Searching for a motor, electric, new or used

Comrade Col. Clamrod

I think that the price range you have set may make it a little more difficult to find a suitable motor. I took a quick look on ebay and saw a few in the $650 to $1000 range most were used but one was said to be reconditioned. Shipping costs could drive the costs up quite a bit depending on location. You stated you require a "dual inline shaft" - I took this to mean that the shaft protrudes from both ends of the motor. This would be considered a special purpose motor by most manufacturers. None of the ebay motors had this shaft. I think your best bet would to watch for bankruptcy ( or other) auction announcements for companies in your area or take out a wanted advertisement in a trade or industrial publication. If you manage to find a suitable motor the price would most likely be low. If the motor is in good shape a local shop could modify it to the shaft that you need. Any repairs other than bearings and varnish (such as a rewind job) will probably knock you out of the ballpark price wise. Good luck. Ed

Try http://www.surplusrecord.com/. The Surplus Record is a biweekly publication listing HUGE amounts of surplus, and you can search both by size of motor, and by state or other area to minimize shipping costs. Even if you don't find just what you need, there are hundreds (thousands?) of listed dealers, and contacting a few in your area may lead you to something not even listed. There certainly ARE other surplus listings, and it is worth some time to look into them, but this is my recommendation.

The "Used Motors, A.C., Adjustable Speed" (http://www.surplusrecord.com/sre/023379.htm) list 175 motors between 2hp and 10,500 hp, with quite a few in the 75 - 250hp range.

Yes, thanks to you both--I've been looking on Surplus Record and a couple other sites--yes, it is correct that when I say "dual shaft" I mean a shaft that protrudes on both ends, which would facilitate driving a vehicle axle--I guess my alternative is to direct drive a differential--the few Chinese place I checked earlier regarding hub motors seem to offer only low output and/or brushless DC--I haven't gone the EBAY or Craig's List route yet, and I had figured that reaching my target would mean setting up some custom manufacturing, which will need to be done at some point--for now, I need a couple working motors for under $1000, or rebuildable guts if they're cheap...Thqanks again.

"...when I say "dual shaft" I mean a shaft that protrudes on both ends, which would facilitate driving a vehicle axle--I guess my alternative is to direct drive a differential..."

I suspect that you're going to need a differential anyway, in order to make the vehicle driveable (unless it is intended for use on, say, sand or loose surfaces). Otherwise, turning corners will result in a series of jerks because one end of the axle will be forced to slip relative to the surface. Besides the handling and safety issues that result, you will have very high tire wear.

On the other hand, mounting a dual shaft motor BETWEEN the two rear axles of a large truck (with axis fore-&-aft) would permit nearly direct input to both differentials if there's space for the U-joints & splines needed for alignment.

The HVAC industry uses motors of that size all the time. You might try calling a local Sheetmetal or Mechanical contractor and seeing if they are demoing out any Air Handling Equipment or water pump, that you could salvage or motor off of. You also could try a motor supply houses. There are companies that rewind motors both used and rebuilt. You might have a pretty hard time finding a dual shaft though, that is a pretty special motor. Conveyor systems also use motors that size and larger you might have better luck finding a dual output shaft on an industrial motor.

Good luck with your project.

Look for an old CUSHMAN with a DC MOTOR

"Look for an old CUSHMAN with a DC MOTOR"

I don't see how that meets the OP's task requirements, "Find a 100hp equivalent [or higher] AC motor, 220/440/660 volt, 60hz, 3-phase, dual inline shaft--application is for a large truck/tractor" unless Cushman made some really seriously larger stuff than any I ever saw - and DC vs. 3-phase 60Hz isn't a match . . .

Thought you were just adapting an electric motor to run a vechile. Several have used old cushman motors. Sorry guess I did not read the entire post throughly. Just skimmed it and got adapted electric motor to vechile. pardon

That was a good suggestion--the mandate was for a CHEAP motor to prove concept, and I'd love to find a Cushman-type vehicle. As it is there are plenty of candidates and I don't need to build an entire vehicle from scratch, but we are seeking to main areas: to refit large long-haul tractors and large American-type sedans. The usual suspects [Hi-PA, Blu-Wav, UQM, etc.] have fine, VERY EXPENSIVE motors, especially in small quantities [example: BluWav 46kW hub motor = $25,000]. Essentially we are trying to bridge the gap between niche builders [ala Tesla Motors] and name brands [ala Ford]. We think we can generate interest by using a specific model [ala Lincoln Town Car] to force Ford to consider our product/device.

To all: Thanks for the great suggestions--we will likely go with something like UQM Technologies "PowerPhase 125 Traction System for electric, hybrid and fuel cell powered vehicles" for production

http://www.uqm.com/