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Look at that Cub! It is ELECTRIC!
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 12:51 pm
by drspiff
No, I'm not talking about a dazzling paint job, or one of George Willer's creations. I mean an electric
Cub. As in
solar powered...
What will they think of next?
Rick (mining the treasures of the net) Dulas
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:39 pm
by tomten farm
Looks like a gas motor to me.
what was the web reference?
joe
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:42 pm
by RedNed
Cool.......Next - Hydrogen..... Then we would say we went green? Nah never green
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:48 pm
by George Willer
RedNed wrote:Cool.......Next - Hydrogen..... Then we would say we went green? Nah never green
Green or not hydrogen as a fuel is a step backward and a farce! Same with the (pretend)
solar Cub. It needs another 1/2 acre of collectors.
That conversion is like mine... just for novelty and not to be taken seriously.
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:55 pm
by Rick Prentice
Looks to me like it might be for-real
Weight: 2400 pounds including driver, on-board solar array, and 1000-pound battery pack.
Gearing and Drive Train: The solar-powered Cub uses a 1.6:1 tooth-belt drive from an Advanced K-91 motor driving through the 1:1 PTO shaft. The clutch to the gasoline motor is blocked out unless needed to rotate the hydraulic pump. A hydraulic disk brake on the input shaft eliminates the dangerous braking problem common to free-wheeling electric drive vehicles.
Recharging: The Cub needs about 20 Amps (2.5 Hp) to power itself in soft ground. This makes the 5 Amp solar input significant enough to justify the on-board, four-panel array. This is especially true if the Cub is used for light, sporadic work, to charge other vehicles, or supplement residential PV systems.
Work Capacity: The Cub will provide up to 5 Hp for light 12" plowing or pulling a six-foot, double harrow in previously tilled areas. The total power requirement of 7.5 Hp is a drain of 5Kw or 55 Amps. The battery pack will provide this power for over three hours or enough to plow ½ acre or harrow a smooth one acre.
Rick
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:11 pm
by George Willer
Rick(billyandmillie) wrote:Looks to me like it might be for-real
Weight: 2400 pounds including driver, on-board solar array, and 1000-pound battery pack.
Gearing and Drive Train: The solar-powered Cub uses a 1.6:1 tooth-belt drive from an Advanced K-91 motor driving through the 1:1 PTO shaft. The clutch to the gasoline motor is blocked out unless needed to rotate the hydraulic pump. A hydraulic disk brake on the input shaft eliminates the dangerous braking problem common to free-wheeling electric drive vehicles.
Recharging: The Cub needs about 20 Amps (2.5 Hp) to power itself in soft ground. This makes the 5 Amp solar input significant enough to justify the on-board, four-panel array. This is especially true if the Cub is used for light, sporadic work, to charge other vehicles, or supplement residential PV systems.
Work Capacity: The Cub will provide up to 5 Hp for light 12" plowing or pulling a six-foot, double harrow in previously tilled areas. The total power requirement of 7.5 Hp is a drain of 5Kw or 55 Amps. The battery pack will provide this power for over three hours or enough to plow ½ acre or harrow a smooth one acre.
Rick
It would take watching that thing plow the claimed 1/2 acre to a useful depth at CubFest 2008 to make me a believer. Maybe with another 1/2 ton of batteries it could plow a whole acre?
It's a real
novelty.
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:43 pm
by dirt devil
A couple months ago there was a special tractor on the news headlines and this was it. I believe he had a sickle mower on it and pulling a hay wagon. It was neat listening to the little whine form it. I agree with George in that I would like to see it plow an acre of ground. Then maybe I would think about it.
Dave
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:36 pm
by Eugene
http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/end_of ... nergy.html
Also featured in Mother Earth News several years past.
This article and topic has been on this board several times.
There is also a video of the same tractor pulling a hay rake.
My opinion hasn't changed. Not economically feasible. Not even close to being realistically practical.
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:41 pm
by scotlem
hey if anything else it will keep you dry when its raining
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 5:22 pm
by jimbaker
Here is a link to electric Allis Chalmers Model G's
http://www.flyingbeet.com/electricg/parts.html
Looked pretty neat, I posted the parts list, but if you click back to home page on that link, there is a lot more info
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 5:48 pm
by George Willer
Eugene wrote:http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/end_of_fossil_energy.html
Also featured in Mother Earth News several years past.
This article and topic has been on this board several times.
There is also a video of the same tractor pulling a hay rake.
My opinion hasn't changed. Not economically feasible. Not even close to being realistically practical.
There's a big problem for some time in the future when our decendents will wish we hadn't been wreckless with and squandering what should have been raw materials. The problem is that the greenies are promoting solutions that can never be solutions and steering the masses away from accepting the only true solution.. nuclear. They'd rather promote pie-in-the-sky things like hydrogen which can NEVER be a true source of energy. It always will require more energy to make than it can produce but the masses aren't aware of that.
It's like looking for a break-through for perpetual motion, committed to the proposition that it's possible.
Wind and
solar? Sure they work if you ignore the vast amount of energy required to build and maintain the systems.
Bah! Humbug!
(does anyone else look at that
solar tractor and see a two seater? ) I'm guessing the half ton of batteries are mounted on the left side.
PS, I've read a number of articles about this
solar Low-Boy.
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:10 pm
by PageRob
George Willer wrote:It always will require more energy to make than it can produce
I think that's true of all sources of energy that we use. Gasoline takes a bunch of energy to produce and transport as well. Its just a question of diminishing returns. When does the cost of extraction + cost of transport (which will rise with the cost of extraction) + cost of refinement + cost of distribution + profit become greater than the cost to establish new markets/improve alternate technology?
Solar and wind I think are viable alternatives for most energy uses, but not as mass alternatives right now. Sure there's upkeep/installation costs, but eventually they will be lower than what the public is willing to pay for fossil fuels.
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:13 pm
by JimT
I seen this one on TV also. I remember they mentioned that it was not practical at this time to try and do any farming with it because the charge in the batteries will not last long enough.
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:19 pm
by George Willer
JimT wrote:I seen this one on TV also. I remember they mentioned that it was not practical at this time to try and do any farming with it because the charge in the batteries will not last long enough.
Basic physics and economics rule!
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:39 pm
by Rick Prentice
I, for one, have a slightly different outlook about this
cub. Sure there may be those who criticize and laugh, but I give the guy credit for at least trying. Now we have some idea of what the project results are. I still remember a couple items I built that had all kinds of negitive feedback, the backhoe for one. There were those who said the finals would break in short order, and those who said the
cub engine wouldn't have enough power to do squat. I have another project in the works that many will have negitive comments about, again, and that's ok. At least we'll know if it works or not
and I have fun in the process
I applaud John Howe for making it
Rick