The Green Industry's Resource Center

ALEX'S LANDSCAPING · #21 04-23-2012, 10:26 AM

This proves just how powerful they are: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BD5DfiP7wb8

Richard Martin · #22 04-23-2012, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by All_Toro_4ME

Interesting thread. For those of you that are concerned with the charging issues, there are adaptors you can buy that plug into your cigarette lighter and they will convert to 120v and you should be able to charge the batteries from your vehicle while you're using the other battery on an account.

Yeah, I'm not so sure you really want to do that. Presumably the AL 300 rapid charger pulls 300 watts. That's 25 amps at 12 volts. I don't think it's a good idea to try to pull that through a cigarette lighter outlet. You could get away with using the 100 watt slow charger since it's only pulling a little over 8 amps. But if you're using the big battery it will take longer to charge it than you could use another battery for

The cigarette lighter in my truck is fused at 15 amps so it would pop the first time I tried to run 25 amps through it. I have a power point that is fused at 25 amps so that may work. If it pops then don't try to use it.

Richard Martin · #23 04-23-2012, 11:01 AM

If I were to do an inverter I would hard wire it through a fuse and relay with a switch so I could turn the inverter on and off. There is no point in doing a half assed job when you will be relying on this to earn a living. I would also upsize the inverter to 500 watts minimum.

For those of you who doubt I would do this. This is a pic of my main panel for the single stage wet nitrous I put in my Mustang. I don't play around with electricity. There are 2 10 gauge cables to feed the power with a single 8 gauge ground cable. There is also another fuse block under the hood.

BBC.lawn.services · #24 04-23-2012, 11:10 AM

Get two batteries. Get a solar panel with a battery source and a converter. (northern tools has a few if your want to get a visual) Mount it on your truck or trailer. Mount a cool box for your battery. Charge away. For free! I'll do the math later today and get the hour mark that you'll get a pay back on this system.

Richard Martin · #25 04-23-2012, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBC.lawn.services

Get two batteries. Get a solar panel with a battery source and a converter. (northern tools has a few if your want to get a visual) Mount it on your truck or trailer. Mount a cool box for your battery. Charge away. For free! I'll do the math later today and get the hour mark that you'll get a pay back on this system.

Don't forget to price in a deep cycle battery.

petscanning · #26 04-23-2012, 12:45 PM

I actually offer a green service. I have a older worx lawner mower and then I have 450watt solar panels total and 2 batteries. I charge my mower and my batteries for my trimmer and blower and I also have a the chainsaw all ryobi. Works well and never have a problem with them. The stihl trimmer would be much better than the ryobi I have but if a yard is maintained then the trimmer has no problem.

frotis · #27 04-23-2012, 01:06 PM

Market seems too small. This is more for homeowners, but most homeowners aren't going to pay $250 for a battery trimmer, when they see trimmers for sale at big-box stores for half that price, that will serve them fine for the 20 minutes of use they will get each week.

petscanning · #28 04-23-2012, 01:21 PM

green stuff is for those who dont want to mess with oil, gas, chaning oil and such.

grass_cuttin_fool · #29 04-23-2012, 02:46 PM

Im seriously considering the blower to start with...I do alot of residential that only takes a few minutes to blow off the walk...might be a tax advantage out there that would help with the cost...plus so far we dont have the code red days that we cant use gas equipment but it wouldnt surprise me in the future....

BBC.lawn.services · #30 04-23-2012, 03:03 PM

So...
$300 for trimmer
$250 for battery
$50 for charger.

Total - $600

Total for comparable gas trimmer (fs-90r)

$300

Gas - $4.00 per gallon

Oil - About $1.5 per gallon

Well tab gas consumption at .5 gallon per hour.

We're looking at around $2.50 per hour in fuel.

120 hours tell you start "making" a pay back on your investment.

(this is incorrectly assuming electricity is free)

So If you add in a extra battery and electricity cost. I would say 250 hrs. is a safe estimate of when you would start saving money.

For fun lets say you buy a $1,000 solar power kit and mount it to your truck to charge your batteries.

It would than take 720 hrs. to recoup the cost. (keep in mind this example is with only one string trimmer with two batteries.)