An alternative Mule alternator?

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Kurt Lesser
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An alternative Mule alternator?

Post by Kurt Lesser » Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:56 am

Something I've wondered about for years but have never seen done was to mount one of the alternators from the A042 engines used on pumps and gensets to the Mule. The block is already drilled and tapped for one so it should become a simple matter of remounting the stator onto the Mule block and then finding a regulator/rectifier to control it. I think something off of a motorcycle should work, maybe a slightly higher current unit from a Harley? Then the only problem becomes having a groove machined into the pulley for the fan belt.

The advantage to this setup is there's no alternator dangling out in the breeze below the engine to snag on something and the original appearance is retained. I'd like to hear from others out there to see if this would be a practical solution.

Thanks, Kurt
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Re: An alternative Mule alternator?

Post by Grummanflyer » Sun Nov 21, 2021 8:43 pm

If I remember right, that pulley is pretty thin and also contains the magnets for the charging system. I don't think machining a groove in it is gonna work but it's interesting to consider. Why not use the rectifier that comes standard with the engine? It should handle whatever current the original system would make. I have all those parts I just removed from a new genset engine I recently installed in my mule. I'll take a look tomorrow.
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Re: An alternative Mule alternator?

Post by Grummanflyer » Thu Dec 16, 2021 8:17 am

Kurt, I finally remembered to look at those parts and you might be on to something here. As I suspected, the original pulley is much too thin to machine a groove for a belt but, that's not to say a guy couldn't chuck it up in the lathe and machine it down and then attach a pulley either with bolts or welding. I'm gonna retrieve all that stuff out of the junk pile and take some measurements on my mule and see how much trouble it will be. Part of the problem would be belt alignment but there might be a way around that as well. Since the AO42 is designed to run at a fixed speed, there might be a problem with charging at slow speeds typical of the mule engine, that might be an issue as well. Never know till we try it. Good idea buddy.

John
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Re: An alternative Mule alternator?

Post by Chuck W. » Thu Dec 16, 2021 2:43 pm

I've never really paid any attention to that stuff, is it 24 volts?

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Re: An alternative Mule alternator?

Post by Grummanflyer » Thu Dec 16, 2021 4:03 pm

Well crap. I just checked the starter and it is a 24 volt so that means a different voltage regulator. Its a 12 pole stator under the flywheel so that might make things a little easier from a low RPM charging standpoint. AND.......... once again , off I go in search of another dang Technical Manual.
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Re: An alternative Mule alternator?

Post by Kurt Lesser » Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:28 am

Just returned to this after totally forgetting about it. Sorry.

My electric starter is 12 volts so that's not an issue for me and I wonder if yours won't work on 12? There's not much load on it trying to start this small engine.

Beyond that I don't think that it will be too hard to find a 24v rectifier-regulator. I see them online at fairly reasonable prices.

Do you think machining the pulley groove into the magnets would really make much difference? We're not putting much of an electrical load onto it and the batteries would probably make up any temporary additional load.
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Re: An alternative Mule alternator?

Post by Grummanflyer » Sat Nov 05, 2022 5:31 am

I don't see any place in the pulley to machine a groove and i have never been able to machine a magnet without it breaking as they are really hard.
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