| Owner | Mark |
|---|---|
| Owner's Other EVs | FrankenTrike Chinese-Made Eagle Scooter 1980 Suzuki GS 450 |
| Location | Huntsville, Alabama US map |
| Web/Email | WebPage |
| Vehicle | 1998 MTD Turf Pro 12.5 hp Riding Lawn Mower being converted to electric |
| Motor | Leeson Permanent Magnet DC 1.5 hp 36 volt, 38 amp |
| Batteries | 3, 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded 3 store brand lawn/garden batteries from Advanced Auto... |
| System Voltage | 36 Volts |
| Charger | el cheapo Wal-Mart battery charger to charge batteries one at a time for now... |
| Heater | You must be joking! |
| Instrumentation | Original |
| Top Speed | Don't expect near the performance the mower had with the 12.5 hp Briggs & Stratton, but only expect the wheels to turn and the blades to turn. Will update later... |
| Range | About 20 minutes drive time, have run it about 6 blocks back and forth in front of the house... |
| Seating Capacity | Me |
| Tires | Original |
| Conversion Time | Hard to say, worked on it a bit here and a bit there... maybe 16 hours up to now, but most of that was dismantling the motor and other works and prep... More like 30+ hours now... |
| Conversion Cost | $20 for battery charger, $0 for salvaged motorcycle batteries (Thanks Marc!), $40 for new dual drive pulley (eeek!) $8 for lawn/tractor battery cables... so far... Another $56 for 2 new lawn/garden batteries... |
| Will mount motor and pulleys as soon as I have an adapter to mate them together made, and will wire up a 12 volt battery and toggle switch for first test run. UPDATE: (12/7/08) The custom part is about to be ready, just having it tweaked. It fits great, though. Can't wait to install the motor and pulleys! Hope to have another update within a week. UPDATE: (12/9/08) The adapter is here! All I need now is a longer screw to secure the pulley and a set screw and I will be ready to reassemble the mower! *praying for good weather this weekend* UPDATE: (4/17/10) A long time since the last update... We bought a house and I FINALLY got back to my electric conversion projects! I decided to remove the mowing deck to lighten the load. Motor was mounted to the mower and first hard-wired power-up test was made with a single lawn/garden battery. It moved! I've added a second battery and it runs alot faster! Video coming soon! UPDATE: (4/26/10) Check out the link above for a video of the test drive with a 3rd battery connected and a battery box made from a Contico tool box mounted to the front of the frame! | |
1998 Turf Pro
“Mark's El Tractor”
(under construction)
Last Updated 04-25-2010
Copyright © 1997-2012 by Mike Chancey