Golf

The cart itself. (Highland Aerosports, Maryland)

Jim Rooney <jim> writes:

Here's some specifics about the golf cart tow setup

Not only is it mounted on a golf cart, it's made out of golf cart parts.  We got a second golf cart electric motor and built the system around it.

It's a standard  hree horse power series electric motor straight out of an old golf cart.  It has a 2 and 1/2 inch drive that turns a 7 and 3/4 inch wheel on the drum.  The size ratio of the two belt wheels is very important (it's the "gearing").  We use the battery power from the cart and have added two additional batteries for extra power.

The cart normally uses six six volt batteries, so now instead of a thirty six volt system, we have a forty eight volt system.  The drum is a stock 50cc scooter wheel hub with side walls welded on.  We have 3,000ft of spectron line.

The single belt drive setup is not sufficient for high towing though the rig is plenty capable (it has plenty of torque) to do so.  The single belt slips and burns a bit.  We'll be adding a second belt over the winter.

All the electric components are stock golf cart parts.

We got the turnaround pulley and harnesses from Steve Wendt at Blue Sky Hang Gliding in Virginia.  The drogue chute is a reinforced pilot chute we got from the local skydivers.

The whole system "feels right".  You don't wind up worrying about "over pulling" people because it doesn't really want to.  It has plenty of power to get you way up there (aside from burning up the belt), but it's far more docile than other winch systems I've used.  You have extremely fine throttle control (there's no "power curve") and once someone's off the ground, I can go to full throttle without worry.  They won't rocket up.  They'll get up, but comfortably.

We have the skydivers here next to us at Highland Aerosports now too and they're all keen on the "scooter".  I've pulled  them all up to the five feet level and they are working on perfecting their various landing skills (I've got a whole syllabus).  They're very happy to stay at five feet for now, not wanting to go to ten feet yet.

Fortunately, having the skydivers jump right in has demonstrated how valuable the Low/Slow stuff really is.

The number one question I've heard with it is "how long to the batteries last".  We haven't even put a dent in it.  I've run it for a few hours and it just chugged right along.  We run our other golf cart around all day long and for far longer periods of time than this thing.  The towing cart is only "on" for short bursts.  The normal cart is under load for long stretches as we drive from the hangars to the airfield and back all day long.  I don't really expect a problem.

The tow spool mounted on the back of the golf cart.

Click on above for a larger version to see the details.

Steve Wendt's special pulley.

The BlueSky training harness.

Pilot chute as drogue chute.

Why make it difficult when it can be so simple?

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