I finally had a little time and got to take the drive end plate off the drive motor from my forklift.
Is there a rule of thumb for what weight vehicle you can push with what size motor? This motor weighs 90 lbs. I have another that weighs 130, but it has a female connector instead of a driveshaft.
The windings on this motor look pretty good to me. They are a heavy, flat copper. Aren't windings usually more of a wire? These windings look more like buss bars! They should be able to handle some high amps, right?
You can see more photos of this motor
here.
OK - wierd question - what is the "bubblegum" on the rotor? Is that some sort of high-tech repair epoxy, or did somebody actually drop some chewing gum into this motor?
Any and all comments on this motor are welcome. I am learning as I go, and do well by combining hands-on tinkering with experienced person's advice.
I also got one reply from the Craigslist posting I put up asking about the Cow Car. A guy said that he had seen it driving around in the area I thought it was in. Would be fun to go find it again sometime.
Before taking the drive motor apart, I did bench test it with a 12 volt battery and a pair of jumper cables. Spins very nice - good and quiet - no sparks or anything from the brushes.
I also notices after taking it apart that the brushes are angled. I thought they would be at a 90 degree angle so that the forklift could drive forwards and backwards just as easily. See? This is how I learn new things!
http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWeb/Home/ev_02.html