Upgrading Golf-Cart With Lithium Batteries 

Nothing more enjoyable than watching our children drive. From a tricycle, their first bicycle without training wheels, 3hp go-kart or golf cart, to the 1st time they drive your pickup. Our daughter is 17 now, and watching her drive away by herself for the first time was bittersweet... all of those early childhood memories flashback as you watch them drive off into the distance...

Best memories i have of my dad were all the projects i did working with him learning and learning how to learn.

Your girls look to be doing well driving that cart, pretty impressive with the reverse. I remember being young and getting to drive anything was such a thrill.

Good stuff. Love the improvised battery handle, I have done that countless times. I Used to work on a golf course and we had to handle those batteries all the time. This is the first time I have seen the lithium conversion.

Not a bad investment from a free golf cart. Looks good for a 30 year old. Fun to see your daughters drive.

Nice refurb on the golf cart, Neil! I have my grandkids driving a 30 year old golf cart around my property. They love it!

You are a great teacher, dad.! You are doing for your girls what my dad did for me. All the lessons he taught me when I was learning to drive have stayed with me; I can say with confidence that I have a clean driving record, and I am now 63 years young 😊. I grew up in Ashland County, Ohio. Was also privileged to learn how to handle farm equipment starting at age 13 and was proficienct at handling a vehicle long before I took Driver's Ed in highschool. As an adult, I married a man who had an excavating business and learned to handle the same equipment you do. And loved every moment of it.😊 Thanks again for being a great example for your children. I love watching your channel 😀

One of our many blessings - being able to teach kids how to drive on farms! I was seven when my dad had me keep the tractor in the furrows in a cucumber field, by time I was able to get my license, I had driven tractors, a skip loader, fork lifts, mini bikes, ATVs, dune buggy and also pick up trucks and cars. Nothing teaches how to drive than to keep vehicles out of ditches otherwise there could be a long walk to get help.😊

Having the girls with spatial awareness before driving on the road, priceless. Plus it still stores boxes! Taught both my kids on my lap on 3/4mile of gravel drive, they are both v.competent drivers today. Our youngest toured New Zealand by van this spring, didn't have any concerns at all.

I agree. I drove garden tractors, then farm tractors. When it came time to take the driving test, it was easy. I also learned how to handle snowy roads by spinning out in big open lots when the time came

Hey Neil I'm very proud of you doing so many things at once and I'm 12 and can only do one thing at a time

Neil, your golf cart looks like new. Thanks for showing the battery conversion. I think this was a great thing to share.

I really look forward to my weekly instalment of DDD. Another excellent, engaging video. Thanks Neil! 👍

I have restored two Club Cars. One from 1975 and electric. Sold that because it didn’t fit my situation. The second was a 1990’s turf cart gas used for golf ball retrieval. I kept that one because of the dump box for hauling equipment and materials and the full cab. Love the cart design due to the fully welded aluminum frame and availability of replacement parts. Hated all the dimples I had to pound out! Sure is an eye catcher now! Nice job with yours! Enjoy.

great video.didnt know they had a kit like this.

This is new to me as well. I just put 4 new 12v batteries in my cart last year. I will definitely look into these when the next set goes bad. Thanks for the informative video!! Great video!

Neil excellent video, and way to teach your kids about driving👍👍

Hello Neil, you did a nice job giving your golf cart a new life . The girls are going to enjoy cruising around in it and it will be a good exercise to prepare them for driving a car . Wish you al the best. Greetings from belgium 🇧🇪

Welcome back Niel! I can see the making of another video where you have to replace your driveway .The girls are going to wear the corners off your lime stone in the driveway with that thing😂

Great job Neil looks like a nice little golf cart. I’m 13 and can back up trailers drive stick and do almost anything when it comes to motors. Teach them young and they will always know how to do it. Soon you can sit on the back and have your kids drive to wherever they want!

Nice video! I just got my parents gas cart going that came with their little lake cottage. I wish it was electric! Much simpler!

Love your projects! This one is no exception.

Hi Neil, Captain Kleeman recommended your site. I have only watch one video and I love it already. I’m going to go back and watch some more of your older ones. The girls will be great drives with all the practice they will get from the golf buggy. Well done Dad.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Love how you spend quality time with your girls. ♥️

Neil, you won't regret this upgrade! I did the same to our club car last fall. It really woke the cart up, and no more watering! It should certainly help your daughters when it comes time to get their driver's license. I know you aren't ready to think about that. Rightfully so!

Hi Neil. That looks like a great upgrade for the golf cart. Cool to see the girls getting confortable with driving it around. I don't think it will be long before they are operating equipment with you. That is a great skill to have! Thanks for the video! -mike

Thanks for another great video!! I wish I would have know I could change my old cart to lithium. I recently replaced the batteries in my 2003 ezgo. It cost around $1200, and like you said, I know I will still have to battle the corrosion. The next time I need batteries, I'm definitely going to do this to mine Thanks for the info and have a great week.

Liked it? LOVED IT🥰🥰🤗🤗😘😘 Great job teaching your twins some of the basics of driver safety! My indoctrination into driving started with second hand battery operated fire truck that had a hose and reel that really sprayed water. Wonderful memories. See you next week🥰🥰🤗🤗😘😘

I learned to drive on my fathers knee. Great job. Never too soon to learn.

Good Morning Neil. I've left you alone for a couple of weeks but have been watching your videos. We have been in Minnesota watching the grandsons play baseball. I can relate to your highway breakdown episodes as it's happened to us numerous times over the years. As for this video, I've been looking for a "reasonably priced" golf cart but it seems folks are really proud of those things as even the most abused goes for a lot of money. If you can find one as you did free things are a little easier to live with. But a decent cart needing batteries still seems to go for over a grand so adding the lithium batteries quickly puts an end to the idea. But it sure looks like a good solution if you're ok with the cost. As for gas vs batteries, the wife would never mess with a gas cart. She might plug the cart in when necessary. I was hoping your pond would be full by now but apparently, the rain we traveled through on the way back to Georgia missed you folks. We drove from Hannibal MO to Paducah KY in solid downpours. It just followed us along. We never saw a thing going through St Louis. I mentioned to the wife that at least Neils's pond should be full but she had no idea what I was talking about. Sometimes I talk to myself out loud when driving. Comes with age and boredom.

That’s a nice kit it will be interesting to see how it performs over time. I’m doing the same thing with my kids with the gator and teaching them the basics to get them involved at a young age. Take care and good luck with the list!

I think the cart will be a great tool to help the girls start driving although I would really miss the empty box storage space. My Dad worked at a Buick and Pontiac garage. Somewhere between 12 and 14 years old I was allowed to move new cars around. The first time Mom stopped by and saw me moving cars around she nearly had a heart attack.

Nice upgrade! Lead /acid batteries are a pain.

I have a similar cart that we use on our country property. It's 36 volt and a set of batteries is around $700. That means I can replace them +3x before I reach $2500. Yeah, they take maintenance but considering the cost I think I'll stick with them.

The girls will be advanced students in their drivers ed class one day lol. When we were little we drove in low gear in the hay field while bales were loaded & that’s how we learned.

Hey Neil - love your videos! I am doing a club Car as well so this was a great update for me. One thing I noticed. I think you have your front tires reversed. Those tires are directional, at least the outside lugs are directional, so should be reversed it think. Keep up the great videos!

I am so happy to still see people you that work hard to make their dreams come true. I too, was so blessed to have amazing parents that taught me how to do anything and if you work hard you can have anything you want. Thank you for sharing your memories and great ideas

As an ex Club Car mechanical design engineer ('97-'09) I think you did a great job making old - new.... I was on the 'seat team' (at Club Car) that took your seat system to the new one with pressure treated plywood and injection molded plastic hip restraints. Now that I am an EX Club Car employee I love that you call it a 'cart' ... at CC it was ingrained into every employee to call them 'Golf Cars' lol Love your show

Good morning, Neil! Have a blessed day from south Texas!

Ive had my daughter operating my John Deere garden tractors for the past few years lol. 🤙

Great job Dad 👍

Great sentiment. I have a rural acreage and am teaching my kids to drive on my JD Gator. My 13yo son is getting pretty good and I let him boot around the property unsupervised now.

I love your videos. You do a great job!

The front side of that rear view mirror screams for a LED bar 😁

Your next experiment could be installing a 48v 3x Badger kit into a 36v golf car for about the same price. The OEM's motor specs could reveal if this upgrade is possible or just do it and monitor the motor's temperature during hard acceleration and heavy loads. High performance golf cars anyone?

Thanks for the info, I would be interested in your thoughts in a year or so. Good way to learn to drive I would think.

Neil, I hope you do follow up videos on these batteries. We have a 48v Club Car Precedent that has 4 year old Trojan lead acid batts in it. They are dying in spite of taking excellent care of them. We are either going to cheap out on a set of deep cycle Duracell or go Lithium. We don't see the value in the Trojans. Too expensive and no better than Brand X. We only run our cart a max of 15 miles in a day, more typical is 7-8 miles. Thinking I can get by with ONE Lithium batt and add a second if needed. I sent Big Battery an email asking that question. Thanks for the video and the battery tips. BTW, I have never seen battery corrosion like you have even after 10 years of owning golf carts...

Before I got my license I would pretend I was driving with the lawnmower. I had to drive down the side walk from the rectory to the church and mowed the lawn. Then I had a van I would drive in the yard until I got my license. Standard, 3 on the tree.😂

Great video thank you keep up the great work love your videos more more

I also do a lot of DIY. Othered times when it bugs my wife that I do it that way. I also love to repurpose found items like the chrome wheel cover off a duely and a hubcap off of a semi. Those 2 items work well with my landscaping lights I have a light inside the semi hubcap that is inside the duely wheel cover. I have a gazing ball sitting on top and at night it looks awesome to me. I also don’t have cable, change my oil and dispose of the filters and oil at the proper location. Keep up the good work Neil.

Seeing you giving your girls driving lessons is like how I first learned to drive on a 1650 IH Cub Cadet. I think we've all learned to initially drive on a tractor or small vehicle of sort. Going to try and get a solar panel on the cart roof down the line?

I have a similar saying to yours, If you buy fresh oats, expect to pay a little more. However if you don't mind if they've been through the horse already, they come a little cheaper. Thanks and we'll see you next time.

That was good to know I have a 1992 club car 48 volt.

Nice kit Neil and great upgrade

Oh no! Tire marks on the pool walk. I’ve been wondering about those lithium battery packs. My tractor barn is solar powered. I use a 12V Marine LeadAcid battery as my storage reservoir. It has done well for the past 4 years. But, it was two years old when I started with it. Although I only power a few lights and occasionally charge my cell phone, I’d like to increase the usage. A 12V DC air compressor, DC hand tool charging station and tractor engine heater (for winter) come to mind. Being able to use these without the need for sunshine would make it worth getting them. Past experience has told me that the voltage drop from the old battery makes the compressor inefficient and it stops working relatively quickly… so, I haven’t really pursued it further. I can’t find much experiential info about my particular usage needs but, believe that an upgrade to lithium might be the right move. Now, about those driving lessons… that is the perfect set up. Safe, small scale and cheaper than petrol to operate. My grandsons learned to drive on my tractor & Gator. By the time they got behind the steering wheel of a car… they were ready to be on the street. Steering, braking, shifting, backing and speed management were already second nature. That made it easy for them to scale up and concentrate on learning about the rules of the road. Please keep us posted on how these batteries perform. And, thanks for the insight. PS: the ability to run a Power Inverter to run 120V AC would be nice!

If you like to control the corrosion on your battery terminals smear Karo Corn Syrup on the terminals. I've been doing it for 20 years and have never cleaned another terminal. It has something to do with basic chemistry something I missed in high school. But it works😎

That battery crud will strip the chrome right off you wrenches and sockets. Ask me how I know!

8:18 cat steals the show

What a perfect way to learn how to drive!

I say Tippy as well. Great video. I’ve also been enjoying your TikTok’s. Always fun to see your older videos.

Neil,that old saying hands on is better then just reading a book 📖 ❤😊😮

Great times with the kids Thanks

I scored an old golf cart right at the beginning of summer. Put some new batteries in it and the family was absolutely loving it. Then my speed controller just randomly died 😭. Used 36v speed controller are a hard find these days. Sadly I'm sure it will be back on market place soon

Hey Neil We took our golf cart/Tesla on a 3200 mile trip from south florida to Wisconsin and back. No gas necessary. Thanks Bob

Great to see the golf trolley going yep Lithium batteries are very good never let me down with all of my Milwaukee tools and talking about some jobs how is your big pool doing would like to see some water in it please sir if you were in the uk 🇬🇧 we have had a lot of rain 😢

Neil..... I've been with you since the beginning..... I'm so thrilled your channel is growing in a time when many are stagnant. The sum of your parts are so much more than those digits beside the word "subscribers"..... but I'm just so happy for you that the dedication and hard work you've put in is paying off!

10? Years???? For litium bateries??? Those only used to be 2 Years, soo you got me , hope to see smaller versions of it for my purposes

They driving like a professional, go on girls. And aways drive carefully, have fun and stay safe. Enjoy 😊😊

Teach the girls manual shifting too. My grampa taught me 3 on the tree. Remember that style?,,maybe your Dad could do a video with the girls,,be really cool,,,thks neil😊

Nice, free cart, free batteries.. wish I was that lucky..

Exactly how my girls learned to drive too. 8:17

Oh my gosh. Clearly some folks don’t get the awful consequences of the things they say. But I also know there is a kind of sick idea out there that it’s funny to say something awful and then laugh at the people who complain about them. People can be so ignorant… I’m glad that you aren’t taking it personally. I know a couple of creators who take those comments so personally. I told them to just kick people out and delete their comments. It’s better for you and for your subscribers who feel hurt for you by those crazies. You all are good people and I just love that your whole family spends time together and helps each other!

When you consider the cost of a new set of batteries...the cost of this kit seems quite reasonable. I'd really like to see an endurance test.

great video! but also waiting for the pool/pond :)

Cool videos I first found u through the pond build u remind me of my dad

Drivers Ed is great, Part two should be changing the flat tire.

Neil, I'm guessing you won't be using the cart in the winter, so what's the process for off-season storage with the new Big Battery setup?

Nice video it's important to teach your children early. Okay that being said what happened to the pool I've been waiting to hear more about the pool is it done are you ever going to finish it? Lol let's hope so have a great day!

That golf cart was built in my area ~ Evans Ga

I used to repair that exact brand and model golf cart for Obama years ago.

Hello from the Netherlands Koch Family . thanks for the video Neil👍. Sincerely Hollandduck

Hey Neil I couldn’t remember what video it was to leave a comment on that one I just wanted to say thanks for recommendation on that eco flow solar generator that thing is as handy as a shirt pocket

Neil, I keep seeing new and Old toys around your shop, and in your garage. Are you a collector or are all those from your childhood growing up? Very cool to see the variety!

Great educational video. What about the POND!!!!!

I have really enjoyed you videos on the pond build and now the golf cart but I seen something in the wiring that needs corrected. You should redo the wiring to the batteries and get rid of the buss bars. Heres how and why.. Wire the batteries together positive to positive and negative to negative. (No increase in voltage and use identical length wire) Then wire to the controller (With identical length red and black wires) from the positive on battery #1 and use the negative off battery #2. This essentially makes two batteries into one large one. The reason for this is it helps keep the cells in the lithium batteries balanced during charge and discharge cycles which will extend their life. Currently you will use more power from whichever battery has the shorter length wires so the batteries wont discharge or charge at the same rate. Its a simple fix and will help the life of both batteries as they will perform as one instead of individually..

I just wish I had this much free time! Lol

Hey Neil I’m curious to see how the batteries hold up. I picked up an old kart that was electric. I got it from a Girl Scout camp and they left it sit out for 3 years witch the batteries cracked and rotted the frame. I’m converting it over to gas. I’m close but still need more to do. I to put a lift kit and tires. One thing I did was to order off set rims to push my tires out for stability. You have nice rims so I wouldn’t say replace them but maybe you can find wheel spacers!! Just something I thought about for you (If you haven’t done that already) Thanks for the great videos and I look forward to more

Grab a solar panel too, with lithium you’ll be amazed and it’s a trickle charge for free

Next project add a solar panel on the roof of the cart and let it trickle charge your lithium batteries. 😊

I'd put a spacer on those wheels.

We need more videos on the 755!

Exactly the way my father taught me to drive in israel. only that in our case it was with a Peugeot 404 pickup and a 1977 Massey Ferguson 179 and a 250 gallon diesel trailer

I'm so happy watching this

The scrap batteries, savevthrm and rdcycle ghfm, scrap yards pay good for lead theese says and even gives you dome cash for batteries.

That’s a much nicer way to teach kids to drive When I was learning to drive I was 7-8 years old and my dad woke me up at 6 am and said get your shit and here is a tractor key go figure out how to drive it and the come tell me and you can go plant the fields

You should do a video on those toy tractors and maybe the generator install. You or Wes never said what caused that transmission to push fuild out the vent or the line broke and the transmission overheated.

We learned on a riding lawnmower. My fathers reasoning was, we learned vehicle dynamics and he no longer was responsible for mowing!

When's the merch drop? I want a hat!!

great video Neil

I taught my daughters to drive the same way I taught new fire fighters how to drive fire equipment using the same forward and reverse traffic cone course you use. If they can navigate it front and back then parallel parking was a breeze. Great job. I would’ve upgraded my 1986 Club car but some low life scum bag stole it right off the farm, charger and all. Can’t stand a thief.