What does a rascal scooter and a 180 gallon aquarium have in common? (lots of pics)

[aztbs]

The motor!

My husband Bill and I were brainstorming for weeks to figure a way to mechanically lift the canopy from our 180 so that I could take care of it myself for water changes. We have a hoist from Harbor Freight that was too powerful, we started thinking about pulleys/block & tackle/speed reduction and control/ how to keep it from slamming back down on the tank/what if the pully slipped and the whole thing fell... not good.
Then we had a friend offer an old garage door opener. The motor needed a little work, but it was doable... maybe.

Then Bill remembered that we had a junked out old scooter that had been in the family. The occupant had bought a new one and the guys had salvaged the motor and chassis in the hopes of making themselves a remote control mobile ice chest for camping. Like a lot of projects, that sat in the garage with fresh new batteries for a long time. So, we decided to put the motor to use.

So here is the tank before:


Everything is done except to complete the outer wood skin.

Are you or your husband like this? - you can pull out a box of sprockets perfectly suited to the project that have just been sitting in your garage in some strange little cabinet?


Here are some other parts we picked up from Bearing, Belt, and Chain, Inc.



(continued... don't post yet..)