Yeah SM that is true, wet puddles, rain, even light snow in April, slippage. Its hard for me to get excited over it. I thought there was gear reduction in FD, but its just whatever the drum on the motor spins at is your speed, dont matter what diameter the wheel is. Thats why I love ES I am learning lots.
If the key word is cheap, any old cordless tool would suffice. Ideally a mower, chainsaw or circular saw of the 6"+ variety vs 4" then less ideally..... trimmer, grinder, rec saw, drill. One fella was giving away a free cordless mower with dead battery, a cordless saw for $10 but most are $25-$40. I got a bad Mastercraft heavy drill thats 120V plugin I may open up and take a look at. I remember investigating corded mowers, tread mill motors and the like and they would be alright if you can snag one for el-cheap-o-mundo. Then you can tinker with them and research them on how to get them going on dc voltage. I cant remember off hand much about them, rectifiers, high voltage, high rpm's.
Its the day in age where people throw shit away when it doesnt work anymore, that is why battery powered stuff is good for us "pickers" because when the battery loses its uuummmmffffff the homeowner prices out a new battery and is sticker shocked then throws it away.
Happy hunting!