Next hairbrain idea ... anyone know about hydraulics?

[Julian]

Thought I had one ... eventually found this in the depths of the shed.  It's a 12v motor off an old, and I mean old ... I must have had it for over 30 years, battery mower.  Rating plate says it draws a whopping 38 amps!

Before I simply stick the wires on a battery, can anyone shed any light or guess what the wires do?






I'm guessing the thick black is positive and the thick uninsulated (may have originally been insulated I'll check more closely inside the motor) may be the earth ... again I'll check with a meter.  It's the two other, smaller wires which puzzle me appreciate guesses on what they may be for.

I never saw the mower it came from so can't give any clues as to how it worked ie two speed etc.

[K.H]

Crikey that must have antique value

[therecklessengineer]

Funny...I've got an almost identical one from an old Atco that I used to cut my grandmother's lawn with when I was very small.

I think you might be right with the wires.

[Jamesrl]

I'm not an electrician but I reckon the wire are there to make it go round and round and round and round ad infinitum or until you stops it.

[K.H]

Would it have a starter on it?

[photoman290]

i would guess from looking at it that the 2 thin wires go to a variable resistance to control speed by varying the field voltage. do they go the to the field windings? its the same  as old dynamos on cars. where the field is controlled by the regulator. they are the same thing but  generating rather than  motoring.

[Julian]

Bugger again!  Just put a meter on it and every wire has continuity with every other wire and the body of the motor, so I'm guessing it's unserviceable.  It was probably overkill anyway ... I think a lot of power is used to drive the cutting blade.


There are some quite nice 12-24v DC motor controllers on Aliexpress, that give forward and reverse along with speed control and are not too expensive.

I looked at electric bike motors ... semi reasonable prices but most, if not all, are 48v.

I guess an old Bendix starter motor would be way over sized.

[Julian]

i would guess from looking at it that the 2 thin wires go to a variable resistance to control speed by varying the field voltage. do they go the to the field windings? its the same  as old dynamos on cars. where the field is controlled by the regulator. they are the same thing but  generating rather than  motoring.

Sorry, typed and posted whilst you posted.  All the wires disappear into the windings. The uninsulated wire appears to have once had insulation ... inside the motor it just crumbles off.  The big heavy black wire is connected just a small one inside the motor and as I said above, they all have continuity with each other.

[Julian]

Funny...I've got an almost identical one from an old Atco that I used to cut my grandmother's lawn with when I was very small.

I think you might be right with the wires.

Does it work?

Do you know how to wire it up?

Do you want to sell it?

[Head Womble]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i37cBOedFvI

[Julian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i37cBOedFvI

That's a really stupid suggestion ... the trolley wheels will make ruts in the lawn just after it's been rolled flat!

[Head Womble]

Put the roller on the back of the genny then.

[photoman290]

naa put the genny on top of the roller. you should be able to make a platform for it with the new plasma cutter. once they have sorted out your happy ending.

[Julian]

People just aren't taking this seriously.

I haven’t got a generator and I'm not going to buy one.

[Head Womble]

Make one then.