Here's an interesting Mower Conversion. They have taken a Club Cadet Zero Turn Gas Mower and Converted it to an Electric Powered Mower. With Solar Charging, as well. This was not a Cheap Build and he compares the Costs. Gas vs Electric Conversion, for us. The Video was a little confusing to me at first. It starts out. With Starting the Mower, as the Gas Powered Version. I'm judging this, by the Sound I hear. Then, it cuts to the Mower Running on Electric Power. The Blades are Loud When Spinning. So, It's actually hard to tell the difference, between the sound of a Gas Club Cadet and an Electric Version, by listening to the Sounds on the Video. Actually, for a minute there. I thought... This is a Fraud! But, After watching and listening a couple of times. I figured out, that it's just an unexplained Switch, in the Video. I think... Anyway... There are some really interesting Conversion Pics and Videos on the site (links below). Though the Details of the Builds are not on the site. As far as I can tell. They seem to be on On his Reddit thread, according to the HackaDay Article (where I found the info). Check em out below...

Don

Upstate Electric Zero turn conversion

Video Link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSefNXOrZ0U

The economics of electric mower operation

October 2, 2013Uncategorized

Let’s break down the cost of operation for an electric mower vs. the gas counterpart.

From some quick googling it seems the cub cadet zero turn uses 1.8 gallons of fuel per hour. Let’s round this down to 1.5GPH. Fuel cost in this area is $3.50/gallon, so

1.5GPH x $3.50 = $5.25/hour

Our electrified zero turn mows for approximately 1 hour on a 4KWH battery pack. The electricity price in this area is $.13/KWH, so

4KWH x $.13 = $.52/hour

But the electric zero turn costs more upfront than the gas version. The total part cost breakdown is as follows

3x Enerdel ME330-049 Energy @$480/ea = $1460

ME-1004 Double brush 48v motor = $525

Soliton Jr. Motor controller = $1750

PMP-450 pump, radiator, tubing = $250

——-Grand total——- $3985 dollars

So the operational cost difference is $5.25 – $.52 = $4.73/hour

And the payback time for the conversion based purely on fuel cost savings is…..

$3985 / $4.73 = 842.49 hours of operation

Wheel horse vs. Man

http://upstateelectric607.com/

Electrified Yard Equipment Hauls Grass

[AmpEater] spent the summer converting yard equipment from internal combustion to electric power. The conversions run from a relatively tame Wheel Horse, to an insane Cub Cadet. The Wheel Horse lost its Kohler engine in favor of a hydraulic pump motor from a crown forklift. 48 volt power is supplied by MK lead acid gel cells. An Alltrax 300 amp controller keeps this horse reigned in.

On his Reddit thread, [AmpEater] says he is especially proud of his Cub Cadet zero turn ride on mower. For those who aren’t up on lawn implement terminology, a “zero turn” means a mower with zero turning radius. Zero turn mowers use two large wheels and tank style steering to turn within their own radius. We bet this style mower would also make a pretty good robot conversion, however [AmpEater’s] zero turn is still setup for cutting the grass.