I have a chipper shredder I got from Patrick. It works fine. But I hate dealing with the gas engine once or twice a year. The tank is rusty inside so it requires a good cleaning and futzing each time I want to run it.
I could get a predator from hf for $94 or something, and that is probably the easy button. But honestly an electric motor would be way better.
So, is there anything that is made to bolt in place of a common small gas engine?
If not, who wants to go into business with me?
I have looked into this before and didn't get far. I had two things I wanted to electrify; a pressure washer pump for which the gas motor had broken a rod, and a walk-behind leaf vacuum that I wanted to convert to a big shop vac for the theater.
The problem I ran into was shaft size. Typically implements that are designed for electric use smaller shafts, so to get a 3/4" shaft woodruff key electric motor that would fit my pressure washer pump, I was looking at things like a 6 hp, 3-phase, industrial electric motor that cost $1000 for something like a warehouse HVAC application. So I was unable to find a drop-in. Some implements also have vastly different torque needs. Your B&S might make 5 hp and 6 tq at its rated RPM, but electric motors make the most torque at zero RPM. For a pressure washer that might be fine. For a chipper, the driven part might be geared differently for electric vs gas. Simply swapping out electric for gas may not work depending on the accessory.
I got as far as looking for adapter couplers and gave up. Maybe you'll have better luck.
Just from what I've seen of electric wood chippers, stick to gas unless you can swap over an electric tractor motor.
15 plugin amps really limits the size and speed of your chipping.
I'm willing to bet the 5hp b&s is 100% bs. Maybe it was 5hp under ideal conditions when it was brand new, maybe.
And I agree with you that shaft size does seem to be an issue. Almost like electric motors and gas engines were designed to use different shafts... But there are conversion adapters available cheap as long as you are sizing up not down.
RevRico said:Just from what I've seen of electric wood chippers, stick to gas unless you can swap over an electric tractor motor.
15 plugin amps really limits the size and speed of your chipping.
15 amps on 115v ac single phase should get you nearly a 2hp motor. A 2hp electric motor is pretty dang powerful.
DC with a battery I'm not sure what's possible but probably even more is possible with the current crop of lawnmower and snowblower batteries and motors.
In reply to Robbie :
I'm just going by the electric ones I've looked at. They're all 14-15 amps and 1.5" diameter throat, good for twigs or small branches I guess. Versus gas powered ones at 5hp+ starting at 3 inch diameter throats, which will take anything you can shove in them.
I'd be curious to see a DC battery powered version, but haven't seen one from any of the cordless companies yet. I suspect the 80v rigid/ryobi/John Deere tractor stuff would be much more suitable to a wood chippers use, but at the price of components alone it doesn't seem worth it to do.
Mildly surprised there aren't battery powered ones on the market yet, but I'm guessing there's a reason.
Curtis73 said:The problem I ran into was shaft size.
That's what she said.
Duke said:Curtis73 said:The problem I ran into was shaft size.
That's what she said.
Story of my life, man. No wonder I'm single
Robbie said:If not, who wants to go into business with me?
I think you know EXACTLY where I stand on that!!
If you don't go the electric route, don't do a predator engine.
Mine has been a pile of poop
Agreed. Predators are fair, but you get what you pay for.
Around me, there are thousands of defunct lawnmowers for free or $20. I actually just got a really nice Cub Cadet 621 self propelled mower for free that someone set out for trash pickup because the cable for the self-propel slipped off the handle. 5 minutes and one pull of the cord and I have a "new" lawnmower with fun swivel casters in the front.
If yours is a horizontal shaft, you're a bit more limited, but I would sooner buy an old lawn tractor for $100 than buy a new Predator for $94. Scavenge the engine and sell the parts.
small engines are a dime a dozen and they run forever.
Duke said:Curtis73 said:The problem I ran into was shaft size.
That's what she said.
Beat me to it
Completely off-topic, and definitely off-color:
In college, my buddy and I had wing-man pickup lines.
Me: I'm hung like an infant...*pause for effect*.... 8 lbs, 12 oz, and 21 inches.
Ladies: Hahaha
Buddy: I'm hung like a mosquito.
Ladies: crickets
It was interesting to see them process whether or not to expect a punchline and then realize that there is nothing about a mosquito that could be made into a big penis joke.
We never got laid.
I’d love to do this to an old garden tractor I have. However I have no idea what to use in place of the original hydrostatic transmission.
Why not just keep the hydrostat? Wire up the neutral safety switch to a DPDT relay to kick the motor on when you go for motion.
I have seen some electric lawn mowers that have what looks like a standard deck, and the electric power unit is bolted to the usual place and shaped generally like a vertical shaft mower engine. Don't know if you can buy the unit separately.
I'm not entirely up on the engineering of chippers, but my WAG is the gas HP rating has something to do with the torque required to cut the branches. Since electric motors have more torque at a lower RPM, you might be able to get away with a lower HP rating. Either way, it'll probably take some experimenting to find out what will work and what the limitations will be (max branch size cutting).
While in theory, a 2HP motor could run on a typical 20A 120V circuit, most residences are 110V and general receptacle circuits are often 15A. Plus, the inrush upon starting would be high. Especially under load. For this application, I would rather run the motor on 220V.
How come my shop vac says 5.5 peak hp on the lid?
That seems like it's not possible.
Also my small twin tank air compressor says 2hp.
I think hp /= hp = marketing bs = worse than used car salesman.
So really it means nothing. I'm pretty sure a 110 v 15 amp motor would nearly tear the chipper apart.
A 6" DC motor, 36-48V of batteries depending on RPM needs under load, a Relay, and 3-4 cheap chargers. This gets you more power than plug in and a bit of portability. This method is expensive if you use new or nice parts. If you can scrounge you could throw it together relatively cheaply. Still probably more than buying a new motor.
In reply to Robbie :
doesn't HF sell electric motors too?
"Peak HP" is total marketing BS. However, once one company started calling it that, all the others had to jump on. Otherwise, your 3HP whatever wouldn't sell compared to the "5 Peak HP" motor that someone else had. They are going with starting current for their "peak" claims. My 4 HP Craftsman compressor from 34 years ago is now sold as a 6 "peak" HP model. Do teh maffs: 110V * 15 A = 1650 Watts = 2.2 HP.
Curtis73 said:Why not just keep the hydrostat? Wire up the neutral safety switch to a DPDT relay to kick the motor on when you go for motion.
Great point thanks Curtis!
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