stiga c300 - electric tractor, ride on lawnmower

[szczur333]

hello
I own stiga c300 e-ride for 1,5 year (2 seasons)

it is basic (lowest) model in line up
higher models (C500/584e/384e/798e)

it has 14S li ion (58,8V max) 30Ah battery
stock charger - 5A (FANLESS ! )
optional charger - fast charger 18A cost about 450-500euro :O

I can mowe 3000sq meters on one sitting 100-10% battery if I mowe regullary and grass is low, I dont mind to cut 60% of property , charge for 3-4hours and make other 40%

my MODs:
- button/remote instead stock ignition key (very annoying) (for remote I have to build small 12V li ion battery for receiver to stndby)
- added CRUISE CONTROL + ECO button (avaible in higher models only)
- added LATCHING button to cut on reverse without holding a reverse button - not avaible normally bcoz of safety reasons)
- 3d printed handle for stock charger (annoying to plug sometimes)
- voltmeter (by default its only 5 led status bar - in higher models its app and bluetooth connection so you can see %)

Stiga made their custom charging plug/socket - but under the panel it is regular anderson powerpole 30a connector, so you can change charge port or charge with any 14S charger (in comparasion to stiga fast charger price, most expensive charger on aliexpress its GTK waterproof 14S 18A charger (similar look to surron one) cost about 180eur, lower models cost 100-120 maybe, so 450-500 is absolute ripoff)

I tested it with my adjustable voltage/amp rectifier and works fine (max i tested is 18A like stiga fast charger but breaker is 30A so maybe it can charge faster but, in my opinion 10A is more than enough (its +65% under 2hours)

ALL mods are reversable, plug and play - I still have warranty for it

future mods to do:
4-channel remote, one to on/off, second maybe to turn on LEDs, 3 and 4 to ride forward and backwards (i know its totally unnecessary but will be fun to do it)



PS
power consumption for 2024 season - 62kWh (I cut grass very often)
PS2
voltages:
100% of charger - 5 bars - 58,8V (so really 100%)
but 1bar blinking, whe ride only is possible, no blades, its about 48V so really about 5-15%

 

[fechter]

That's nice.
Next try making it self-driving. Just kidding... Talk about safety issues.
Sounds like a bigger battery would be nice. Eventually old EV car batteries should be plentiful and cheap.

 

[szczur333]

That's nice.
Next try making it self-driving. Just kidding... Talk about safety issues.
Sounds like a bigger battery would be nice. Eventually old EV car batteries should be plentiful and cheap.

suprisingly everything is CAN operated, so its possbile - only steering is mechanical

about bigger battery - main controller is CAN operated - battery has CANbus as well, probably it will be possible but some software flashing but I am not a PRO (yet)

anyway, ultimate battery will be - 21S LTO 25Ah cells (I calculate a cost and it will be abiut 600euro in total)
capable of 6C charging (10min) , but as I said - I "survive" two seasons with 5A charging only. FEW times faster charging will be handfull but thats it.

For next season I will have my custom fast charger prepared for 10-12A maybe 15A charging, I wonder how many times I will use it

PS
stiga C500 vs C300 panel (I got c500 internal pics from guy who own one)

differances: C500 has two more buttons and 9 more LEDs
In c300 i dont have cruise control and eco button also i have only ONE LED - its "generic" exclamation mark warning LED

I compare two PCBs ,and C500 has one "chip/controller" more - I realized it cost 0,2$ -LED and some resitors are even cheaper

so they purposely cut my C500 to C300

 

[szczur333]

I soldered second "driver/controller" for leds and 2 leds (cruise control and eco mode) - and leds works, also I checked eco mode today - and blades spinning slower

so I am only missing bluetooth and 10Ah to c500 model now

 

[szczur333]

I opened battery cover
14S12P
cells Samsung 29E
100A main fuse
PCB BMS numbers LY-BP078-A5 and LY-BP078-B5 but google shows nothing

battery case is steel - top cover weight 4,2kg so both parts 8,4kg - why I tell you that? - 168cells weight also 8,4kg

 

[fechter]

The heavy battery case would be good in the event of a fire as long as it's properly vented.

 

[szczur333]

The heavy battery case would be good in the event of a fire as long as it's properly vented.

case is tight insulated, between two parts of case is some kind of sponge - I would say its waterproof but one guy from my country bought flooded one and everthing was destroyed inside

I remove top cover bcoz of curiousity, also I am wondering if its possible to make removable/slide in battery - cells are so cheap right now so I can make same size battery for about 300-400euro - unfortunanetly BMS has CAN singlas so i think I have to stick with stock one

 

[szczur333]

white plastic box dimensions

36cm lenght
21cm width
15,5cm height

cells are positioned in lenght (along) - sorry i dont know if this is right word

in theory I can fit cells:

18650
10x5 flat + 7-8 in height so:
14s25p or 14s28p

21700
9x5 flat + 6-7 in height so:
14s19p or 14s22p

 

[Logic11]

With cars and such that build up a bit of momentum EV makes sense from a regen point of view.
On something like this (and tractors etc) I spoze electricity is cheaper, less to break and quieter. Anything else?

My point:
IMHO on this type of thing I'd say adding solar is 'The Mod'?
You also get to chill in the shade and stay pretty for longer.

 

[szczur333]

With cars and such that build up a bit of momentum EV makes sense from a regen point of view.
On something like this (and tractors etc) I spoze electricity is cheaper, less to break and quieter. Anything else?

My point:
IMHO on this type of thing I'd say adding solar is 'The Mod'?
You also get to chill in the shade and stay pretty for longer.

I switch from GAS tractor (stiga tornado 2098). Probably I will stay with it for another year if only have grassbasket - 1 hour of mowing, few hours of raking grass and move to corner of land, also I have car/moto/bike and other tools so gas tractor was a last "ICE" tool.

Less maintanance is also one of main reasons to switch - no oil/belts/12V battery etc

Third - gas savings - with frequently mowing - I save about 250-350euro on gas. (even without solar -whole season electricity cost = one tank of gas
(when I buy it, almost 2 years ago, it cost a lot more than now - officially prices are similar, but in my country e-tractors are pretty niche, so dealers want to sell them even with loss after 2 years of sitting and collecting dust. (now electric maybe 100-300eur more expensive than gas equivalent.

PS
This tractor doesnt have regen or brake - when you lift off feet from "gas" (forward) pedal wheels locking immiadaetely - I know this sound is pretty strange and YES it IT IS, at first ride you will say - NA AH , but after few days you will use to it

Solar panel for roof, yes, this is an idea haha, maybe someday


about future mods:

I will try add actuators for cutting deck and grass basket (the highest model - stiga 798e has them)
- cutting desk actuator - I will need only lever + actuator + few screws - also panel from 798e model - one thing which I dont know - my controller doesnt have 6pin connector for actuator - probably if I solder it + maybe some resistors it will work but dont know
still its possible to add it but with some of ardino or relay controller (even cheaper) but not simple

- grass basket actuator - a lot of differences than in manual one - lot of parts but actuator is just 2pin (without potentiometer) so just need two buttons to operate

 

[graememk]

Watching with interest.

Ive got one but having an issue with the battery, and it's way out of balance. When at "0%" SoC, lowest cell is 3v and the highest was still 4v!

I have a neey balancer on the way to give it a proper top balance, and see where it goes from there.

Would love to be able to see the CAN protocol, possibly useful for doing a custom BMS/battery for it.

 

[amberwolf]

If cells are that far out of balance, a balancer isn't going to help. You'd need to replace the cells that are different from each other. If at empty they all vary widely, then you'd really have to replace them all.

 

[graememk]

I should have added, when "full" they are also way out of balance.
Eg the high ones when empty went from 4 to 4.2 (and charger/bms cut out at this point)
But the low one, that was at 3, only got to 3.5.

It's cutting out on the low end, on one cell when discharging, and on a different cell on charge.
If it was the same cell I'd be in agreement.

 

[amberwolf]

The reason it is different at full and empty is that the BMS turns off charge when the cell that's already near full reaches full.

At empty it turns off when the emptier cell reaches empty.

You won't see the same cells stopping it in each case because that's just not how it works.

The problem you're seeing is because the cells are all different from each other, in various properties (resistance, capacity, etc)., and the only way to fix that is to replace them all with matched identical (not similar) cells.

All balancing does is make them the same voltage at some point in the SoC curve (usually at full). It doesn't fix anything. It just lets you use a little more of the remaining capacity of the cells than if you didn't balance.

 

[graememk]

I understand where your coming from. Full charge is the wrong term, High cell voltage cut off might be better.
I dare say I do have a weak cell, But currently with the pack wildy out of balance, I'll not be able to properly identify it. - This cell likely has a higher internal resistance and over the last few years it has pulled itself out of balance.

This pack is only charging to 55v and cutting out at 51ish. There is one cell that is only cycling between 3 and 3.5v - that is limiting the discharge. If I get that cell and the few others all to 4.2v under charge i'll have a much better understanding of the situation.

using the likes of the neey vs a "dumb" balancer, I will be able to have it run only when I want it to, Likely will log the charging sessions to HA, Will allow me to see how the cells are behaving when charging.

At least with a good top balance, I will be getting the most of the lowest capacity cell, instead of using a top third from a high cell and the bottom third from the low cell.

And if it doesnt work.. im only out the price of a balancer, if it does, I dont need a new battery!

 

[amberwolf]

I understand where your coming from. Full charge is the wrong term, High cell voltage cut off might be better.
I dare say I do have a weak cell, But currently with the pack wildy out of balance, I'll not be able to properly identify it. - This cell likely has a higher internal resistance and over the last few years it has pulled itself out of balance.

The cells that are at different voltages *are* the problem cells.

The ones that are all the same as each other (if there are any) are at least still matched in properties.

 

[Logic11]

What about a solar panel/s roof instead of a bigger battery..?
You also get to be in the shade!

Seems to be all the rage for golf carts on YouTube.

 

[szczur333]

adjusting cutting height by actuator


custom controller

original stiga parts lever

mounted

control panel

original lever has positions from 1 to 7, I have now only 2 to 7 (bcoz I cant find potentiometer with exact 6 positions) this one has 5 - I never cut on 1 - barely on 2 , so adjusting between 2 and 7 is enough
as potentiometer has 5 positions so to make it 6 for TOP i dediced to go with button (TOP/PARK mode), also using the button has also another purpose: I most use 4 and 7 position so if potentiometer is set to 4 by pressing TOP/PARK button I can quickly switch up between two heights - in my case 4 or 7, but if I want 5 and 7 just move potentiometer to position no 5

UNFORTUNANETLY this actuator has 205/255mm (retracted/extended mounting lenght), in oppostie to original which is 185/235mm so mine its too long
now I have really 1-4 position - so after quick tests I have to back to original lever


After long search of 185/235mm actuator I found only 190/240mm but I hope I this will fit ok - always I can File some steel mounts/nuts in tractor frame

 

[cdan]

hello
I own stiga c300 e-ride for 1,5 year (2 seasons)

it is basic (lowest) model in line up
higher models (C500/584e/384e/798e)

it has 14S li ion (58,8V max) 30Ah battery
stock charger - 5A (FANLESS ! )
optional charger - fast charger 18A cost about 450-500euro :O

I can mowe 3000sq meters on one sitting 100-10% battery if I mowe regullary and grass is low, I dont mind to cut 60% of property , charge for 3-4hours and make other 40%

my MODs:
- button/remote instead stock ignition key (very annoying) (for remote I have to build small 12V li ion battery for receiver to stndby)
- added CRUISE CONTROL + ECO button (avaible in higher models only)
- added LATCHING button to cut on reverse without holding a reverse button - not avaible normally bcoz of safety reasons)
- 3d printed handle for stock charger (annoying to plug sometimes)
- voltmeter (by default its only 5 led status bar - in higher models its app and bluetooth connection so you can see %)

Stiga made their custom charging plug/socket - but under the panel it is regular anderson powerpole 30a connector, so you can change charge port or charge with any 14S charger (in comparasion to stiga fast charger price, most expensive charger on aliexpress its GTK waterproof 14S 18A charger (similar look to surron one) cost about 180eur, lower models cost 100-120 maybe, so 450-500 is absolute ripoff)

I tested it with my adjustable voltage/amp rectifier and works fine (max i tested is 18A like stiga fast charger but breaker is 30A so maybe it can charge faster but, in my opinion 10A is more than enough (its +65% under 2hours)

ALL mods are reversable, plug and play - I still have warranty for it

future mods to do:
4-channel remote, one to on/off, second maybe to turn on LEDs, 3 and 4 to ride forward and backwards (i know its totally unnecessary but will be fun to do it)



PS
power consumption for 2024 season - 62kWh (I cut grass very often)
PS2
voltages:
100% of charger - 5 bars - 58,8V (so really 100%)
but 1bar blinking, whe ride only is possible, no blades, its about 48V so really about 5-15%

Nice info! Thanks!

I am thinking to buy a Stiga Tornado 398e (no basket, just side discharge). In my country it costs 2300EUR + 100EUR shipping. They still have the 2025 model year with the integrated 30Ah battery. The 2026 models all have the ePower Pro system with replaceable 40Ah batteries but cost at least 800EUR more with one battery. As you mentioned, 30Ah are enough for 3000m2, and I assume I would cut much less because I will use it in a garden where the mowing is done 1-3 times a year. Charging for 6h with the included 5A charger is far to slow as I have to mow 10000m2. The fact that there is an Anderson connector is very important. I also checked aliexpress and a 20A 58.8V charger is 140$.

Another option would be to connect another 14s li-ion battery in parallel to the integrated one. It is usually done for electric bicycles using a device called Dual Battery Discharge Converter (~60$ for a 120A model). It deals with the case of different voltages of the 2 batteries and bypasses the BMS/CAN problem. The problem is that a 14s battery is too expensive and you are very close to the price of the new models with replaceable 40Ah batteries.

The best solution would be a "solar" 5kWh 48V LiFePO4 connected in parallel to the current 30Ah integrated battery. They will have to be charged separately, but the before mentioned converter will have no problem with the different chemistries. The 398e has a big empty storage space in the front.

How much does it take to mow 3000m2 for you? Have you ever tried to mow taller and thicker grass? Is it a problem if the terrain is not very flat? Can the mower deck be raised more than 80mm by doing minor and easy modifications?

 

[cdan]

I found the spare parts list pdf with all the diagrams of the 398e and higher models
Stiga TORNADO 398e Ersatzteilzeichnungen
The very last item is a Diagnostic Tool OBDII. Do you know if there is a possibility to change different parameters from software? For example, to change the electric motor speed for going faster than 9.6km/h.

 

[riogrande75]

Just bought a defective Stiga e-Ride C300. According to the seller it's a electronic problem.
First analysis showed that the original BMS was replaced by a standard DALY bms. Off course, no CAN communication anymore (can bus cable was lying non isolated in the battery box...). Only advantage: I can see cell voltages, etc. via BT app on my mobile.
BUT: The mower does not start, does not even show anything on its displays.
VMS seems to be online, I can see the mower via bluetooth in the StigaGO app and read serial, etc. Front-lights can be turned on.
Unfortnunately I do not really know where to start with my diagnosis.

@szczur333 You are most experienced with this kind of mower. Do you have a hint for me what I should try first? Don't want to spend a long time analyzing the CAN protocol and try to create a "translator" for the DALY CAN bms protocol.
I guess there is for sure some kind of contact/signal that bypasses the battery's CAN communiction or does at least start the displays to see fault blink codes. Maybe then I can read anything via the ODB2 port too and continue with my investigations.

BTW: Battery seems to be in good condition, cells are all equalized, etc. According to rumours I noticed, the original bms was replaced because of some temp. sensor alarms. Obviously even such alarms block the mower completely from starting.

 

[riogrande75]

In the meantime I was able to get at least some lights: Right after powering on the BMS, the led bar rises from 1 to 5 and back:

Video here.

Any idea what this means?

 

[szczur333]

Nice info! Thanks!

I am thinking to buy a Stiga Tornado 398e (no basket, just side discharge). In my country it costs 2300EUR + 100EUR shipping. They still have the 2025 model year with the integrated 30Ah battery. The 2026 models all have the ePower Pro system with replaceable 40Ah batteries but cost at least 800EUR more with one battery. As you mentioned, 30Ah are enough for 3000m2, and I assume I would cut much less because I will use it in a garden where the mowing is done 1-3 times a year. Charging for 6h with the included 5A charger is far to slow as I have to mow 10000m2. The fact that there is an Anderson connector is very important. I also checked aliexpress and a 20A 58.8V charger is 140$.

Another option would be to connect another 14s li-ion battery in parallel to the integrated one. It is usually done for electric bicycles using a device called Dual Battery Discharge Converter (~60$ for a 120A model). It deals with the case of different voltages of the 2 batteries and bypasses the BMS/CAN problem. The problem is that a 14s battery is too expensive and you are very close to the price of the new models with replaceable 40Ah batteries.

The best solution would be a "solar" 5kWh 48V LiFePO4 connected in parallel to the current 30Ah integrated battery. They will have to be charged separately, but the before mentioned converter will have no problem with the different chemistries. The 398e has a big empty storage space in the front.

How much does it take to mow 3000m2 for you? Have you ever tried to mow taller and thicker grass? Is it a problem if the terrain is not very flat? Can the mower deck be raised more than 80mm by doing minor and easy modifications?

thicker and longer grass will be tricky but without grass basket I think this will be not a problem but I am no expert in higher grass - i cut mine at least once a week during season (from april to september)


20A charger is not good idea with 30Ah battery (original fast charger is 18A and also it has CAN control - so probably it not charge at full power when cells have higher temps and reduce charging speed when battery/cells get to warm/hot


and probably you want charge it fast directly after first cut - if you connect it direclty it will work (as I show in previous post) but can overheat battery - additional drawback - PROBABLY all the sessions are registered in logs in BMS, so if you charge at 20A probably you will lose your warranty after dealer check logs but I am not sure


in my opinion if you have that much field to mowe I will go with PRO model with 2 or 3 swapable batteries - officially new model cost a lot but if you can, wait a little - it is a niche thing and dealers are forced to get at least one from manufacturer- usually ppl dont want to buy them so they try to sell cheaper even below their cost just to rid of it

also check castel garden xdc 150e - in my country it cost 2/3 of price of stiga - same electric components

if you want to make it cheaper - probably using another cells with original bms will be a solution but I really dont know if it will work, I dont want to risk with mine bcoz all of this is proprietary stuff - breaking bms means bricking whole mower

but as soon I find cheap/damaged one I will buy it and try different thing - key is to have TWO with at least one working to compare and replacing stuff between them

I found the spare parts list pdf with all the diagrams of the 398e and higher models
Stiga TORNADO 398e Ersatzteilzeichnungen
The very last item is a Diagnostic Tool OBDII. Do you know if there is a possibility to change different parameters from software? For example, to change the electric motor speed for going faster than 9.6km/h.

diagnostic tool is for dealer use only - you have to login to their systems - so you have to be a dealer to take advantage of it


but even if you can connect I doubt you can change any parameters in this - one guy from my country bought FLOODED C300 and to make it work he replaced broken controllers for normal ones from aliexpress - also custom throttle - with this he got 20 or 25kmh speed but more speed - more amps to motor - I dont know if it can handle it in longer usage - personally If I need that I will increase it max 20-25%

ALSO I have obd sniffer and once I plugged it but not show anything - but I am total beginner in this so I will try again if i know sth more about canbus sniffing

Just bought a defective Stiga e-Ride C300. According to the seller it's a electronic problem.
First analysis showed that the original BMS was replaced by a standard DALY bms. Off course, no CAN communication anymore (can bus cable was lying non isolated in the battery box...). Only advantage: I can see cell voltages, etc. via BT app on my mobile.
BUT: The mower does not start, does not even show anything on its displays.
VMS seems to be online, I can see the mower via bluetooth in the StigaGO app and read serial, etc. Front-lights can be turned on.
Unfortnunately I do not really know where to start with my diagnosis.

@szczur333 You are most experienced with this kind of mower. Do you have a hint for me what I should try first? Don't want to spend a long time analyzing the CAN protocol and try to create a "translator" for the DALY CAN bms protocol.
I guess there is for sure some kind of contact/signal that bypasses the battery's CAN communiction or does at least start the displays to see fault blink codes. Maybe then I can read anything via the ODB2 port too and continue with my investigations.

BTW: Battery seems to be in good condition, cells are all equalized, etc. According to rumours I noticed, the original bms was replaced because of some temp. sensor alarms. Obviously even such alarms block the mower completely from starting.

first of all i have question for you - how do you connect to stiga go app in c300? I thought only c500 and higher models have this

about to start it - I am not an expert in canbus or somehting and didnt know how complex is stiga bms/controller but with logical point/way - probably pressing the button you are give some sort of signal to BMS and to controller - without it you probably can't run it without custom/extenrnal controller which give this signal

of course it can be simple resistor which bypasses it but I really dont know

even worse thing - even if you want to hack it you probably need stock mower to READ original canbus signal to copy it to custom controller later (I have sniffer and I can give you remotely access to it) but as I said before - I am total beginner in this I connected sniffter ONCE year ago but nothing shows on screen so I give up and not tried more - but finally someday I want to decode something - even read stupid voltage or led on/off signals will be a WIN - small but still

 

[riogrande75]

Dear szczur333!
Thx for your reply. In fact I did a lot of reverse engineering on solar inverter and battery systems comms, mostly on less complex RS485, modbus or simple RS232 connections.
I am not a big expert on the CAN bus (yet), but I guess with modern tools (AI) it shouldn't be too hard. I also have some contacts in the automotive scene, so I can ask for support.
Sniffing the bus should be quite easy for everyone, you simply need to hook up to pin 6/14 on the ODB2 connector. Finding a working software/cheap hardware is probably the bigger challenge.
Back to my findings:
When generally turning on power (via BMS app), I can already see some traffic with my oscilloscope on the bus. So I bet, the VMS controller was not blown up completely.
Next step: Find out can bitrate and analyze this "startup traffic"- hopefully I am able to decode this query messages.
Maybe someone with a working stiga mower can then at least sniff and post the results. Then I try to create a ESP based "translator" between VMS and the installed BMS.
If I/we have success with that, I am sure we get any battery / 3rd pty. bms working in our mower. This would also circumnavigate the problems with too small/expensive batteries from the vendor.
Nevertheless all batteries will die one day and I am sure, the mower itself will last much longer than that. Until I get my C300 working I have to run a 33 year old gas mower...

Regarding your question: While playing with the (daly) BMS bluetooth app I noticed that there was a STIGA device visible. After installing the StigaGO app I could see my mower (see pic attached).
Maybe there are even different versions of the VMS for the C300 available, some with BT and some without.

 

[szczur333]

picture on your app shows S300 (not C300) maybe thats why? so do you have c300 or s300?

year ago I tear down my VMS - bluetooth module is intalled physically but I dont see any devices unfortunanetly

for obd/canbus sniffing I have this one

ESP32 CAN Bus Shield – Store – MrDIY.ca

store.mrdiy.ca

I tried to connect it only once - and savvycan not show anything - but I am sure this sniffer works bcoz I also plug it to my motorcycle and it shows some data

I will try one more time this or next week - if I see anything we can remotely connect and maybe figure something out



also if battery will degrade I think replacing cells will be enough, but yes - still bms is weak spot and if you/we can able to hack it we can use any 14s packs