[First Drive] Leyland 255 Tractor - Nissan Leaf EM61

[LRBen]

This has been an idea of mine for the last couple of years. I have always thought that an electric powertrain would be perfect for small farm tractors. Ones that get used for an hour or so at a time to do winter feeding or moving bales around at slow speed. Potentially some field work such as hay turning or again bale moving. Nothing too heavy with the PTO.

Well the MG is still not finished and I am about to start the Defender teardown(not electric) but there can never be enough projects! This one came up for sale over Christmas and I have been convincing myself to buy it all holidays.

It meets the requirements that I was looking for. Most importantly the engine is not structural, so it can be easily replaced. Allot of tractors used the engine as a stressed member. It's about the right size to be useful, it was nearby and also pretty cheap.
It's also from a now defunct British company which fits in well with my jingoistic car taste.

It will need a bit of cosmetic work and a little servicing, but everything is there and the rust is only surface rust.

The plan:

I have been theorycrafting this for a while and I think I am going to look into a dual motor setup. Something like a leaf motor stack ​to interface with the gearbox. A leaf motor has around 20nm more torque than the original 55hp engine, so power should not be lacking. I think in reality it really will not draw all that much power moving around at slow speeds.
I was thinking of having a completely separate hydraulic motor and system in order to operate the power steering and loader hydraulics. The main idea being that I can operate the loader and drive the tractor separately without having to worry about a clutch. I am pretty new to hydraulic setups so not sure what sort of power they use. I am doubtfully hopeful a heavy duty 12v pump might have enough power, otherwise there are plenty of other options available to look into.

Battery wise I will just throw in whatever I can find when I get to that point. I don't expect to be doing anything more than stripping this down and doing some light restoration work on this for the next six months at least. Getting the MG on the road will take priority.

Thought I would setup a thread to see what peoples thoughts are on drive train, separate hydraulic system etc. At the moment this is open to any option, nothing is set in stone right now.

[bexander]

I like this project! I have thought of doing this as well but I live in a villa an have no use for a tractor...
Leaf motor are readily available so that will proably be a good choice.
Regarding hydraulics, I think fork trucks normally use one motor for driving and another motor for hydraulics. Maybe the hyudraulic unit integrates motor and pump in one unit? Could perhaps be an option.

[LRBen]

Regarding hydraulics, I think fork trucks normally use one motor for driving and another motor for hydraulics. Maybe the hyudraulic unit integrates motor and pump in one unit? Could perhaps be an option.

That would be an easy solution. A quick look on Ebay for 12v motors suggests I won't have trouble getting the pressure, but matching the flow rate will be the tricky thing. So I should probably be looking at something higher voltage or more purpose built.

I have always wanted to check out the Honda IMA motors, high torque but pretty low speed. Would need some work but the form factor might be ok and it would be handy to have both motors run off the HV battery.

[bexander]

Larger forklifts have higher battery voltage. Maybe possible to find one with similar voltage as you plan to use and run if from main battery. Seem a bit inefficient to run it from 12V.
What battery voltage do you plan to use?

EDIT: Just did a quick serch and realized that there are plenty of hyudralic pumps that run on 230Vac. Could be run on a 360Vdc battery using the openinverter SW on a cheap inverter.

[LRBen]

Initial thoughts for battery is a full voltage leaf pack. Ideally 40kWh to give it a chance for field work.
But I will likely not look for a battery until the motors are in.

That's a great idea for the hydraulic pump, a pretty simple solution.

[SuperV8]

Interesting project.

From here: http://www.thenuffieldandleylandtractor ... %20255.pdf
I note it says "pump gear type in transmission."
Does that mean you could do away with a separate hydraulic pump?


Hydraulics
Type Independent with Position, Draught control and Auxiliary services
Draught sensing Double acting top link
Pump Gear type in transmission
Capacity at max. Revs 6.65 galls / min
Pressure 2600 psi
Lift Capacity at link ends 1814 kg (4000 lb)
Linkage Category l & ll with stabilizer bars
Auxiliary Single acting tipping trailer facility

[LRBen]

Interesting project.

From here: http://www.thenuffieldandleylandtractor ... %20255.pdf
I note it says "pump gear type in transmission."
Does that mean you could do away with a separate hydraulic pump?

I found that resource a few days ago. Very useful to figure out what might be a suitable motor.

There is a built in hydraulic pump and system. However I believe it will rely on the engine turning over in order to operate. This isn't a problem with a normal setup with a clutch. But I would like to remove the clutch completely though so I can direct drive the gearbox. It will be a slight change to how it is operated and also mean that the inbuilt hydraulic pump won't be useful in certain situations.

I might end up keeping the clutch and then the separate hydraulic system will not be needed. But at the moment I do like the idea of a separate hydraulic system for the loader.

I won't make any decision either way until I have it stripped down and confirmed how it all works. Initially I am going to get the engine running again so I can sell that on to recoup a nice chunk of the original cost.

[LRBen]

I wasn't really planning on doing anything or buying anything for this project until the MG was done. However a poorly described leaf gearbox on Ebay turned into a gearbox, motor, inverter and DC-DC.

It's gen 1, so preferable for my application as it has more torque and I don't need high power at high rpm. Also no busbar connection to the inverter which will make life easier for mounting it.

Will still need a charger, considering using the Prius gen 2 inverter for charging and possibly DC-DC as it's not that much bigger than the Leaf dc-dc.

[Alibro]

You may have already watched this but Benjamin Nelson had a go at a similar project. Not sure how far he got with but I think he was planning to use a Leaf motor too.

[LRBen]

Well the MG is off the farm now so that's officially a home project now. Which frees up a slot for the next farm project, a real farm project this time.

Made a small start on stripping down the Leyland over the weekend. I'm also planning to move my main workshop into this shed eventually so have started to paint up the walls and clean out the clutter. I also need to wire in some lights and sockets.

I have been researching the drive train and hydraulics a little more over summer and come to the conclusion that I will most probably keep the flywheel and dual clutch. The main reason for this is to keep the independent PTO, it also makes hydraulics simpler and the user interface of the tractor very similar to how it was originally.

I have also been looking into replacement power steering, which is definitely needed for this thing. Ordered one of these, a Corsa power steering pump the model after what is documented on the wiki here. Looks similar in appearance and I hope operation, will update the wiki with findings.
I don't know if it will be powerful enough for the tractor power steering, but there is only one way to find out.

[LRBen]

Deep into the strip down and restoration at the moment. Looks like the rust is actually quite minimal and most of it is on body panels that are cheap and easy to replace. For some reason there is a bit of a cult for these tractors and spare parts are commonly remade and available.

I have pondered the motor to gearbox connection. The added complication here is that the PTO is also driven by the motor and there is a dual clutch fitted for independent PTO. This is something I want to keep. So I expect I will keep the flywheel as there is no other way to keep the clutch without it. I am thnking of keeping the engine flywheel housing, which also acts as a very handy mounting point, then adding a bearing to take the weight of the flywheel before attaching to the motor flange. Details will follow when I figure it out.

Also been thinking about converting to hydrostatic steering since the original setup is knackered and not amazing even at the best of times. The cost of machining and restoring the original setup would probably not be that far off the conversion cost anyway.

[LRBen]

The rear of the tractor is pretty much done now. Rebuilt brakes and replaced leaking half shaft seals.

Removed the engine and the power steering which is going to be replaced by hydrostatic steering, taking up less room.

This shows most of the room I have in the front of the tractor. I am planning to mount the motor to that rear plate. At the front of the tractor is the original radiator mounts. From this the tinwork is attached so this might as well stay. It extends another 30cm or so forward from here so there is plenty of room.

Battery wise I am thinking the PSA E-Corsa/206-E 50kWh battery. I can drop two modules to bring the voltage down to what the Leaf inverter is expecting. Plus it has some pretty nice coolant plates, which I think I may need with the possibly higher constant draw.

[LRBen]

Been quiet on here over the winter. But busy on the restoration stage. Endless wire brushing and painting when temperatures allowed, with the end still not in sight. Spent far more than I was planning on new bushes, seals, bearings etc.

However there is progress on the EV side of things as well. Motor mounts have been designed and fabricated. Leaf shaft sourced from BRAT industries and shrink fit to my flywheel adaptor. Planning to mount the motor next weekend. Then I can make a start on putting all the pedals back on.

EV component side I am expecting to use the VAG charger I bought a few months ago, along with a CCS socket more recently. Going to use a Zombie board to control the leaf motor and possibly BMW lim module for CCS charging.
I've slimed down the original DC-DC/junction box by removing all the contactors and cutting it in half. Keeping the DC-DC and cooling loop.

On the UI side of things I am replacing the original dash with a nextion display. Done a first draft of this over the winter, with changes to be made when I figure out what information is actually useful.

[LRBen]

Got the motor in last weekend!

Took a better look at it this week and realised that the motor isn't quite aligned with the gearbox input shaft. So drilled out the holes on the adaptor plate to give it a bit of wiggle room. Currently printing out an alignment tool so tomorrow I can get it fully aligned before torquing up the bolts once more. Probably should have paid more attention on the prototyping stage there.

Also threw on some tinwork to give me a better idea of space available for batteries. Planning to put the leaf inverter above the motor which looks like it will fit quite neatly. Rough space available for batteries is around 200,000cm3. The Ecorsa modules that I think I will use take up 100,000cm3 of space. So as a nice change from the MGF project I have tons of space and it's all one big square box. Should give plenty of room to allow for cooling plates, HVJB, charger and other packaging.

Sort of wishing that I left the paintjob as it was now, just covered it in rust converter and clear lacquer.

I'm still going to wait until I buy the batteries, focus on getting the inverter mounted plus cooling setup for both motor and inverter, then get the steering upgrade installed and tested.

[LRBen]

I used my 3d printed tool to align the adaptor plate today. Then reattached the motor to the other side.

I then had to lift the whole thing out once more to get the clutch assembly on.

After all that it looks like the flywheel is still a few mm too close to the gearbox, not to worry I have a spacer that I made behind the flywheel that I can turn down to gain this space.

I am a little concerned about the weight of all this, the flywheel and clutch assembly is probably over 40KG, although I did try to account for this in the adaptor plate design by doubling up the support bearings it does still still feel a little rough in part of the rotation. Once the PTO dog gear is fitted thought there will be some weight taken on the gearbox side, so hopefully that will fix that issue.
Alternative is to lose the clutch and just have a solid shaft, not the end of the world but I would lose the independent PTO.
We will see what tomorrow brings.

[mabubakar44mb]

Hi,
I've planned same project for my father to make an EV tractor and same ideas also but one thing in my mind how can we reduce motor rpm because there is big difference of tractor engine and motor rpm. A tractor engine rpm is 2500 but a ev motor rpm upto 10000 how did you reduce them.?

[crasbe]

Hi,
I've planned same project for my father to make an EV tractor and same ideas also but one thing in my mind how can we reduce motor rpm because there is big difference of tractor engine and motor rpm. A tractor engine rpm is 2500 but a ev motor rpm upto 10000 how did you reduce them.?

It really depends on the characteristics of the original motor vs. the new electric motor. If the electric motor has higher torque and power in the relevant RPM range, then why bother with a reduction? Just use the low RPMs and ignore the fact that it can rev much higher.

[LRBen]

Hi,
I've planned same project for my father to make an EV tractor and same ideas also but one thing in my mind how can we reduce motor rpm because there is big difference of tractor engine and motor rpm. A tractor engine rpm is 2500 but a ev motor rpm upto 10000 how did you reduce them.?

What Crasbe said. The torque of the motor is more than the engine puts out. So I'll just limit rpm to something sensible.
What tractor are you thinking of using for it?

[mabubakar44mb]

I decided to use EM57 electric motor for my tractor that known as Fiat 640 in my country. The engine power output is 75 hp and RPM of the engine is 2500.

[SuperV8]

I decided to use EM57 electric motor for my tractor that known as Fiat 640 in my country. The engine power output is 75 hp and RPM of the engine is 2500.

Your tractor 75hp at 2500rpm is 157lb/ft or 213Nm.

The EM57 max torque is something like 250Nm - but available from zero rpm.

[LRBen]

I decided to use EM57 electric motor for my tractor that known as Fiat 640 in my country. The engine power output is 75 hp and RPM of the engine is 2500.

EM57 should be just fine in that. The only concern I think will be heat, since the use case of tractors is allot different to cars. We are using more of that power for a constant period, rather than the few seconds of acceleration then coasting that cars would do.
For that reason I am splitting my coolant system into three, one just for the motor, one for the inverter and ancillaries, then the last loop for batteries
I could be wrong, but that's why I'm doing this.

[LRBen]

Got the clutch in just fine in the end by making my spacer a little bit shorter on the lathe.

Making up the brackets for the inverter today which should be finished next week, then I am also planning to start getting the cab parts back on so I can look at fitting the new steering column. Should start looking like a tractor again soon.

[crasbe]

If you paint the Leaf motor blue as well, it won't even be noticable that it's not original

[LRBen]

Steady progress on this. Mostly wire brushing and painting, with a good bit of welding recently.

Hydrostatic steering upgrade is in on the steering wheel side now,

On the electric side I have mounted the inverter and Leaf DC-DC box, which I chopped in half away from the rest of the junction box.

Next big task is mounting up the steering ram and sorting that out. Apart from that I'll keep putting parts back on while I keep my eyes open for a battery. At the moment the lack of a battery isn't holding me up since there is still a bit to do in terms of restoration.

I did get the motor spinning for a good few minutes with an Ebike controller and my Quad bike battery. Until the Ebike controller self combusted. With that I know that 1) My hydraulic pump works, 2) I didn't put all the pipes back on my hydraulic system and 3) the flywheel doesn't vibrate all that bad for now, which was my main concern.

[Alibro]

Steady progress on this. Mostly wire brushing and painting, with a good bit of welding recently.

Hydrostatic steering upgrade is in on the steering wheel side now,

PXL_20230523_163029647.jpg

On the electric side I have mounted the inverter and Leaf DC-DC box, which I chopped in half away from the rest of the junction box.

PXL_20230526_154315386.jpg

Next big task is mounting up the steering ram and sorting that out. Apart from that I'll keep putting parts back on while I keep my eyes open for a battery. At the moment the lack of a battery isn't holding me up since there is still a bit to do in terms of restoration.

I did get the motor spinning for a good few minutes with an Ebike controller and my Quad bike battery. Until the Ebike controller self combusted. With that I know that 1) My hydraulic pump works, 2) I didn't put all the pipes back on my hydraulic system and 3) the flywheel doesn't vibrate all that bad for now, which was my main concern.

Using an ebike controller to drive a Leaf motor is really stupid, whoever told you it was a good idea?