How I'm combatting rising fuel prices with solar.

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After having this cart for a while and using it as my primary transportation around the property I have no choice but recommend everyone do the same. If you have enough property that you need something to get around in this IS the way to go. First you can carry people and stuff. Second no noise, no gas and minimal maintenance when setup like mine will be. Once the cart and everything is paid for then you pretty much ride without additional expenses. Everything has stuff wear out and or brake from time to time but I'm more talking about fuel and hassle of liquid fueled engines. Plus fuel availability! I was spending about $100 a month getting around the property on an ATV and or garden tractor / lawnmower. In these two months that's over $200 since gas has gone up considerably since the last time I filled our tank. I think Trump was still in office when I last filled the tank! Had I not made the switch we would be needing to buy more fuel now or would have already had to buy more. At this rate we should be good several more months maybe even in to winter.

I've been up and down the hill 4 or 5 times today carrying things half the trips and the cart has used slightly less than 600 watt hours yet the solar panel roof has made almost 1000 watt hours. Having a roof over your head is HUGE in this heat or in inclement weather. The fold down windshield makes it even nicer. Getting in and out is easy too. You can buy them setup or mostly setup like this or save a ton of money and buy old broken down junk cheap and make it the way you want it like I am. If you are a homesteader then you are a DIYer any DIY person can do what I've done / am doing! From my research doing it yourself can save you half or more, even up towards 90% of the cost over buying one new like this.

Another big plus for this over anything else is the fact you can also plug an inverter in and run tools wherever the cart is...

I almost want to shout about this it is a HUGE game changer for us.
 
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After having this cart for a while and using it as my primary transportation around the property I have no choice but recommend everyone do the same. If you have enough property that you need something to get around in this IS the way to go. First you can carry people and stuff. Second no noise, no gas and minimal maintenance when setup like mine will be. Once the cart and everything is paid for then you pretty much ride without additional expenses. Everything has stuff wear out and or brake from time to time but I'm more talking about fuel and hassle of liquid fueled engines. Plus fuel availability! I was spending about $100 a month getting around the property on an ATV and or garden tractor / lawnmower. In these two months that's over $200 since gas has gone up considerably since the last time I filled our tank. I think Trump was still in office when I last filled the tank! Had I not made the switch we would be needing to buy more fuel now or would have already had to buy more. At this rate we should be good several more months maybe even in to winter.

I've been up and down the hill 4 or 5 times today carrying things half the trips and the cart has used slightly less than 600 watt hours yet the solar panel roof has made almost 1000 watt hours. Having a roof over your head is HUGE in this heat or in inclement weather. The fold down windshield makes it even nicer. Getting in and out is easy too. You can buy them setup or mostly setup like this or save a ton of money and buy old broken down junk cheap and make it the way you want it like I am. If you are a homesteader then you are a DIYer any DIY person can do what I've done / am doing! From my research doing it yourself can save you half or more, even up towards 90% of the cost over buying one new like this.

Another big plus for this over anything else is the fact you can also plug an inverter in and run tools wherever the cart is...

I almost want to shout about this it is a HUGE game changer for us.
How long until the project pays for itself in gas savings?

Ben
 
Less than two years maybe 20 months right now at the OLD gas prices. I really haven't spent all that much compared to buying a plain but running used golf cart. According to the prices I am seeing on craigslist for golf carts about 1/2 of what a running able to move cart costs now. All in all I have right at $2,200 in it. That includes the other cart I bought with it. So if you wanted to you could take $300 off since I paid $600 for the two! Once I buy the wheels & tires the total will be about $3,000. Anything I add from there is just extras I thought / think would be nice to have. Heck the wheels and tires are really extras at this point what I have is working. It's hard to find a moving golf cart around here for under $6500. I've seen some that were older and worse looking than mine go for $4500-$5,000 recently but they did move under their own power even if barely. They both needed new batteries and new Trojans are well over $1300 now.
 
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Less than two years maybe 20 months right now at the OLD gas prices. I really haven't spent all that much compared to buying a plain but running used golf cart. According to the prices I am seeing on craigslist for golf carts about 1/2 of what a running able to move cart costs now. All in all I have right at $2,200 in it. That includes the other cart I bought with it. So if you wanted to you could take $300 off since I paid $600 for the two! Once I buy the wheels & tires the total will be about $3,000. Anything I add from there is just extras I thought / think would be nice to have. Heck the wheels and tires are really extras at this point what I have is working. It's hard to find a moving golf cart around here for under $6500. I've seen some that were older and worse looking than mine go for $4500-$5,000 recently but they did move under their own power even if barely. They both needed new batteries and new Trojans are well over $1300 now.
If you think your tires/wheels are too big, send'em down here. :thumbs:
If you play in the mud, you need them.
Since we don't know nothin' about golf-carts:rolleyes:, here is an electric EZGO ready for the deep stuff:
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/jokes-and-humor.4921/post-119401
 
Is that your toy? Looks like 38's HUGE
Naw, just a friend I had when I was in Bama.
I can't find the pic of mine, but it was an electric with oversize wheels. :thumbs:
 
Yeah, BK, she had the Titanic beat, lol... and I've been reading Horatio Hornblower novels all weekend, C. S. Forester was one heck of an author. One of my favorites, in fact, so maybe that's why the nautical theme prevailed in my post, lol. I'm actually working my way through the entire Hornblower series, it beats watching TV, that's for sure. A short list of my favorite authors will always include:

C. S. Forester

Nevil Shute

Arthur Conan Doyle

Robert Louis Stevenson

Henry Rider Haggard

Nevil Shute is my all-time favorite author, but Robert Louis Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND is my all-time favorite book. Doyle, Forester & Rider Haggard don't suck either, lol. For American authors, I go with these guys:

Edgar Allan Poe

Jack London

Mark Twain (or Samuel Langhorne Clemens)

Herman Melville

James Fenimore Cooper

That's enough good literature to keep anybody busy for a while, lol... ;)

Enough thread-jacking, I'm back to my cold beer... :)

Somehow I'm just now seeing this post I wasn't ignoring you. I read a little myself. I say that sitting in my living room which probably has a minimum of a thousand books in it. I counted one shelf on one case to get that estimate. WoW I just realized My living room has two more bookshelves than walls. Never realized that before. lol I might be a fiction junky and addicted to learning how to do things the old ways.
 
Hey @Biggkidd after your talk about motors overheating, I looked online and see that you can buy a 48V motor for your cart for about $650, so if you find you are over taxing that 36V motor with your new hot rod batteries you can always kick it up a notch! :)
 
Hey @Biggkidd after your talk about motors overheating, I looked online and see that you can buy a 48V motor for your cart for about $650, so if you find you are over taxing that 36V motor with your new hot rod batteries you can always kick it up a notch! :)

You only scratched the surface you should see what you can get for 2K !

https://www.golfcartking.com/navita...3aOjdGux1I0GW4X6ngq10KQcA8n2_5HwaAmFkEALw_wcB

https://www.silverwolfmotors.com/products/14-kw-silverwolf-permanent-magnet-ac-motor
 
600 miles to visit the grandkids, about 11 hours of driving. If I'm forced in driving an electric vehicle, Drive 6 hours, recharge 8 hours and drive the remaining 5 hours. 19 hours plus the cost of a hotel while vehicle recharges. STUPID.
Gotta use the right tool for the job at hand.
 
Video came out this morning where a guy put a 36 volt Li battery in his 36 volt cart and picked up 5 MPH from 13 to 18 with just that change. That's impressive! Can't wait to see how big a change this makes in my cart. It moves out smartly as it is with the half dead 48 volt bank. This might just get interesting. lol The good part starts at the 9 minute mark.

 
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New battery is finally up to 53 volts. I have it on a small 5 amp charger so this is taking FOREVER. I only have two portable 48 volt chargers one is a 18-20 amp fast charger and this is the other one. The fast charger tends to push the voltage up past 60-62 volts. Which is why I'm using this one. I have three other 48 volt capable solar chargers but they are location specific and in use.
 
I just found out fuel went up big time yesterday / last night. Man am I glad we knew this was coming and have done everything possible to ease our reliance on fuel.
 
Yep, fuel jumped up $.30 per gallon here, I should've topped off a few days ago but---get this---I thought it might actually go DOWN, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! :rolleyes:

Dirty stinking Democratic Party Swine... the cost of EVERYTHING only goes up when these traitorous trash are in office. And THAT is part of the agenda, driving the country under just as FAST as they can... to suit their globalist masters. :mad:

Meh, enough, I'm off to watch a skate video... didja know that skateboarding is a GREEN method of transport? I wonder why the globalist greentards aren't pushing skateboarding as the NEW PLANETARY SALVATION, lol... ;)

Not enough money in it, I reckon... and not everybody can ride a skateboard. Sheeee-it, I had a hard enough time just staying aboard that dangerous contraption, especially coming off the vertical at speed into a dicey transition, lol... :oops:

Edit: BK, I wanna see ya pullin' double grinders with that cart in the nearest empty pool, otherwise I'm gonna lose all respect for ya, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Damn... :eek:
 
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Decided to run a little test on this battery. First a few details Maximum charge is 58.4 volts Dead battery is 40 volts. Man that's a wide spread! From my research I've learned a lot of DIY builders & off griders only charge to 56.8 volts and discharge to 42 volts. Staying in that long life middle span while stretching it much as they can. Those are more like the maximum of both ends and not necessarily the actual working range. The actual working range moves in some on both ends. LifePO4 batteries prefer to be in the 20 to 80 percent range for the longest life from what I understand That's also where most of the useable power is.

Anyway on to my test I only ended up charging the battery to 53 volts that's all my little charger was able to do this time. So I decided to put the 8000 BTU AC on it through a real cheap sinewave inverter. So far it ran one hour and 44 minutes and used 1.134 kWh out of the inverter through a meter. The voltage has only dropped from 53 to 52.2. This battery supposedly has 5.3kWh of storage. I've used a little over 1.1kWh and only dropped .8 of a volt. I am IMPRESSED !

It all fits in a milk crate and one person can move it pretty easy at 70 odd pounds. Rated for or as 51.2 volts nominal and 105 amp hours.
 
I can't find the pic of mine, but it was an electric with oversize wheels. :thumbs:
Well, since you have figured out that the battery-pile can power much more than just the cart....
Here is a vid of my cart before I rebuilt it real-pretty, using @phideaux 's 2000VA backup unit to power a skilsaw which pulls 15amps @ 120vac (the most brutal test I had):
 
Yeah man!

We've been off grid for 14 years. Hardest thing I've found to run off an inverter @ 120V is a big twin cyl air compressor with 125 psi on the tank. On at 125 off at 155 sucks down some amps. Starting surge is huge. Thing is old as the hills and has a cord thicker than a sharpie but it works great. I've always had big lead acid battery banks. My first taste of Li tech.
 
Ended up running a total of 3.146 kWh, voltage was at 47.9 this morning. I'm happy with that considering it didn't have a full charge. I left the AC on most of the night. It's thermostat controlled.
 
My daughter and son in law wanted to know if the golf cart was any quicker than it was at first. This is with lead acid 48 volt bank versus the 36 volt bank it had originally. So I romped on it with Nate and Tj (grandson) and I in the front Kyrstin was on the rear seat. The dang thing pulled about a 6 inch wheelie! Nate and I were both like naw that didn't happen so I did it twice more it happened twice more, in fact it did happen all three times. I will say two things 1) these batteries seem to be getting better with everyday of long slow charging 2) battery voltage at the time was about 53.5 volts. With the panel charging. I can't wait to see what it will do with the new battery!
 
Started building the battery box today. It's 10.5W x 12L x 12T. Still a long ways to go. Trying to make it breathable for summer yet sealable for winter is not that easy. The worst part is I had to resort to using steel. I tried every which way to come up with enough aluminum but I just wasn't able to make it happen. I repurposed an old metal shelf to make it out of. It may not look the best but it will work.
 
My daughter and son in law wanted to know if the golf cart was any quicker than it was at first. This is with lead acid 48 volt bank versus the 36 volt bank it had originally. So I romped on it with Nate and Tj (grandson) and I in the front Kyrstin was on the rear seat. The dang thing pulled about a 6 inch wheelie! Nate and I were both like naw that didn't happen so I did it twice more it happened twice more, in fact it did happen all three times. I will say two things 1) these batteries seem to be getting better with everyday of long slow charging 2) battery voltage at the time was about 53.5 volts. With the panel charging. I can't wait to see what it will do with the new battery!
Yes!

How much mass dis you remove in front and how much mass did you have behind?

;)

Ben
 
Yes!

How much mass dis you remove in front and how much mass did you have behind?

;)

Ben
There were three of us on the front seat and my daughter on the rear seat. No weight moved in any direction other than the people mentioned. If it weren't for all our weight it wouldn't have had traction enough to do that in the dirt like it did.
 
Been out working on the battery box some more. Just finished testing the heating and cooling system for it. Never thought I'd see the day when I'd be temperature controlling a battery! Got a pair of 25 watt heat pads under an aluminum sheet over Styrofoam that the batteries will sit on. Also have a 4 inch fan 1.44 watts to go on the top drawing air from the bottom up around the battery. If I end up getting a BMS then the fan will probably be replaced by it since it has it's own fan. I have the fan coming on at 35c and off at 30c the heat will come on at 3c and off at 5c. Why in the world can't this stuff be in F and not C?

Still debating where I should place the battery. Either in the middle or on the passenger side? Both have pluses and minuses. Any opinions?
 
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The old shelf I'm making the battery box from.

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20220606_201110.jpg


The heating and cooling parts. Orange pads are 12V 25 watt heaters wired in series to keep them from getting so hot. The little white box with wires is a temperature control unit I have a second on order. One for heating one for cooling. The fan is for cooling. The 2) 1/2" pieces of Styrofoam are to insulate the bottom and reflect the heat up through the aluminum plate the heat pads are glued to.

20220606_202729.jpg

Ratty old piece of Lexan I dug out to make a cover for the box.

20220606_202737.jpg

It's not very pretty but this is the box.

20220606_202746.jpg

More to come as I make more progress.
 
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I've made up my mind to put it in the center even though that requires the most work. You ever notice the best placement or best way of doing something usually requires the most effort? Here I'm going to have to do a little cutting and relocating to make it fit. It's 1/4 of an inch wider than the original batteries and about 2 inches shorter in length. It's also several inches taller because that was the size of the material I had to work with. But the height is not any issue. That 1/4 inch wider is an issue. lol I could have made it that 1/4 inch narrower but I wanted a little air space between the sides of the box and the battery for cooling air to pass through and to keep the cold from seeping through in winter. Anyway now that I know where it's going I am able to start mounting the electronics. Some of the parts won't be here until tomorrow though. Like everything this sure got complicated!
 
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Made more progress on the battery box today. You know the kind two steps forward and three steps back. Anyway I got the 48 volt to 12 volt converter mounted on the outside. Both the heating and cooling thermostats are mounted and the heating pads are in and all wired up. Come to think of it the fan is also wired but not yet mounted. I may have to order something different for a fan. The 12 volt fuse / power distribution block is mounted and wired. I also installed a ground stud for all the 12V stuff. The 300 amp circuit breaker is mounted.

I pulled the buss bars off and rechecked the balance of the cells and they were all over the place and I have NO idea why. The lowest one was 3.33 and the highest one was 3.65 and everywhere in between. I have them all hooked in parallel to rebalance them. Looks like I will be keeping a SUPER close eye on them until I A) get a BMS or B) find out it was a fluke. IDK what the heck caused them to go so far out of balance! All I've done so far was to run them down about 60% and recharge them once.

Everything is starting to come together. SLOWLY!
 
I just draw a map mentally, I go to the fartest place I need to go and double back taking care of the rest as I head home, I do ideally ONE trip a month out to town.
 

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