electric bobcat

[thermaloverload]

Check out this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnIwny1C86k
driving home the other day I wondered how hard it would be to repower a skidsteer with electric?
I've got an old case 1830, if you ripped the guts out there would probably be plenty of room for an electric motor and batteries, ive seen a few home conversions for electric cars and I reckon that a skid steer would actually be an easier job than a car.
I wonder what the costs would be - probably insane

 

[Jeffscarstrucks]

That is interesting, batteries would be good ballast and correctly sized motor will spin a pump! An older (non electronic) machine would be a good candidate. I think a smaller machine would be the way to go, like the one in the video. A heavier machine would take to much motor and battery reserve to be efficient (I think). A guy probably won't be able to feed the family with one but it would be a great project and around the house unit. JEFF P.S. I'm sure others will have some thoughts on this.

 

[Tazza]

That is interesting, batteries would be good ballast and correctly sized motor will spin a pump! An older (non electronic) machine would be a good candidate. I think a smaller machine would be the way to go, like the one in the video. A heavier machine would take to much motor and battery reserve to be efficient (I think). A guy probably won't be able to feed the family with one but it would be a great project and around the house unit. JEFF P.S. I'm sure others will have some thoughts on this.

I don't like the noise from the pumps! Sounds like it has a bit of air in there still..... When you hear it go over relief the motor does stutter a bit, sounds like it would have liked a larger electric motor. Wonder how a fly wheel would have gone, the extra inertia helps *store* a little extra power when it gets a load dropped on it suddenly.
Still, an interesting project indeed.

 

[jerry]

I don't like the noise from the pumps! Sounds like it has a bit of air in there still..... When you hear it go over relief the motor does stutter a bit, sounds like it would have liked a larger electric motor. Wonder how a fly wheel would have gone, the extra inertia helps *store* a little extra power when it gets a load dropped on it suddenly.
Still, an interesting project indeed.

I think on the old clutch drive bobcats electric was a option, I don't remember the model though. I would have liked to see it turn on dry asphalt to see how it sounded.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

I think on the old clutch drive bobcats electric was a option, I don't remember the model though. I would have liked to see it turn on dry asphalt to see how it sounded.

I wonder how long it will run on a charge, how quick it e charges and what the battery bill would be each year?
Bobcat had a electric machine to work in ndeground mines, but it was hard wired to the grid.
Ken

 

[thermaloverload]

I wonder how long it will run on a charge, how quick it e charges and what the battery bill would be each year?
Bobcat had a electric machine to work in ndeground mines, but it was hard wired to the grid.
Ken

Since my first post I had a look at the website of the company on the video. A basic car conversion kit without batteries is $9000 US. A bit too pricey for a 30yr old skidsteer. I too had wondered about running time, cost etc. I think that the whole electric car thing will really take off when they get the battery technology sorted out and cost down. Things seem to move so fast these days that I don't think my kids will drive petrol cars.
The fly wheel would probably be good with an electronic govenor. You'd get plenty of torque from a DC motor.
Another thought was.
Just yesterday a mate bought a 1981 Toyota Troopcarrier and he is planning to run it on vegetable oil.
Apparently there is a $300 conversion kit that basically heats the oil to make it thin enough(uses heat from the cooling system), has a good filter to stop the left over fish&chips and away you go. You still need a reserve diesel tank to get up to running temp. He has gone this way as it is less complicated than making his own bio-diesel
Sounds like a pretty cool project and would be a fun way to run a machine for free. All you need is a source of used oil.
As a bonus the worksite would smell like a takeaway shop and you can knock trees down guilt free using environmentally friendly fuel.