*Note: I've included question and answer since this is a lifehack I stumbled across and thought it was worth sharing. :)
I work in agriculture. One of the things that we frequently do is moving small square haybales from one place to another.
To facilitate the process, we frequently use hay elevators to bring hay up into the barn and down from the barn. One of the troubles, however, is that the motors typically run on alternating current, so there's no easy way to make the hay elevator in reverse.
Consequently, we frequently end up having to get 2-4 people to turn the entire machine around. It's annoying, cumbersome, and sometimes requires attaching ropes to keep it from falling.
One thing is quite frequent on these hay elevators, though, and that is that they typically (though not always) have a belt that transmits the power from the motor to the machinery. Is there some way I can make use of this to make the motor turn in reverse, preventing all the trouble of moving the hay elevator?