Up until now I’ve really just removed the battery and drilled a few harmless holes. But there comes a time to start really doing a Teardown. There is a bit more going on than I appreciated. First I removed the dual 42″ blades and the pulleys that ran them. Then I removed the controls and disconnected them from the engine. Then drained and removed the gas tank. A wiring harness was next. There is a somewhat complicated set of manual and electric interlocks that I still need to think about. For instance: shutting off the motor when the seat isn’t occupied, but only if the blades are in use (good if you fall off while mowing) or decoupling power from the drivetrain while braking. Removed the exhaust from the front and explored the engine mounts.

Also looking at wiring and placement of controls. A bit more to it than I realized at first. Will need two controllers, one for the drivetrain and one for the blades. A foot control is probably a better idea than a dashboard knob for a throttle. The second motor controller I have has little documentation. Wires are labeled in Chinese and something resembling English. Some experimenting is probably going to be necessary.

As far as blades, I’ve decided on 4 or 5 small blades used as string trimmer replacements. The whole deck is big and heavy and probably massive overkill for what I want to do. Might dump it all, but I will need a way to figure out how to support the blades and motors and how to make a safety cover. Probably not too hard, but something I didn’t intend to do.

Next big step: engine removal. Really not much left after that, just a frame and some wheels.

Lastly, I’ve started tagging blog entries. My goal is just to be able to group similar entries. I was just using keywords in the title, but best to use the proper tool for the job. Will go back and add tags to older posts.

I have the mower drivetrain (sorta) working. The chain slips off occasionally but if I am gentle with the throttle it seems ok. Because I had originally planned to go with a direct drive, the chain gears it down yet another notch. So max speed might end up 2 – 3 MPH. Probably ok for mowing.

Up until now I could easily re-assemble the pieces and go back to a traditional gas engine power. There comes a point when you have to make a more serious commitment to a project like this and going back is not an option. I think I am at that point. I pulled the blades and pulleys and disconnected most of the wiring. Next is draining and removing the gas tank and lastly, getting the engine out.

Then I’ll mount the electronics and start thinking about a for a test drive and details for the mower blades. Right now I’m planning on multiple (4 or 5) small motors driving small circular metal bladed made for string trimmers.

Again, I’m not really a mechanical guy (my specialty is electronics) but so far so good. Made an appropriately sized chain and bolted everything down. I ordered a chain tensioner (whatever that is) on line. Hopefully it will all fit together. Resisting the urge to bolt the seat on and go for a ride. Oh, need another battery. Running this 24V motor at 12V right now.

Started getting serious with the mower. I had the new motor on the bench working and now all that is left to do is install it. This is all experimental for me, so I’m hoping to be able to put it all back together an carry on with the the old gasoline engine if things don’t go well. To get more room to work I took off the seat and fenders and disconnected some wires. I feel like I’ve crossed a line here.

While I would have preferred direct drive, for very practical reasons I have decided to go with chain drive. The electric motor is made for a standard 8mm T8F chain common in modern electric scooters and such. I decided to stick with this since modifying it looks difficult. On the other end I have a large pulley made for a drive belt. It is attached to the transmission which has a spline shaft connection (I’m learning lots of new terminology here). I couldn’t find an 8mm sprocket that would hook to the transmission shaft so I figured the path of least resistance is to get a sprocket and drill and bolt it to the existing pulley. So far not hard. I also drilled and mounted the motor and things seem to fit well. Could probably even upgrade to a more powerful motor without much work if needed.

Now that I have this 8mm sprocket the smaller sprocket on the motor means a lower gearing. I was expecting a 1:1with the direct drive. Right now it is something much smaller. I found a bigger sprocket I can easily swap for the one that came with the motor, but it still is geared down a bit. We will see how that all works out. Have a chain and some bolts on order and probably need a tensioner. Figured I would deal with that once I have all the other pieces more or less put together. Then it could be getting close to a test drive.