# Electric Tractor Conversion



## 4Springs

I'm keen to convert a tractor to electric. Take out the engine and fuel tank, put in a motor and batteries. I've done a car, and a tractor seems like the next thing to do. It would be great to not have to fetch diesel in cans, and I'd never have any trouble starting it! Plus lower vibration and much quieter to use.
I've attached a photo of my International A414 at work. This is the rough size of what I'm thinking of, but I won't be converting this one as I need a working tractor while I do the conversion.

I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions of good models to convert.
On many models the engine forms a structural part of the machine, and if I removed it I'd have to build a frame. So something with a chassis would be easier.
It shouldn't be too old. I don't want to 'ruin' a classic.
It shouldn't be too new. Ironically, too much electronics will be too difficult!

A common model would also be good, since I'm more likely to find one going cheap, and it should be easier to find parts. I'm in Tasmania.


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## pogobill

Welcome to the forum. I can't help you much in regards to the conversion, but I'd be interested enough to follow the build. Tractors are basically a drive train with wheels, with barely enough room for the addition of a small tool box to carry around a few spanners. Where would you install a battery pack large enough to run the tractor?


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## valuman

Do you think it'll end up looking like the CET from SolecTrac?


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## 4Springs

valuman said:


> Do you think it'll end up looking like the CET from SolecTrac?


I'm looking at a larger tractor than that one, but the specifications are useful to get an idea of what is possible.
They quote a 22 kWh LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery. This is very similar to the one that I'll use in my initial build, I have a 20 kWh LFP battery (48 cells) sitting around from my last project. They suggest 3-6 hours run time from their battery, so I'd be looking at less than that with a larger, older tractor and a slightly smaller battery.


pogobill said:


> Where would you install a battery pack large enough to run the tractor?


Pretty much where the engine is now. That thing is huge!
Eyeballing the battery next to my A414, I think that it is a bit smaller than the current engine, radiator and fuel tank (which are next to each other). An electric motor should be about 1/5 the size of the diesel one. So with this tractor I'd build an external frame roughly rectangular, and fit all the cells inside the frame along with the motor.
There are 48 cells to the battery. They can be placed anywhere, and don't have to be upright, so I should be able to arrange them to fit the available space. With this tractor, it looks like if I needed more room I'd be able to extend the space forward, putting the steering wheels further forward and extending the bonnet. The space could also be extended sideways, making the bonnet wider.
The battery is about 200 kg, and I'd guess the whole shebang would end up a little lighter than the current engine. So I may need to add weights to get a useable machine.


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## bmaverick

I can see it now, a Tesla under a hood of a Boomer 8N. A sleeper tractor out in the field ready to challenge the big green boys. 

As for a classic, the Ford 8N has had several different conversions. The Funk Brother conversion took the 8N from an inline-4 to a V6. Then there is the Henry plate to take a Ford Mustang 302 and put it under an 8N hood. 

Could you be the FIRST one to take the 8N to electric? There are parts galore for this model. You can't go wrong. Think, a 75 year old machine reborn to a Tesla level. WOW. You may have to restore the fenders, panels and other trim if you find a good deal.


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## bontai Joe

I'm thinking that an Allis Chalmers WD45 from the 1950's which has a frame under the engine would work. Allis Chalmers made larger and smaller tractors with a similar design and they are almost as plentiful as the old Fords.


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## nvll.mrrs

Hi 4springs 
I own a Iseki TS3510 it has hi/lo 4 speed with a 3 cylinder diesel, 4x4. It was cheap to buy and no pretence of being a classic. I would think with no motor, radiator and tank there would be heaps of room for the battery pack and motor. I would suggest keeping the batteries as low and as far forward as possible as this would assist the balance and keep the centre of gravity low. Best of luck sounds interesting.

Sent from my Redmi Note 8 Pro using Tapatalk


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## FredM

Should be an interesting conversion, I would also like to be able to follow the conversion as it happens.


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## 4Springs

bmaverick said:


> Could you be the FIRST one to take the 8N to electric?


Thanks for that, I googled "Ford 8N Electric", and found this guy: 



He didn't go on to do the Ford, but watching his videos has given me some ideas. I did notice that one of the people in the comments said they'd done a Ford 8N, so the first has already been done!


bontai Joe said:


> I'm thinking that an Allis Chalmers WD45 from the 1950's which has a frame under the engine would work. Allis Chalmers made larger and smaller tractors with a similar design and they are almost as plentiful as the old Fords.


Ah, now that design looks a bit more straightforward. Not sure that I'd be wanting something quite this old though. I was thinking probably 30 years younger.
It will be interesting to see if the same models are available here in Australia. Having some info from this forum will help me when I go and look around.


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## bmaverick

4Springs said:


> I was thinking probably 30 years younger. It will be interesting to see if the same models are available here in Australia. Having some info from this forum will help me when I go and look around.


So, not too old and not too young. A large CUT model would be nice. Down where you are at, are there any Mitsubishi MT-Series machines? 

Here's one just for comparison.
http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/003/1/9/3190-mitsubishi-mt300.html


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## 4Springs

bmaverick said:


> A large CUT model would be nice. Down where you are at, are there any Mitsubishi MT-Series machines?


I looked up CUT. Compact Utility Tractor. Yes, a large CUT looks about right for what I'm imagining. Something to be used around the yard for 50 different jobs a day, then occasionally used to mow or rake a paddock.
I've never heard of a Mitsubishi tractor! But this doesn't mean much, my experience is limited in this field. I grew up in the 80s on a farm with Massey Fergusons, a John Deere and a Chamberlain, but I've not been around farms much since then.


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## bmaverick

4Springs said:


> I've never heard of a Mitsubishi tractor! But this doesn't mean much, my experience is limited in this field. I grew up in the 80s on a farm with Massey Fergusons, a John Deere and a Chamberlain, but I've not been around farms much since then.


Back in the late 70s and all the way into the 90s, the Japan CUT tractors cornered the market and the BIG manufactures were going bigger and better. Reminds me of the 70s cars that were like land yachts and the Japan little cars arrived. It was the same game on the tractor size. In fact, JD and Ford noticed that the market they left was getting nibbled up, so both made efforts of these Japan makers to add to their own brands too. Yanmar+John Deere, Ford+Shibaura, Massey-Ferguson+Mitsubishi, and the like for the others.


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## Groo

I'm going to suggest getting outside of the box.

A tractor needs weight, so you might as well start out with an electric forklift. that gets you battery, hydraulic system, and drive motor.

You could stick it in an AC (I saw a series of youtube vids of converting one to a harbor freight v-twin) ], but you might as well just start with a heavy truck chassis. you put the drive input into the steep gear reduction axle, most likely a 2 speed axle. you can then stick some bigger tires on it, and possibly weld it above the frame. the front you can leave truck style as is. slap that big battery above the and just in front of the rear axle.

I guess that is my suggestion; forklift and old truck. stick the two together. You don't really need much from an actual tractor apart form the rear wheels and tires. the 3 point is simple, so no need to get a whole tractor just for that.

get another drive motor if you need a PTO.


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## 4Springs

Groo said:


> I'm going to suggest getting outside of the box.
> 
> A tractor needs weight, so you might as well start out with an electric forklift. that gets you battery, hydraulic system, and drive motor.
> 
> You could stick it in an AC (I saw a series of youtube vids of converting one to a harbor freight v-twin) ], but you might as well just start with a heavy truck chassis. you put the drive input into the steep gear reduction axle, most likely a 2 speed axle. you can then stick some bigger tires on it, and possibly weld it above the frame. the front you can leave truck style as is. slap that big battery above the and just in front of the rear axle.
> 
> I guess that is my suggestion; forklift and old truck. stick the two together. You don't really need much from an actual tractor apart form the rear wheels and tires. the 3 point is simple, so no need to get a whole tractor just for that.
> 
> get another drive motor if you need a PTO.


It's funny what different people see as being simple!
I think the main advantage of this suggestion would be if electric motors or batteries were scarce, but electric forklifts were common. This is not the case for me, motors and batteries are reasonably easy to obtain. I think that a tractor should be easy enough to find as well, since I'm in a farming area.
At first glance, I'd expect the motor and battery from a forklift would be rather too small. And buying a forklift to get them means I'm buying rather more than I need, so I'd expect them to be very expensive. We don't have a large industrial base here, so I doubt there'd be any secondhand forklifts around. And if there were I'd almost certainly need to replace the battery.

A tractor chassis gives me lots and lots of useful parts, which I'd otherwise have to source from somewhere else and bodge together:
Three point linkage, draw bar and PTO, all in the positions that are normal for a tractor.
A gearbox with plenty of gears in both directions, made to take a beating.
Large rear wheels. Small steering wheels and steering assembly.
A two-stage clutch to engage the PTO and gears.
A hydraulic system including controls and outlets mounted in logical places. Might need to replace the pump on this, might not.
A seat, steering wheel, brakes, throttle, controls for the 3PL and PTO, a dashboard, roll frame, hand brake, lights, indicators.

If I used a separate motor for the PTO, it would need to be as big as the drive motor. It would need its own control system, since you have to be able to drive the PTO at a continuously varying speed. So this would double the cost of the motor/controller and would mean you'd have to mount it somewhere. It would mean that the drive speed and PTO speed would be independent, but I don't see that as being particularly useful.


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## Groo

4Springs said:


> It's funny what different people see as being simple!
> I think the main advantage of this suggestion would be if electric motors or batteries were scarce, but electric forklifts were common. This is not the case for me, motors and batteries are reasonably easy to obtain. I think that a tractor should be easy enough to find as well, since I'm in a farming area.
> At first glance, I'd expect the motor and battery from a forklift would be rather too small. And buying a forklift to get them means I'm buying rather more than I need, so I'd expect them to be very expensive. We don't have a large industrial base here, so I doubt there'd be any secondhand forklifts around. And if there were I'd almost certainly need to replace the battery.
> 
> A tractor chassis gives me lots and lots of useful parts, which I'd otherwise have to source from somewhere else and bodge together:
> Three point linkage, draw bar and PTO, all in the positions that are normal for a tractor.
> A gearbox with plenty of gears in both directions, made to take a beating.
> Large rear wheels. Small steering wheels and steering assembly.
> A two-stage clutch to engage the PTO and gears.
> A hydraulic system including controls and outlets mounted in logical places. Might need to replace the pump on this, might not.
> A seat, steering wheel, brakes, throttle, controls for the 3PL and PTO, a dashboard, roll frame, hand brake, lights, indicators.
> 
> If I used a separate motor for the PTO, it would need to be as big as the drive motor. It would need its own control system, since you have to be able to drive the PTO at a continuously varying speed. So this would double the cost of the motor/controller and would mean you'd have to mount it somewhere. It would mean that the drive speed and PTO speed would be independent, but I don't see that as being particularly useful.


I've got to think all those gears you love so much are rather useless with the high low RPM torque of an electric drive. The only reason you'd use them all is to keep the PTO near 540.
I've done some work with the electrification of hydraulic equipment. In every case, there was a separate hydraulic motor from the drive motor for efficiency reasons. 
A PTO motor controller could be drastically simpler than a drive motor since you are just trying to hold a single speed. could you just use a power converter and a 3-phase motor to a reduction? 
I don't really know the pricing of these components, but I've got to think a PTO would be drastically cheaper to control than a drive. You also get several added benefits, like not having to worry about a overriding clutch if it doesn't have a 2-way(term ?) clutch.

Thinking more about this case, if the 3-point is the only reason you need hydraulics, use a winch to lift the 3-point. If you have other infrequent use hydraulic needs, get something like is seen on small dumper inserts for pick-ups, or snow plow controls. If you can't "disconnect" the hydraulics, that will have a constant power draw in operation. Most people looking at electrification are looking hard at range. If that isn't an issue for you, then don't worry about it.

ROPS is also not a standard feature on the old tractors you are likely looking for, and if your electric drive is much heavier than the I/C or puts the weight in a significantly different area, it might need to be re-examined anyways.

now all that said, yes it would be drastically simpler to put a motor that spins up to the same speed as the I/C engine it replaces. I'm more of a revolution vs. evolution thinker.


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