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Building a garden machine

I would like to build a lay on garden machine that you lay on horizontal to weed and pick strawberries. The wundaweeder is the one I like but need some advise on what size of electric motors I would need etc. If anyone wants to look up wundaweeder on line they will see exactly what I want to build. I’m not interested in solar panel part at this time. I was thinking one electric motor and controller for each wheel so I can turn at the end of rows and also to correct if going off row a bit.

If the garden machine will be geared for a top speed of around walking speed and used only on flat ground then two 350 Watt gear motors would have plenty of power to do the job, and if it needs to climb hills or grades then two 650 Watt motors would be more suitable.


Please let us know if you have any questions.

Ok great that helps get started. We should probably head to the larger 650watt just to be safe. I think we would have to make up a kit with two motors and two throttles and preferably a freewheeling clutch so a person can push the machine to the garden. We should also feed both motors off one battery pack set. Sprocket on the motor should be at least for a #25 weight chain or heavier. Any thoughts on this build or extra ideas for making up a kit would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
I should mention it would only move a foot at a time when picking berries. So it is just very short bursts of movement and never past a very slow walking speed. I can put tires in that are near the same as largest sprocket size I can find to keep it geared low.

We carry an 11 tooth motor sprocket for 1/2"x1/8" chain for our 36 Volt 600 Watt gear motor and we have freewheels that work with our larger 1/2"x1/8" 5-hole sprockets so that may be the direction to look towards instead of the 650 Watt gear motor.


What are your thoughts on throttles? Two thumb throttles, or???

Ok thanks for advice. I’ll start to build machine and get a feel for weight etc and decide what will work.
I'm looking to build a cart with 15" tire's two on one axle that pulls an two that steer's. I'm thinking of a 52 tooth sprocket on the axle an 11 on a gear reduction motor with a freewheel sprocket. I need to know what volt motor to use an would like to make it variable speed with a thumb throttle. I think max speed would be around 4.5 mph. I would need it to run continues for around 45 min a day. Thanks for any help
Also it needs to haul around 250 lbs

Hi Walker - The motor could be 24, 36, or 48 Volt. The Watts rating of the motor determines its power so that is the determining factor in deciding what motor to use. For a cart with 4.5 MPH top speed hauling 250 pounds a 350 Watt motor would work well for terrain that is flat to gently sloped, and a 600 or 650 Watt motor would work well for flat to steeply sloped and for going through sand and mud. For extreme duty, we also have a 48 Volt 1000 Watt motor which would work well for very steep slopes and deep sand. 


A 45-minute runtime is no problem at all and once the motors Voltage and Watt rating have been selected then we can help with determining what size battery pack would provide that amount of runtime.


If you are interested we could also make a kit which has labeled matching connectors on all of the parts for easy plug-and-play electrical installation. 


Please let us know your thoughts on which size motor would be best for the project and let us know if you have any questions and we can take it from there. 

Thanks for the speedy reply. I'm thinking about the 36 volt 650 watt gear motor with a freewheel sprocket so I can pull it while unloaded. I'll need a 52 or 54 tooth for the pulling axle. I'd like to have it variable speed with the thumb controller an what ever else I would have to have to get it working as far as electrical battery pack ect. If you could post what I would need I could order it online or let me know who to contact if I had to get a special kit made for the connections. Plug an play would be great. Motor and battery pack would be within 24" of each other an I think I seen that the thumb controller had a 60" cord so that would be plenty. Thanks
The last post was mine. Sorry about the names being different if that was the reason for not responding. Please respond with part numbers or a contact number I can call to get the right parts ordered. Thank you

The names were not the reason for the late reply, I have just been away from the forum for a while. It takes us an hour or longer to make a link for a kit so that is not something we could do over the phone. We can make a kit here though and then post a link to it. 


I am going to start a parts list to help build the kit:

  • 1 pcs motor MOT-36650G
  • 1 pcs controller SPD-241000D (recommended for heavy-duty industrial application)
  • 1 pcs contactor RLY-36150 (to turn the power to the controller on and off)
  • 1 pcs power switch (could be a toggle switch or key switch?)
  • 1 pcs battery pack wiring harness HNS-132 or HNS-136 (depending on chosen battery Ah rating)
  • 3 pcs batteries (15Ah okay for 45 minutes runtime with 36 Volt 650 Watt motor, however, 22Ah recommended for industrial use due to bolt-on instead of push-on terminals?)
  • 1 pcs battery charger with XLR plug CHR-36V1.6AXLR or CHR-36V2.5AXLR (depending on selected battery Ah rating)
  • 1 pcs XLR charger port with cover CNX-XLR05 (XLR plug and port is robust for industrial use and cover helps keep dirt and moisture out)
  • 1 pcs thumb throttle with battery meter THR-68
  • 1 pcs axle adapter for freewheel (available for 15mm, 20mm, 5/8", 3/4" and 1" axles?)
  • 1 pcs freewheel FWM-205 with hardware HDW-200
  • 1 pcs 48 tooth axle sprocket SPR-B48F (48 tooth sprocket is largest available, is that okay?)
  • 1 pcs 11 tooth motor sprocket SPR-B1711
  • 1 pcs #410 chain with a master link (how many feet?)


Could you please review the questions above that are marked in red and let me know which parts to include with the kit?


Also if there are any parts in the list that you would like changed then please let me know.


Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.

Will do thanks. I'll be getting back with you in a few days
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