They stopped production in 76-77 IIRC. Wheel Horse bought the technology
and produced until 83.
Cub Cadet, Wheel Horse and New Idea all had a small ride on mower as
well. The motors held up well as long as you kept track of the brushes.
The problem was that the batteries (same as 5volt golf cart units) were
expensive to replace.
In Germany I had a 1961 Beetle with what I think was a 25HP engine, it
was a hybrid of the US and German versions that had been kicking
around Army bases for years, and unlike the Germans we could freely
swap engines. Flat-out on a level road like the Autobahn north of
Basel it could reach 62MPH / 100KPH after about 15 minutes. It wasn't
so bad on the back roads I preferred.
The substantially less aerodynamic Model T could do 40 - 45MPH on
20HP.
jsw
Ah! Biodiesel! Somewhere on this NG I posted something about biodiesel,
wondering why somebody hasn't already jumped on it?
Used deep-fry oil is free - in fact, the way I understand it, restaurants
currently have to pay somebody to haul it off for disposal - what's keeping
somebody from going around, talking to restarateurs, offering to haul away
their used oil cheaper than the garbage/hazmat people are doing it, doing
some filtration, and selling it for, say, two bucks a gallon?
Politics?
Thanks,
Rich
Well, except for a few little technical details, isn't oil, pretty much oil?
But I don't think I'd want to eat french fries that were cooked in kerosene.
;-P
Thanks,
Rich
Nope, they get paid for the waste oil. They have big tanks ~500 gal they
collect it in and the recycling company stops by to pick it up each
month.
Already being done. Don't think it's going to bio-diesel though,
probably used as feed stock for some other oil based stuff.
I got curious about it and asked a handful of fast food managers. They
all said that a company comes and takes it away, prepaid from the
corporate office. You can't seem to buy it here. I'll bet the small
fast food restaurants give/sell it to their trucking buddies.
--
"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country
against his government." --Edward Abbey
I seriously doubt any trucker is going to put straight WVO in their
$150k truck, nor will they have enough spare time at home to run a
bio-diesel processor.
No, dumb ass. Push, as opposed to a riding mower or self propelled.
The reason women call you 'babe' is they mistook you for Paul
Bunion's Ox, moron.
I'll get right on that, as soon as there's complete peace in the
Middle East, and Tom gets his atomic powered flying car. :)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^=
^^^^^^>
Well, no. A quick glance at any industrial chemistry book will show
you the difference between petroleum oils and seed oils.
And "waste" cooking oil and fat isn't useless, just useless for
cooking food. Has a lot of industrial uses from
soap-making to pet food. People are willing to pay to get it. And
there isn't enough waste cooking oil in the world to replace gasoline
or diesel fuel for everything. Biggest thing the waste oil burners
are doing is evading the road taxes on fuel. And if they're
esterifying
their oil, the sodium hydroxide and methanol isn't cheap or free,
either. Production of sodium hydroxide isn't exactly green, either,
it's a product of the electrochemical industry.
My decades old diesel design manual mentions that while diesels can be
run on vegetable oils like peanut oil, the oils
tend to gum up everything and the engines need tearing down and
refurbing long before they are worn. I know that my
sister's diesel Jetta forbids using biodiesel right in the warranty.
Whether it's because of the gum-up problem or another reason,
I don't know.
Stan
Seems like for best efficiency (and to protect some transmissions from
turning without lubricant) you would need a drive shaft disconnect at
the differential.
Linoleum, eh?
You think you can just walk all over your equipment, do you, Jim?
--
"I probably became a libertarian through exposure to tough-minded
professors" James Buchanan, Armen Alchian, Milton Friedman "who
encouraged me to think with my brain instead of my heart. I
learned that you have to evaluate the effects of public policy
as opposed to intentions."
-- Walter E. Williams
I had the same thoughts, the web sight claims no modifications are made
to the existing drive train. The normal engine has to be running even when
using the electric drive to provide AC, PS, PB etc.
Best Regards
Tom.
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