I did exactly that. It’s terrible. Starts great. But the biggest charge capacity I could find was 25A, and it doesn’t cut it. I can run for about 20 minutes before the battery is damn near drained and/or the generator is dangerously hot.
Golf cart generators aren’t meant to run accessories or high draw components. They are meant to top up a battery for the next start, and that’s about it.
I have a very cleanly installed, well wired boat anchor.
Wow, I didn’t think about that. I have a new starter generator in a box and hadn’t installed it yet as I just recently received my GPS base station and haven’t even tested the RTK performance yet. You just saved me some time. I hope it’s not going to be too much trouble to reinstall your alternator. I’ve also considered purchasing a used lawn mower engine with electric start. My biggest concern there is the shaft length on the engine. It seems that that these slope mowers have a longer than normal shaft to accommodate the pulley for the alternator on top of the housing for the blade assembly. I may still pursue that once I better understand what it takes to replace a shaft on a small engine. Engine replacement is easier for me than thou to justify though since mine is Loncin, not a Kohler 
The pull start on an autonomous mower is embarrassing.
I even custom turned a smaller pulley’s bore to get some overdrive. That nets me charge voltage near idle and even faster overheating. I’m skeptical that it even puts out rated current. It’s a no-go.
Did you connect the CUAV C-RTK-2HP via a UART or CAN . Reason i ask is for my DIY mower I am using that module but GPS yaw is not working by CAN but the GPS fix is working. Yaw works if I simply switch to UART keeping all other settings the same.
I used CAN and it worked without issue.
Disable serial ports that are defaulted to GPS when using CAN GPS.
Hello. This is my first post to the Ardupilot forum. I’ve been “lusting” after an autonomous mower for years. I built an RC mower years ago but I was sorely disappointed with the results. Now I’m thinking I should buy a ready made RC mower and then modify it for autonomous operation. So, my question is how difficult will it be to do this conversion? My hobby electronic skills are better than my “machining” skills. What steps would be required? Thanks in advance for any assistance/insight.
Hey Doloop!
Start here and plan on several hours of reading. Tons of stuff to learn and decisions to be made. Once built, Follow the steps. No shortcuts or you’ll waste tons of hours. Lots of expertise here. Good luck!
Thanks. I’ll start reading now!
And, start a thread on your build - its fun to see others jumping in (lots of pics), and plenty of support from folks that already have the battle scars. . . Welcome!
Forgive me if im hijacking the thread but i wouldnt feel like starting a new one for quick question. I have a very similar lawnmower so i guess it shares most of the components. The other day i blew up one of the esc while doing pivot turns while tuning the ardurover. Its a cheap “new rain 480A” you can find it everywhere in aliexpres…my question is, did you replace yours? did you experience any issues with them? What people recommend around here in terms of reliable esc for this big rovers?
I completely replaced all of the electronics with a step up DC converter to 24V and a Cytron motor controller. The stock ESCs are garbage.
Thanks thats very useful info! So your unit had stock 24V motors or you replaced those too?. I think mine are 12V since the battery is 12V and i dont see any step up DC converter or whatsoever.
edit: thinking it better they are probably run at 12V but are 12V/24V motors. I guess running them at 24 will also make less current run through the system…
Most wheelchair motors are 24V. I took a gamble that mine would be fine at that voltage, and so far they seem perfectly happy. Double speed is nice.
That double speed is tempting. Im definetely going for the citron motor controller for now and maybe later i’ll see if i dare to test going up to 24v…For that I would need to find and get a good dc to dc boost converter that can handle those amps. Thanks!