Lesser known gas saving ideas and more

By Robert Holdgreve, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Monday, June 2, 2008 (5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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I have owned an electric bicycle for about three years now. Actually, I bought a new Raleigh ladies bike and installed a kit. The kit consisted of a front wheel (26 or 24 inch) with a 36-volt brushless motor in the hub. You remove the existing front wheel and install this one. It will work on most older bikes as long as there is enough space between the front forks. The rest of the kit consists of a controller, a thumb throttle you mount on the handlebar, three  12-volt,  sealed  lead acid batteries which you mount on the rear carrier, and a smart battery charger. I have had no problems with the motor, but am on my third charger.
The reason I bought a ladies bike is because the bike is top heavy with the lead acid batteries up high, plus the motor is heavy. I really like the quiet and no maintenance. When I am finished riding, it takes about five or six seconds to plug into the charger. When finished it takes another three or four seconds to unplug it. I am still on my first battery pack (3-twelve volts).
Biggest drawback, top heavy and all-around heavy, but I guess if I can manage at not too far from 80 years old, most people could. These bikes are street legal and you can ride them on bike paths or anywhere you ride a regular bike, and do not require any license, helmets, etc. The literature says it can go 20 miles, at 20 m.p.h. without pedaling. (Oh yeah, maybe down hill with a strong tail wind.)
There are many variables for distance traveled on a charge, as weight of rider, wind, uphill or level, speed and   how   much   you   pedal.  If  you  help  with  pedaling you  should  be  able  to  go over  20  miles  on  a  charge. If  the  battery  runs  down  you can always pedal. The nice feature, you can pedal and use motor together or pedal alone or use motor alone.
There is a new dealer within 10 miles of here who can sell you the kits and install them on your bike or he can furnish the bike. He also installs them on quality 3-wheel bikes.
(For more information, phone me at 419-695-2887.)

Sell one of your vehicles and buy two bicycles, or mopeds, or electric bikes. This means less cost for license plates, insurance, maintenance, gas, etc.
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August 2, 2007 Italian manufacturer Piaggio, the maker of Vespa, is set to become the first company to release a hybrid drive scooter following an announcement that it is developing hybrid versions of its Vespa LX, Piaggio X8 and Vespa MP3 (the carving three-wheeler) models. The new hybrid system, which has a working title of HyS (Hybrid Scooter), can operate in full electric mode with a range of around 20 kilometers as well as hybrid mode — whenever the rider needs to accelerate more aggressively, the electric motor kicks in, providing about 85 per cent extra performance. Plaggio’s HyS system is a parallel hybrid in which a combustion engine and an electric motor incorporated into the gearbox casing are mechanically and electronically linked and simultaneously supply power to the rear wheel. The system uses drive-by-wire and the in-built electronic management combines the two engines to offer not only better acceleration but also a significant reduction in fuel consumption (up to 170 mph or 1.67 liters/100 km) and in CO2 emissions, only 40 g/km (using 65 percent the hybrid modes and 35 percent the electric one). Perhaps the most exciting prospect is the hybrid MP3 which enjoyed such success as a 250cc it has since been developed as a 400cc version and was recently shown as a stylish 500cc Gilera — a sportier hybrid version of the 500 would enjoy exceptional performance.
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A few farmers who have silos no longer being used might want to install a small wind turbine on top. This way they save the cost of a tower. This has been done in some other areas.
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Till up a patch in the backyard and start a garden. Ask an older neighbor for hints or check books at the library. This would also make the lawn smaller, using less mower gas. During WW II, just about everyone had a garden which was called a Victory Garden. The city and others furnished empty lots for gardens. Maybe the city or individuals would have some open spaces available now.
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Cut the end off  your downspout and put a plastic barrel underneath to catch rainwater, then use this water to water your flower beds and garden.
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Buy more items from the Thrift Shop. They really want more of the general public to buy items because they need more money coming in.
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Instead of throwing an item away because it doesn’t work right anymore, examine it closely. You will be surprised how often you can fix it and use it another six months or more.
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Air Car Hits
The Market
A French-designed car powered by compressed air can go 70 m.p.h. and has a range of 125 miles on flat roads. It uses high pressure air to drive two pistons and you can breathe the car’s exhaust. The Midi car has been on the market on a limited basis in France for a couple of years. Recently, India’s Tata Motors bought rights to build and sell the cars in India.
The Midi’s engine weighs just 80 pounds. Air is compressed to 4,350 p.s.i. but the company, Negre’s Motor Development, says that in a collision the tank would harmlessly split down the sides with no explosion. Because of its limited range, compressed air filling stations will have to be close by wherever the cars are sold.
A U.S. company, Zero Pollution Motors in  New Paltz, W.Y., plans to roll the car out in the U.S. in 2010 for $18,000.
From Farm Show Paper
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Hybred Car to Get 113 MPH
Toyota’s Prius Hybrid car has been around for about 10 years now and hundreds of thousands have been built.
The British magazine Auto Express recently reported that Toyota engineers are targeting fuel mileage of 113 mph for the next generation of Prius  hybrids, with 0 to 60 accelerating of less than 10 seconds. When the new models are introduced in 2009, they will have smaller and lighter ulhium ion batteries. The more powerful batteries will allow the hybrids to run more on electricity and less on gas.
From Farm Show Paper
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Energy Saving Staber
Clothing Washer
Don Davis of New Holland, Ohio, thought that readers might like to know about this amazing machine. It’s saving us $20 or more in electricity alone.
The Staber is the only top load horizontal Axis washer for the home made in the U.S. It is a commercial-quality washer.
Laundry is tumbled through a “pool” of water at the bottom of the drum that forces water through the clothes for better cleaning. “Larger items like comforters and throw rugs that would never get clean in a traditional washer are handled easily,” says the company.
It uses 67% less water, 50% less energy and 75% less detergent than traditional top load washers. The company says it can pay for itself within two years. Check the  web site www.staber.com
Farm Show Paper
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Free Fuel For
Your Shop
“Farmers are absolutely amazed at the heat output by our ‘Tree Burn’ line of waste oil heaters”, says Harold Ag and Mobile Products. “We’ve been building and refining these kits for 10 years now, and people call back with comments like that all the time.”
Can use old engine oil, hydraulic and transmission fluid, gear oil, vegetable oil and more. There are 140,000 BTUs of heat in one gallon of used oil.
If you like simple things that work, you will love these heaters. They are easy to build and maintain yourself, with no welding required. They are absolutely the best kits available, and so much cheaper than a commercial model. There is no nozzle to plug, a common problem with other waste oil heaters. There are separate, variable controls for oil flow and combustion air, which allows  you to adjust the burn rate for best performance and heat output. The combustion chamber provides thorough mixing of oil vapors and combustion air, giving a clean burn.
They now make three sizes of heaters for shops from the size of garages p to 5,000 square feet or larger. Clear detailed assembly instructions have photos and diagrams.
Web site: www.HECO.net
Farm Show Paper
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Power Saver
The Energy Buster’s microprocessor continually adjusts the amount of power supplied to  your refrigerator, air conditioner or other devices using electric motors, so the appliance uses only the energy the motor requires. Electricity savings of 15 to 30 percent. Just plug into outlet and plug appliances into it.
From an old ad
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They said on the news that if gas prices get any higher, we could see something totally unprecedented in California. People actually walking.

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