Leaf pusher

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by freebeard

At a show-and-shine a few years back, a guy showed up with a Rabbit EV conversion (that had been done by the State of Oregon) with a Rabbit trailer.

ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/powered-trailer-idea-ev-pusher-trailer-make-conventional-2975-3.html#post580730

A good article but the pictures won't embed.
www.evconvert.com/article/ev-pusher

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

I almost convinced myself to make a diesel pusher for my Leaf out of the 1985 non-turbo VW Golf I had. The idea was to cut the front off from the cabin and make it a trailer.

Others have done similar , the IMIEV forum one is most famous

https://insideevs.com/news/325682/mi...ange-extender/

VW EV Pusher trailers have a long history going back into the 1970’s

Pushers are a much better use case than running a portable genset to “charge”

My view has always been that anything that allows you to better use your car is good if that’s a pusher go for it.
A proper commercial “pusher” would allow owners to continue using old tired “leaves” that no longer have enough battery capacity for daily use.

The trouble I’ve seen is you have a lot of purists who have zero tolerance for fuel burners, especially those from Europe they have no comprehension, or views of fair play , sadly that mentality seems to be present amongst most everyone these days.

[oil pan 4]

I have seen that EV pusher. I don't think I need an entire vehicle sized engine and drive line.
I'm going to try to keep it single wheeled, gokart drive line based.
And I don't believe in destroying an air cooled VW body to make a pusher.
The other problem with using a vehicle based push trailer is the authoritarian enthusiasts may think that it needs to at least be registered as a trailer or possibly as a vehicle. No one should see a single wheeled pusher thing and be like that needs to be registered as a trailer.

I don't think battery powered pushers make any sense to privately own. If you need a pusher that much buy a plug in hybrid, if the battery trailer sits for weeks at a time the battery is still deteriorating. And for best storage life you should keep a lithium ion battery around 1/3 to 1/2 charge, so you can't keep it ready to go.
As something you could rent yeah.
(some one always brings up battery powered pushers)

[freebeard]

And I don't believe in destroying an air cooled VW body to make a pusher.

Good on you. I was distracted by #22, when it said Golf. Maybe this is more to the point:




Ignore the bike rack and cardboard box. The swiveling wheel would store as such. Perhaps your requirement would be filled by something similar?

[Isaac Zachary]

Obviously a whole car front or rear end would be a lot of extra trailer. But as far as the concept, I think keeping the pivoting point closer to the rear axle would be best. The farther rearward the point the trailer wheels turn in relation to the car being pushed the more it will be "torque steered" so to speak.

[oil pan 4]

I want my leaf pusher to be small enough to be thrown in the back hatch. If I ever make a 22hp or 35hp version then probably not so much.

[oil pan 4]

It looks like the rhb31 turbo I put on my kubota tractor can be spooled up by a lowly 200cc diesel engine.
Just imagine a leaf pusher rolling this much coal, the hate would be epic.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKGxwq5wrFI

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

And I don't believe in destroying an air cooled VW body to make a pusher.

No one should see a single wheeled pusher thing and be like that needs to be registered as a trailer. )

Don’t disagree, many VW pushers came “pre-wrecked” hence why they became pushers

[freebeard]

I've known people who got their cars by patching two wrecks together. A short-nose Type III and a Type III Karmann Ghia. My 1957 Beetle was replaced from the A-pillars forward.

I want my leaf pusher to be small enough to be thrown in the back hatch.

That's a hard constraint. What are the maximum weight and dimensions?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Even a wrecked motorcycle can be turned into a pusher for an EV, considering a Honda thumper around 250 to 300cc even though some workaround would be required to provide a reverse gear. Repurposing a starter motor to become an auxiliary reverse unit can get the job done.

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

You would really be surprised of how intolerant electric vehicle people are

I see so many virtue-signallers praising EVs just to claim some sort of moral superiority whenever anyone else points out any deficiency of EVs under some conditions.