Open Source Ecology Forums

Expressman

Forgive me if this is in the wrong place. I'm still getting the "lay of the land" here.

I come at OSE as one who grew up in agriculture and construction and hopes to have a semi-sustainable farm in the future.

So when I look at the GVCS I'm looking for certain kinds of information from the user side.

How much does the LifeTrac weigh?
What is the LifeTrac's wheelbase?
What is the LifeTrac's tipping points?
What is the LifeTrac's clearance (ground-to-chassis)
What is the average fuel consumption for the Power Cube under load?
What does the power cube weigh?

Perhaps we need a summary info like you would find for machinery on the wikipedia. I know you engineers are thinking 'but there are variables x,y,z', but for us potential testers and users, it gives us a quick idea of what we are dealing with.

In a sense, what I am asking is for is basic data like you'd see for selling a tractor or something. I think it would help more people want to try the OSE builds.

Matt_Maier

I don't think anyone has compiled that yet.

Could you tell us, or create a page on the wiki, what you would like to see? Your perspective on that is valuable. For example, I'm compiling the tractor build instructions, but I've never even seen the tractor in person. Also, I don't know much about tractors. If we had a tractor pamphlet, something concise, what would you want to see in it?

dorkmo

it wouldnt hurt to make a spec sheet with blanks for the unkowns at this point. we can fill it in as we figure each thing out.

dorkmo

http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/LifeTrac_IV/User_Manual/Spec_Sheet

so i started a list.

Mike_Apostol

I think the goal should be trying to fill out the major points (see the ones filled out for the bobcats) shown on the embedded google spreadsheet here: http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/LifeCat_1.0/Research_Development/Commercial_Designs_Research

Combine that with the powercube data and a c of g. You can do some quick calcs with the data here: http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/LifeTrac_IV/Research_Development/Carrying_capacity subject to about a +/- 300lbs due to missing parts and model inacuracy, but serves as a decent guide. I believe there is a post and video somewhere of Marcin welding on a bunch of counterweight steel and bricks to the chassis of the lifetrac IV to increase the tipping weight.

Expressman

I think you are on the right track. Here are two instances:

http://www.deere.com/wps/dcom/en_US/products/equipment/compact_track_loaders/ct315/ct315.page? Specifications tab

http://www.deere.com/en_US/docs/zmags/residential/online_brochures/utility_tractors/static/3000_series_zmags.html Pages 14-15

When a farmer or contractor looks at a machine, they skip all the promotional fluff and look at the hard data. I'm merely suggesting that as projects mature through the documentation phase, that we flesh out these specifications so that potential builders and end-users know what they can expect from the machine.

I'll work on at least some blanks in the wiki. Maybe that can mature into a usable template for future machines.

Expressman

Okay I got it started, and started it's discussion page.

Howdy, Stranger!

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