Solar-powered Cub

[Buzzard Wing]

Interesting.... a Maine neighbor no less.

Like everyone says, it would be pretty difficult to make it practial. The only possibiliity I could come up with is some sort of hybrid may work. But it does make a good news story.

Larry

[Jeff M]

I found a little more info on this thing....

The Little Cub that Can

In Waterford, Maine, retired mechanical engineer John G. Howe plows, discs, rakes hay, tows up to 100 bales at a time — and even enters tractor pulls — all with an antique International Farmall Cub powered entirely by the sun.

A metal frame atop the old red tractor holds four photovoltaic panels. They supply electricity to nine 12-volt batteries stored in boxes on both sides of the tractor. The deep-cycle marine batteries cost $60 each. They feed a 10 horsepower DC motor mounted under the driver’s seat. The motor, heavy lead-acid batteries and 11-by-5-foot canopy all add lots of weight, which is exactly what a tractor needs for good traction, Howe says. He spent more than $5,000 converting his Cub to electric power, not counting the cost of the tractor. He says the power plant is more than ample.

“It definitely works!” Howe says. “That little bugger has more power than the tractor can handle. I limit the power to 100 amps maximum so I don’t rip the gears out of the old tractor.”

Howe lectures and writes prolifically about alternative energy and the declining oil supply. He also takes his solar-electric Cub to rural fairs around Maine, and he says it attracts an audience that he can tune into his main concerns. “It’s knee-deep in people all day long,” Howe says. “They love it. We use it to promote the energy cause.”

From lugging logs around his woodlot with a log chain and towing his wife’s Volvo, Howe already knew that his electric Cub was a pulling fool. But, out of curiosity, he entered it in a load-pulling contest at a fair last year. “I used second gear, let some air out of the tires and raised the hydraulics,” he says. “The front end came up. I couldn’t steer. After 40 or 50 feet, I started to head for a wall. I had to shut it down. I got a standing ovation when I drove out of there.”

[George Willer]

Everything the guy says is probably true about the tractor's power. But it's shameful for a guy who claims to be an engineer to mislead people into thinking he can sustain the power derived solely from the solar array for any length of time. The guy is a publicity driven charlatan. Anyone who has ever seen one of the old GE Electracks in action knows the power of batteries... but from solar cells, HOGWASH!

[Eugene]

he entered it in a load-pulling contest at a fair. “I used second gear, let some air out of the tires and raised the hydraulics,”

Jeff's quote is directly out of MotherEarth News.

The part that I don't understand is "raised the hydraulics". Either a new, different hydrualic system was added to the tractor or the engine was turning over (running from gasoline or being turned by the electric motor).

This thing smells as bad as all of the political advertisements currently on the media. Everything stated may be true, just miss leading, and the ads conclusion is no supported by the stated facts.

What do I know. Just my opinion.

Eugene

[Bigdog]

Maybe we should invite him to a CubFest or Cub Tug..........

[Eugene]

Maybe we should invite him to a CubFest or Cub Tug..........

Cub Tug. The guy pulled 40 or 50 feet. Not bad for a Cub with $5000- worth of upgrades.

Eugene

[kinelbor]

Maybe he mounted the panels on the tractor as a canopy? A very expensive canopy! I dont know much about solar panels, but arent they kinda delicate? It seems pretty cool to me, but feeding drive power through the pto seems like it would break that sliding collar really easy.

[George Willer]

It seems pretty cool to me, but feeding drive power through the pto seems like it would break that sliding collar really easy.

Nik,

That part sounds plausible. Consider this... the PTO is robust enough to stop the Cub's engine if it encounters a stoppage of some kind, so it must be robust enough.

Rick feeds the starting torque for the V-6 Cub through the PTO. Strange as it may seem, this instantaneous starting torque may be the greatest strain it ever sees and it's successful.

[Lurker Carl]

An electric tractor should run silently. There was noise throughout that video that sounded similar to a Cub engine running, even when no equipment was attached..

[Dale51]

Another observation, note that in the video he is pulling a wheel rake with his magic tractor. I'd like to see him drop a plow in the ground.

The rake he is using would make a cub talk to you just a little at the ground speed he is traveling.

The thing that has me baffled is running trans as back fed tru PTO and
if the tractor is original as stated the clutch has to be in the disengaged
position. All this is using a lot of HP.

Number two thing is how long do you think the PTO shaft will last before
it twisted off or the engaging splines twist and last the bearing burns out.
And at 100 amps those battery's would not last an hour even with the solar panel.

To me this is a environmentalist wacko nut that wants to be on the news
the real word here is mental.

MY $.02