OT: An electric golf cart?

Considerin buying a used electric golf cart with a good or new battery and using some solar panels on the sun roof to keep it charged. I live on 5-6 acre old farm yard that isn't golf course smooth but I mow it with a garden tractor, so it isn't too bad. My 90 year old MIL and her blind 94 year old husband get along pretty well in the their part of the house, but she could drive the cart to her garden and maybe give her husband a ride around the property. He is spending all his day in his easy chair, wheel chair and listens to audio tapes. Still in good humour after a do everything for yourself farmer out of the big depression. She used to drive a car but had to quit. An electric cart shouldn't be too hard to drive should it. What should I expect to pay and what should I look out for other than the battery?
Leonard

Depending on the make/size they take between 4 and 8 special batteries. A solar panel will not charge them. The one I used to have used a 220 volt battery charger to charge them,usually 8 hours overnight when run low..

most golf cart use batteries put together to make up 48 volts. so you would need to put together serveral solar panels to match the battery voltage and or get a good charger. Most folks go to Sams Club to by Trojan brand golf cart batteries for golf carts, rvs, and solar cell banks. So you have to figure on new batteries every 2 to 5 years depending on how well you take care of the batteries. We have used modified golf carts on the ranch and farm... we usually pull of the golf tires and put on atv tires and then fill them full of green flat goop and go out and spray mosquite and build fence with them. The 4 cycle gas motors are the best, the 2 cycle oil burners are ok but the electrics are less popular as a lot of ranches and area dont have electricity. while they have low clearance, and are not made for climbing mountains, they work real well for chores..
Get a couple of these and its amazing how much less time we put on the tractors now.

i bought a 2001 yamaha gas cart, the mil uses it quite a bit at the farm for gardening and just zooming around. mine has a conversion on the back that is a bench seat that folds down to a mini pickup type bed. i have the spot sprayer on it to keep the fruit trees sprayed. paid 3850 for the cart,has the roof, windshield, lights with tail and brake lites and even hub caps. real good on gas, will use maybe 2-3 tanks of fuel a year, and it gets quite a bit of use.

We have an old Cushman 36 volt 3 wheeler. These things can be picked up for a song when you find them as nobody wants three wheelers. The one we have was free for the asking and came with a charger. I put 6 new batteries from SAM's club in it 5 years ago and it's still going strong.

Sure has been handy to have around, hauling tools from the shop to the house etc.. I put a 15 gal sprayer in the back with Roundup, bolted one fan spray nozzle to the rear that just covers the width of the golf cart and spray the weeds in the drive. Then I drive around with the wand and get the other areas that need it.

As I said ours was free except for the cost of new batteries and it's the most used tool we have.

The gas carts are just as handy- you get in, push on the pedal, motor starts and you go- when you stop, motor stops. So operates just like an electric, but less hassle with batteries.

had a 1994 ezgo electric for 6 years and just sold it to buy a newer model a 2005 ezgo electric. handiest thing around the place, quiet, comfortable, low center of gravity makes it stable and the golf course tire tread gives it quite a bit of traction. i perfer the electric (36 volts) over the gas due to the noise. did i mention how easy it is to get in and out. mine also has the retrofit rear seat for the grand kids. sure makes it easy to cross over the pasture, hay field or to the barn or garden.

Most pre-2000 models are 36 volts with 6 batteries. Generally, batteries last 5 years, but I have one (used by all including grandkids racing) that are still pretty good at 7 years. Most new models are also 36 volt, as long as they are "GOLF" carts. Some are now 48 volt with 4 , 12 volt batteries, and perhaps a bit more "peppy".
If you are not out for speed, get the 36 volt. If you need power/speed, go with gas engine. I would recommend a plug-in charger designed for deep cycle golf cart batteries.
My .02 worth. (3 cart owner)

What a wonderful idea helping them out and getting them outside. I'm not sure on the solar panel working, somehow I doubt it. You can charge them up on a 110 charger overnight and if it isn't used much a weekly charge would be sufficiant. My 86 year old father uses one to get around the retirement park he lives in, very hand to take out the trash, pick up the mail, and just visiting other folks. It's about the only way he would get out too.
I have one I use around here, handy as can be. My cart cost zero, but I did have to buy batteries and a steering sector. Total I spent was just shy of 500 bucks, a real bargain since it gets used almost every day. Here are some pictures of mine working, although it doesn't look this pretty now days.
I had just picked up this dump trailer, had to get a picture:

And out cruising the grapefruit grove:

Hauling a little dirt:

Dang it, I can't remember what they said the load capacity of this little trailer is. Oh well, it works fine:

And since it only snows here about every 100 years or so, investing in a snowmobile is out of the question. Heck, the cart works fine:

hey downsouth, nice cart and photos, is that a that a fairlane under the carport.

A gas model is better,only one cheap battery to mess with and it won't leave them stranded and have to walk because a battery went dead.A solar panel would probably take a month to charge those batteries.The best technology we have today and it still takes 8 hours to charge an I phone battery.

On second thought a a jd gator would be better,you can drive in the field with them,a golf cart will cause problems off road and you can't drive in any weeds.They will always try to go more places than they should.

An EZGO 2cyl/4cycle gas would be rock solid dependable with minimal maintainence.
Entering and driving is the same, gas or electric.
Get in, sit down, step onna pedal, (which also releases the brake) and hang on.
May haveta use the reverse knob under right leg and the choke first time in the morning.
Can be fitted with seatbelt.
Friend lets the campground use his occasionally; 'cause he can't get a tankfull thru the thing in a season.
P.S. Give MIL a cell phone just in case.

By all means, go with an electric golf car! 6 years ago I bought my parents a used ezgo electric. It has really surprised me how how much they used it. Their's is a farm place. They use it every day, except during the dead of winter. You can't go wrong, they will thank you over and over! They got 10 years of use out of the first batterys (36v), (they were 3 years old when I got it.) I put new ones in last week ($580).
There is some maintenace, battery water level must be maintaned, there is a solinoid that I have to replace every other year or so. Charge when needed, (make sure you get the special battery charger with it). Good batterys and a full charge will last them for days.
Brian(MN)

Not a expert but have brought and worked on my share of carts,,, I am a gas man myself (4 cycle)

Lets talk electric,,, if you are gonna pay a premium price batteries need to B less than 2 years old and a name brand,,, not reconditioned bats,,, most bats have a code that will tell ya their age,,, its stamped into the top are side near the top,,, must be some type of hot branding iron deal,,, it will B sum'n like this
C6A8,,, C= march 6= 2006 dunno what A8 Means but would guess Amps 800

Next i would take it for a spin,,, most electrics use a 5 speed type motor throttle set up,,, you should B able to feel all 5 speeds.
Slowly press the GO pedal,,, fist click you hear is speed 1,,, speed one is just enuff to get it roll'n smoothly,,, and as you depress the GO pedal EZ you can feel and hear it click as you go threw the other 4 speeds.

Look at the frame under the batteries,,,, some rust out (not good),,, I like Cub Cars for electric and EZGO for a gas model (just my preference)

A gas EZGO with a Robin engine is as simple as it gets,,, Parts are extremely expensive Though,,, use your judgment on the condition of a gasser.

One tip off that the cart has a problem is that they have brought another cart (he he) If nuttin was wrong with the one they have then why did they buy another one.

New are almost new carts are not that bad of a price,,,, shop around,,, then you will have some I.D. of what a used cart should go for.

when i go look'n I run'em like I stold them,,, drive'em for at least 15 min and hunt steep hills.
you would not believe some of the lies folks have told me.
I use the net to figger out repairing carts,,, one thing I have found,,, use common sense,,, just cuzz you get a reply from a guru don't mean he's a rocket scientist

I would not take a share in a gold mind for my cart,,, most handy thang I have ever brought

I knew this forum would be a good place to get info on these carts. Thanks Leonard

I am the repairman at the local golf course. We have Club Car Carry-All gas cars and the Golfers use 48 volt Club Car Precedent series cars for playing. The gas models will be noiser, smellier and require much more attention than a good electric car that is cared for properly.
An elderly person may have difficulty remembering to check the oil, get it changed and then it will have to be refueled by them or someone else. I owm 3 cars at home. A 1988 model 36 volt Yamaha resistor model,it is good but complicated and expensive to work on. If one wire would do the job, then they put 3 to be sure. A 1994 36 volt resistor model Club Car, good simple easy to repair car that is pretty straight forward to repair and about average on the price of parts. The rule of thumb on prices for golf car parts is that if you can afford the car, then they'll lay it to you for the parts. An example is the capacitor for a battery charger I bought last week to repair my 36 volt charger. From the golf car people it was $34.00 and from the electric motor repair and sales people it was $14.00. Same capacitor, just different uses it was sold for.
The third car I have is a 1995 Ez-Go Tuff-1 utility vehicle, which is a strictly work class animal and I expect it to be noisy and cumbersome and not a quiet ride . The best for the money as some one earlier stated is the 3 wheel Ez-Go electric cars. They were built until thec mid 90's and the golf courses banned them because of a few people getting tanked up and other wise careless and rolled a few of them. They are somewhat reasonable in price, although all golf cars have escaslated in price becasuse of the demand for them other than golfing. The newer solid state 36 or the even newer 48 volt solid state cars are very reliable and some have a regenerative braking set up so than when you coast the motor acts as a generator to put small amounts of current back in the batteries. Rule of thumb is; the more lead in the batteries you have, the more power you have. Some 48 volt cars have 8 6 volt batteries and that is good. As always, the better you trat a battery, the better it treats you. Deep cycle golf car batteries do not reach full capacity until after 20-30 recharges and the batteries do not need to be discharged more than about 1/2 way. need to install a digital battery gauge so they can see when they need to recharge. Rule of thumb is if you use it more than 10 minutes, go ahead and charge it. There are also automatic battery watering devices availablle to keep tjhe batteries filled to correct level. Always add water to the batteries AFTER charging, not before.

Oh yeah, technically they are golf cars. A golf cart is the non powered thing the golfer puts his bag of clubs on and pulls it around by hand over the course and the self propelled vehicles they ride over the course in is really a golf car.