Electric Cub Conversion

My buddy and I (really my buddy gets 95% of the credit) converted my barely running '51 Cub to run off of 48v electric power. The electric motor turns a timing belt pully with a custom "stepped" taperlock bushing on the cub's input shaft and the hydraulic system runs off of a 12v hydraulic pump we salvaged off of an electric forklift. We're hoping to sell conversion kits to those tired of adjusting thier carbuerators. We're in prototype 1 phase right now, but I thought other Farmall enthusiasts would get a kick out of this. On Sunday, we're doing our first real world test (plowing my 1/2 acre garden to plant winter cover crops) to see how long a single charge will last. I'll keep you posted! Check out our website for preliminary photos (www.reinventionsllc.com), and we'll update it once we have some hours under our belt...
I realize those committed to preserving the integrity of "stock" cubs may not be too keen on our coversion, but I thought it would be appreciated on this site!

It would be nice to have that option. Fossil fuels definitely have their advantages, but have drawbacks as well. Keep us posted, and show us some photos if you can.

Mark W. in MI

Looks cool. You guys need to put more pictures on the website. A movie would also be fun to watch.

It would be neat to have an electric cub to ride around at a show!

Why do proponents of electric power feel that they have to take cheap shots at internal combustion power?

What's this, "tired of adjusting thier carbuerators?" What would give you the idea that carburetor adjusting is something that is done constantly?

How about we take some cheap shots at electric power?

1. Oops, it's below 50F. Your run time's been cut in half.
2. Let's both start plowing at 8AM, and see where we end up at 8:30.

And unless he"s charging his batteries with a perpetual power source such as wind, water, or solar, fossil fuels are still being utilized.

I agree!
Assume an optimistic 12 HP output for a Cub.
746 watts per HP (no loss for efficiency counted in)
8852 watts used for an hour plowing will drag the lead acid batteries under the hood of that cub to their Knees. I did not see racks of batteries on the pic in the link!
Pure electric cars with the finest batteries corporations can buy, are upside down on CO2 emissions here in the midwest. There are locations with hydro power (northwest) that can be barely able to reduce emissions. Jim

Already been done with a Cub, but I cant find the link right now.

possibly in conjuction with the essex tri-directional

Haha, I knew we'd upset some folks. Take it easy on us, we're just experimenting, and hopefully coming up with a new option for people who like to use cubs.

You're right, the pack stores 5.23kwh- less than your estimated demand of 8.85kwh. However, I would like to point out that the "optimistic 12hp" is not likely utilized 100% of the time while plowing, and indeed, due to the 'peaky' nature of I/C power delivery it's sometimes difficult to get rated hp out of the four cylinder. Don't forget, either, cubs aren't always plowing- there are many instances in which only a fraction of the engine's full capacity is used. I expect an advantage here in that the power output of a DC motor is scalable with virtually no loss in efficiency.

Seems like we're postponing testing today due to some escapee farm animals, but we'll gladly post results as we gather them. Power consumption is definitely data we need the real world testing to provide. Until we collect that, I'm just theorizing with you.

We hope to avoid the status quo of EV proponents making unrealistic claims- sure, there are limitations, but there are also some distinct advantages over internal combustion.

Thanks for your comments. I'm glad to be kept on my toes.

(quoted from post at 17:33:38 10/17/10) Haha, I knew we'd upset some folks.

Click to expand...

Which I suppose was the purpose of the carburetor adjusting comment.

An electrical conversion is probably a convenient way or running a Cub on coal. That is unless you recharge the batteries near peak power demand, in which case you are running it of of Diesel.