Electric tractors

[The Artful Bodger]

We do not see many of these..

https://imgbox.com/sELWXwag

[RB211]

I had to rip on a YouTuber that took a John Deere 140 hydrostatic tractor, removed the hydrostatic drive which is built like a tank, removed the whole drivetrain really which meant all the hydraulics, and replaced it with a 200$ Chinese electric transaxle, and the plow up front is some chinsy crappy thing that uses an electric linear servo to raise the plow. The idiot had no idea what the original 140 was capable of doing and that the original plow was hydraulic and could also be used for grading. Think he stopped making any more videos.

[Richard P Wilson]

Some of the big draglines and stripping shovels in opencast mines were (maybe still are) electric.

[The Artful Bodger]

I had to rip on a YouTuber that took a John Deere 140 hydrostatic tractor, removed the hydrostatic drive which is built like a tank, removed the whole drivetrain really which meant all the hydraulics, and replaced it with a 200$ Chinese electric transaxle, and the plow up front is some chinsy crappy thing that uses an electric linear servo to raise the plow. The idiot had no idea what the original 140 was capable of doing and that the original plow was hydraulic and could also be used for grading. Think he stopped making any more videos.

You must have been pleased with yourself over that!

[RB211]

You must have been pleased with yourself over that!

Don't mess with the JD 140 Mafia.

[The Artful Bodger]

Is it true the JD 140s are actually made by Tonka?

[RB211]

Is it true the JD 140s are actually made by Tonka?

Last ones were made in 1974

[The Artful Bodger]

Tonka were big in 1974!

[JRouche]

Hahahaa, I'm an Idiot. I was thinking Electromotive Train power plants. Thats why I said so. Stupid me, Hahahaa.. JR

[JustJim]

Some of the big draglines and stripping shovels in opencast mines were (maybe still are) electric.

Yes- draglines are all-electric. They don't move much so it's relatively easy to run cables out to the machine (as opposed to machines that have to push or carry material for a living).

[Glug]

A buddy and I got a couple of cheap Taylor-Dunn carts at auction a few years back. As spec'd, mine is mostly a people hauler with approximately 300 lbs of load capacity. His is a utility hauler with a flat deck. Those have substantial capacity - hauling 1500-3000 lbs, and significant tow capacity. We paid approximately $100 and $300.

I got mine to use in the yard, for light hauling work. It's much better than the wear and tear of frequent tractor starts/stops. And so much less pollution. My buddy has a more full on farm, with dozen's of fruit trees, etc.

[CarlByrns]

General Electric made a whole line of electric lawn tractors in the 1970's the Elektrak IIRC.
Toro builds some pretty big fully-electric mowers for turf professionals and golf courses. They're very quiet and smooooth.

[RB211]

With better battery technology, there's no reason to not have electric tractors, as long as capabilities are matched.
I just pressure washed my driveway and sidewalk due to the HOA sending threats of fines. The pressure washer is basically one I built from a Harbor Freight Predator engine and a pump from Italy. Two years went by since it was used and I was a tad nervous to bring it out and use it knowing full well it had gasoline in the tank with Ethanol. I had ran the engine dry with the fuel shut off before putting it away last time.
To my surprise it started up on the second pull. I had put fresh "non ethanol" fuel in the tank mixed with the old fuel. I could only get the engine to idle, any attempt to increase the load or throttle resulted in the engine dying. I guess some of the jets were clogged. Little by little I got the engine to run faster and faster and started putting a load on it. Eventually it was running like it should. The non ethanol fuel must of cleaned out the jets. All of this was done my last day at home before leaving, so it was a huge relief that it eventually ran to keep the HOA Karen's at bay.
Point being, small ICE engines are a pain in the ass, electric would be welcomed if capabilities were matched.

[J Tiers]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Point being, small ICE engines are a pain in the ass, electric would be welcomed if capabilities were matched.

At least the ICE is fixable. I can design the electrics for a battery replacement mower etc, etc, I thoroughly understand them, but I don't like the electric ones. Everyone I know who has converted to electric has problems sooner or later.

Neighbor has an electric mower. Two years old. Battery can no longer mow the whole yard. It is failing fast. Battery now costs more than a new mower, but at least it is available (at least for now).

I can buy gas for an ICE that is 100 years old. I can clean the carburetor (or "mixer") for an ICE engine that is 100 years old. And it runs when the power is out (not uncommon, will be more common in future). And, if a needed part is NLA, often I can make a new one, or find a replacement from the junk motors.

When the battery for a particular model goes bad, and they do, you are stuck. Most places will not rebuild Li batteries (liability). You buy new, or you go without, or you do your own rebuild, or you kludge another pack in there, and find a charger to handle it. If that battery is NLA, too bad for you. Ditto for innards.... Parts are not available, schematics are not available, even the makers will not repair them, they just sell you a new one if they are still available.

Yes, "I" may actually be able to fix the thing after "reverse engineering" it (if I can get parts to fit). But the way electronics of newer types fail, there may be just a hole in the board where one or more parts were before they burned up. No fixing that easily, especially if you have no schematic to even tell you what was there.

As "tech level" increases, you "own" fewer and fewer things. More and more there is no repair available or practical and you just have to toss your investment and buy a new one. You only "own" what you can fix, or get fixed.

I "own" the ICE powered stuff, unless and until the govmint makes it illegal to own, use, or repair them.

[RB211]

...

Yes, that is all very much true. Since I've started to make my own Li-ion packs for my R/C hobbies, I wouldn't feel too put out to make replacement packs, especially if the protection circuit was not part of the pack. With ownership, I'm sure they put circuits in place to prevent the end user for doing such stuff which would mean gutting the entire system of their garbage electronics and wiring the mower up like it was an R/C airplane with open hardware and open software, which I am a huge proponent of.