Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

Hello,
I have been lurking on this site for a while, enjoying all the great info!

I have been quietly working on my cart to clear our 250' dirt lane of snow and be able to sand during icy conditions.

Build out
Last year I picked up a pair of 90's EZGO electrics for $400.00. One had an Alltrax DCX300 controller and I was able to get it running on the old 6v batteries however range was quite short. Well working in a an IT Datacenter has it's advantages, we did a UPS battery refresh and I was able to acquire some Dynasty 12v 100 amp hr batteries. This summer I welded in new brackets for those batteries and changed the contactor out to 48v. This fall and winter I was added a 5" lift and 24" tires off a polaris atv I also wired out the cab for a bluetooth stereo, dome light, 2 x cigarette lighters for heaters, reverse light, volt gauge running lights, strobe and flood light. I got a cheap nylon cab enclosure for the unit to cover it up and added some fender flares. I added in a 5th battery just for all the accessories. Pics to follow of the build out! I also mounted a trailer hitch to pull a small trailer and a 120lb tow behind spreader.

Finally when I started looking at plowing the lane, I knew a plow wasn't going to suffice as with dirt there is limited traction even with chains and the snow here in Halifax, Nova Scotia can be very heavy. The dirt road also has a couple big hills. So I had a an electric motor (MARS ME-1003 from Evdrives) from a boat motor conversion that wasn't in use over the winter (See http://www.edsboattips.com/ under boater innovation award for details about that project). So I acquired a 42" Craftsman dual stage snow blower auger and made a direct pulley drive with the motor mounted up. I ran a separate 48v contactor and no controller (motor can be ran this way).

Well yesterday I finally got everything wired up. A dry start of the blower is here:



5 cm of snow fell yesterday evening, a perfect chance to try the beast:


There is still lots to do, I have no chute control and need to install the winch to lower/raise the blower. But other than that it worked very well! I had some issues with the auger chute being blown off by chunks of ice coming from the auger too, speed of blower is a little faster than stock I believe, lol.

My apologies for lack of pics, I will put some more up later however please feel free to post questions and I will answer as best possible. Thanks again for such a great site, tons of info!

Re: Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

Looks really good,

Re: Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

Great application. I really am impressed with those ME motors. We used one on our electric hunting buggy and it has continually impressed not only me, but anyone that sees it. Again, killer application and nice work!!

Re: Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

Very clever, a great use of your cart.

Re: Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

Thanks guys, now to finish the chute/lift and get some more snow! I just measured our road on google (sawdust road, Timberlea NS) and it's actually close to 400 ft! Batteries seem to last quite good and yes I agree the MARS motors work fantastic.

Re: Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

I had about that same idea last fall when a Wheel Horse snow thrower popped up on the local CL for $75. If that ad gets reposted, I'm gonna grab it this time!

Re: Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

Well as promised here are some pics and details of my build out:
I picked up a pair of these carts in Sept 2010 for $400 from a local club. One had a controller and some dead batteries. The other was complete sans batteries and controller. I was able to revive one of the carts and get the batteries to take some charge although range was quite limited.

Re: Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

I drove the white cart for a bit to haul things around the yard but the batteries range was quite low. In 2011 we changed out our DC UPS batteries and I was able to get some that were old but still holding charge quite well. These 100 amp/hr AGM batteries were larger than the 6 volts so I cut out the center battery bracket and moved it back and added in another support using square tube steel. I also picked up some 24" rear tires off a polaris atv for $100. Obviously lift was required!

Re: Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

I bought a cheapo ebay volt gauge and installed it up at the key and installed a princess auto key ignition with accessory pin . I ran a separate negative wire up for the gauge. 5" Jakes lift kit arrived!

Re: Project snowpig! Electric Snowblower Cart!
 

I cut some holes in the back fenders and installed some 3.99 tailights from princessauto. I changed the bulbs out to LED and i also installed a 55w driving light. A local hardware supply store had a end of season sale on tractor implements- I bought a trailer and a spreader to do salting.