DeepBass9

You may just need to be careful. 48V may damage a 24V charger. Possibly put a red led or something that only lights up when it's configured for 48V to warn you not to connect the charger.

Easiest I can think of is a 2 pole changeover. Wired something like this:

For a large bank, it is better to have one string of large batteries, rather than many parallel strings of smaller batteries due to balancing issues.

Is it actual asbestos? That is a huge problem and majorly carcinogenic.

Hmmm, maybe you over did it a bit and the batteries are not fully charged? The instruction in my house is that all of the appliances on that list can only be used when the sun is shining!

Quad bike acquired : R2000 . Will collect later in the week and and see if any repairs are required. The current owner has all of the bodywork, seat etc. He is going to remove and keep the engine :

I would rather look at running all my loads with a grid tie inverter and panels, that way your saving is on your entire electricity bill, and you dont have the system dedicated to solving one problem. You can then add further panels at your leisure to bring  your entire bill down further.

I would rather look at running all my loads with a grid tie inverter and panels, that way your saving is on your entire electricity bill, and you dont have the system dedicated to solving one problem. You can then add further panels at your leisure to bring  your entire bill down further.

I expect 500 000 km from that engine, I've done 150 000 in 8 years, so it is due for an engine overhaul in 2038. 🙂

Hmmm, maybe you over did it a bit and the batteries are not fully charged? The instruction in my house is that all of the appliances on that list can only be used when the sun is shining!

You are trying to solve a problem that I don't have! A R30k quad bike defeats the purpose of the exercise, which is to have cheaper transportation that what I currently use. (Which is admittedly either a 4.2 landcruiser, 3.0 Colt bakkie or 4.0 tractor, so not too much of a challenge!)

Cost is the problem there  R15k vs R2k.

You are trying to solve a problem that I don't have! A R30k quad bike defeats the purpose of the exercise, which is to have cheaper transportation that what I currently use. (Which is admittedly either a 4.2 landcruiser, 3.0 Colt bakkie or 4.0 tractor, so not too much of a challenge!)

Send me a PM with what you need. 

If I was in your shoes, I'd probably flog the 3 phase pumps and buy single phase pumps though.
Otherwise you're just getting more heavily invested in 3 phase.
The pumps won't last forever, do you really want to buying another 3Ph pump because you now have a VFD next time?
 

Do you work for Standard Bank by any chance?

You have to derate the engine power by about 10% as well for altitude.

8A at 220V is about 1800W, which is close to the capacity of that generator. 

Which is the other one? Case IH? Certainly not Deere.

That's why they are only driven to classic car shows. To visit the support group.

That's why they are only driven to classic car shows. To visit the support group.

Why not buy another axpert that you are familiar with and just keep it as backup/standby?

I am trying to figure out what size of motor is required for this conversion. a 2kW motor and controller at 48V are readily available. Is 2kW enough? The weight of the quad plus rider and batteries will probably be 150-200kg max. I will gear it so the top speed will be about 20kmh. 
An electric motor produces maximum torque from low revs, compared to a petrol engine which produces maximum torque and power at high revs. If I compare the power specs to a tractor for instance, which has a similar top speed and low rev torque: I have a MF165 which probably produced 65hp when it rolled out of the factory in 1977 at sea level, but now it is probably more like 50hp, and still manages to move the 2.5 tonnes of its own mass plus whatever you are pulling at up to 20-25km/h, so power to weight ratio of that is 50hp/3000kg. 0.016. Or the other way around 3000kg/50hp = 60kg/hp. So for a 2000W electric motor (2.7hp) you should be able to move 162kg around with tractor like performance, which is the actual objective.
Another way to look at it is if you hitched 2.7 horses to the front of a quad bike, would they be able to canter with it? I don't see why not! (Apologies for the mixed metric and imperial units)

If you go 12V for lighting, think of setting it up as a ring feed type of system, where the batteries are in the centre and the lights on a circular cable. There is a lot of voltage drop using 12V so you don't want too long cables, otherwise you need to use quite thick cables. With a ring feed you effectively double the cable thickness and don't have some lights at the end of a very long cable.
12V is very cheap to set up. You can buy fuses switches and lights at Midas for next to nothing. Remember the fuses! 

If you go 12V for lighting, think of setting it up as a ring feed type of system, where the batteries are in the centre and the lights on a circular cable. There is a lot of voltage drop using 12V so you don't want too long cables, otherwise you need to use quite thick cables. With a ring feed you effectively double the cable thickness and don't have some lights at the end of a very long cable.
12V is very cheap to set up. You can buy fuses switches and lights at Midas for next to nothing. Remember the fuses!