# New guy to the forum



## Guest (Mar 2, 2012)

Can you weld? Got a welder? You may need to do some fabricating to make things fit and work. It may not be a remove and replace sort of deal. Be ready mentally and be ready with proper tools.


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

It's tough to make any EV go for 4 hours. Is that to make it to the corner market, or the other side of town?


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2012)

Ziggythewiz said:


> It's tough to make any EV go for 4 hours. Is that to make it to the corner market, or the other side of town?


Thats an awful long way to the corner market 

Thats an awful long way across town too.


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## !George (Jun 9, 2009)

Cimeron said:


> I have decided that my first conversion will be an and old broke down Craftsman riding lawnmower. I want it to run from the house to the corner market. (Lazy, i know).
> My goal is to make it run for four hours. I have taken off the mowing deck to basically make it a 'go cart' of sorts......
> I am a fair wrench turner. For the most part, if i took it apart, odds are, i can put it back together without to many spare parts left over.
> Any advice at this point would be welcome. my next stop after typing this is to do research on motor pairing with controllers and batteries.


Take a look at this here: http://www.evalbum.com/type/TCMW

Gottdi put the link up for that site in my thread, and it's given me a LOT of ideas. I have an old Toro mower/wannabe tractor that I'll be basically doing exactly what you are looking to do with it. One of the deck bearings seized up, so I just removed the whole deck. I didn't need a fourth lawnmower at this point.

It seems that I don't necessarily need to have a controller as I can control the speed of the tractor with the transmission, but I still think I want to have a controller so long as I can find one that can do from 24 to 72 VDC to I have a range that I can grow into (maybe a Kelly KDZ72300). Also, it'll give me the experience to scale up to something larger. I'm already anticipating having to do some fab work, but that's fine too. Something like a Motenergy 1004, and (2) 12 volt flooded batteries to start with shouldn't set me back too far, and it will allow me to get my feet wet (which is a horrible analogy to use when working with electricity, I know) and feel comfortable with bigger endeavors. I have no real idea of how far it'll get me, but it's just going to be for tooling around the farm.

Hope this helps. Good luck.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2012)

Yeah! probably won't run for 4 hours but it should get you around a bit. You do however want a PWM controller as it will give you more usable power and range from your batteries. You'll like it much better over the on/off type of speed controllers. Much better. 

It will give you an idea of what to expect on a larger build in the way of parts. Perfect for the lead acid battery conversion. A nice 48 volt set up should do you just fine. More is a bit overkill for such a small vehicle. I have a Cushman Truckster and it is only 36 volts. I plan on 48 with a D&D SepEx motor and controller. I have the electronics and batteries. Just got to get it done. It is not of much use to me but I will eventually build it and yes, it will have lithium cells. It will be a 48 volt 100AH pack. Should be good for a good distance and time. 

Pete 


The Truckster was converted to electric when new and sold to the Chico California Airport to be a parts runner. It still runs on the original conversion.


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## Cimeron (Mar 1, 2012)

First and foremost, Thanks for replying. 

As far as the run time goes, it is just something to shoot for. I should not have even mentioned it, really. I think a more realistic goal is just to get the rider assembled first. Then do a little tweaking. 
I will look into the link that was suggested. And as for the market, it is probably four miles, round trip.
If this little project of mine works out, i would like to eventually drag behind it a mowing deck. But, before I can get the deck, I need the motors and batts installed on the rider.

Once again, thanks for all the feedback.


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## !George (Jun 9, 2009)

gottdi said:


> You do however want a PWM controller as it will give you more usable power and range from your batteries. You'll like it much better over the on/off type of speed controllers. Much better.


Do you have any suggestions in this arena? I mean, I can look them up and read about them, but I'm looking to find various experiences.


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