[Duncan]

Here NZ - the most common size seems to be 11 inches

That is 11 inches in diameter and about 100 Kg

I did manage to pick up a 9 inch - about 60 kg

Saying THAT you don't want a new forklift motor as it will be AC and no good without a matched controller

You want a motor from one of the forklifts that are being re-cycled - probably 20 years old

My own experience is that telephoning is useless - you need to VISIT the forklift repair people with a pocket of cash

The actual repair guy (not the office wallah) will have a couple of spare motors Just In Case - you are trying to wheadle one of them off him

 

[Duncan]

That was how I started
I bought an old forklift - cheap and took it to bits
The battery is always salable as is the main mast and hydraulics
a friend made a vandal proof post box out of one of the oil tanks
but the motors were not suitable
When I tried to sell off some of the bits I ended up in touch with a repair yard that had a decent motor

 

[Duncan]

Hi
I bought a three wheeled forklift - bad idea
the drive motor would have been OK - but it was in a huge and heavy square casting - pump motors are a pain and rarely useful

 

[Duncan]

Around here farmers buy the mast and forks - they bolt them to the back of a tractor - voila an instant forklift

 

[Duncan]

350 pounds - if its in decent condition that is a good price

The two ends would be Scrap at about 100 and NEW at about 1500 - so 350 is not extortion - try and get some extra (not new) brushes thrown in with it

 

[Duncan]

I understand how this can reasonably be considered a good deal, but I find it hard to reconcile the "get a forklift motor, because they're just surplus metal so they're cheap" message with a scrap motor costing $570 CAD. That's a lot better than a few thousand dollars, but not small change.

Brian
I thought even you would have understood that $500 is LESS than a LOT less than $3000

And as far as buying ANY major car part $570 is cheap!!!

Here I have bought several for less than 100 pounds each - but if I had to pay 350 pounds I would have - and still thought it was a good deal

Keep looking for the "Bargain" - but if you can't find the super good deal 350 is still a good deal

 

[Duncan]

I certainly do understand that (and explicitly said so), but the impression in the thousands of "forklift" posts in this forum is that buying such a motor is like picking up scrap, not buying typical major car parts.


This illustrates the issue well - the expectation usually given is of £100, but the reality in this case is £350. I understand the shopper's disappointment.

The difference is between buying a motor that was going to be scrapped - and buying one that the seller knows there is a market for