Hello All!

[jspfeffer]

My name is John.. and I am quite handy... always looking for something to build or modify.. I ran across this site.. and it is awesome!! I don't plan on building a chair at least at the moment, but I am very interested in learning more! I am thinking of adapting this tech for a cool motorized cart, for my heavy equipment.

I am thinking of a design about 30" wide and 30-60" long... It needs to support about 600lbs max.. most of the time 250 lbs. I don't want speed.. In fact it's fastest speed would be 3-4 mph as I plan on walking next to it.

I love the idea of the motors.. that is how I found this site.. Trying to find a good motor compact.. self contained.. no chain drive etc.... I really like the LIpo battery idea...

I am an engineer, computer geek, general handyman.. etc... I would love to find good formulas or rules of thumb to calc what type of motors I need for the weight and speed...
The longest trip I see this cart making at a time is about 2 miles.. roundtrip. Although having lots of juice for more is great. I want to work on keeping weight down, as I want to be able to lift it in the SUV for trips etc...

I have a pretty good idea of the weight of the cart itself.. Just trying to figure out the weight of the motors, battery and controller..

Thanks for such an awesome sight! I have been reading every page.. really good stuff here..
Thanks
John

[Burgerman]

You may like to look up the difference between LiPo and LiFePo4. Maybe you already know. If not there's a post I did a day ago telling you what you need to know.

[Irving]

Welcome John

Your best bet for a motor is to repurpose a transaxle (motor/axle combo) from a mobility scooter, complete with the control system etc. with a pull-along tiller steering at the front, maybe a single front wheel? That will be a lot easier than trying to adapt the two-wheel drive/steering of a power-chair. You can pick something up on eBay for around £50 - £80. These things are rated for users up to 21st (135Kg). If you need more load carrying, then use a double axle or mount the wheels separately on suitably sized stub axles/pillow blocks and belt/chain drive them off the transaxle. If you did this you could gear down so an 8mph axle would give double the torque at 4mph max.