Tongue toolbox on 21BHS

[tbrady]

After converting over to a lithium battery I no longer needed the battery bracket that was welded on the tongue.  I cut it off and put a toolbox from Harbor Freight there instead.  It took me a while to figure out how to best position everything, mainly because of the bike rack we have there.

[Gary M]

Looks Great! I'm thinking of doing something similar with this lockable box I got before deciding to move my AGM batteries under the bunk.

[tbrady]

Where did you get that box?  Honestly, if I found a box like that I would probably have just mounted it instead of going the route I did... 

[Gary M]

Where did you get that box?  Honestly, if I found a box like that I would probably have just mounted it instead of going the route I did...

I found it on amazon. It's pricey but it's a nice box that matches the trailer and diamond plate, but I made a last minute decision to install my batteries under the bunk instead. Being under the bunk resulted in a lot less voltage loss from the charger by being closer, reduced my tongue weight which was also a concern because I'm planning on mounting a bike rack like yours, and the biggest reason was so I wouldn't have to tear down the entire length of underbelly to route new wires. I wasn't about to use the cheap 8awg wires that LL ran to charge these expensive AGM batteries. Too much voltage loss, and not efficient at all when charging off a generator. A lot happier, and impressed with the performance of having the charger right next to the batteries with bigger wire.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MJUXGOG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[GoElectric]

I put the same Harbor Freight Toolbox on the front of mine as well.  I modified it to hold two golf cart batteries by installing a vent and a DC cutoff switch.  I put angle iron on the outside for it to mount on and narrower on the inside to support batteries leaving a little storage space. Only could find these couple of pictures on our 16DBS.  Paint holds up horrible on it, even in the shade.  I have already painted once and needs it again.

[tinkeringtechie]

Here's the box that we used:



The left half has my battery and other related goodies, the right is just additional storage for stuff that I use during hookup (ball mount, socket for Anderson hitch, tongue jack stand, etc...).

[Merlin]

Here's the box that we used:



The left half has my battery and other related goodies, the right is just additional storage for stuff that I use during hookup (ball mount, socket for Anderson hitch, tongue jack stand, etc...).

Youve likely mentioned this before, but which solar panel do you have in that photo?

[tinkeringtechie]

Youve likely mentioned this before, but which solar panel do you have in that photo?

That particular panel is a "WindyNation" 100 watt flexible solar panel. It's just a coincidence that it ended up in the photo though, I don't use it with the trailer. I use a pair of them to power my autonomous solar mower:

[Paul]

An autonomous solar mower! How does that work? Is it something you made yourself?

[tinkeringtechie]

An autonomous solar mower! How does that work? Is it something you made yourself?

If I told you I'd have to...   

You know the old saying "necessity is the mother of invention"? Well a few years ago we moved to a property with about 5 acres of grass. It takes hours to mow conventionally and being in the Northwest it grows with a vengeance. All of my neighbors just suffer through it or buy bigger more expensive mowers, but still end up sitting on a mower and getting beat up for hours. Literally within a week of doing it the old fashioned way I had converted a 52" walk behind to remote control and that worked great for a couple years, but I still had to stand there and move my fingers I hatched a plan to make a fully autonomous version and decided all-electric was the way to go both for safety and comfort (it's completely silent). It's been through a few iterations, but the current version is basically two ebay wheelchair motors adapted to a pair of snow blower tracks and three 7" direct-drive cutters. It's guided by a gyroscope and some pretty sophisticated GPS (look up RTK if you're curious). The result is very satisfying:



The device itself is pretty simple; the bulk of the effort was actually the software that makes it work. Luckily I'm a software developer, so I was able to tackle that over the winter. So now I just release it in the morning and collect it in the evening. It takes about two days to mow all 5 acres. It travels 24km during the process. Each pass I send it out in a different angle or spacing since the guidance is so precise that it will drive within 1cm of the planned path and doing the same one will eventually cut grooves into the ground. So far this year I haven't had to mow the field once with the RC mower.

[MitchB]

That is freaking awesome! Can you make one that will blow snow off my driveway? 

[Gary M]

Wow that really is amazing! Like a Roomba for your lawn. Hope you patented it!

[Merlin]

Wow is right. What a clever idea/mower. I'm sure glad I asked about the solar panels!