# My First project.



## RKM (Jun 9, 2008)

Graeme,

Welcome from a fellow Canadian (Manitoba).

This is a very doable project. I don't have any expertise for this type of project but would suggest that you'll be looking at a comparitively low voltage, high amperage battery pack. You don't need speed but do require considerable torque. Your 30 minute "range" is nice also, from an energy perspective.

You'll need to crunch the numbers of course, but I'm guessing 3-4 decent Ah AGMs would do the trick for you.

Others with more experience will help you fill in the blanks.

Good luck.

Rob


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## DIYguy (Sep 18, 2008)

I think Rob is right about the AGM's for a couple of reasons.... they take the bouncing and are a very rugged battery. No spilling and they perform much better in the cold than regular floodies. I think a Golf cart arrangement, probably running at 48 volts will work well. You just have to gear it for low speed. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out... worse case you may be able to use a jack shaft to give yourself one more opportunity for gearing down.


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## celtic_smith (Oct 11, 2009)

Hi guys thanks for the input!

By golf cart arrangement, what do you mean exactly?... sorry bit of a newb

My other question is that most of the ATV's that I am looking at are all 4WD. Should I expect any problems in trying to add the electric motor to the existing 4DW system? I know that I will not need to bother with a clutch or transmission due to the low speeds that I have in mind.

Or would it just be easier to dump everything and just install a direct chain to the rear axle and forgo the 4WD altogether?

Graeme


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## RKM (Jun 9, 2008)

I think you will want to keep the tranny to give you speed reduction and torque. As Gary mentioned, you may even add a further reduction jackshaft between the electric motor and the tranny (given the very low speed requirement).

I'd keep the 4WD as well, no need to remove it if you keep the tranny. Plus 2WD would be comparatively useless as a snow plow.

I think the same approach used by 90% of car conversions should work well for you. Make a coupler between the motor and tranny input shaft (with or without clutch) and away you go.

Rob


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## celtic_smith (Oct 11, 2009)

Thanks very much!

So I am looking for 

Batteries (48V Suggested) 4X12v or 8X6v
Inverter DC->AC
Charger
Throttle Control
Key, or some sort of ignition system(Ain't nobody stealing my ATV!)
Fuses/Wire etc
DC-DC converter to bring the 48V to 6Vor12V for the rest of the electrical, lights etc.

Am I missing anything?

Graeme


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## tj4fa (May 25, 2008)

ELECTRIC CARS ARE FOR GIRLS

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...n&rlz=1T4DKUS_enUS293US293&sa=N&start=18&um=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfoISARBxLA


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## celtic_smith (Oct 11, 2009)

cool, thanks!


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## DIYguy (Sep 18, 2008)

celtic_smith said:


> Thanks very much!
> 
> So I am looking for
> 
> ...


I assume by Inverter, you mean an AC motor controller? You may want to consider series wound DC motor and typical golf cart controller. Many of these are 36 volt however. You can go AC or DC motor, but AC will cost you more. DC gives more low end torque which you will likely want. You'll want a contactor for safety as well. There are some other bits an pieces...just read lots and you'll get the idea....

By typical golf cart arrangement I meant you could salvage the motor, controller, contactor and pot etc from one. It's pretty similar to a car conversion in many ways.


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## esoneson (Sep 1, 2008)

celtic_smith said:


> I am looking to take an old atv, put a plow on it and convert it to electric to use for plowing my driveway.
> 
> <snip snip>
> 
> ...



Graeme,

Why not convert a Small Tractor that already has a plow and be done with it? Plenty of folks on this forum have done this. Cheap.....easy......right to the point. Just use the 'search' facility to locate those threads. 

Eric


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## Jimdear2 (Oct 12, 2008)

esoneson said:


> Graeme,
> 
> Why not convert a Small Tractor that already has a plow and be done with it? Plenty of folks on this forum have done this. Cheap.....easy......right to the point. Just use the 'search' facility to locate those threads.
> 
> Eric


Graeme,

Eric got in first with this suggestion and I agree with him. I hope I can give you some insight as well.

I have done a garden tractor conversion, mine is being used in competition right now, but the plans do contain eventual working around the farm.

I suggest yoi start with a "real" garden tractor. If it has an aluminum transaxle pass it by. I chose an International Cub Cadet because of availability of rolling chassis and parts and accessories. The conventional drivetrain with clutch and driveshaft (NO BELTS to the trans) and the availibity of a low range trans are also a plus. There are many other brand so REAL Garden Tractors, they just are not as common.

You can also look into restoring a GE Elec-trac garden tractor. Do a Google search. 

Another plus with the Cub Cadet is that you can find engineless rolling chassis's just about anywhere for from "For Free" to around $100.00 .

You can find my build thread in the EV Conversions and Builds thread under *Converting Pulling Tractor, Cub KA Zap and Something Different. (*sorry I don't know how to place a hyperlink*). *

For my conversion I used a 
Cub Cadet 100rRolling chassis (Craigs list $100.00)
A freshly rebuilt Prestolite HiLo pump motor of around 5-6 continous HP (eBay around $225.00)
A used Alltrax 7245 controller (eBay $200.00)
4 used 40 AH AGM UPS batteries (Free from a freind) [Can be found for ariound $10.00 each with some searching]
A Tyco KiloVolt (?name) contactor (eBay $60.00)
An Allbright Emergency Disconnect (From a Albright distributor $45.00)
1/0 welding cable and lugs ($1.00 foot for the wire and $1.20 each for the lugs).
Used 48 VOLT Club Car battery charger ($45.00 on eBay)
Various other stuff 2-3 hundred. A lot less if you scrounge.

I have seen engineless cub cadet rolling chassis's on eBay or Graig's List or the bulletin boards at the market, by themselves and with mower decks, ag.plows, cultivators, snow blowers and snow plows, with and without the optional low range unit and the mule drive for accessories. Prices range from "Haul it Away" to $2-300.00.

In competition, my conversion compares favoribly with 12-15 horse power ICE tractors, with one major difference, it is quiet. I have no trouble running it around the farm for at least 1/2 hour (at full throttle while brreaking in the motor) even with the small batteries I used.

I was an easy conversion to do. Before commiting to an ATV look at these older REAL Garden Tractors

No matter what, Have Fun,


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## celtic_smith (Oct 11, 2009)

Wow, thanks for all the input, I really appreciate all of the advice.

I will give the tractor idea some serious thought. I was thinking of using the atv because my driveway is gravel, and somewhat uneven. The climate here also means that there is snow in the morning, rain in the afternoon when everything warms up a few degrees, and then everything freezes solid when the temperature drops below zero again when the sun goes down. I thought that the extra traction, 4WD options, and ground clearance would make an ATV frame more suitable. If the tractor chassis are so easy/cheap to find, then I may try that for a year, and if it does not work, I can always pull all of the guts out and re-mount them on an ATV if I have to.

On the flip side, if I have a tractor... maybe I can get it to mow my lawn in the summer too 



> I assume by Inverter, you mean an AC motor controller?


yep, sorry i'm an electronics geek, but not used to some of the terminology yet 

I have decided that for my needs a DC motor will be the way to go anyhow, so I won't be worrying about that.

Many thanks for all your input everyone!!


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