Could be as simple as having a burned contact on the motor starter. if you gave it only 2 out of 3 phases it would not start, it would just sit there humming until the OL tripped. Sound familiar?
By the way, 1 blown fuse, one open contact on the circuit breaker, 1 broken motor lead, 1 bad connection in the pecker head... all would have the same effect.
[This message has been edited by jraef (edited 11-01-2006).]
