Electric Tractor Conversion

[DeepBass9]

No, I have no idea how to do this, but just putting it out there for if anyone has any smart ideas.

I just spent a few thou on diesel, discing and planting and so on, but it strikes me that a tractor is probably a good candidate to convert to an electric motor, as a lot of torque is what is required. 

Also, my tractor spends a lot of time basking in the sun on most days, and generally is only used to move things around the farm etc, apart from when there is actual cultivation to be done. So if it were battery powered, it could spend a lot of time charging, compared to the number of hours it is in use.

I wonder how many Ah of batteries you would need to drive it, and what sort of electric motor you would need to use. I have an MF 165, which is supposed to be 65hp, or 48kw, but it is a bit aged so I would be surprised if its max power is more than 35 kw. 

Thought exercise for now......

[DeepBass9]

Thinking further about this, a better idea would be to try and get a light tractor like a vaaljapie or similar with a broken motor, but intact gearbox and try and convert that. I'm just not sure what sort of electric motor would be required.

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5 hours ago, DeepBass9 said:

MF 165

I learned to drive on a combination of 1) David Brown 990, 2) Massey Ferguson 265, and 3) 3-Series Land Rover. I've always had a soft spot for the Massey. My father in law has a 245.

I think there is no chance of charging it with PV panels fitted to the vehicle itself. A square meter of PV will generate about 1kwh a day, and that won't even power the vehicle for an hour. You could probably hitch a longish trailer to it, and put a roof on the trailer made of PV panels, but could you get more than 6 square meter of roof on that?

If you want something to lug things about, get an old VW-golf mk1 or even an old beatle, strip it down to the frame, cut off the back and convert it into a bakkie, and then fit an electric motor :-)

[DeepBass9]

I wasn,t thinking necessarily of fitting the panels to the tractor, just charging it from solar . I'm not the first person with this idea though : 

 

[DeepBass9]

Non running tractors are easy to come by a quick gumtree search gives : https://www.gumtree.co.za/a-farm-vehicles-equipment/east-london/fordson-major-for-sale/1002157562220910663844909

Or https://www.gumtree.co.za/a-farm-vehicles-equipment/pietermaritzburg/mitsubishi-250d-4wd-diesel/1002162526820910823886909

https://www.olx.co.za/item/1051949153

https://www.olx.co.za/item/1051156862

Etc

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That looks awesome! Reply on the video and ask him what size motor he used!

[DeepBass9]

So in theory all that is required is a donor tractor, a suitable electic motor, and a bunch of batteries. You could take the top end off the engine and the diesel tank to make space for batteries, and then somehow connect the electric motor to the crank, maybe on the flywheel ring gear? 

[DeepBass9]

Golf cart motor :

http://www.electricmotorsport.com/me1202-brushless-motor-24-72v-5000rpm-10-kw-cont-24-kw-pk.html

And maybe some golf cart batteries (which brand would that be?)  And I'm in business......

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21 minutes ago, DeepBass9 said:

take the top end off the engine

With some tractors you can remove the engine completely. With the David Brown 990 for example, the block sits on top and the sump bolts to the bottom, but you can remove both and just leave a hole. You don't even need the clutch assembly (you can just turn the motor off if you need to change gears), and you don't need the flywheel (no explosions that needs smoothing out), so you can probably tie the electric motor to the splines where the clutch plate used to sit quite easily. The electric motor could sit low in the frame if it's an old frame-type tractor like that.

 

[DeepBass9]

Ok, on the more 'modern' tractors the engine is an integral part of the tractor, but a real oldie like that DB or a Farmall might be just the trick. A 10kw motor would be fine for light work like moving things around. You would need quite a few batteries though, probably 200 Ah at 48V at least for an hour or 2 run time.

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Just now, DeepBass9 said:

more 'modern' tractors the engine is an integral part of the tractor

That's certainly true for the Masseys. The 265 is from 1977 and that thing was already like that :-)

[DeepBass9]

I'll keep my eyes open for a tractor, this sounds like it could work!

[DeepBass9]

Another thought is that once I have a big mobile battery pack, I can attach an inverter to it and use it for power tools etc, so there is no need to use a generator.

[Chris Hobson]

Park the tractor near the house and now you can double you battery bank. Will give you greater autonomy as you going nowhere with the tractor in the rain.

[SilverNodashi]

The one advantage of going all electric on a tractor, is that you could have a nice big battery bank as counter weight

[maxomill]

just a quick 2c worth

what about a dc motor running hydraulic pump and hydraulic motor running the gearbox

by controlling the speed of dc motor you control the speed of the tractor

or

by simple hydraulic valve you control the speed of the tractor

 

cheers

 

[Jo Smith]

Hi DeepBass9,

 I just seen your note on ev conversion of an old MF165. Did you succeed and did you learn anything you would be willing to share....

 Jo Smith ([email protected])

[DeepBass9]

No never got any further than an idea. You can buy electric tractors new these days though.