Electric Drive Motor Retrofit

[MossRoad]

What do they say about 1 motor powering the whole thing VS multiple motors for drive, PTO, etc...?

 

[JD-Beach]

Everyone I spoke to recommends a single motor powering the whole thing.

 

[JD-Beach]

The California team recommends a 96-volt motor … Curtis 1238-7601 brushless AC motor, 6.9-inches by 11.4 inches. It appears that this would fit nicely into the PT tub. The batteries are Lithium-Ion, each 60.8-volt, 2.6 kwh, each 8 by 6 by 14 inches high and 38 lbs. He recommends starting with 2 batteries. (may need to add more for extended run time). The motor by itself is around $3600 and the batteries are $735. It becomes clear how the cost of these projects gets big quickly.

 

[CADplans]

Everyone I spoke to recommends a single motor powering the whole thing.

All the electric fork lifts I have ever seen had separate motors for wheel drive and hydraulic mast lift,,

The GE Elec-Trak even used three motors to power the mowing deck,,

 

[JD-Beach]

True, if we were doing a ground up design, separate motors would result in a more efficient product. However, there are inherent benefits to using the hydraulic solutions that already exist on our PT's. The one-motor solution allows us to benefit from those solutions … albeit while sacrificing some efficiencies.

 

[ptsg]

All the electric fork lifts I have ever seen had separate motors for wheel drive and hydraulic mast lift,,

The reason for that is just to avoid using clutches or complex power shift transmissions. It's just easier and better to use two electric motors. On mine, the motor bolts straight to the diff, while a second smaller motor powers the pump.

For a PT application, since everything is already fully hydraulic, one electric motor powering all the pumps is likely the way to go.

 

[JD-Beach]

I stumbled on this electric loader … AVANT e-series

e series – Avant loaders

Can't seem to find pricing info yet.

 

[RegL]

I stumbled on this electric loader … AVANT e-series

e series – Avant loaders

Can't seem to find pricing info yet.

I noticed the avant has a hydrostatic transmission so I assume not electric wheel motors.

 

[JD-Beach]

Well I've finally received some real pricing. ...

$4,280 for the battery and connections 72-volt
$4,100 for the motor, controller, motor mounts and couplings
$6,325 for the labor and some machine shop time
$14,709 for the total electric conversion

The pricing is from ShockWave Motors, an EV shop in Russellville, TN

Add to this the price of another PT-425, either used or new, … and it appears to be getting a little pricey !

Not sure how far this idea is going to go. I already have some expensive hobbies and it may be hard to sell another one!

 

[MossRoad]

Ouch!

 

[MikeOConnor]

You guys just made my day. And JD... my gracious you are the man! Way to go taking this all the way to locating a vendor and getting a price quote. Many MANY thanks to all who contributed to this thread. JD, I'm assuming you didn't pull the trigger, right?

Here's my design goal: I want one of my PT-1850's electrified in such a way that I can do all the normal stuff I do for 4 hours. Recharge overnight.

Here's where I think I'll pick this up again. It seems to me that what's needed is a prototype. I'm going to call Terry and the folks at Shockwave and see if they'd be game. Here's what I'm thinking. Terry gets us access to a PT (new, used, any size) that doesn't have a motor in it at the moment. Shockwave gets to bolt a motor and a battery on to the hydraulic pumps. We run the durn thing through a bunch of test scenarios and measure the heck out of the motor/battery performance and power-consumption. I'll write checks for a while and share the results here.

JD, any thoughts about this idea given what you know?

 

[MossRoad]

Wow! Where's the popcorn? I'm gonna watch this movie. :thumbsup:

 

[MikeOConnor]

I just called Terry and struck out on doing the prototype at their place (he's thinking the owner will choke on the liability issues -- can't say as I blame him).

And the Shockwave folks public phone number isn't being answered. Hey JD, how recently did you talk to them? Maybe they've folded up shop, or changed their number?

Terry came up with a good alternative though -- I could haul one of my PTs to a conversion shop around here and have them do the prototyping. I'll start trolling my pals up in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) and see what I shake loose.

 

[m5040]

If you go through with this you may want closed center hydraulics like the kind John Deere used. It builds up pressure to all the valves then the pumps go to no flow and the pressurized circuits are highly responsive due to the pressure not having to build up with demand. You could just use a pressure switch to turn the pump motor off/on. I would use 3 motors, 1 for each circuit, then you could size the motors to the demand. No sense using too large a motor if you didn't need it. The steering could even be a closed circuit polarity reversible pump/motor that would not need an expensive steering valve as then it could be done with electric switches. It may even work better on the drive circuit with a rheostat to control direction and speed instead of the tram. Put a solar panel on the cab shield so it can recharge when dormant.

 

[JD-Beach]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the response and the interest. By the way, I enjoyed touring around your PrairieHaven.com site. Your solar installation is most interesting.

I spoke to John McMillian at shockwave motors <John@shockwavemotors.com> … I have his number as … 423-754-6067. I think that he's still in the business. He is real nice guy and was very helpful. Feel free to mention my previous correspondence and phone calls with him to refresh his memory.

Shockwave motors is in Russellville, Tenn and is approx. 130 miles from Tazewell. My idea was to have Terry send a completed powertrac over to Shockwave motors and let Shockwave do the retrofit. Then ship the unit back to my place in Virginia Beach. I thought that I'd travel out to shockwave and spend a week or so with the team to observe (and perhaps help with) the conversion.

I thought of doing the conversion as a "do-it-yourself" project, but having done dozens of projects over the years it seems that it is always well worth the time and money to have someone with experience on the team. They have undoubtedly learned some of the lessons that would save time and money.

JD

 

[JD-Beach]

How to Mulch | Mulch like a pro - YouTube

Here is a link to a YouTube video showing a front end loader attached to an electric zero-turn mower.

Hope everyone is well.

JD

 

[JD-Beach]

Front End Loader....ON A ZERO TURN!!!!! At the Gie Expo 219 - YouTube

Battery powered equipment handling some standard tractor chores … interesting !

JD

 

[MossRoad]

Interesting

 

[PowerTracManiac]

Above seems like a nice platform for small very jobs.
In relation to the original poster, what about making your electric Power trac 2 wheel drive only, with articulating steering to reduce the cost and complexity?

 

[m5040]

Here is a look at diesel electrics:

http://www.mtzequipment.com/sites/d...rive in Agriculrural Tractors MTZ 3623 R2.pdf