Golf E-Caddy

[H2Guy]

Coming off my mini ATV conversion over the dark days of winter https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=109518&p=1607660&hilit=EGO#p1607660 we were looking forward to golf season here in Ontario so I was inspired to address my mobility limitation on the course. I can walk 9 holes but 18 takes a multi day toll on me so I typically rent a cart for that. Then I thought why not build my own single person golf E-caddy that I can walk behind or ride.


I started with a mobility scooter as the drive train is geared for walking speeds with ample torque to deal with the terrain in my area.

I built a bunch of prototypes of stand behind platforms that connect to my push golf cart as I’ve seen many videos of people connecting Hoover boards to carts in all sorts of configurations. Well this works, it isn’t the most stable and controllable platform so I moved on … and thought a pocket bike frame connected to my scooter drive train might be the ticket for a more stable 3 wheel “trike” solution.


I rescued a rolling pocket bike frame from the dumpster and started to fabricate how I could marry the pieces together in such a way as it could be quickly disassembled for loading into my SUV. I wanted no individual part more than 10kg and assembly/disassembly requiring no tools. The design of the mobility scooter drivetrain lends itself well to this as the smaller ones typically disassemble from the frames with some simple latches.

Batteries - I also had to deal with the very heavy 2x12V SLAs so I built a 7S10P pack with a Daly BMS which is a nice and tidy replacement for the SLAs.

Controls - spent way too much time reverse engineering how the controller interacts with the drive train and the speed control with the electromagnetic auto brake etc etc. If someone is interested I would be happy to share what I learned but in the end I got it all sorted out.

Without going into detail (didn’t take any pictures of the process or final fabrication) but I now have a functional single person golf E-caddy that is ready for the links once the 3rd wave of the pandemic allows courses to open here in Ontario. There are two configurations: walk behind with remote control and ride on with more tradition throttle speed controls.

Range testing on hard surfaces got more than 15km before I got bored of 8km/hr breakneck speeds around the neighbourhood and moved onto “typical” golf course terrain. I need about 10km of range on grass and mild rolling hills to safely get through 18 holes on a charge. First cold morning test revealed I may need more battery for adequate range when riding on the more demanding terrain and I’ll keep evaluating and decide if I will carry a “spare” pack just in case.




It was a fun build with new challenges and I’m on to my next project … not sure what it is yet but there will be something

 

[AussieRider]

Man, that is brilliant.
Kudos on your imagination! McGuyver would be proud.
Did you use the original wig - wag type throttle or did you add a forward / reverse switch & reprogram the controller?

AussieRider

 

[spinningmagnets]

Nicely done! If you try a similar project in the future, consider the option of EGO yard tool batteries. They are marketed as "56V", but they've been disassembled and thoroughly examined, and they are 14S, or what we might call 52V.

As such they will operate equipment that labeled 48V, and they even have an optional inverter, that produces 120V AC, which can sometimes be convenient.

 

[H2Guy]

Man, that is brilliant.
Kudos on your imagination! McGuyver would be proud.
Did you use the original wig - wag type throttle or did you add a forward / reverse switch & reprogram the controller?

AussieRider

Thanks For the trike it’s a fwd/rev switch (DPDT) that flips the wig-wag pot between the two and a thumb throttle cabled to the hidden wig-wag to operate. The remote walk behind version has a series of relays that I can remotely connect in resistors for a variety of speed and direction. Never did get into reprogramming the controller.

Nicely done! If you try a similar project in the future, consider the option of EGO yard tool batteries. They are marketed as "56V", but they've been disassembled and thoroughly examined, and they are 14S, or what we might call 52V.

As such they will operate equipment that labeled 48V, and they even have an optional inverter, that produces 120V AC, which can sometimes be convenient.

I am using EGOs on my ATV conversion with good success. This build is a 24V configuration so didn’t consider them but have been looking at a DC-DC step down attached to an EGO as my range extender or emergency backup. Haven’t decided yet but do like how they have done in my ATV.

Thanks both for the remarks,
Cheers

 

[spinningmagnets]

Just for general information, Kobalt at Lowes uses 24V tool packs, and I think Bosch has 36V packs available for their heavy duty contractor tools.

 

[H2Guy]

First real on course test. Just 9 holes but worked perfectly (my game not so much) but will definitely need more battery for 18 on a hilly course.

 

[H2Guy]

Well the end of another Canadian golf season and my e-caddy took me through 50+ rounds this summer! It was 99% problem free with the only unfortunate event being a flat tire very early in a round that I could easily get back to the club house, grab a cart and finish my round. $5 later I had a new tube in my tire.

No big plans over the winter. Will take it apart, clean, inspect, grease, touch up a few things but otherwise the batteries stayed in perfect balance and all the systems performed flawlessly ... if it ain't broke as the saying goes.

Here's a picture with this years plastics that clearly i failed to post in the spring.

 

[H2Guy]

Just completed a third season of 50+ rounds and my caddy held up perfectly. Did some functional and cosmetic upgrades over the winter and here is how it’s all kitted out. Another long Canadian winter ahead so perhaps more tweaks to come for the 2024 season