Kaetwo’s Holmes Hobbies CrawlMaster Pro 540 review

[kaetwo]

It’s not often that I write reviews, but once in a while a product comes along that warrants a word or two and in this case it’s the Holmes Hobbies CrawlMaster Pro 540.

Now let me preface first off that I’m not sponsored by Holmes Hobbies, nor am I being asked to write this review.

For my review, I will skip the technical talk that most won’t understand anyways. Things like Kv, FB ratings and comm diameter. We’ll stick with the meat and potatoes like torque, speed, reliability, smoothness and quality. Because let’s face it, most of us in the world of R/C crawling don’t know what any of that technical jargon means. We just want a motor that does what we ask it. If we want speed, then give us speed; if we want torque then hit us with torque. And this is EXACTLY what John at Holmes Hobbies does with his motors.

I would also like to mention that I will be presenting my review from a competitive scale crawler perspective and not a 2.2 or Super crawler perspective.

I will be covering the following topics;

• Presentation
• Torque
• Smoothness
• Speed
• Build Quality
• Options
• Customer Service

Presentation
Okay, perhaps I should have picked a better term to describe this topic, but let’s call it what it really is. How bad ass does the product look? When I buy a motor for $74.99, I want it to look amazing, and the CrawlMaster looks the part. The brush hood, the can color, the brush post heat sinks, the decal and the beautifully hand wound armature all looks amazing. But can it perform? Let’s move onto Torque.

Torque
The CrawlMaster Pro was designed to be wicked smooth and so it sacrifices just a bit of torque to do so. This is done, mainly with the 5 slot armature and the web thickness, but don’t get hung up on the jargon. Let’s stick with the simple facts. It doesn’t have as much torque as some motors, but when you compare this motor to say your typical machine wound motors out there, the torque is there and then some. Before I got my hands on the CrawlMaster Pro, I used Tekin Hand Wound 35x1 and Trinity 35x1 big blocks and I feel that the CrawlMaster Pro has every bit as much torque as either of these motors, but has less cogging to overcome off the start which makes this motor really smooth. Now without throwing the motor on the dyno, I can’t tell you where the optimal torque curve is and what RPM it peaks in power, but who cares!!! The bottom line is that they have enough torque for my personal needs and I couldn’t be happier. I have run this motor in the Axial Wraith, my 1.9 Landy and a stock Axial Honcho and it’s NEVER lacked in torque.

Smoothness
I can remember back in the day, when we were all running Integy 55x1 lathe motors and Novak Roosters for ESCs. Then we migrated to 35x1 motors to improve our speed without sacrificing too much torque and battery life. It was here that we started seeing issues with stop to start cogging when the ESC was applying power to overcome the first rotation of the motors armature. This low speed jerk caused us all a lot of gate points as we tried to navigate courses at slow speeds. ESC manufactures such as Tekin later came to the rescue by changing how the ESC’s would apply power to the motor in these low speed situations. What always bothered me was why a motor manufacture couldn’t come out with a motor that was smoother on the low end? The first manufacture to my knowledge to build a motor that solved this issue was Holmes Hobbies, and the CrawlMaster Pro is the motor that addresses low end smoothness. This motor is simply AMAZING with how smooth it is. When you’re navigating a course and there is only a nats butts worth of room between your tire and the gate, you need a wicked smooth motor to pull you through. If I had to profess one attribute that this motor rivals all others in, it’s smoothness. I love it!!!!

Speed
I’m a speed kind of guy and so my CrawlMaster Pro was built as a 13T with 6 degrees of timing. Its original purpose was to replace the motor in my Wraith, but it’s been in all my other rigs, because I love the motor so much. The speed, as I had the motor built is a bit faster than my 35x1 hand wounds, but is smoother all the way through the RPM range. I’m running mine with a Tekin FX-R on a 3S lipo and love how much speed I have. Jumping the Wraith and the scalers is wicked fun and having the RPM to get myself out of hairy situations is always appreciated. I couldn’t be happier.

Build Quality
My dad always taught me that you can tell the quality of a cabinet makers work by looking at the backside of his finished products. Now John doesn’t make cabinets and so I have no idea how that ties into the CrawlMaster Pro, but I do know that EVERY piece of this motor is built with quality in mind. Nothing is overlooked and it’s a shame that the motor can isn’t clear, because the hand wound armature is a thing of beauty. It’s refreshing to buy a product from a manufacture that understands that his merchandise is a reflection of them their company.
For more motor detail, John does a really good job of explaining the work that goes into the motor here;

http://holmeshobbies.com/product.php...0&cat=0&page=1
 
Options
When I told John that I wanted a motor that was smooth, quick, and had the same amount of torque as the motors that I was use too, he replied back with a plethora of options, such as winding, web thickness, comm diameter and timing. SERIOUSLY!!!! Who does that? I can’t think of another manufacture that offers more options for a motor than Holmes Hobbies. Each motor is hand crafted for your particular needs and that’s rare these days if not impossible to find. The motor options are as vast as they get without overwhelming the customer.

Customer Service
It’s perfect!!! I have called John on several occasions to talk about batteries, motors and ESC’s, and every time, he’s been willing the take the time to talk with me. I have spoken with many customers within our own club that have nothing but good things to say about John and Holmes Hobbies and so all I have to say is his customer service is perfect.

Conclusion
The term, all things are not created equal…Well all motors are not created equal. The CrawlMaster Pro proves that and it is my personal opinion that this motor is one of the finest brushed motors out there period!!!

[Mr. crawl]

I have a 16T version with 6* adv and it rocks on 4S. I would have to second every word you wrote,awesome review.

[crawlski]

Nice review, I have one sittin on my shelf just waiting for a home in my new wraith when it get's here.

[kaetwo]

Originally Posted by Mr. crawl

I have a 16T version with 6* adv and it rocks on 4S. I would have to second every word you wrote,awesome review.

Originally Posted by crawlski

Nice review, I have one sittin on my shelf just waiting for a home in my new wraith when it get's here.

Thanks guys

I went camping with the family this past weekend and had a chance to tear things up with this motor in my 1.9 scale rig and loved it!!!! The rest of the gang that we where crawling with are all picking up some of these motor now

[BadRockNoCookie]

That's why my next motor will be an HH.

[Jus]

Originally Posted by badrocknocookie

that's why my next motor will be an hh.

+1