Concept for an electric tractor/mp utility vehicle

[pengyou]

I have read many threads about the use of tractors on homesteads and found good food for thought. I am looking at buying 10 acres in the next couple of years. I plan to rent the equipment that I originally need to do any earth moving or very repetitious work that can best and most quickly be done with very expensive equipment. But given the size of land, my age and the things that I want to do, I can see the need to have some kind of utility vehicle to make life not only easier but to save wear on my body. I would like to suggest this idea for your critique:

A steel frame about 6' by 6' (1.7m by 1.7m) - or 4' by 4', (maybe square is not the best shape) etc. and about 2' (60cm) tall mounted on tracks (tank tracks, not wheels). Each track has 2 electric motors. There is an additional electric motor mounted to a pto for accessories or to operate a hydraulic pump if necessary. The top of the frame is covered by steel, and is nothing but a platform, save an area for a driver (the device could even be controlled remotely). Under the top platform is an area to carry batteries and mount tanks to carry water or nutrients for crops - water can be added for nothing more than additional weight. The top platform would also have a small crane/mechanical arm to facilitate loading and unloading. The generic nature of the moving platform would be such that accessories from many other brands of tractors could be used. Top speed would be about 10 mph (16kph) The platform should be capable of carrying at least a thousand pounds - (450 kg) when not pulling a plow, ect in additional to handling the weight of the platform itself. I don't know how to use any CAD software yet, but what I am imagining would look like the attached photo, with the exception that the tracks would be mounted under the vehicle to give it more ground clearance. This could be a very bare bones, utility vehicle that could easily be modified for almost any purpose.

I choose electric motors to reduce the complexity of the vehicle - no transmission needed, no drive train, no dinofuel, etc. Electric motors have very few parts, and with a little bit of training, can be repaired by most people. There also would not be any obnoxious smells. Electric motors also lend themselves more readily to use a remote control. Can you imagine sitting on a lounge under an umbrella, sipping lemon tea while plowing or mowing your land? It still would require some additional electronics to make it safe but I am enamored by the idea.

Cost? Just by poking around to some mfg sales rooms in China, I think 4 x 5hp low rpm motors would be about US$1,500. The rest of the expense - metal, welding, track and suspension, I have not looked into yet.

What are your thoughts? I am pretty familiar with small lawn mower tractors but have never driving any other kind of tractor.

[rambler]

A lot of parts of your concept have good merit.

All put together, there are problems.

You never mentioned batteries. They are the bane of the whole electric concept.

A good 15-20 hp compact diesel tractor from Japan or Korea will be cheaper to run and own over the next 20 years than your electrical machine. And has more power than your batteries. An idea gaining a lot of thought on the big ag tractors is to go with a diesel-electric setup like trains run. The transmission and clutch deal is simpler to handle big hp, and other positives. But one loses most of those positives on less than 250 hp at this time, and exchanging the diesel power for a battery bank is just a real deal killer for any serious work. Recharge times, battery cost, battery life, pretty poor deals. If all electric cars continue to be developed and subsidized by the govt, perhaps in a few decades some hand me down technology will be more easily adapted from that - use blemished equipment not good enough for road travel but ok to have in the back yard....

Tracks are neat, until you want to turn on your lawn, the. The damage they do becomes apparent! As well when they wear out, the cost of all the alignment pieces in the carriage becomes very spendy. Sadly, with the cost of tires these days maybe the prices will get closer sometime soon, but today, tracks are a spendy complicated thing. They work great on huge hp machines and to travel over soft snow or mud, but are an expensive option.

I'm not trying to be a negative nelly, progress comes when people invent new stuff for us to work with. I'm just stating the challenges your tractor will face - too costly, too hard on the lawn, and higher maitenence for both the tracks and the battery system.

Paul

[Johnny Dolittle]

Here is one of the better electric tractor threads we have had here and includes a trac machine

45 hp electric tractor

[pengyou]

Thanks for the link and ideas! Suggestions, both positive and negative, are equally welcome. The "negative suggestions" in my mind are especially welcome.

I have not yet purchased land but I find that as I get older, my body prefers warm winters, or very short, less cold winters. Combine that with my beer budget (lite beer at that) and some personal preferences, it is likely that the soil I will be working with will be semi-desert - sandy, in an arid climate. I don't have to worry about lawns, though I had never thought about that aspect. I am guessing that tracks would be a little easier to work with on sandy soil...and, in the event the area that I buy in does receive snow (that is a possibility with a few of the places that I am looking at) the tracks will be even more helpful.

Some of the appeal of making it electric: it reduces the amount of petroleum that I need (gives me greater independence), it can safely be used in my green house or even in my home (no obnoxious fumes), I am much more adept at taking electric motors apart than I am at gas or diesel engines (especially if it works out that I can use hub motors and not need any kind of drive line or transmission), the tractor becomes a mobile power supply for other electric appliances if necessary. Maybe it is easier to catch my idea if you think of an intelligent, powered wheel barrow, or "i-barrow" with a small crane/arm attached to it or a little droid like R2D2

One thing I am looking for now is a way to determine the hp/torque needed to make my little "droid" pull a small plow, discus, or operate a rototiller, plus the requirements of a pto. The ideal size of the machine would be 3' wide, to make it easily fit into the greenhouse or through other doors. 3' or 4' would be the ideal length.

[Alice In TX/MO]

http://www.greenlaunches.com/transpo...-equipment.php

http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/s...#axzz2w84MG4eJ

[Johnny Dolittle]

We do have a HT member who has physical issues and he made an electric all purpose vehicle that he uses in the garden for ride-along harvesting.

Maybe someone has time to search.... his posts included photos