Motor specifications to drive Motorcyle Carousel

[Moe Curley]

Hi, I'm and uneducated garage tinkerer currently motorizing a motorcycle dolly in order to rotate a motorcycle 180 degrees within its length to enable me to ride off and upon returning to my garage, to rotate the bike in order to drive out on my next ride. My question is what amount of ft-lb or in-oz output of torque gear motor would be required for the motors. The bike and dolly total 500lbs and the dolly is 5 feet long. The weight is evenly distributed along the length of the dolly. I will be using a single motor to drive two wheels, one wheel at each end of the dolly. I have replaced the swiveling dolly casters with casters which are arranged in line with rotation throughout. The casters are very efficient and the drive wheel would be 2.5 inches in diameter. The speed of rotation is arbitrary as their is no time constraint. I would like the neoprene casters to be able to surmount a 1/4 inch obstruction and the drive mechanism will have a clutch and stoppage override to avoid damage. I'm very sorry if I have not provided enough information about this problem but if you need additional info please let me know.

 

[JRMichler]

Not that uneducated, you know how to provide the right information and ask the right questions.

If your intent is to add a motor to your existing motorcycle dolly, start by measuring the force to turn the dolly by hand. Tie a rope on one end and pull using a spring scale. Measure the force at the worst point - your 1/4 inch obstruction. The torque is that force multiplied by the drive wheel radius, so XX lbs X 1.25 inch radius = drive torque in inch-lbs. That assumes that you connect the gear motor output to the drive wheel with a 1:1 gear ratio. Add in a torque safety factor of 2 or 3 to make sure you have enough torque.

If your gear motor is properly chosen so that it can be stalled without damage, then you will not need an overload clutch.