EV Mower Conversion with Solar Charging Station
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 7 май 2024
- I’ve created a ride-on mower and a bespoke solar-powered shed made from recycled crates - so you never run out of power to cut grass!!
Check out Future Rider: the new Shell Eco-marathon challenge that calls on the best STEM Students to create the next CAR OF THE FUTURE inspired by K.I.T.T. from NBC’s Knight Rider. makethefuture.shell/FutureRider
Get you NEW Furze MERCH www.colinfurzeshop.com
Become a Channel member for early Access and MERCH DISCOUNT
/ @colinfurze
Follow me on Social Media.
Instagram / realcolinfurze
Twitter / colin_furze
Facebook / colin-furze-5216807512...
TikTok vm.tiktok.com/JJ8wSTs/
Music is all Library on this one but if your in a band and want your music featured email
furzemail@yahoo.co.uk
#colinfurze #ShellEcomarathon #lawnmower 
Развлечения
So it looks like i've made something useful haha. FEAR NOT PEOPLE TUNNEL UPDATE NEXT VIDEO
could you make a high powered super fast (try get 100mph) electric scooter please i would love to see this
I've always thought a sit on lawnmower crossed with a flymow would be fun to ride, a grass cutting hovercraft of sorts.
You should probably add a battery on the solar-mowar-chargar.
also colin you might have a bit of a spam problem. in replies.
But what about those robots that do this.... how about you make this a robot mowar? Do a collaborative with some electronic RUclipsrs?
Colin’s neighbours: Finally he’s made something that’s quiet and doesn’t shoot fire!
Don't get used to it LOL
yet
next video: I made it shoot fireworks while it mows
Just wait till NEXT week!
WHERE'S THE TUNNEL!!!!
WE KNOW ITS ALREADY COMPLETE PLEASE UPLOAD THE TUNNEL VIDEO'S!!!!!
This may be the most useful thing Colin has made. That’s a genuinely better lawnmower setup that he can now use every week.
@good one ncie
Despite having spinning blades on wheels - ironically - it may also be one of the safest things he's made... :)
I'm also positively surprised how clean the mod seemed, I mean not that he doesn't do a good job usually but it didn't seem to require much adapting and bodging to swap the original engine for the electric motors.
It almost seems an actual product.
Assuming there's been any sun that week.
I haven't seen the sun so far this week, because autumn.
You saying his screw tank was not useful??!?!
Actually a great idea.. strange no one's actually brought this to market yet. The slow charging of solar for a low duty cycle application like a mower actually makes sense.
Plenty of electric options.
Think a problem is that majority of available electric engines are weak. What if u hit a rock.
That's why things are belt driven even in conventional movers. It only damages the spindles and blades on the moving deck.
@@Blockhaj I have an electric Cub Cadet that I've been running for 5+ years now. I live on 5 acres and I've never had any issues with lack of power. I've hit (Well, my wife has hit) plenty of rocks and the only damage is a dented blade.
what a awesome way to save 10 gallons of gas per year. surprising more people don't want it.
I can help you with the lithium battery Colin
Yess
YES!!! Epic collab that! 🔋💥
YESSSS
I was gonna mention you Jehu! Glad you’re already here 😎
The man!
1t thing where Coling's version actually makes less noise! - His neighbours should be proud! 🤣
1st :)
@built different So's ya mom
Next step: mount an electrically-powered foghorn on it.
@@quixototalis it defenently needs a soundsystem to make V12 noises
spot on. precisely right
This is actually awesome, grass grows with sun and water, so with faster grass growth you're getting more power to the batteries as well, and when there's little sun, the grass won't grow so much.
that's a fantastic way to look at it
Oh man the longevity of that mover is actually really impressive. The next step of course is to automate it so it cuts your grass for you like a roomba for your yard. Amazing work!
Neighbor: "Colin's up to something but I can't hear anything."
Mrs. Neighbor: "Should we go over and see if he's ill?"
HOLY HOLY!!! I can proudly say that I have the two HOTTEST women on this planet as MY GIRLFRIENDS! I am the unprettiest RUclipsr ever, but they love me for what's inside! Thanks for listening c
@@AxxLAfriku not even one looks like an Alaskan bull worm and the other one looks like Betty White's left tit.
@@BenDover-ts4lt just ignore the idiot, but you do have a funny comment i will admit
lolol fantastic
Indeed. Apart from the hysterical laughter, that was pretty silent. Should very well worry the next door people.
I feel like a battery bank in the shed would be good, I suspect that shed can soak up a lot more power than that mower needs between mowings, you could also charge electric yard tools
I really like this idea. It'd definitely be really useful
The battery bank would help his electric bill. Lathe drill press cnc machine. And everyother power tool he has.
Thinking the same thing. Lots of good cordless electric yard tools, they could all soak up extra power from the shed.
Hey Colin, there ya go... start an electric tool shed company, fans can buy stock and reap profit along with you
Just seal it properly before you put batteries in lol
There is sooo much work behind this seemingly short video. Kudos and praise for all that!
.....and the Furze strimmer, hedge cutter etc. etc. all plug into the shed. Quiet neighbourhoods for all and zero emissions. Yay, go for it Colin. You da man.
No wonder we haven't seen the tunnel in a while, you've been busy with tons of side gigs--all awesome!--but I'm definitely excited to see the progress on the tunnel!
Been checking for an update on the tunnel.. any news Colin?
Damn guys sorry for the bots
@@matthewmaillette is it just me or have the bots been incessant lately?
Tunnel next video! Check the comments he’s put a comment right at the top if you don’t believe me and I’m so excited 😅😂.
@@Deathven1482 yea, they seem to have been replying a lot more recently
Commercially viable. Imagine if the shed could charge all garden appliences like hedge cutters, strimmers etc through solar panels.
Not really actually. The solar panels won't serve any use after the batteries are charged. Solar panels are more efficient (and thus more commercially viable) if faced south, not in this setup. It's commercially more viable to use solar panels to feed the grid and charge your mower of the grid.
It's a novel idea, but there are more efficient ways to use limited resources.
@@patrickd9551 Disagree. If you already have a grid-connected setup and a charging spot with power this may be true, but Colin's setup is completely free-standing and requires no additional setup once constructed. It can be placed basically anywhere without worrying about how you're going to get power to it.
In my specific case, running power to a shed would require a permanent structure with permits pulled, and that requires a 10ft distance to any property line, which is very restricting in a smaller yard. This thing wouldn't count as a permanent structure and requires no external power, so I could back it right up to the fence line and not have to worry about it.
awww! the potential!
Yeah I like it as a self contained unit as well. Mower, Doghouse, solar setup.
I understand what @Patrick D is saying, but @Drenlin hits th nail on the head with the off grid aspect of it.
maybe pack the mower with batteries, and electrical outlets. then we have a decentralized, portable power station with a solar carport.
@@patrickd9551 if everyone had solar panels feeding the grid the local switch gear will blow. The grid understructure is not capable in the majority of the country for feeding or charging EV's. Hence why I'm building more petrol stations than charging points. EV's are a dream!
You should have absolutely called it the "Solar-Mowar-Stowar"
I love Colins house- a house made out of ticky tacky looking all the same just as everyone else, and PURE INSANITY underneath.
You don't really think that is his real house anymore?
For sure he moved to a villa with amounts of money he is making.
@@N0N0111 Why would he? Why would anyone go through the trouble of digging a bunker that's better than most normal above ground house extensions, digging a tunnel system connecting the house and shed and bunker all together, a retractable roof over the area next to the house... only to go live in a boring tunnelless, bunkerless villa?
If the charging station produces more power than the mower expends in an average day, then how about taking the Subnautica approach and making the power cells easily removable; you could have a bank of spare cells charging in the shed whilst a couple permanent cells top up overnight. You could then even use the rechargeable cells in other projects too.
You sir are making too much sense for home inventions
Another good idea would be to have them charge other electric lawn equipment like a weed eater, and maybe power some nighttime lighting
Or feed back into the house at night when it reaches a certain threshold?
^^^^^^^^^^^^
What he said lol
Night time is generally dark, thus rendering the solar panels unable to generate electricity.
Colin: “It could still do with going faster”
Now waiting for the “WORLDS FASTEST ELECTRIC MOWER” video now 😂
ruclips.net/video/_mstbNizOjIr/видео.htmlhrheuf
You mean a ev drift mower? Yes. With flame throwers
It needs a switch to select between "Mowing/Slow driving mode" and "No mowing/Racemode"
Honga alredy made the worlds fastest motorcycle in the guenis book of world records sadly
**cough** Mowar!
This is a genuinely good idea Colin! Not only that, but your version smells a lot better (everyone can always smell when people are doing yard work with gas machinery, the exhaust fumes smell terrible), and because it's quieter, that means neighbors and such won't be disturbed by the loud sound. This is a genuine improvement. You should sell these. People would genuinely buy them.
Exhaust fumes smell great what you on about
I'm shocked. He's actually made something that's a) completely sensible and b) a much better idea than what already exists. Also possibly c) commercially viable.
You feeling alright Colin?
a) ignoring the fact that it's way too big for his garden, I agree
b) this alreads exists, but smarter. There are lawn mower robots that have a solar charging station, the difference being they don't have to carry a 80kg human driver, thus can reduce the motor and batteries massively.
c) taking b) into account, this could be a tough product to sell. These would basically only sell to those people who _like_ to mow their lawn manually.
@@ben_1 Robot mowers, at least the ones available right now, are not suitable for every situation. In some cases you don't want to have them around for liability reasons, and since they're much slower at getting the job done (due to literally driving slow and due to pathing inefficiencies) you also don't want them in heavily used areas, since you don't want the mower around when people are actually using the space.
that front motor mount montage was beautiful!!!
Uh no
Improvements I would add is some kind of gauge that tells you the battery capacity and how much longer you have until the batteries die on the machine itself
i think that he already has that. he knew at all times how much power is in the machine
With the size of his yard, he certainly doesn't need to worry about range
He used some shitty lead acid batteries. Why he didn't go with LifePO4 is beyond me..
@@FJB2020 money?
@@mickys8065 Two 12v 100ah LifePO4 batteries would have replaced those 8 lead acid batteries and cost less and given him a longer run time... plus a huge weight savings...
You made a useful and sensible thing, really well. This might be your best build ever. Well done Mr Furze.
You really shine when you highlight the intricacies and attention to detail of your fabrication. It would be nice to see you get back to your roots a little bit in that way. IMHO.
Colin to his neighbor: "Can I mow your lawn?"
Neighbor: (suspicious) "With what?"
Colin: "That riding mower there."
Neighbor: (more suspicious) "What have you done to it?"
The newspaper headlines: "Colin finally makes less noise and helps community by cutting grass"
Love the madcap ideas Colin has however, this have to be one of the best he has come up with.
wonderful tech demo! would love to see this scaled up. This perfectly shows how the logistics of solar tractors work, could be done with larger farm equip. imagine the torque!
Farm equipment generally gets run 16+ hours a day during harvest. I don't think batteries are up for that yet. Batter powered lawn mower are far more logical.
@@crissd8283 Large farm equipment could be designed with swappable batterie systems then farmers could have a number of solar arrays/battery charging and swap stations strategically placed over their land.
A company called John Deere have an electric tractor that runs for 4.5 hours on one charge, something like that with swappable batteries would do the trick. They also have autonomous and semi-autonomus versions so the whole swapping process could be completed automated.
Sorry, won't work (for now). A large farm would need so much power you would need a whole yard of batteries. Imagine for a 500acres farm I chew easyly during harvest (2 harvester, 3 tractors for transport, 1 loader, 1 to prepare the field) 1200l diesel/day. Preparing the soil with 2 large tractors also uses the same quantity.
Check out fully charged, they did a video on an electric tractor that was in country file
What a brilliant idea, no sun the grass doesn’t grow, lots of sun the grass grows and the mower charges proportionally. Well done that man.
I don't know who says that grass doesn't grow if there is no sun.... As it does. Grass will grow even at night if you have enough light through the day (hint, doesn't require direct sunlight but can be overcast). And through a rainy week (full overcast every day) the grass will keep growing. And after a week you need to maw your lawn so your vehicle might be empty.
@@paristo it does, but way drastically reduced. In the summer i have to do it every 1-2 weeks, in the winter once every 1-2 months, and can get away with not at all from december to january
Nothing like a self regulated market
@@GreatBeeman Self regulated market is as functional as non regulated legal system.
@@paristo tell that to the sun and the grass
Huh…this is actually something pretty useful, Colin. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good flamethrower…but this is a brilliant package you’ve put together.
Wow I think this might be one of the few times we actually see you designing something on the computer rather then just willing it into existence! Love the channel, been watching for a few years.
Of course, who is going to question a delighted-looking man in a tie cutting the grass beside the road?
I electrified my LM years ago by installing a tall pole in the middle of my yard with a 90 degrees, rotating extension which has a cable on it, which goes to the lawn mower. Haven't looked back since, 220v motor off an energy efficient (at the time) washing machine. Has the original brains modified to act as a speed controller. The programmer is stuck in the spin cycle where i can affect the speed at any time, thus giving me anything from crawl to zip, through a gearbox. It's quiet, actually cheaper than running the equivalent petrol variant (which i do once in a blue moon when power is out for whatever reason) and it's clean. Zero maintenance in 7 years other than oiling the bearings.
That is pretty cool.
I have a big enough lawn that this mower would be ideal except for the fact that my mower is paid for and investing in a conversion kit will defeat the the cost of building a new or buying a new mower. There is a 48v Ryobi zero turn mower and they cost 5k. Even if I spend 1k to convert my existing mower to batteries It would take more than 10 years of buying gas to fuel it. Now I will keep my eye open for a broken one that I can pick up for next to nothing and maybe work something out with it. I might even look for some of the cordless push mowers. I am sure they break from time to time and people just buy new ones. That might be an option for parts or something. Might even be able to make a deck with the push mowers and use some sort of mobility scooter for the drive section.
i concur. 1000% right!
I have a round lawn, a normal mower, a plug to a drum in the middle of the lawn, I tape the handle shut and put the whole thing on a timer so it stops when it gets to the middle.
(in my dreams)
@@anonimushbosh They do have robot mowers that are fairly cheap around 1k. Provided you have a set up lawn they are easy to use and install.
Before I bought my new house I had a yard that was going to buy one of those mowers and put it in there. Depending on the one you get you can set it up in a number of ways, I was going to add some 2x6 boards to block out some things and raise up those areas this way it makes it super easy for the robot to mow stuff. My place now is just too large I have 3 acres to maintain which I do that about every 2 weeks. Though my area around the house is getting weed barrier and stone put in. I do not need grass close to my house and this also lets me let the other grass grow wild. I am also replacing normal grass with short buffalo grass. Which if left un cut is still short and looks fine. I have a few sections growing in the yards now and going to get more seed next year and plant more as well as tranplanting plugs.
ruclips.net/video/_mstbNizOjI4/видео.htmlhrhr
Brilliant! And my favourite thing is I just know the engine that came out has gone in a box under a workbench somewhere for future shenanigans!
He can put it on the hydro bicycle.
your comment is totally correct dude
ruclips.net/video/_mstbNizOjIr/видео.htmlnfndi
As if there’s space under a bench😆😂
as always ...lol... great idea. ...but maybe make it work with the snowblower attachment, and the rear rotor tiller, they just hook up with belts. and EV tiller...that would be cool to see. looking forward to the next video.
This should be a commercial product of its own!
"So much potential!" - Electricity puns, I like it.
Watt are you talking about?
It makes a "difference"
@@SumriseHD electrical potential difference, which is basically voltage
It probably took every ounce of self-control he had in him to NOT add a homemade jet engine and rocket boosters to it.
Can't blame him, if given the option, most people would add those things.
Well, if he wants to make it a hybrid, he could always find a micro turbine with a PTO to turn an alternator or generator to make electricity to power it.
6.03 did i just hear the phrase 'Racing mower'?!
I want one!
I like it!
no more Sunday's filled with the sound of neighbourhood lawn mowing!
Brilliant video! That engine he put under his workbench would do great in a GIANT BLENDER, just saying.
*Electric motor
Believe it or not engine and motor do have different meanings even if they are mostly used interchangeably.
Shoot I read that wrong
Sorry about that
i know! without a doubt true man
ruclips.net/video/_mstbNizOjIr/видео.htmlhrhd
@@nesyboi9421
I disagree.
Motor and engine mean exactly the same thing and can be used interchangeably.
@@richardschofield2201 ahh yes my electric engine.
I'll be thinking about this video next time I get on the Cub Cadet XT2 w/Kawasaki. Great job!
I can definitely see the solar shed + electric mower combo being popular in the future.
Wait a minute, this isn't nearly as life-threatening as it could be. Almost forgot what channel I was watching. But seriously, I was thinking you probably needed more power for the drive motor than the blade motor. It's pulling a lot more torque, unless you are off cutting in the bush somewhere. Anyway, magnificent job!
Calling its the bush, are you a kiwi by any chance?
@@patrickmarriott4422 Not even close. I'm in Kansas. 😁
@@sgsax Dammit, I was hoping to find another furze fan in my country. Do you call it the bush instead of the woods or the forest over there too?
@@patrickmarriott4422 kiwi here, living in beautiful whanganui. Chur 🤙
@@patrickmarriott4422 heaps of kiwis watch the patron youtuber of diy
i might need this Solar Mowar asap 🚜😮
You know colins made it when RUclips themselves comment on his videos. Wow
@@CaptBryce What, "Mowar"? That's how Colin spelled it.
We generally need more electric-everything. Surprised it took this long to conceptualize an electric mower. Just goes to show you don't need to be a scientist or business magnate to create something innovative.
SSSHHHHEEEEESSSHHHHH RUclips's here?
Damn youtube itself
This is great!! You could also put on a lightweight cover on the top with a solar panel so you can charge it as you mow!
This is exactly what I was planning to build! I never considered solar, but I'm pleasantly surprised that it works, and I wasn't thinking about how it doesn't need to get charged faster than once a week.
Now Colin just needs to add a flame thrower to incinerate the grass clippings then it will be a true Furze machine!
If Colin continues to fill his garden with stuff at this pace, he soon won't be needing a mower anyway
Loved seeing this channel just spiral in size the past year. No bragging no attention seeking. All just homely dad banter. With a genuinely nice guy. Refreshing to see
I've got an electric self-propelled push mower and it's really nice. Quiet enough I can actually run it at night. It even has headlights!
the most useful thing Colin has ever built.
What do you mean? I've been riding my BMX with blocks of ice for wheels for a year now! It works great on mountain trails.
Colin was the best thing his mum ever made
What are these bots doing in here ?
@@xae7rak no clue but it’s annoying
What do you mean? I use my turkey cooking briefcase everywhere I go! The look on the people faces in the subway when I take out a piece of delicious, cooked turkey legs from my suitcase gets me every time!
Wow, a riding mower looks almost strange without the branding labels.
-
This is an amazing build, and commercially viable, particularly if sold with the charging shed!
I'd buy it.
*mowar
Don't you mean sold with the Solar-mowar-chargar!
branding was still on the steering wheel ;p I knew what it was the first frame though, since my company sells them. They do also make electric lawn mowers in the same form.
You're the king Colin! I've watched every single video on your channel, and how you not only have enough time to achieve all this stuff, but knock it out of the park as well is baffling to me..
That is all well and good for those of us who have a "lawn tractor" BUT there are differences between a "garden tractor" and a "lawn tractor" here in the States!! A Garden Tractor in fact looks like a lawn tractor but they are very different animals indeed!! You see a Garden Tractor, has attachments like snowblowers, plows, tiller options and other add ons allowing you to do way more than just "mow the lawn" and before I forget YES you can get a lawn mower for a garden tractor as well too!!
My point is I used to own a Garden Tractor.....and it was always working on some project I had!! I might drag my car around the yard with it, when my car was broke down!! OR I would hook a wagon to it, while doing work in my garden or removing or planting a tree!! And sure I would even mow the lawn with my garden tractor weekly when I owned my property..........but it hardly if ever just "sat around" for a week doing nothing at all between mowing that is!!
This is genuinely genius. Smart packaging (a sturdy wooden crate) could be repurposed as the shed/docking station, meaning nothing is wasted, you just take the solar panels out, fix them together as the roof, all already wired up just plug and play.
I wanna see more Furze solar projects, this one turned out genuinely useful. The crazy projects are awesome but more of this please Mr Furze!
If only England got the sun to do these projects....
ruclips.net/video/_mstbNizOjIr/видео.htmlhrhr
That's the cleanest build I've ever seen, excellent work Colin 👍🏼👍🏼
Love what you do Mr.Furze, thanks for the amazing content as always, and keep it up!
The only things I would add to the oackage was an inverter and outlet on the mower to run a weed eater, hedge trimmer, or electric chainsaw. A proper park/yard maintenance tool. Add a outlet to the shed as well to be able to put the excess power produced by the panels to use after the batteries are charged. The premium package. A very impressive build. So quiet. A Solar Stealth Mowar.
Ayo good to see you're still alive Colin. It's a proper wonder how you've still got all your limbs!
Lol here within 11 minutes v nice
its called a safety tie !
thats how
@good one Why do you feel the need to comment this on every single comment? You even do it where it isn't relevant in the slightest
After the Hoverbike from a few years ago definetly xD
How do you know he doesn’t
Great idea! I would change one thing. The roof on the shed I would make a monoslope style roof, sloped in the direction and angle that's best for solar power in your part of the world.
i love the genuine joy he has while driving the mower
This could be a great application for used ev batteries. Even after beeing "not useful anymore" in cars they can be used probably up to 10 more years in these kind of projects.
probably better for home energy storage or just recycling them.
That wouldn’t work. The way they degrade makes them not useful anymore, period. They can be recycled or recelled though
This has got to be one of the most sensible ideas you have ever come up with.
Not only have you created a Eco friendly Mowar it even reduces noise pollution with a cool charging station.
👍🏻 could not find any green fingers.
Mate, that is one of the most impressive thing I have seen in a while, what a brilliant idea.
13 minutes of video viewing pleasure. Days of effort put into it. Your a legend.
How about a lawnmower that runs on the grass it cuts itself? For example with a methane biodigester and a combustion engine.
Although now that I think about it, that's how a goat works, which is also suitable for mowing the lawn and fertilising it.
To be fair that's what the gasifier mower was going to do.
Still combustion based - not really helping with the emissions problem
@@classicambo9781 but the grass would have absorbed the carbon content in order to grow, so emissions wise its totally neutral - IF (and its a big if) it doesn't need any fuel besides the grass its cutting.
Lol
I think you can also make ethanol from grass, so long as you jet it right and use alcohol safe fuel system components, either should work.
So Colin, this is what you've been doing instead of digging the tunnels
waiting for sponsors the tunnels project :)
@@sikhbikersoflondon ah makes sense, probably is really expensive
Sad
🤣
@good one Nice bait
As Always Not only a Great idea but presented in the BRILLIANT COLIN FURZE WAY! Mower company's take note!! This is how you do it!!!!!!!
Great work! Happy to see something that could actually impact everyone in a way more than just giggles ;)
I am genuinely impressed with this project, I was a grass machinery engineer for over twenty years, retired now.
Back in the 80s I had a design for a smaller robotic mower that worked on similar principals but never got round to developing it, this ride on with a decent lithium battery pack ought to change the commercial grass cutting industry.
Oh definitely and I'm sure that it wouldn't be too difficult to have this charge from the car inbetween jobs so the battery can last a full day of work and even if this were to be charged from non renewable energy it would still be more efficient than petrol (the reason is that despite the energy density of petrol the engines are incredibly inefficient due to their size and method of generation (cars are typically 30-35% with lawnmower engines being very much less so) where as coal powerstations are more efficient use to their size and method of energy conversion (40 to 45% and thats presuming 100% coal which is super rare)
There are plenty of big companies making battery rideon mowers Ryobi have 3 different types, normal and zero turn.
The charging shed for your solar mower and all your electric tools. Weed wacker, chainsaw, etc. love your videos!
Hi Colin the person you bought kit (the knight rider) was my uncle. Have fun with it
This is the best idea I've heard in a very long time. You could sell these as kits with the housing and the mower. This is really brilliant colin.
Just got to love Colin's enthusiasm. You can really tell when his heart is into something.
No one:
Colin in 2040: NASA have challenged me to build a planet.
@good one that's not a planet that's preaching.
This is how the Deathstar was Created
I bet he would one up them and go for a dyson sphere. Rename it a furze sphere that would probably detonate a star though…
@good one Thank you that helped me
And not only would Colin do it, using odd bits of steel welded together, it still wouldn't fit through his front gate :)
Lots of surplus energy through those panels when sunny. Make sense to have a battery operated hot tub next door to the shed. Hot and sweaty after loads of mowing, have a chill in the hot tub after.
Love the fabrication, very cool tech builder and design quick.
This is actually one of the most genius realistic things you've done. Have solar panels on top of your lawn equipment shed to charge all your battery powered stuff. It takes nothing from the grid, doesn't require running any power from the house. Start-up costs might be a bit higher than the average home owner may be willing to invest in. But this would be a prime opportunity for a company to offer a professional install/DIY assembly solar shed kit with financing and can also include a range of powered lawn equipment.
"...now then, we need to pull it apart, work out what the RPMs are..." Absolute class, Colin!
Brilliant build! cant wait to see how tunnel is going.
Keep it up.
How did I not see this before? I've seen all your tunnel vids and then this pops up on the youtube main page. Awesome!
A very practical use for solar. Bravo! But I have two suggestions. First, can you put gauges on the console so the user would know the state of charge all the time? Second, assuming you are out mowing and have finished but are far away from the charging shed, putting a switch that would shuttle the remaining charge in the front batteries to the read drive would ensure being able to get back home. Anyway, good job!
Or just a bypass for the auto shutoff. Allowing you to drive short distances even if the batteries have already hit the minimum charge in the ESC
"It's gonna charge in some weeks or so ..... Becoz once you cut the grass , you need to let it grow......"
~Colin Furze 2021
(Greatest Thought Ever)
What an unusually relaxed video from Colin. Maybe you could link the extra solar power to the bunker as a backup? Maybe a smaller push mower done like this would be good too
Doing great job naming the Mowar, Colin. Ah..what a Man of culture.
People from Britain 🇬🇧 don't know how much we Kenyans love them...Britain 🇬🇧 Kenya 🇰🇪 loves you❤️
Damn bro u ripped
Lead-acid batteries can only run down to 50% of their capacity, every time the charge goes lower than that you compromise their internal stability and ultimately their life. I'd suggest to have a monitor on the dash so you can tell when that's the case.
The speed controllers he is using also have an option to disable the motor when the battery voltage under load goes to low at a level that can be programed in and some of these controllers also support reserve and a host of canbus options for reading the controller data and adding instrumentation for the driver.
He should add LiFePO4 prismatic cells in this thing. Extremely cheap nowadays, it will have 3 times the energy density of lead acid and have thousands of cycles even when doing an 80% to 90% depth of discharge.
Lead acid car batteries yes. Deep cycle. No.
That's certainly true for a typical car battery, which is designed to provide short but intense bursts of power for the starter motors on car engines. Batteries designed this way have a large number of very thin electrode plates inside, which gives the maximum possible current, which can be several hundred or maybe even 1000 amps depending on the physical size of the battery. But of course because of this design, deep discharge can build up so much lead sulfate on the plates that they can touch each other or get bent out of shape. Then you've got a shorted cell which makes the whole battery useless, leaving it worth perhaps £5 to a scrap metal dealer but not much more.
However, you can get deep-cycle sealed lead-acid batteries which are specifically designed to be discharged up to 90% or sometimes more. The battery chemistry is the same, but the internal construction is not: A deep cycle battery has a smaller number of much larger electrode plates, with enough space between them to allow plenty of lead sulfate to build up without damaging the cells. The sulfuric acid electrolyte is also usually immobilised in a sealed battery, either by gelling it with silica flour (aka fumed silica) or by absorbing it with woven glass fibre matting. This allows the battery to be mounted sideways or even upside down if you like, but the glass fibre matting helps to keep the cells rigid, stops them bending and prevents sulfate crystals growing across the gaps between electrodes. These are far more reliable and tolerate repeated deep discharge, the only downside being that you can't get quite as much current out of them, so they might not be able to power some larger starter motors.
@@lloydevans2900 my god I didn't think it could be done.... A useful, knowledgeable and polite response on RUclips. Give this man a medal
Great job all around, as usual. Love the stats and it's another wonderful overkill.
Could you include the links to the ESC and motor sources? Also, how heavy is it?
Awesome build! I work at a Lowes so I was able to test out an EGO zero turn battery powered mower. It runs on 4-6 lithium batteries and daaaaannnggg its quick. I want to buy one lol.
This is probably the quietest Colin's ever been.
I definitely hope that a battery company gets in touch. I'd love to see what difference that makes after seeing how effective lithium batteries were in the world's fastest ice cream van
I particularly enjoyed this vid, thanks Colin! I'm going to try and make an electric mower of my own from an old riding mower where the engine blew up.
I love the little solar shed for storage. Great idea
Imagine Colin cutting a lawn that has contract on it and the contractor came in and like wait the job is done. xD
?
OMG HAHAHA GOOD ONE
my first thought lol
and like wait .. what?
What do you mean cutting a lawn with a contract on it?
Been waiting for someone to sell a conversion kit to do this! Ryobi, and other major companies already selling them.
Colin mean green mowers here in the US has lithium powered commercial grade electric mowers, with solar roof options!
E-Go also; those 40amp and 56amp batteries are compact and powerful; I expect Colin could do a lot of damage with those!
@@lairdcummings9092 I think you can load up to 6 x 56V batteries in the E-Go riding mower. Should go for a while.
@@Kenjh71 yep. We sell 'em. Advertised as "up to three acres." I'll bet there are a lot of caveats in that claim, but even if it's twice as optimistic as reality, it's impressive as heck.
At us$5k per, we sold every one that came in within days. Landscapers love them... They can start cutting lawns as soon as it's light enough to see, without disturbing anyone. Puts two or even three hours onto their daily schedule - that's a lot of extra income.
Been watching old Colin videos and sitting antsy waiting for a new tunnel video. Idk why I am hooked, now I gotta head to work and think about this new tunnel video coming. Damn you #ColinFurze 🤣😐
I love it - would love to see you making a small solo person car like those we see on the show.
Top Gear's Clarkson tried (and failed)...very funny tho!
Can't believe something like this hasn't become common place, very useful, very very good idea Colin, entertaining as always, keep up the good work!!
Electric lawnmowers are freaking awesome. I have an 80v push mower, the battery lasts 45 minutes. With two batteries, I can easily mow my entire lawn in around an hour and half, which is the same speed as non-electric. And my batteries also work for my weedwacker, leaf blower, and hedge trimmer! They're awesome!!!
electric lawnmowers are around for quite some time?!
Ryobi makes an electric zero turn mower
@@jerri0401 fair, I more meant the entire setup of a solar charge station and electric ride-on mower, for large areas of grass. The solar aspect especially, will charge better in summer, when grass grows more, when you don't need it as much, don't worry, it's charging a lot slower anyway... and you don't need it everyday in case of a few cloudy days...