Looks pretty good at first glance. No quite ready to spend the money, but it sure would be nice to have a quiet tractor with no need to mess with liquid fuel/oil ect. It would fit my tractor needs almost perfectly. The site doesn't specify, but I'm guessing the batteries probably have a lifespan of 5-10 years max. That would be the biggest downside for me, having to spend the money to replace the batteries.
Well it sure lacks HP.~!
The motor is rated one half horsepower. This is equivalent torquewise to about a four horsepower gasoline motor.How long will it typically operate between charges.
It should last up to two hours when weeding and you can get a lot done in that time. Plowing about 45 min to 1 hour depending on the soil, seeding & wheelbarrow up to 3 to 4 hours this comes from the FAQ page. It goes about the speed of a person at a fast walk. Seems pretty light duty to me.
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Oh my, dishes yet to wash and dry
I didn't see a price?
What are the batteries, 105 Trojan's?
8 hp is a lot of power when compared to gas, figure easily 14 to 18 hp gas equivalent but the key is gearing. Gear it down enough and you can do just about anything just not as fast. I'm restoring an old GE Elec-trac E20 from the 70's. They are about 8 hp and real workers, perfect for small gardens. I have a tiller, mower, leaf blower, front blade and snow blower for it too. I will have to get new batteries but can charge it from my off grid system for free. I'm going to build a special charger that charges each battery individually to get the maximum life out of them. Guys tell me they have batteries last well over 10 years so I expect good battery life.
Rob
I expect to have an Elec-trac like the one you are restoring. I am looking forward to all it can do. I have heard that they are real work horses and quiet, too! It will be a while before I can claim it, but I am looking forward to it.
I wish I had an off-grid system, but I don't. About how much power and how long will it take to charge the battery?
It was a lot more noisy than I was expecting and the noise was not pleasing at all IMO. It is kind of a cool idea but very light duty and I would place it in the same category as some of the higher end garden tractors; not necessarily a bad thing for a hobbyist or someone who just need it to take care of a large garden (didnt see a lift though...).
If you watch the video where its using the middle buster its really struggling and I think I would be afraid of buying something like this that may have little resale value. I have a friend who bought a Jinma tractor (one of those 5K crate deals you put together yourself) and he cant give it away even though its actually runs pretty good.
It was a lot more noisy than I was expecting and the noise was not pleasing at all IMO. It is kind of a cool idea but very light duty and I would place it in the same category as some of the higher end garden tractors; not necessarily a bad thing for a hobbyist or someone who just need it to take care of a large garden (didnt see a lift though...).
If you watch the video where its using the middle buster its really struggling and I think I would be afraid of buying something like this that may have little resale value. I have a friend who bought a Jinma tractor (one of those 5K crate deals you put together yourself) and he cant give it away even though its actually runs pretty good.
It was noisy but my 1970's Elec-trak isn't and it can do real work for its size. Remember it is not a full size machine but it has quite a following of dedicated owners, even after all these years. GE who designed it knew a lot about motor technology and they built it into the ET. An 8 hp electric motor is a bear and the up side of electric is that you do away with all the gas, oil, etc. of the ICE (internal combustion engine) along with the rising cost of fuel and the rising pollution of fuel if your charging the tractor off your own PV system like me.
I'm not sure why you mentioned the Jinma, it's not electric and it's not JD or Kubota either who you should be comparing it to. I could build a full size tractor with an electric motor that would rival any tractor in its size range so lets not associate electric tractors with cheap tractors.
The fastest car at the drag strip is electric, do some you tube searching. Electric is so far ahead of the ICE that it's a credit to the oil industries propaganda that the ICE is still in use. If we had stayed with the electric car today people would laugh at the ICE.
Battery technology and Super Capacitor technology with make the ICE an anachronism in the next ten years at most.
A middle buster takes some power to work even with a smaller compact tractor, snow blowers, tillers, mowers, etc. run fine on these small ET's if the ET is well designed. I don't know about the batteries, gearing, tranny, etc. of this design or the cost. It might be a low end product but I know the Elec-trak isn't.
I expect to have an Elec-trac like the one you are restoring. I am looking forward to all it can do. I have heard that they are real work horses and quiet, too! It will be a while before I can claim it, but I am looking forward to it.
I wish I had an off-grid system, but I don't. About how much power and how long will it take to charge the battery?
Great!
The best thing to do with the batteries is to leave the charger on when the tractor is not in use. It's hard to figure your actual charge cost because it is a reflection of battery level but it's in the pennies range even with low batteries. With the standard batteries it can take several hours to charge if the batts are low but remember people mow two acres with these machines on a charge.
It was noisy but my 1970's Elec-trak isn't and it can do real work for its size. Remember it is not a full size machine but it has quite a following of dedicated owners, even after all these years. GE who designed it knew a lot about motor technology and they built it into the ET. An 8 hp electric motor is a bear and the up side of electric is that you do away with all the gas, oil, etc. of the ICE (internal combustion engine) along with the rising cost of fuel and the rising pollution of fuel if your charging the tractor off your own PV system like me.
I'm not sure why you mentioned the Jinma, it's not electric and it's not JD or Kubota either who you should be comparing it to. I could build a full size tractor with an electric motor that would rival any tractor in its size range so lets not associate electric tractors with cheap tractors.
The fastest car at the drag strip is electric, do some you tube searching. Electric is so far ahead of the ICE that it's a credit to the oil industries propaganda that the ICE is still in use. If we had stayed with the electric car today people would laugh at the ICE.
Battery technology and Super Capacitor technology with make the ICE an anachronism in the next ten years at most.
A middle buster takes some power to work even with a smaller compact tractor, snow blowers, tillers, mowers, etc. run fine on these small ET's if the ET is well designed. I don't know about the batteries, gearing, tranny, etc. of this design or the cost. It might be a low end product but I know the Elec-trak isn't.
Rob
I seem to have hit a nerve there Rob without meaning to. I am actually pretty familiar with the advantages of electric motors including the "White Zombie" drag car if thats what you are referring to. I was responding to the OPs post that included some videos of an electric tractor that was noisy, was small and had no FEL and seemed to struggle plowing. I am not sure where the Electric Trak you keep referring to came into the equation as I have never even seen one and it wasnt part of the OPs post.
I brought up Jinma not as a comparison to a new electric tractor but as a cautionary tale that oddities or offerings from unproven or unknown manufacturers are very risky and often hard to unload no matter how well they work. Maybe dropping 15 - 20K on a new electric tractor that has zero history makes sense in the long run for some people but not to me. You could buy a good used small diesel with a FEL for half that and unload it a few years down the road for about what you paid for it.
I seem to have hit a nerve there Rob without meaning to. I am actually pretty familiar with the advantages of electric motors including the "White Zombie" drag car if thats what you are referring to. I was responding to the OPs post that included some videos of an electric tractor that was noisy, was small and had no FEL and seemed to struggle plowing. I am not sure where the Electric Trak you keep referring to came into the equation as I have never even seen one and it wasnt part of the OPs post.
I brought up Jinma not as a comparison to a new electric tractor but as a cautionary tale that oddities or offerings from unproven or unknown manufacturers are very risky and often hard to unload no matter how well they work. Maybe dropping 15 - 20K on a new electric tractor that has zero history makes sense in the long run for some people but not to me. You could buy a good used small diesel with a FEL for half that and unload it a few years down the road for about what you paid for it.
Salmonslayer,
Just clarifying some general misgivings about electrics, not an attack on you.
Yes, the "White Zombie" is quite a ride.
I brought up the ET's as an example of a well designed electric which it was for its time and actually still is today.
I didn't see any pricing on the tractor mentioned so I don't know what they are asking for it but if it's in the high teens than it's very likely not worth it. I also agree with you about products without any history.
This reminds me of TIG welders, the same story holds true and you can get a TIG relatively cheap but the resale is not great even if the welder works which often times it doesn't after too short a period of time.
I collect interesting farm and garden equipment (just picked up a Swisher Ride King the other day) so do you happen to have a few pictures of your Electric Trak you could share?
I am wondering if its that articulated deal I saw at a farm show last year. I am on dial up so cruising the web for pictures is a lengthy ordeal.
I collect interesting farm and garden equipment (just picked up a Swisher Ride King the other day) so do you happen to have a few pictures of your Electric Trak you could share?
I am wondering if its that articulated deal I saw at a farm show last year. I am on dial up so cruising the web for pictures is a lengthy ordeal.
You shouldn't have a long wait for the site to come up.
Rob
Totally not what I was thinking! That is a cool looking little GT and looks to be similar to the 1960s Cub Cadets and Sears Suburbans of the period. I have a 1966 Sears Suburban and have been looking for one of the 82 series Cadets but I would be all over something like that if I came across it.
Thanks for the link, I am going to enjoy reading up about it.
Totally not what I was thinking! That is a cool looking little GT and looks to be similar to the 1960s Cub Cadets and Sears Suburbans of the period. I have a 1966 Sears Suburban and have been looking for one of the 82 series Cadets but I would be all over something like that if I came across it.
Thanks for the link, I am going to enjoy reading up about it.
I had the Sears and it was a great little tractor! The ET's are along the same line , just electric.
Rob
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