> Allen; I just read your post to the bee-list and am interested in
> the details for motorizing a hand crank extractor using a fan or
> other small motor.  I have a small, four frame Dadant stainless hand
> crank that, as I get older would like to motorize.  Your help would
> be appreciated.
 
Just remove the mechanism from the top of the centre shaft, and find
an 'A' belt pulley to fit.  About 6 inche diameter is right as I recall.
 
Then arrange to hang a 1/4 horse two speed furnace fan motor on one
side so the the shaft is also vertical and poking up enough so that a
pulley placed on the shaft will line up with the first pulley. The
smallest pulley available at a hardware store will be appropriate.
If you can rig a mount that allows some adjustment towards and away
from the centre shaft to allow for belt variations or pulley changes,
so much the better.  A simple L shaped piece of 3/16 steel with slots
in it works well.
 
Then find a belt that fits between the two pulleys, and then wire a switch that
permits two speed operation.
 
The RPM selection of the motor is usually 1140 and 1725.  The RPMs
of the (two speed) extractor will be P1 / P2 X Ms.  Where P1 and P2
are the pulley diameters and Ms is the motor RPM at the moment.
 
A 60 inch radial runs about 250 RPM, so for a tangential type, you
would likely want a target top speed ofsomewhere in the range of
D60 / Dyours X 250 where D60 is the speed of the large machine and
Dyours is the diameter of your little machine measured across the
baskets, not the tank.
 
I extracted 125 hives one year in a converted school bus with such a
machine and did not find it wanting.
 
Regards
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                    VE6CFK
Rural Route One, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada  T0M 1Y0
Honey. Bees, Art, & Futures <http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka>