foot pedal switch for both sides to assure a straddled position of the driver as well as a palm switch (think emergency switch on industrial machinery) on the back fender for adults that may need to shut it down fast.

I have also built a small trailer that the youngest simply loves to ride in (2).  After a couple of more sessions with the oldest (3) he will be a pro at operation.

1st gear speed is almost perfect, but 2nd and 3rd are too much for the little ones at this time.  I plan on blocking those out.  The batteries last longer than I do.


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## Delta-T (May 20, 2011)

that is super sweet.....no unicorn log splitter though...guess you could always add one later.


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## smokinj (May 20, 2011)

Jags said:
			
		

> Update:
> First test with young uns'.  Test is successful.  I made a foot pedal switch for both sides to assure a straddled position of the driver as well as a palm switch (think emergency switch on industrial machinery) on the back fender for adults that may need to shut it down fast.
> 
> I have also built a small trailer that the youngest simply loves to ride in (2).  After a couple of more sessions with the oldest (3) he will be a pro at operation.
> ...





Very Cool!


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## begreen (May 21, 2011)

Outstanding. The new paint job spiffs it up nicely. But where are the mag wheels?


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## fishingpol (May 21, 2011)

Great project Jags.  I am a tinkerer but on a small scale level. Your thoughts on safety are most impressive while allowing fun.

I have two ideas for you: 

1.) How about a clip on lanyard kill switch like on boats and jet ski's?  Make the lanyard short so that if the operator dismounts, the tractor will loose power.    

2.) Under the accelerator pedal, drill a small hole near the toe end through the deck.  Take a small piece of threaded rod and feed up from below into the hole.  Put a lock nut on the rod above and from below.  Adjust the height of the rod to the speed you want.  It is a kind of limiter.  The pedal can only go down as low as the height of the rod that sticks up through the deck under the pedal.


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## Dune (May 22, 2011)

Good work Jags. Ready for a Volts wagon or a Ford Ranger conversion now?


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## Jags (May 23, 2011)

fishingpol said:
			
		

> Great project Jags.  I am a tinkerer but on a small scale level. Your thoughts on safety are most impressive while allowing fun.
> 
> I have two ideas for you:
> 
> ...



Those are good ideas fishin' - but, the foot pedal switch is just that - a switch, not variable, so its on or off.  If one of the little guys try to dismount, the switch has already broken connection and the tractor is at a stand still before a foot could hit the ground.  It is probably a FASTER shut down than a lanyard.

The tractor rolls less than three feet when the switches contact is broken.


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## Jags (May 23, 2011)

Dune said:
			
		

> Good work Jags. Ready for a Volts wagon or a Ford Ranger conversion now?



Actually if I had time/money to do it, I would love to do a 4 cyl diesel conversion of a Dakota.  There is a commercial 4 banger that is used in some of the van/trucks like bread trucks that are a small version of the 6 cyl diesel that was installed in the full size dodge.  That makes factory parts, to some extent, exist.  People that have done that conversion are running around with VERY capable little pickups that are pulling 30+ mpg, and can still tow a decent load.


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## Dune (May 23, 2011)

Jags said:
			
		

> Dune said:
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Yeah, I was thinking a dakota might make a decent electric conversion...I like that the cab is wider than the standard minis, I am not lightweight and both of my sons are big guys too. Real tight fit with the three of us in a toyota or an s-10. 

Trucks make real decent candidates fro electric conversion, you can modify the bed to tilt and stuff a bunch of batteries under there, plus they have the weight capacity so cheap lead-acid batteries are practical.


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## KarlP (May 23, 2011)

Dune said:
			
		

> Yeah, I was thinking a dakota might make a decent electric conversion...I like that the cab is wider than the standard minis, I am not lightweight and both of my sons are big guys too. Real tight fit with the three of us in a toyota or an s-10.



The Dakota is less than an inch wider in the front and less than an inch narrower in the rear than the Tacoma.  I know the older Toyotas were narrower, but so where the older Dakotas.  Might want to think of a fullsize for three big guys across.

Along those lines, I'm thinking a minivan would make a cool conversion vehicle.


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## Dune (May 23, 2011)

KarlP said:
			
		

> Dune said:
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Thanks for that. I definitely wasn't thinking Tacoma, but knowing that gives more options. Full size is likely out, since the weight diminishes the range.


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## lukem (May 23, 2011)

I like the dead-man switch on the foot, rather than the seat...makes sure they are in the correct driving position.  The mushroom switch on the back is nice too.  Good thinking.

There are some nice 24V electric motors from MHE (forklifts, etc) that would be good for a smallish car or truck.  The lead-acid batteries would be the show-stopper as they weigh more than the car!


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## Jags (May 23, 2011)

lukem said:
			
		

> The mushroom switch on the back is nice too.  Good thinking.



I was actually thinking of doing a remote kill, like the key fob unlock for your car, but they were $60 and I don't have $60 bucks in the entire thing yet.


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## Jags (Jun 21, 2012)

Update for anybody who cares:

We have found second gear.  The boys are now 3 and 4 and the oldest states "this is like Mario Carts". It runs at a jogging speed in second.  I still have not found the end of battery life for this thing.  It can easily run for a constant hour +.
I don't have any idea how many hours or miles have been put on this machine, but it is a bunch.  It has performed almost flawlessly.  I say almost because I had to introduce a bit of dry lube to the micro switches on the foot pedals, and put an inner tube in one of the back tires.  They are industrial switches, so needing a bit of lube will give you a bit of an idea of how many times these things have been activated. 

This tractor has proved out to be much more practical than the electric ride on toys.  It does not have traction issues and will go anywhere in the yard they want to drive without getting "stuck".  Heck, I even ride in the back when we have the boat seat mounting in there.  The boys think it is pretty cool to pull Papa Jags around.

We have used this thing to actually do work and to play.  The boys love to "help".  This is from a while ago:


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## Delta-T (Jun 21, 2012)

if you paint it green, and paint some kind of 4 legged, antlered animal on it....I might be able to sell you're super sweet idea to some outdoor equipment company....like Mitsubishi Corp. (who also make canned fruit, and tuna)


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## Jags (Jun 21, 2012)

MMMmmm...nothing says Tuna like "Processed by Mitsubishi."


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## Jags (Jun 21, 2012)

Holy cows, this thread has had 2690 views.


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## begreen (Jun 22, 2012)

I'm wondering how much mowing I could get done with a conversion and perhaps a bit more amp-hours on the battery. The idea of a quieter mower with good hill traction is quite appealing.


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## Jags (Jun 22, 2012)

BG - there has actually been some that were factory built. I expect with better batteries coming on line that this may come back to the surface.

The rolling resistance isn't what takes the power on a mower. The actual mowing does. You might want to google electrac (GE). There actually are folks that are converting others. Check out this place:
http://www.mytractorforum.com/forumdisplay.php?s=3aaebbd25c7a1a3a168083d42cc06d55&f=193
(There are actually a couple of forum members from here that are members there. And no - I am not jagwire, I'm still Jags)


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