The most misdiagnosed component on the lake. Most replaced motors did not need replacing.
A motor that hums without turning is energised and stalled. It is drawing current, producing heat, and getting no cooling from rotation. This is the single failure where each additional attempt measurably raises the repair cost, because a stalled winding degrades quickly.
A start capacitor gives the motor the extra push it needs to break away under load. When it weakens, the motor can often still hold a load it is already moving but cannot start one. That produces the classic complaint of a lift that will lower but not raise, and the part costs a fraction of a motor.
A motor that is hot after a short cycle is telling you it is working harder than it should, usually because something downstream is binding. Replacing that motor without finding the bind produces a second failed motor.
Probably not, if it is caught early. That symptom most often points at a start capacitor. The important thing is to stop cycling it, because a stalled motor damages itself faster than almost any other fault on a lift.
Occasionally on larger units. On common residential lift motors, replacement is usually the better value once a winding has been damaged.