Welder Question on Wheelchair Project

[macVsog]

I would like to ask the welders their thoughts on my potential wheelchair project. The picture below is my wheelchair (sorry for not having a close up) but you can see how small the wheels are. It runs fine on a hard flat surface but if it rains, snows or ice, the wheels spin and I'm stuck. If I go into medium height grass I get stuck so going hunting, camping or fishing is out of the question. Also it won't go over curbs and with the lack of sidewalks in my area, I pretty much can't go anywhere.

The wheelchair I want but will never be able to afford is this wheelchair by Action Trackchair. A lot of our Wounded Warriors (Great Organization by the way) have received these and it appears reliable. http://www.actiontrackchair.com/Default.aspx

Since I can't go off-road with mine and can't afford the Action Trackchair I came across this site Wheelchair Driver in the hopes of just building one - http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/BM-M...nstruction.htm

My wheelchair has a range of around 4-6 miles with a speed of 2-3MPH. This wheelchair use's Lithium batteries and gives it a range of 45-50 miles at 16MPH and it appears to have the power to go off-road with the larger tires. I tried to find anywhere that sold the tank treads like on the Action Trackchair but couldn't find any or how they were installed.

Does this wheelchair project look difficult to weld? Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[SB09]

With plans. It can be done. But, I don't see anything on that site that tells a person how to reproduce that.

[macVsog]

I sent a message to the gentlemen that made that and asked if he had any plans, tubing type and dimensions etc. I'll let you know what I hear.

Thank you.

[brushtrooper]

What about something like this? I had thought about pursuing the idea when my wife was chair bound. Luckily she can walk again, still the chair is a good idea as she has a hard time off hardsurfaces http://www.markpascua.com/2008/09/19...ad-wheelchair/

[macVsog]

What about something like this? I had thought about pursuing the idea when my wife was chair bound. Luckily she can walk again, still the chair is a good idea as she has a hard time off hardsurfaces http://www.markpascua.com/2008/09/19...ad-wheelchair/

Interesting project. Looks like a 12" lift kit with 44" swampers

[Dusty Britches]

Man, those chairs are expensive. Nice, but expensive. I wish I could get one for my husband.

Good luck with everything.

[macVsog]

I agree Dusty. No way I can afford $10k+ for a wheelchair. I am looking for an alternative that can be built that will allow me to have some off-road abilities so I can go camping, hunting and fishing. I might just look at ways to modify my existing chair to convert to the Lithium batteries, larger wheels and reprogram the computer to pump more amps to boost the speed and torque.

My current chair does good on concrete but nothing more and we don't have a sidewalk infrastructure on my side of town so I pretty much just stay at home unless a friend picks me up

[fowlwaters]

I have never understood why wheel chairs cost so much.

[macVsog]

I never heard anything from the gentleman that constructed it. I will throw some stuff together on AutoCAD and see what I can come up with.

[Dusty Britches]

I have never understood why wheel chairs cost so much.

I'll bet it has something to do with the insurance companies. They seem to have a way of making stuff cost a lot more.

[bwssr]

a good start would be a zero turn mower that is broke down, and cheap.it'll have the front hubs, and the deck may be a start,

[91cavgt]

I recently bought a mobility scooter from a member here. I too have been looking at ways to make it better. When I get on my computer I'll have to post up my ideas.

[91cavgt]

Ok, as far as power goes, from what I am reading, it is not too difficult to upgrade to a 36 volt system instead of 24 volts. Most stock mobility scooters are 24 volt with around a 250 watt motor controller. If you upgrade the batteries to 36 volt, then add a 36 volt motor controller that is around 300-500 watts you will get a nice increase in speed and power, but not much help in the realm of distance. For that, you need to add a higher capacity battery pack.

My scooter uses 2 small 12 amp/hr batteries wired in series to give 24 volts @ 12 amp/hr. I am working on doubling the number of batteries, nearly doubling the range and going up to a 24 volt @ 20 amp/hr battery pack (I'm using cheaper and MUCH easier to find 10 amp/hr batteries instead of the stock 12 amp/hr batteries).


For me, this increases the useable range of my scooter to about 15 miles which is good enough for a trip to Canton.


I don't have to worry much about the off road aspect as all the roads around here are paved, but I have taken mine off the road into my yard and it didn't make it very far. On my scooter, there is no way to put taller tires on it without some pretty major body modifications, and that is something that I don't want to do. So I am thinking about trying some wider tires in the back. Maybe that will help.


Another thing that I have seen is putting a small "trailer hitch" on to the mobility scooter. Then, you can have extra batteries in a wagon that you pull behind you to increase the range of the scooter. It also makes a great place to put things in, like when going to Canton.

My charger is not working right on the scooter I have so I am waiting on another one to come in before I do much more to mine. But I just got some red LED lights in for the back, and am waiting on some white LED headlights.