Reindeer type motor with more torque

You need to either change where the linkage is mounted or add a counter weight. The head is a teeter totter, think of when you are a kid, if you have a big kid and little kid, you put the big kid forward closer to the fulcrum or pivot. The little kid back, farther away from the fulcrum. You need more length at the motor and less at the head. The torque or "pull" of the motor needs to equal the weight of the head. So you can change the length from the fulcrum, or you can add a counter weight to the motor side to compensate. Weigh the head. You need a counter weight near that weight. Just hang something on it. If this doesn't work, your motor is probably shot. The springs that J-Man is suggesting also works the same as a counterweight. It helps your motor with the load. I have been using my deer motor with my creep for years, it is not that big of a strain, you must have a heavy mask on there. Why not try it with just a foam head and add weight to see where it fails?

J-Man said:

Yeah, a rubber band ain't gonna do much, you need a decent spring (or 2). The nice thing about using springs is that it doesn't add any weight to the prop, that pvc frame can only take so much.

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bungee cord would work

JT5298 said:

The motor does run fine with just the Styrofoam head, but it's not as smooth as I would like. I will try to even out the weight of the head with the back pipe where the linkage is. The mask is the Swamp Witch from Death Studios.

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If it is not running smooth, your linkage is not right, has some slack in it. Replace the linkage from the pvc to the bar attached to the motor with a paint stick or something that you can drill a dozen or so holes in. Add some holes to the pvc, spaced out from the one you drilled. Experiment with it until you get it so it doesn't have dip and slack. Use a cotter pin or a nail, just tape it so it doesn't fall out. you will find a place where it works, transfer those measurements to the bar you're gonna use. You will learn a lot about how this mechanism works and how to find the "sweet" spot, without the math!

Once you have it running smoothly with the foam head, then add the weight and address the counterweight issue, using springs, bungees, or weights, whatever you find works best. Sometimes it is just what we have lying around at the moment.

JT5298 said:

Success! I got it to work using a counter weight on the opposite side of the head. It's been running for about an hour with no problems.Thank you so much everyone for your help, I really appreciate it. Now I just need to find some Witch hands. The ones I got from Death Studios are too big. Anyone know where I could find some?

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xcellent. yeah, if you look some of the original reindeer designs for the "feeding doe" she has a counter weight, too. The buck does side-to-side movement so doesn't have the counter weight.