Tractor Converted From Gas Engine To Electric
“I converted our 1978 Hefty-G cultivating tractor from a gas engine to electric motor drive,” says Reid Allaway of Tourne-sol Farm in Quebec. “These tractors were built by Haxco in Wisconsin as an un-updated copy of the Allis-Chalmers model G, and while they're great machines in many ways, their weakness is the Renault engine. I replaced it with an 8-in. dia. DC motor and controller acquired from old forklifts.”
The 40-volt lithium battery pack is a home-built assembly of second-hand units that Allaway bought at an auction. Charging requires 2 to 6 hrs. with the onboard 1.6 kW charger and only about 42 cents per charge. Fully charged batteries are good for several hours of work.
Allaway says the electric motor can deliver up to 15 kW (20 hp.) under maximum load, but typically only draws 3 to 5 kW for most weeding tasks. “The original engine was a Renault 4-cyl. that never put out more than 20 hp., and I think nearly 10 of that was noise,” Allaway says in jest. “Now we’ve got a quiet, nimble, and exhaust-free tractor that’s always ready to work and is better at everything it does.”
Allaway says the conversion project proved demanding, time-wise, because he removed many components, including the transmission and differential, dismantled and inspected them, replaced parts as needed, and reassembled them into the tractor. The electric motor mounted easily in place of the engine, and the battery pack sits on top of the motor in a custom frame and air-cooled steel case purpose-built for the application. The space between the battery pack and operator seat holds a large air-cooled enclosure housing the motor controller, charger, contractors, and other logic and power control hardware. The space under one fender that previously held the gas tank now holds a 12-volt accessory battery and an industrial cord reel for plugging in the charger.
The tractor is equipped with multiple weeding tools, including a 4-torch flame weeder from Flame Engineering on the front, a Buddingh basket weeder on the belly mount, and Schmotzer MPP parallelogram units on the rear to cultivate the tire tracks. A second toolbar for the belly mount carries more Schmotzer MPP row units equipped with goose feet and Tilmor finger weeders. Both belly mount tools are easy to swap as they roll out sideways from under the tractor on removable wheels.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tourne-Sol Co-operative Farm, 1025 Chemin St-Dominique, les Cedres, Quebec, Canada J7T 1P5 (ph 450-452-4271; info@fermetournesol.qc.ca).
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Tractor Converted From Gas Engine To Electric REPOWERED EQUIPMENT “I converted our 1978 Hefty-G cultivating tractor from a gas engine to electric motor drive ” says Reid Allaway of Tourne-sol Farm in Quebec “These tractors were built by Haxco in Wisconsin as an un-updated copy of the Allis Chalmer model G and while they are great machines in many ways their weakness is the Renault engine I removed it and replaced it with an 8-in dia DC motor and controller acquired from old forklifts ” The 40-volt lithium battery pack is a home-built assembly of second-hand units that Allaway bought at an auction Charging requires from 2 to 6 hrs with the onboard 1 6kW charger and only about 42 cents per charge Fully charged batteries are good for several hours of work Allaway says the electric motor can deliver up to 15kW 20 hp under maximum load but typically only draws 3 to 5kW for most weeding tasks “The original engine was a Renault 4-cyl that never put out more than 20 horsepower and I think nearly 10 of that was noise ” Allaway says in jest “Now we’ve got a quiet nimble and exhaust-free tractor that’s always ready to work and is better at everything it does ” Allaway says the conversion project proved demanding time-wise because he removed many components including the transmission and differential dismantled and inspected them replaced parts as needed and re-assembled them into the tractor The electric motor mounted easily in place of the engine and the battery pack sits on top of the motor in a custom frame and air-cooled steel case purpose-built for the application The space between the battery pack and operator seat holds a large air-cooled enclosure housing the motor controller charger contractors and other logic and power control hardware The space under one fender that previously held the gas tank now holds a 12-volt accessory battery and an industrial cord reel for plugging in the charger The tractor is equipped with multiple weeding tools including a 4-torch flame weeder from Flame Engineering on the front a Buddingh basket weeder on the belly mount and Schmotzer MPP parallelogram units on the rear to cultivate the tire tracks A second toolbar for the belly mount carries more Schmotzer MPP row units equipped with goose feet and Tilmor finger weeders Both belly mount tools are easy to swap as they roll out sideways from under the tractor on removeable wheels Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tourne-Sol Co-operative Farm 1025 Chemin St-Dominique les Cedres Quebec Canada J7T 1P5 ph 450 452-4271; info@fermetournesol qc ca
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