electric lawn tractor

the post about the JD electric mower made me think of some thing I remember from the late 60's or early 70's, don't remember the name but was a totaly electric tractor, I know it had a mower deck and I think a snowblower was a option, believe I seen this in Mechanic's Illistrated Magazine, any one remember these?? or have any pic or used one cnt

General Electric made one, it was a GE ElecTrak. Here is the info for it.

GE Elec-Trak Electric Garden Tractors

Joyfully mow an acre sized yard for only 25¢ of "fuel" with this electric vehicle.

Quiet, Easy to operate, Easy to maintain, Powerful, Economical.
No need to worry about gas prices or shortages.

These battery powered lawnmowers were ahead of their time. GE made these in the early 1970’s. Models range from 8-16 horsepower equivalent, 36 volt with golf cart batteries in most models, mow 2 acres on a charge. Find one if you can. We have been using them since 1980. Our costs to recharge the batteries after mowing 2 acres is only about 50¢. You can use solar, wind power or grid to recharge. No mower belts, gas fill ups, quieter than gas models.
Many accessories were made for these battery powered garden tractors. Not just an electric mower, but electric snow thrower, electric rototiller, electric/hydraulic front loader bucket with 500 pound lift capacity, electric arc welder, electric drill/grass trimmer/hedge trimmer, electric lawn edger, electric cultivator, electric lawn sweeper, electric rotary broom, electric rake, 120 volts AC inverter for portable or emergency power, electric chain saw and much more.

I was at the Portersville, Pa. Tractor Show several years ago, and a feller was quietly slinkin' along on his electric garden/lawn tractor!It had several large batteries in it, if i remember correctly.

The Elec-traks used six deep discharge 6 volt batteries in the 12 HP and up models but the smaller 8 HP units used three 12 volt deep cycle batteries.

They started out as Elec-trak's and then became New Idea before Wheelhorse bought the line and produced them under their own name.

There was also a three point hitch, rototiller and utility blade for snow and dirt. Parts are still available and they are being collected as well as being used today. The last two issues of Lawn and Garden Tractor Collector magazine had articles on the line.

I own an E-20 myself which is the top dawg in the Elec-trak line.

Thanks Guys had no idea they worked so well good to know old American ingenity is holding its own cnt

Perhaps this is what you remember seeing in that magazine.

how were the wheels driven? Electric motor to a tranny?

Yes Tom that is exactly what I remember she looks real good after,,,, what 40 years, tell me does it have a varible speed drive simalar to a golf cart speed control, looks like the deck is deep should handle tall grass better than some then aand now for sure, do you have any other attachments?? and I bet she is quite and powerful and looks almost matenince free, thanks for the look in to the past,,, and present cnt

I have 3 E-12"s.There was also a fork lift attachment for the E-20 models.

That one has been repainted but it is still in nice shape. There is a 36 volt DC motor that drives a Peerless 4 speed trans-axle with reverse. The DC motor is controlled by a foot pedal.

When I bought mine, it came with a deck and utility blade. I have no use for the blade so I sold it right way to recover a portion of my outlay. Nothing is maintenance free. There are still fitting to grease, a deck to clean, blades to sharpen and batteries that need to be maintained.

The E-20 is the most powerful model that GE made and it will give fits to many of the gas-jockeys in the Stock Puller Class. Just remember.... DC motors develop 100 percent of their torque the second power is applied to them. That gets the sled moving and it keeps it moving.

Yes.. electric motor to a fairly standard Peerless trans-axle.

That's true but the forklift was painted a different colour and was designated as an Industrial model.


There was also a Front End Loader available but I think that came from an aftermarket company. I don't know if it used linear actuators or had a pump run by a DC motor.