Taylor Dunn 24 Volt 3 wheel transporter

[TomW]

I probably should have left this at the store.

I didn't.



Its got at least a set of toast batteries. No worries there I got a bunch of tired Trojan 105s for it..

Its got a junk controller but I can probably fix that with some ingenuity.

The seat is trashed but I got an old riding mower with a half decent seat so that will go on it if it actually runs.

It is 24 volt just like my RE system.

The tires are holding air anyway. The brake works.

















Well I guess I needed another  project.NOT!

If anyone knows about reburbing these things I would love feedback.

It is only 28.5" wide so it will actually fit thru every door on the place which is neat.

First on my list is a motor test. It all turns easy and free.

I will block up the rear and apply some 24 VDC see if it rolls things. If so I figure the rest is just control of the volts.

Maybe just pop 4 T-105's in it and hotwire it to just go ?

Thanks for lookin.

Tom

[Bushwhacker]

Tom, me thinks you are a sucker for punishment.  There is potential there, you just have to figure out what you want this machine to do for you. Build a wee cart and it can haul firewood. Snow plowing is right out! I'd love to have a hobby item like that on an acreage. 

[Volvo farmer]

Well, that's probably the coolest thing I have seen all day!

Round these parts there's usually a few hours per day of RE going to waste because batteries are floating. That would be a pretty nifty thing to dump some excess into. The clearance looks a little low but I can think of about a half dozen uses around here for a cart like that. Nice score!

[birdhouse]

tom-
i don't blame you for bring that thing home!  i would have too!

my biggest question would be...  does BFG make an All Terrain T/A to fit those rims?  

really though, nice find, and good luck with it!

adam

[wooferhound]

I revived an electric scooter with a 24 volt motor. I made a battery bank from some NiCad batteries I got from Bruce S. It was an 18 volt bank and I just put an on/off switch on it and let it run on 18 volts. It's a little exciting when starting from stopped, but not too bad. It doesn't break any speed records but it's not slow either.
Here it is before I started working on it . . .

[ghurd]

"reburbing"
Well... the 2 coils behind the Master Control sticker look a lot like the thing we put in an E-Boat.
There wasn't much to it.
Not sure how much of the whole controller was available to work with.

It ended up being a 4 speed.
Slow- The battery power went through both coils.
Med-Slow went through only 1 coil, the one with the highest resistance.
Med-Fast went through only the other lower resistance coil.
Fast went around the coils.

The coils got hot enough to glow some, but the battery arrangement wasn't exactly set up like everything was intended by the design engineers.

Woof- 
Might put a PWM controller on that scooter if the throttle is in tact.  Would not be too difficult to build (I don't think).
Then could stick a 24V pack in it for more speed!
G-

[TomW]

G;

Yeah. its simply resistors and a wiper that selects how much to use. Just like my Harley golf cart thats in pieces. Maybe its controller could be adapted its in a brushy storage area someplace gotta go look.  If nothing else a go no go and a "go faster" switch setup be fine for most use

Not like they had fine throttle control to start with. More tractor than sprinter type use anyway so a stepped speed selector would work.

Or a big honkin rheostat! Could maybe wind one with a hunk of nichrome and a wiper depending on the ohm values.

I see parts available for the model online but no schematic of how it works.


I got plans beyond transport like extra batteries and an inverter for a "porta power" to run AC tools at remote areas without gas engines involved.

It had 4 T-145's in it The string is tapped in a couple places but I haven't sussed it out yet.

Amy enacted the priorities override on this project so I just parked it out back to at least be out of view and I can still do some work on it in bits n pieces not in view of the driveway. At least she thinks it is cute 

Tom

[Bruce S]

I think one of the first things to do would be to replace the headlight with a 3 watt LED 
Then go find the old Chevy engine red/orange and get it back to its glory.
That way even if it never runs again, it'll look good   
AND then there are those extra Absolyte batteries you happen to have.
They would be a nice set for the porta-power you're looking for.

Bruce S

[DanG]

Neat find, a Gopher Cart!  We had similar at a subway repair yard facility I worked at... I've had to use a derailment response truck (huge) to retrieve the little dear too when mechanics tried going cross-country in it. Your motocross track, err driveway to the mail box might be a spectator sport!

Fit through doorways?  I see better guards in the future on that new battery bank!

If the leectrical side rings out, the first thing I'd do next is find tow attachment points front and rear. With you aboard plus its weight, low ground clearance, square wall tires and sharp turning radius the front tire plowing a furrow until the rear wheels spin will prove its a real gopher cart by digging in! Be absolutely great on sidewalks and a groomed trail - use the ute to plow and drag paths?  I wonder if golf cart turf tires can be swapped on to it?  Good find TW.

[TomW]

Hee, I just got a big pile of used 7.5 to 12 KV Neon Transformers for Feebay. I could wire up a couple to  tall "Jacobs Ladders" and let it run off an inverter on dark nights on my high knob visible for miles! Or a big corona discharge ball at 40 or 50 feet 

Just thinking on the wild side.

Tom

[tanner0441]

Hi

12Kv Jacobs ladder, Hhmmm if you can't see it you will hear it.....On every radio and TV for miles.  A bit like the 455KHz transmitter I built with a couple of friends as a kid we called it radio I.F. your only radion station.....

Put all the transformers in series really go for it.

Brian

[Bruce S]

Hee, I just got a big pile of used 7.5 to 12 KV Neon Transformers for Feebay. I could wire up a couple to  tall "Jacobs Ladders" and let it run off an inverter on dark nights on my high knob visible for miles! Or a big corona discharge ball at 40 or 50 feet 

Just thinking on the wild side.

Tom

NOW that would work!
I still have mine. Uses the old wire coat hanger as sparkie. Don't fire it up much, scares the little kiddes and I keep it down to only 36 inches tall.
Its a goodie on Halloween tho 
Weighs about 15lbs
Bruce S
 

[12AX7]

Tom...   *yikes*

That thing looks heavy enough to pull up one of your towers!

What's the difference between a Jacobs Ladder and a Spark Gap Transmitter?

answer   "not much".

When I was a kid, dad made a Jacobs Ladder out of a ignition transformer from an old oil furnace and a pair of bronze welding rods.   It would "jump the gap" at a 1/2 inch and drop it at just over three inches (that's a three inch gap, the arc's heat lifted it three to four inches above the rod tips for a total arc of four to five inches).
It made a great project to take to school every year (show and tell.. or science class).   Was always fun showing off it's POWER    hold a piece of paper in the gap and *poof*  FIRE!   

Still remember a teacher using a lead pencil to try to stop the arc from crawling up the ladder. 
You'd think a science teacher would know that a "lead" pencil would conduct electricity?  *L*  He bounced off of the black board.

Later in life a friend and I installed a large coil in series,  made it "reach out" (RF wise) just a little further.

Anyhow..   that's a neat looking cart,  they don't make them like that anymore.

ax7
Mark

[wooferhound]

Woof- 
Might put a PWM controller on that scooter if the throttle is in tact.  Would not be too difficult to build (I don't think).
Then could stick a 24V pack in it for more speed!
G-

Yes Ghurd I would like to add PWM speed control but I'm waiting for you to start selling a kit so I can buy one...

[wooferhound]

Here is my entry into the Jacobs Ladder competition. It's a 15000 volt transformer and Curtain Rods for the electrodes.

[12AX7]

Woof...

what?   no video?

ax7

[tecker]

Shunt wound forward reverse and safety circuits take the motor down and clean the commutator clean the grooves well and find some brushes .