Unfortunately, there just wasn't room under the cowl to easily mount both batteries and still be able to remove the propane tanks through the top door. I could have put the second under a seat with some kind of venting system, but I really wanted to move it forward as far as possible to help improve weight distribution. The solution was to "stack" them as shown below.
Still early in
the
project, getting everything laid out. The top shelf is the
old
single battery shelf that's been cut out. It used to be
welded to
the underside of the frame. A metal blade in the Sawzall
makes an
easy cut of it. The lower enclosure, supporting battery #2,
is
made from 1/8 x 6 in. steel flat. The lower pan is
cut from
a 12 x 24 scrap of 1/8 plate and supported by some angle iron.
Everything is due to be painted black when done.
Another view
showing
the final battery formation. Looks like it might work after
all...
Since the cell caps will need to be accessed more often than the
connections, preference is given to getting them out in the
open.
See what I mean below....
It's all buttoned up and there's still plenty of room to get the propane tanks out. Unfortunately, you need to remove the tanks to remove the lower battery. This shouldn't need to be done often as service access is ample for checking and adding water. Each battery is held in place with a well-painted wood base and a bar hold-down (just visible by the loop of wire) arrangement and wing nut.
Since we completed this, I've become convinced that a couple of 6 volt golf cart batteries connected in series would be a better choice for this application. These units have a slightly smaller footprint but are taller. I'm hoping that we can remove the upper shelf and install the new batteries side by side. We'll use these as is till they die, however.)
