Golf cart vs ATV
Why did we choose an electric
golf cart over a gas powered ATV?
We had an old Isuzu 4 wheel
drive truck that may have been in the saddest shape any truck has ever
been in. It was only 400 dollars, and we were short on cash at
the time and thought we could nurse it back to being a decent farm
truck. The problem was our location. Being new in town made it
difficult to coax a mechanic to make a house call, which is what was
needed when the truck broke down in the middle of the driveway.
The country was still
recovering from Hurricane Katrina and fuel prices were reaching record
levels. It felt like we had to get ready for a future where gas would
cost as much or more than what folks in Europe were paying. Maybe I was
reading too much information on Peak Oil speculation. I'm not sure what
to believe when it comes to that subject amymore, and in retrospect the
decision may have been partially based on a fear of running out of
petrol.
I realize if gas prices go
through the roof then electric rates would more than likely follow, but
the plan was to do what several people on the internet were doing which
was to use solar cells to charge the golf cart.
Another deciding factor was Anna's
comfort level. I was pretty sure the golf cart would be less
intimidating than driving a truck through troubled waters mixed with a
bit of dirt.
It may have been more
practical to choose an ATV, but sometimes the path less traveled
yields the greatest rewards.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Plus a golf cart can carry two people for much less than a 2-up ATV in addition to the extra cargo space.
Looks like it makes a dynamite nap spot for the dog to boot!
~ Mitsy
I just realized my friend Darrel has been using his golf cart too to do things on his property. He has his own garage and has used his golf cart to pull loads of siding on a car trailer back to his house. He had that trailer loaded down good with siding and cinder blocks that kept the siding from blowing away. I was wondering has you tried using that yellow garden cart behind your golf cart as a trailer. Maybe that would help out a lot to haul your straw and stuff.
I'm having that argument with myself right now. I need something to do some light hauling on the homestead. I have much less property than you guys have, but it is all sloped. I'd love to get one of those electric side by side UTVs, but I have yet to find one used and I can't justify $10k for one.
I think that the electric golf cart is likely my best bet. If I end up with the electric golf cart, I plan on charging it via solar like you mentioned.
Anna, perhaps something like this would work behind your cart, even when things are wet? I pull it around in the snow and when things are wet and it does well.
http://heathgilbert.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/20120712-133917.jpg