EV Mower Conversion with Solar Charging Station 

could you make a high powered super fast (try get 100mph) electric scooter please i would love to see this

I've always thought a sit on lawnmower crossed with a flymow would be fun to ride, a grass cutting hovercraft of sorts.

You should probably add a battery on the solar-mowar-chargar.

also colin you might have a bit of a spam problem. in replies.

But what about those robots that do this.... how about you make this a robot mowar? Do a collaborative with some electronic RU-vidrs?

Don't get used to it LOL

yet

next video: I made it shoot fireworks while it mows

Just wait till NEXT week!

WHERE'S THE TUNNEL!!!! WE KNOW ITS ALREADY COMPLETE PLEASE UPLOAD THE TUNNEL VIDEO'S!!!!!

@good one ncie

Despite having spinning blades on wheels - ironically - it may also be one of the safest things he's made... :)

I'm also positively surprised how clean the mod seemed, I mean not that he doesn't do a good job usually but it didn't seem to require much adapting and bodging to swap the original engine for the electric motors. It almost seems an actual product.

Assuming there's been any sun that week. I haven't seen the sun so far this week, because autumn.

You saying his screw tank was not useful??!?!

Plenty of electric options.

Think a problem is that majority of available electric engines are weak. What if u hit a rock.

That's why things are belt driven even in conventional movers. It only damages the spindles and blades on the moving deck.

@@Blockhaj I have an electric Cub Cadet that I've been running for 5+ years now. I live on 5 acres and I've never had any issues with lack of power. I've hit (Well, my wife has hit) plenty of rocks and the only damage is a dented blade.

what a awesome way to save 10 gallons of gas per year. surprising more people don't want it.

that's a fantastic way to look at it

1st :)

@built different So's ya mom

Next step: mount an electrically-powered foghorn on it.

@@quixototalis it defenently needs a soundsystem to make V12 noises

spot on. precisely right

I really like this idea. It'd definitely be really useful

The battery bank would help his electric bill. Lathe drill press cnc machine. And everyother power tool he has.

Thinking the same thing. Lots of good cordless electric yard tools, they could all soak up extra power from the shed.

Hey Colin, there ya go... start an electric tool shed company, fans can buy stock and reap profit along with you

Just seal it properly before you put batteries in lol

Yess

YES!!! Epic collab that! 🔋💥

YESSSS

I was gonna mention you Jehu! Glad you’re already here 😎

The man!

HOLY HOLY!!! I can proudly say that I have the two HOTTEST women on this planet as MY GIRLFRIENDS! I am the unprettiest RU-vidr ever, but they love me for what's inside! Thanks for listening c

@@AxxLAfriku not even one looks like an Alaskan bull worm and the other one looks like Betty White's left tit.

@@BenDover-ts4lt just ignore the idiot, but you do have a funny comment i will admit

lolol fantastic

Indeed. Apart from the hysterical laughter, that was pretty silent. Should very well worry the next door people.

Been checking for an update on the tunnel.. any news Colin?

Damn guys sorry for the bots

@@matthewmaillette is it just me or have the bots been incessant lately?

Tunnel next video! Check the comments he’s put a comment right at the top if you don’t believe me and I’m so excited 😅😂.

@@Deathven1482 yea, they seem to have been replying a lot more recently

i think that he already has that. he knew at all times how much power is in the machine

With the size of his yard, he certainly doesn't need to worry about range

He used some shitty lead acid batteries. Why he didn't go with LifePO4 is beyond me..

@@FJB2020 money?

@@mickys8065 Two 12v 100ah LifePO4 batteries would have replaced those 8 lead acid batteries and cost less and given him a longer run time... plus a huge weight savings...

You don't really think that is his real house anymore? For sure he moved to a villa with amounts of money he is making.

@@N0N0111 Why would he? Why would anyone go through the trouble of digging a bunker that's better than most normal above ground house extensions, digging a tunnel system connecting the house and shed and bunker all together, a retractable roof over the area next to the house... only to go live in a boring tunnelless, bunkerless villa?

That is pretty cool. I have a big enough lawn that this mower would be ideal except for the fact that my mower is paid for and investing in a conversion kit will defeat the the cost of building a new or buying a new mower. There is a 48v Ryobi zero turn mower and they cost 5k. Even if I spend 1k to convert my existing mower to batteries It would take more than 10 years of buying gas to fuel it. Now I will keep my eye open for a broken one that I can pick up for next to nothing and maybe work something out with it. I might even look for some of the cordless push mowers. I am sure they break from time to time and people just buy new ones. That might be an option for parts or something. Might even be able to make a deck with the push mowers and use some sort of mobility scooter for the drive section.

i concur. 1000% right!

I have a round lawn, a normal mower, a plug to a drum in the middle of the lawn, I tape the handle shut and put the whole thing on a timer so it stops when it gets to the middle. (in my dreams)

@@anonimushbosh They do have robot mowers that are fairly cheap around 1k. Provided you have a set up lawn they are easy to use and install. Before I bought my new house I had a yard that was going to buy one of those mowers and put it in there. Depending on the one you get you can set it up in a number of ways, I was going to add some 2x6 boards to block out some things and raise up those areas this way it makes it super easy for the robot to mow stuff. My place now is just too large I have 3 acres to maintain which I do that about every 2 weeks. Though my area around the house is getting weed barrier and stone put in. I do not need grass close to my house and this also lets me let the other grass grow wild. I am also replacing normal grass with short buffalo grass. Which if left un cut is still short and looks fine. I have a few sections growing in the yards now and going to get more seed next year and plant more as well as tranplanting plugs.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_mstbNizOjI4.htmlhrhr

Not really actually. The solar panels won't serve any use after the batteries are charged. Solar panels are more efficient (and thus more commercially viable) if faced south, not in this setup. It's commercially more viable to use solar panels to feed the grid and charge your mower of the grid. It's a novel idea, but there are more efficient ways to use limited resources.

@@patrickd9551 Disagree. If you already have a grid-connected setup and a charging spot with power this may be true, but Colin's setup is completely free-standing and requires no additional setup once constructed. It can be placed basically anywhere without worrying about how you're going to get power to it. In my specific case, running power to a shed would require a permanent structure with permits pulled, and that requires a 10ft distance to any property line, which is very restricting in a smaller yard. This thing wouldn't count as a permanent structure and requires no external power, so I could back it right up to the fence line and not have to worry about it.

awww! the potential!

Yeah I like it as a self contained unit as well. Mower, Doghouse, solar setup. I understand what @Patrick D is saying, but @Drenlin hits th nail on the head with the off grid aspect of it. maybe pack the mower with batteries, and electrical outlets. then we have a decentralized, portable power station with a solar carport.

@@patrickd9551 if everyone had solar panels feeding the grid the local switch gear will blow. The grid understructure is not capable in the majority of the country for feeding or charging EV's. Hence why I'm building more petrol stations than charging points. EV's are a dream!

Exhaust fumes smell great what you on about

a) ignoring the fact that it's way too big for his garden, I agree b) this alreads exists, but smarter. There are lawn mower robots that have a solar charging station, the difference being they don't have to carry a 80kg human driver, thus can reduce the motor and batteries massively. c) taking b) into account, this could be a tough product to sell. These would basically only sell to those people who _like_ to mow their lawn manually.

​@@ben_1 Robot mowers, at least the ones available right now, are not suitable for every situation. In some cases you don't want to have them around for liability reasons, and since they're much slower at getting the job done (due to literally driving slow and due to pathing inefficiencies) you also don't want them in heavily used areas, since you don't want the mower around when people are actually using the space.

You sir are making too much sense for home inventions

Another good idea would be to have them charge other electric lawn equipment like a weed eater, and maybe power some nighttime lighting

Or feed back into the house at night when it reaches a certain threshold?

^^^^^^^^^^^^ What he said lol

Night time is generally dark, thus rendering the solar panels unable to generate electricity.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_mstbNizOjIr.htmlhrheuf

You mean a ev drift mower? Yes. With flame throwers

It needs a switch to select between "Mowing/Slow driving mode" and "No mowing/Racemode"

Honga alredy made the worlds fastest motorcycle in the guenis book of world records sadly

**cough** Mowar!

Farm equipment generally gets run 16+ hours a day during harvest. I don't think batteries are up for that yet. Batter powered lawn mower are far more logical.

@@crissd8283 Large farm equipment could be designed with swappable batterie systems then farmers could have a number of solar arrays/battery charging and swap stations strategically placed over their land. A company called John Deere have an electric tractor that runs for 4.5 hours on one charge, something like that with swappable batteries would do the trick. They also have autonomous and semi-autonomus versions so the whole swapping process could be completed automated.

Sorry, won't work (for now). A large farm would need so much power you would need a whole yard of batteries. Imagine for a 500acres farm I chew easyly during harvest (2 harvester, 3 tractors for transport, 1 loader, 1 to prepare the field) 1200l diesel/day. Preparing the soil with 2 large tractors also uses the same quantity.

Check out fully charged, they did a video on an electric tractor that was in country file

Uh no

I don't know who says that grass doesn't grow if there is no sun.... As it does. Grass will grow even at night if you have enough light through the day (hint, doesn't require direct sunlight but can be overcast). And through a rainy week (full overcast every day) the grass will keep growing. And after a week you need to maw your lawn so your vehicle might be empty.

@@paristo it does, but way drastically reduced. In the summer i have to do it every 1-2 weeks, in the winter once every 1-2 months, and can get away with not at all from december to january

Nothing like a self regulated market

@@GreatBeeman Self regulated market is as functional as non regulated legal system.

@@paristo tell that to the sun and the grass

He can put it on the hydro bicycle.

your comment is totally correct dude

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_mstbNizOjIr.htmlnfndi

As if there’s space under a bench😆😂

Watt are you talking about?

It makes a "difference"

@@SumriseHD electrical potential difference, which is basically voltage

Well, if he wants to make it a hybrid, he could always find a micro turbine with a PTO to turn an alternator or generator to make electricity to power it.

*Electric motor Believe it or not engine and motor do have different meanings even if they are mostly used interchangeably. Shoot I read that wrong Sorry about that

i know! without a doubt true man

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_mstbNizOjIr.htmlhrhd

@@nesyboi9421 I disagree. Motor and engine mean exactly the same thing and can be used interchangeably.

@@richardschofield2201 ahh yes my electric engine.

I'd buy it.

*mowar

Don't you mean sold with the Solar-mowar-chargar!

branding was still on the steering wheel ;p I knew what it was the first frame though, since my company sells them. They do also make electric lawn mowers in the same form.

What do you mean? I've been riding my BMX with blocks of ice for wheels for a year now! It works great on mountain trails.

Colin was the best thing his mum ever made

What are these bots doing in here ?

@@xae7rak no clue but it’s annoying

What do you mean? I use my turkey cooking briefcase everywhere I go! The look on the people faces in the subway when I take out a piece of delicious, cooked turkey legs from my suitcase gets me every time!

Calling its the bush, are you a kiwi by any chance?

@@patrickmarriott4422 Not even close. I'm in Kansas. 😁

@@sgsax Dammit, I was hoping to find another furze fan in my country. Do you call it the bush instead of the woods or the forest over there too?

@@patrickmarriott4422 kiwi here, living in beautiful whanganui. Chur 🤙

@@patrickmarriott4422 heaps of kiwis watch the patron youtuber of diy

Lol here within 11 minutes v nice

its called a safety tie ! thats how

@good one Why do you feel the need to comment this on every single comment? You even do it where it isn't relevant in the slightest

After the Hoverbike from a few years ago definetly xD

How do you know he doesn’t

If only England got the sun to do these projects....

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_mstbNizOjIr.htmlhrhr

To be fair that's what the gasifier mower was going to do.

Still combustion based - not really helping with the emissions problem

@@classicambo9781 but the grass would have absorbed the carbon content in order to grow, so emissions wise its totally neutral - IF (and its a big if) it doesn't need any fuel besides the grass its cutting.

Lol

I think you can also make ethanol from grass, so long as you jet it right and use alcohol safe fuel system components, either should work.

Oh definitely and I'm sure that it wouldn't be too difficult to have this charge from the car inbetween jobs so the battery can last a full day of work and even if this were to be charged from non renewable energy it would still be more efficient than petrol (the reason is that despite the energy density of petrol the engines are incredibly inefficient due to their size and method of generation (cars are typically 30-35% with lawnmower engines being very much less so) where as coal powerstations are more efficient use to their size and method of energy conversion (40 to 45% and thats presuming 100% coal which is super rare)

There are plenty of big companies making battery rideon mowers Ryobi have 3 different types, normal and zero turn.

You know colins made it when RU-vid themselves comment on his videos. Wow

@@CaptBryce What, "Mowar"? That's how Colin spelled it.

We generally need more electric-everything. Surprised it took this long to conceptualize an electric mower. Just goes to show you don't need to be a scientist or business magnate to create something innovative.

SSSHHHHEEEEESSSHHHHH RU-vid's here?

Damn youtube itself

probably better for home energy storage or just recycling them.

That wouldn’t work. The way they degrade makes them not useful anymore, period. They can be recycled or recelled though

waiting for sponsors the tunnels project :)

@@sikhbikersoflondon ah makes sense, probably is really expensive

Sad

🤣

@good one Nice bait

Damn bro u ripped

E-Go also; those 40amp and 56amp batteries are compact and powerful; I expect Colin could do a lot of damage with those!

@@lairdcummings9092 I think you can load up to 6 x 56V batteries in the E-Go riding mower. Should go for a while.

@@Kenjh71 yep. We sell 'em. Advertised as "up to three acres." I'll bet there are a lot of caveats in that claim, but even if it's twice as optimistic as reality, it's impressive as heck. At us$5k per, we sold every one that came in within days. Landscapers love them... They can start cutting lawns as soon as it's light enough to see, without disturbing anyone. Puts two or even three hours onto their daily schedule - that's a lot of extra income.

Or just a bypass for the auto shutoff. Allowing you to drive short distances even if the batteries have already hit the minimum charge in the ESC

@good one that's not a planet that's preaching.

This is how the Deathstar was Created

I bet he would one up them and go for a dyson sphere. Rename it a furze sphere that would probably detonate a star though…

@good one Thank you that helped me

And not only would Colin do it, using odd bits of steel welded together, it still wouldn't fit through his front gate :)

Electric ride on mowers have been around awhile now, Ryobi have a 48v one.

WHERE'S THE TUNNEL!!!! WE KNOW ITS ALREADY COMPLETE PLEASE UPLOAD THE TUNNEL VIDEO'S!!!!!

Electric lawnmowers are freaking awesome. I have an 80v push mower, the battery lasts 45 minutes. With two batteries, I can easily mow my entire lawn in around an hour and half, which is the same speed as non-electric. And my batteries also work for my weedwacker, leaf blower, and hedge trimmer! They're awesome!!!

electric lawnmowers are around for quite some time?!

Ryobi makes an electric zero turn mower

@@jerri0401 fair, I more meant the entire setup of a solar charge station and electric ride-on mower, for large areas of grass. The solar aspect especially, will charge better in summer, when grass grows more, when you don't need it as much, don't worry, it's charging a lot slower anyway... and you don't need it everyday in case of a few cloudy days...

Agreed! This seems like a really cool projects and I have a riding lawn mower that would probably actually make sense to do this to. Maybe he will pit something on his website?

Agreed. Probably no inverter, just DC to DC.

That stuff would probably hurt his engagement metrics for the algorithm but he could do it on a second channel or a Patron only thing.

@@Eagle3302PL yup exactly.

Exactly what I was thinking. There are several companies now that are making electric mowers both riding and push. Though still that doesn't take away from the fact he completely swapped one over and did all the engineering and everything.

yes because that would be entertaining

yeah, and I think they have lithium iron phosphate batteries. Dam expencive though. Prefer the ryobi zeroturn electric mower because it uses 40v battery packs that can be used in other ryobi power equipment.

Well his version using lead acid batteries just proves electric has been viable MUCH longer than lithium batteries have been around! Lead Acid batteries, when built properly (not the modern crap you get) and maintained, can last thousands of cycles and are already one of the most recycled products in industry. They are a bit heavy for vehicle use, but they would be almost perfect for a cheap grid scale energy storage. They are so simple and cheap compared to lithium for how much energy they store and how robust they are.

@@RingingResonance The amount of videos of lead batteries being recycled in places like Pakistan add so much credit to your comment.