36v txt - new to golf cart building

[terryhx]

mostly dirt or gravel roads throughout the farm

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by terryhx

i will be using it for hunting , moderate hills and yes i will add a rear seat . i would eventually like to upgrade to 48v but cant right now

I got all my stuff from Carts Unlimited, a site sponsor. All of my parts will work at 36 and 48 volts.

[terryhx]

can i get by without upgrading the motor right now

[yurtle]

Absolutely. I ran mine stock for a good while before upgrading for more speed. Heat is the main thing to worry about, and as long as you keep the controller set to 400 amps max, you should be fine, though a spot check with a handheld temperature gun will tell you for sure. After all, you did melt two FNRs and don't want to melt the motor.

Since you already have cables, I'd recommend a SR48500 controller, heaviest duty solenoid, heavy duty FNR or reversing contactor, and a digital volt meter, to help you get your money's worth out of current batteries.

Make sure the reversing contactor - if you go that route - can do 36 volt and later be upgraded for 48 volts. Dunno if a coil change is possible. Also make sure the solenoid will do 36 volts and 48 volts. Those definitely exist.

You can always just upgrade the parts that fail, but that could leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere, with a buck in back.

DaveTM made a series hunting cart, so you can search for his build.

EDIT: I corrected controller model number.

[terryhx]

thank you ... i know i will have more questions

[yurtle]

You've found the most helpful forum around. May be slow this weekend, due to Monday holiday.

[terryhx]

its been great so far ... ive heard that cart builds can be addictive lol .. just what ive gathered from the forum already

[yurtle]

ScottyB's website has good info on controllers, solenoids and batteries.

https://www.cartsunlimited.net/

[JohnnieB]

The drive train starts with the specific gravity of the electrolyte in the battery's cells and ends where rubber meets road.

With stock gears (12.44:1) in the differential and stock tire height (18"), the effective gear ratio of the drive train is 16.59:1 and with tires 22" tall the effective ratio is 13.57:1, so the change in effective gear ratio is 18.2%, but to apply the same force where rubber meets road the motor has to produce 22.23% more torque and motors are less than 80% efficient, so with 22"
tires the motor has to draw about 28% more amps to apply the same amount of linear force where rubber meets road than it does with 18" tall tires.

In addition, off-road tires, which are often used on lifted carts, tend to be the low pressure type having a max inflation pressure of 10PSI or less and have a far greater rolling resistance than road tires whose max inflation pressure is typically 20PSI or higher. In some instance carts with taller than stock low pressure tires are actually slower than same cart with stock height golf cart tires even though the taller tires have a greater circumference and should increase the cart's max speed.

Since you are going to be using cart for hunting, you'll probably want/need off-road tires and ground clearance. There are high inflation pressure tires with aggressive tread designs and the drive train can be beefed up to handle the lo-pressure types and still have an acceptable driving distance on a single charge.

[terryhx]

yes i have been all over scottys website and have his hunting buggy pkg in my shopping cart ... just need to make sure thats what i need