Sit-Down Cart Works Like A Zero-Turn Riding Mower
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“I love gardening but have a bad back so I built this sit-down, solar-powered picking machine. It also can be used to plant and to pull weeds,” says Randy Graham, Conway, S.C., who used parts from a powered wheelchair to build the machine.
The rig is fabricated out of 1/8-in. thick, 1-in. sq. tubing and is designed for two riders. It works like a zero turn riding mower in that the front wheels swivel as the larger rear wheels control the turn. As a result, there’s no need for front wheel steering. The rig’s two drive motors, wiring harness and joystick controls are off a powered wheel chair. A roller chain connects the motors to sprockets on a pair of driveshafts.
“The two motors operate on 24 volts and are already gear reduction motors,” says Graham. “However, because my picker machine has larger rear tires than the tires on the wheelchair, and because I wanted a lot of torque, I decided to gear the motors down even more to a 4.6 to 1 ratio. I did that by mounting a 13-tooth sprocket on each motor and a 60-tooth sprocket on the wheel’s drive axles, using #35 chain to connect the sprockets.
“The machine’s top speed is about the speed of a walk, but can be slowed down to a crawl by using the wheelchair’s original joystick speed control.”
Four T-105’s/6-volt Trojan golf cart batteries are mounted on racks above the drive wheels. The four batteries are hooked in series for 24-volt setup and help boost traction on the drive wheels.
On top of the cart are two 12-volt, 80-watt solar panels hooked in series. The electricity runs through a 20-amp, 24-volt charge controller that keeps the batteries charged.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Randy Graham, 6117 Laris Lane, Conway, S.C. 29527 (ph 843 251-7778; fire_man88@yahoo.com).
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Sit-Down Cart Works Like A Zero-Turn Riding Mower MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT “I love gardening but have a bad back so I built this sit-down solar-powered picking machine It also can be used to plant and to pull weeds ” says Randy Graham Conway S C who used parts from a powered wheelchair to build the machine The rig is fabricated out of 1/8-in thick 1-in sq tubing and is designed for two riders It works like a zero turn riding mower in that the front wheels swivel as the larger rear wheels control the turn As a result there’s no need for front wheel steering The rig’s two drive motors wiring harness and joystick controls are off a powered wheel chair A roller chain connects the motors to sprockets on a pair of driveshafts “The two motors operate on 24 volts and are already gear reduction motors ” says Graham “However because my picker machine has larger rear tires than the tires on the wheelchair and because I wanted a lot of torque I decided to gear the motors down even more to a 4 6 to 1 ratio I did that by mounting a 13-tooth sprocket on each motor and a 60-tooth sprocket on the wheel’s drive axles using #35 chain to connect the sprockets “The machine’s top speed is about the speed of a walk but can be slowed down to a crawl by using the wheelchair’s original joystick speed control ” Four T-105’s/6-volt Trojan golf cart batteries are mounted on racks above the drive wheels The four batteries are hooked in series for 24-volt setup and help boost traction on the drive wheels On top of the cart are two 12-volt 80-watt solar panels hooked in series The electricity runs through a 20-amp 24-volt charge controller that keeps the batteries charged Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Randy Graham 6117 Laris Lane Conway S C 29527 ph 843 251-7778; fire_man88@yahoo com
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