Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Interested to see how well this will work. I wonder what battery replacement costs will be?

http://www.wisesales.com/ariens_916003.html

Product Name AMP 24 Stage Type Two Stage Powered By 48V Brushless DC Motor Starting System Key On, PTO On Clearing Width 24" (61 cm) Housing Height 20" (50.8 cm) Throwing Distance 3' - 40' Chute Turning Radius 205º Chute Rotation 2.5x Ice Drill Chute Construction Steel Deflector Control Remote Tire Size 13" x 4" (33 x 10.2 cm) Axle System Pin Lock Batteries 48V / 30A-Hr Drive Type Disc-o-matic Speeds 6 FWD, 2 REV Gear Case Aluminum Impeller Profile Steel 3-Blade Impeller Diameter 12" (30.5 cm) Auger Diameter 11" (27.9 cm) Auger Type Steel Serrated Skid Shoes Reversible Energized by two 48-Volt AGM Valve Regulated battery packs that last up to 200 charges. Unplug charger, turn key and you are ready to start throwing snow. Specially designed steel chute discharges snow accurately up to 40 feet. User-friendly controls for simple and convenient maneuverability. Largest in-class freeze-resistant 12-inch 3-blade high speed impeller ensures superior performance. Features a battery level indicator that gives the operator an early warning by flashing approximately 10 minutes before battery is discharged.

I guess it was bound to happen & agree that battery replacement  cost will be important. Perhaps in a few years we'll be seeing a lot of these on e**y with dead batteries. I'd also like to know what happens to the battery over the long periods of inactivity. Maybe they will introduce other OPE items that use the same battery.

First one to come up with a engineering mod to replace the dead battery with  a pair of Walmart barreries wins....

Friiy

Quick charge kit is $419 dollars

48 volts X 24 amps = 1152 watts     

1 horsepower = 746 watts

1152 watts / 746 watts = about 1 1/2 hp....

I don't think I want one...

Friiy

friiy wrote:

Where did you get 24 amps from? The "24" in the product name indicates the housing width.

It can pull more amperage than 24A. The motor is 4hp.

Batteries are $149.95 each list price (2 per machine). The unit must be plugged in (trickle charged) when the unit is not in use.

PK

Your right, the name is misleading in the ad.. It being sold as 4 hp..... The motor cost $519, a quick charge kit is $419 ( so you don't have to charge it overnight), The drive controller for the motor is $437 dollars...and the price is about $200 for batteries I hope anyone that buys one of these units doesn't think it's repair free, any one of these parts is the cost of a good gas engine (more than 4 hp). I suspect that the batteries will only last 2 years with all the storage time on them.. Well as always, good luck to all that buy one. Friiy

I wonder what application that unit has?

O

$1500 dollars for a 24" wide snowblower?

Going green or going for your green?

Behind evey wall outlet is a power plant  somewhere... Coal, nuke, hyro-dam or whatever..

-Friiy

No fuel to stabilize,no winterizing,no need to understand anything about chokes,governors,carburetor floats,no oil changes, no hot mufflers to concern yourself with when young kids are around and no noise. If I was a young married living in a town house with a young family and wasn't emotionally involved with snow machines I would at least be curious. Not to mention the growing # of seniors who are  snow blower enthusiasts but are  no longer able to maintain their own machines. 

I wonder if the electrics take advantage of a drive system like that in a hydrostatic trans or are they the traditional disk drive?

For an urban dweller this might just be the ticket!!  

I'm not buying one but it's not aimed at me!!!

The market will decide.

Marc

PS-I prefer 24" machines  because they will fit between two cars in the usual suburban garage. I can also get a ratio of 4hp. per foot of bucket width which is more or less considered ideal without having to go to a "big block" engine. My objection to the larger displacement units is that they can be a bear to pull start for those of limited strength ( read that as the wife!).

Marc 

New video of unit by Snowblowersdirect:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOa5dHfFXbA

In use video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foc7nblz4_o

Battery powered devices carry their own brand of environmental impact and in my view are disappointingly wasteful. 

Right now, I have a box in my basement with four perfectly working cordless drills that are virtually useless because the eight batteries that came with them cannot take a charge.   Replacement batteries cost as much or more than a new drill, batteries and charger.   Each drill came with two NiCad batteries which would last maybe two years if I was lucky.    

This method of manufacturing a product that requires batteries that are prohibitively expensive really rubs me the wrong way.   I don't see anything green about a product that is rendered useless because the power source that drives them costs nearly as much as a complete new item.   It irks me to no end to discard perfectly working devices. 

Almost every gasoline/diesel powered device I own or have owned is still working after decades of use.   But there, in the basement is a box full of battery powered devices, each only a couple years old and capable of years more service that will end up being recycled or trashed because batteries are either no longer available or too expensive.  

There's NO WAY I'll be buying any large battery powered OPE or anything else battery powered for that matter, until manufacturers produce a battery that will work for ten years and be reasonably priced when needed to be be replaced.            

iLikeOrange wrote:

It will be a big hit with the "green" enviromentalist's. Great for people who need a 2 stage and have to keep the machine inside there home. No gas or oil fumes to deal with, Nevermind they dont have to worry about stabilzer or draining the gas. Dont get me wrong I would never buy one but they may have a place in the market.

What would impress me is someone building one out of 2 cheap standard auto batteries that charges off a standard fifty amp charger car charger. ( Trouts- go check your spares, get Borat for plans) --Friiy

What would impress me is someone building one out of 2 cheap standard auto batteries that charges off a standard fifty amp charger car charger. ( Trouts- go check your spares, get Borat for plans) --Friiy

What a waste. Probably OK charge-wise if you have a small driveway in town, but that "up to one hour" means what? One hour of smooth light snow like they show in the video? You'll really bog down that 4HP motor on EOD and that will greatly reduce your usage. Then you have to wait 6 hours before you can use it again.

The battery could probably be replaced by 4  motorcycle sized batteries with a little fab work, that should cut the cost of replacing them if you can do that yourself. I don'tthink you can fit 4 auto-sized batteries on that. Still must be very heavy.

6 hour recharge at a 10 (? just guessing) amp draw would be 7.2 kW. Not cheap. And despite what the greenies say, electricity DOES pollute. Almost half the US supply is from coal-fired plants (I don't have stats for CA).

I see a niche market in places that don't get a lot of snow. But let another year like this past one happen and they'll all be looking to upgrade.

Perfect Florida snow blower.  Or maybe SoCal.  

I 'm thinking now about a 220 volt  electric,   I wonder what gauge  the power cord would have to be  for 75 feet?

No batteries and quiet...   I' ll have to see how much Romax I have lying around and check the Harbor Freight Catalog.

-Friiy

Here are some pictures for you dreamers.



http://www.evalbum.com/3628









http://www.evalbum.com/2612









http://www.evalbum.com/758








http://www.evalbum.com/2984

High power electrical line and snow blower augers....   What could possibly be wrong with that picture?

I also have a couple of those cordless drills where the batteries are no longer available.  One is a fairly recent Craftsman (yep, another reason to stay away from a product line that changes product vendors every year or two!).  I think there'd be good money in a business that retrofits these 'obsolete' drills with a universal powerpak, so you could at least use the sucker.  The electronics behind them aren't difficult, just match the voltage and amps; however, a retrofit wouldn't be very elegant and may not sell well just due to perception (which, as we all know, is reality).  I took apart one of the older battery packs and it looked like just a bunch of rechargeable "C" or "D" cells wired up in series.

Hobbyists use the motors out of these cordless drills for different things, like motors for hopped-up R/C cars/boats!  You could probably re-purpose one to operate the chute on your blower...

As for electric OPE, I don't think it is there yet for a two-stage blower.  Smaller equipment might be a different story - was reading an article the other day that said modern electric lawnmowers can mow the typical one-third-acre lawn for about ten cents worth of electricity.  If the batteries would last ten years and you could replace them for around $100 (just guessing here), then that would be a worthwhile solution.

My brother has an electric chainsaw.  He likes it a lot, except that in cold weather it doesn't get hot enough for the oil to flow to lube the chain, so it is pretty much a warm-weather tool.  I thought it wouldn't have enough power, but he pointed out that a good circular saw has plenty of power for cutting wood - that this is just applying the same concept to a chain-blade rather than a circular blade (good point!).

One advantage I see for electrical OPE is that you have max torque at starting rpms.  On the flip side, you have no reserve torque if things get nasty.  One way to offset that issue is to use a flywheel (which brings up the question as to why don't snowblowers use flywheels to get them through the really nasty stuff?).  I have an electric wood chipper - if the motor starts to lug down, I can pull the branch back out and let the motor catch up again - but it is only the flywheel effect of the spinning chipper blades that allows that to happen.  Otherwise, the motor will hang and trip the onboard circuit breaker.

Anywayz, I think there is a lot of room for electric OPE to improve.  With $5/gal fuel on the way, it may become more attractive to many folks.

borat wrote:
That's why I'm going to hold out for a solar powered one.

I already have a solar powered one. Even at 15 degrees F, on a sunny day all you need is a little bit of black showing and the rest melts away.

Bill_H wrote:
That isn't a snow blower.

I believe they call those "3 state solar power snow evaporators".  Now go tell your neighbors what you just bought.

Shryp wrote:
Oh yeah, and I'll have to brag about the great price I got on it, too

Bill_H wrote:
Someone just dropped it off in your driveway.  They must have left it at the wrong house.

I had one once, really cool and VERY green too.  Had trigger steering - two little squirrels running in cages.  One fur each wheel and trigger just braked axle on the desired side (squirrels hated that tho - they tripped every time I steered.)   But had to give it up cause oaks don't grow here and I cudn't afford shipping fur all the acorns.

I don't see the flux capasitor

I know ths is a couple years late but i got one of the last ones new with full warranty for 900. so basically the same as a regular gas. of course as soon as it arrived there's no snow in the forecast.
I have a 75 foot single car wide driveway like the T tetris piece that widens to 2 cars at the ends. super quiet for the little bit of snow i had. I have a shed so i can trickle charge it when not in use. I will post back the results of the next snow storm :)

droden wrote:

Are they discontinued?