Solar-electric Mowers & Tractors
(Page 4 of 8)
August/September 2006
By George DeVault and Charles Higginson
The basic Sun Horse with one solar panel costs $2,250. A complete “farming system” with plow, four-row gang seeder, cultivators and more costs about $4,800.
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Electric towing. If you need to lug around heavy loads, two companies make electric vehicles designed expressly to do that. The Electric Ox, made in Ontario by Electric Tractor Corp., comes in 36- and 48-volt versions. The company bills it as a towing vehicle for indoor and outdoor situations. The Electric Ox MP is designed for outdoor use with attachments to mow, tow, grade or push snow. The company says the Ox can tow up to 8,000 pounds. An optional AC inverter allows the 48-volt model to power standard electric tools.
Gorilla Vehicles sells its Gorilla e-ATV in 24- and 36-volt versions. Each can be configured for primary use off-road, on turf, on paved surfaces or in close quarters like warehouses. The e-ATVs can carry payloads of about 450 pounds and can tow up to 4,000 pounds on level ground.
Drill-drive tiller. Last year, Johnny’s Selected Seeds introduced the “Tilther,” a 15-inch-wide mini-tiller powered by a cordless electric drill, developed by master four-season grower Eliot Coleman. It costs $350.
Coleman says he’s not finished inventing. He has a dream, and some plans, for a go-kart-size electric vehicle that would be a small mobile platform for seeding, cultivating and harvesting. “We’ve been to the moon. Surely we can make better tools for small farmers,” he says. “If I could find a bored retired engineer with a good shop, I’d share these plans.”
Too Soon to Scale Up
Convincing major tractor makers to go electric is not a simple task. Like the electric car, electric-powered tractors and garden and yard implements have had an on-again, mostly off-again history. General Electric sold the Elec-Trak lawn tractor in the late 1960s and early ’70s. John Deere sold the Electric 90 and Electric 96 lawn tractor models in the ’70s.
Quite a few of those old electric lawn tractors are still mowing merrily along. In May 2006, a Deere Electric 96 in beautiful working condition sold on eBay for $650.
Some electric tractor enthusiasts covet the 50-year-old Allis-Chalmers G model. Its small size and rear-mounted engine made it ideal for market-garden cultivation — and make it ideal now for conversion to electric power. (See “Vintage Tractor Now Runs on Sunlight," below.) The modern tractor most similar to the old Allis G is the Saukville, which is manufactured in Wisconsin. A 20 horsepower gasoline-powered Saukville sells for about $15,000, while the 26.5 horsepower diesel version costs about $18,600. Implements are extra.
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