So one of my lift motors just hums and will not move. It turns freely by hand and is drawing around 30 amps when it hums. Could this be a capacitor issue (Does the same thing with the capacitor unplugged)? Or is the motor toast? Help a brother get a last good day of boating in please

30 amps is pretty steep. You have a cap on a DC mtr?

Sounds like you have a short, Ted. 30amps is big! Probably the only thing preventing a complete short circuit meltdown is the cap. There may be corrosion buildup somewhere in the windings causing current to take a detour and not through the whole motor. Or maybe the commutator has some junk stuck in it making it short. A good cleaning should likely fix it since current is still moving through it somehow.

Just hook another boat to it and yank that baby off backwards! Put it back on the trailer and worry about the lift on a rainy day vs. a sunny one.

Geeze....I thought you were talking about a hatch lift mtr. Sorry.
If it's an AC mtr then you won't have a commutator.

Try swapping caps from the working mtr....just a thought

Hey it sounds like you need a $6.50 Capacitor take the old one over to WW Granger. Should fix you right up.