Sit-Down Cart Works Like Zero-Turn Riding Mower

Sit-Down Cart Works Like Zero-Turn Riding Mower CROPS Miscellaneous “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 “Wiring everything up was a simple job because I used everything off the wheelchair including the wiring harness I had to lengthen the wires some because my sit-down cart is so much bigger than the wheelchair ” says Graham
    Graham finished building the cart in early December “I plan to use the cart next spring to transplant collards cabbages onions tomatoes broccoli brussel sprouts and peppers ” he says “I’ll plant carrots mustard turnips and so forth on wide rows and be able to sit on the cart to weed and thin crops as needed I plan to mount a metal rack just above my legs to hold buckets that I’ll use for picking and for holding the transplants I also plan to mount a couple of fans and a cooler rack The solar panels will provide some shade ”
    The joystick control is mounted just overhead where it’s out of the way and can be moved from one side of the cart to the other so Graham can drive the cart from either side “The seats can be moved about 6 in from side to side to get closer to the row middle or farther away I just push the lever forward to go ahead and pull back on it to go in reverse I push the joystick from side to side to turn ” notes Graham
    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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