Looking for my next lawn/garden tractor, possible electric conversion

[Ricn]

For me, two gallons of gas to mow 2 acres is a small price to pay for a nicely mowed yard. A guy here locally spent lots for his battery mower saying it spends more time on the charger than mowing his grass and only cuts well with a full charge that goes away pretty fast.

 

[macindude]

For me, two gallons of gas to mow 2 acres is a small price to pay for a nicely mowed yard. A guy here locally spent lots for his battery mower saying it spends more time on the charger than mowing his grass and only cuts well with a full charge that goes away pretty fast.

It's not about the gas. It's about me being tired of replacing engine parts... And I'd really like it to be quieter too.

Just curious, what kind of battery mower does he have? Sadly, most companies' first electric efforts are really seriously half-assed and seem to be designed to convince people that gas/diesel is the way to go as opposed to being a good electric product. Same thing happened in the automotive industry - For example, there were the Nissan Leaf, Smart ForTwo, and Mitsubishi i-MiEV. All with less than 75 miles range, ugly as can be, just not desirable at all other than "it's electric!" Then Tesla came along and made a car that people wanted in spite of it being electric, and changed the entire industry. The tractor industry needs to either learn that lesson, or have a Tesla style disruptor come in and shake things up. Most of what I've seen so far has been somewhere between mediocre and reasonable, but nobody has made an electric tractor that makes me say "THAT is the one I want."

What's the motivation for electric conversion?

Get the biggest diesel tractor you can afford.

If you are trying to be more environmentally friendly considered cutting less lawn. 2 acres is a lot of grass in our quest to parody the english country estate.

Just tired of engine repairs, noise, vibration, smelly fuels that I have to waste time going somewhere to buy, etc.

Mowing less would be great, but unfortunately anything I try to let go back to nature is going to become nothing but a garlic mustard farm. It's gonna take me a decade to get a handle on that.

You might look at how Solis is building this all electric tractor. New Solis SV24 All Electric tractor

Interesting. Thanks! Knowing nothing other than what's in the video, it's good to see a solid entry from an established company, and that review seemed very fair.

 

[4570Man]

It's not about the gas. It's about me being tired of replacing engine parts... And I'd really like it to be quieter too.

Just curious, what kind of battery mower does he have? Sadly, most companies' first electric efforts are really seriously half-assed and seem to be designed to convince people that gas/diesel is the way to go as opposed to being a good electric product. Same thing happened in the automotive industry - For example, there were the Nissan Leaf, Smart ForTwo, and Mitsubishi i-MiEV. All with less than 75 miles range, ugly as can be, just not desirable at all other than "it's electric!" Then Tesla came along and made a car that people wanted in spite of it being electric, and changed the entire industry. The tractor industry needs to either learn that lesson, or have a Tesla style disruptor come in and shake things up. Most of what I've seen so far has been somewhere between mediocre and reasonable, but nobody has made an electric tractor that makes me say "THAT is the one I want."



Just tired of engine repairs, noise, vibration, smelly fuels that I have to waste time going somewhere to buy, etc.

Mowing less would be great, but unfortunately anything I try to let go back to nature is going to become nothing but a garlic mustard farm. It's gonna take me a decade to get a handle on that.



Interesting. Thanks! Knowing nothing other than what's in the video, it's good to see a solid entry from an established company, and that review seemed very fair.

Electric cars only sort of works because it doesn’t take much energy to push a car down the road. Unless someone invents a battery that is dozens of times better than anything currently available electric equipment will remain basically useless.

 

[macindude]

Electric cars only sort of works because it doesn’t take much energy to push a car down the road. Unless someone invents a battery that is dozens of times better than anything currently available electric equipment will remain basically useless.

For something the size of a combine, yes, probably, though it might be worth doing a diesel-electric hybrid similar to how a modern locomotive works.

For a SCUT that's not used commercially, it's absolutely useful - A SCUT usually has an engine in the neighborhood of 25hp, which is a lot less than we use to push a car down the road these days. In between, there's probably a dividing line where purely electric isn't feasible. Even a SCUT that is used commercially could be viable with swappable batteries.

 

[4570Man]

For something the size of a combine, yes, probably, though it might be worth doing a diesel-electric hybrid similar to how a modern locomotive works.

For a SCUT that's not used commercially, it's absolutely useful - A SCUT usually has an engine in the neighborhood of 25hp, which is a lot less than we use to push a car down the road these days. In between, there's probably a dividing line where purely electric isn't feasible. Even a SCUT that is used commercially could be viable with swappable batteries.

Cars have a lot of hp compared to tractors because nobody wants to accelerate at the speed of a turtle. Maintaining speed doesn’t take a lot of power. Probably less than the 25hp tractor is putting out. Hybrid electric is probably the way of the future but it won’t be quick to make its way into small tractors if ever. If you saved 10 percent of the fuel a combine or D11 dozer burned that’s a lot of money. If you saved 10 percent of what a small tractor burns that’s not much money at all.

 

[jenkinsph]

I agree with the idea and interests in developing a hybrid tractor......in theory. But I will likely just wait and see what the big boys come out with if I live that long.

Improvements and advancements are being made though. My next trolling motor batteries will be Lithium Iron type. In a small boat the weight savings, ability to recharge multiple times and long life make a lot of sense.

 

[macindude]

Wow... This guy appears to have built his own electric mini tractor from the ground up. It's got JD Green paint but it is not a JD.

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