On Sun, 12 Feb 2006 20:53:18 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

Glenn wrote:
... You should
be able to source a motor and controler from a used treadmill. ...

"Buyer beware". Not all treadmill motors are equal. I have scavenged a
few from the dump and one in particular was very surprising in its
performance: with it running at full speed (6K rpm), I was able to bring
it to a stop by putting my bare hand on the 10" flywheel!! This was
supposedly a 1 1/2 hp (+-) motor. Yeah, right. I was very glad that I
hadn't paid anything for it, or had invested any time installing it on a
machine. POS for sure.

Bob

Stuff found at the dump sometimes doesn't work as well as unused
surplus. The surplus treadmill motor controllers are notorious for
being unreliable but the motors themselves seem to work OK.

Unused surplus treadmill motors run about $40. AxMan in Fridley MN
had 6 of them yesterday.