[pmangels17]

There has been a lot of good info posted about gearing and motor selection, so I will leave that topic alone. However, if you decide you want to do a worm, make sure that the worm gear is bronze and not cast iron. Our team has had nothing but trouble with cast iron worm gears, and far better success with bronze worm gears. Also, make sure you keep the gearbox greased and somehow shield it from debris that might enter the box, either via proximity to the field floor or from maintenance work done above. Often a major contributor to inefficiency is something as simple as one small chip getting stuck in the grease in the gearbox.