[major]

I guess it would be no more complicated then an electric wheel chair. A scrap donor chair may even provide you with a low power starting off point to learn from.
The cutter deck motor would only need an on off switch/contactor with a sepex or shunt motor.

Hey Woody,

How about that sub forum for unusual vehicles, like karts, tractors, mowers, flying saucers, etc. Any progress?

Hey TheRed,

I usually don't like hub motors, but they may actually fit this application, go figure. Unless you live in a real hilly area or have towing requirements, the mower propulsion is relatively low power compared to the blade drive. So independent wheel motors might work, a couple kW apiece. You'll likely have problems finding ones which fit as most are designed for scooters.

But for the blade drive, you'll need a good size motor. That 16hp gas burner was sending most of its power to the blade. You might get by with a 6.6 inch diameter electric motor, but a 7.2 wouldn't hurt.

Kool project.

major

 

[major]

However, I am still thinking of doing 3 independent motors for the blades.

Here's a deck I did a while back

 

[major]

Will you give us some specs? Series or shunt wound? Controller or hard-wired? If series, do you have to limit speed or do the blades provide enough limiting force?

It is from this thread http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forum...ions-deck-motor-riding-lawn-moweri-45125.html

Glad you like it And in case it is not in the referenced thread, the motor is compound wound and controlled by a single contactor.

And Pholly, I'll tell Tony you like his lawn. Mine never looked so good

major

 

[major]

That is a pretty nice set-up. Interesting idea to mount the deck in the front. Have any performance issues due to that? Also, is that the motor situated under the seat? I would then guess that the batteries are under the hood.

I helped Tony build the deck to replace the original Electrak deck which was also front mounted. Tony likes it out there. He has a flat yard. Don't know how it would handle on hills.

He runs the tractor with a generator. Got tired of replacing batteries. He's run that thing for like 35 years. See that thread I referenced for details.

major

 

[major]

Any idea on the efficiency of a belt system or where I can look that up?

Hi TheRed,

Median efficiency of the surveyed industrial and agricultural
belt types and constructions is 96 per cent. Within
rated and application power levels, efficiency ranges from 90 to 99 per cent depending on belt type​

from: http://www.cptbelts.com/pdf/misc/energy_loss_and_belt_efficiency.pdf​

Regards,​

major​

 

[major]

In other words we want some sort of functionality that looks like this:
+5v (full forward) ---- 0 Volts (stationary) ----- +5v (full reverse)

Hi TheRed,

Check out wigwag controls. They are dual direction input command devices used on handicap carts. I repaired one (installed a small Curtis controller) for a friend. Might be available on the Curtis web site.

Likely those won't connect directly to your motor controllers, but may give you some ideas. I have seen a couple of examples of homemade devices which function this way. IIRC, had 2 pots, microswitches and relays with a spring centering device.

major