What cable/wire for Lynch pancake dc motor to 48v battery system

[Jimmy1234567]

Hi,
I am using a Lem -200-D95B DC electric motor ( pancake motor) to replace a 12hp Briggs and Stratton petrol engine. I am attaching the specs for this motor and photo of it. The motor I have is at the bottom of the list.
I was going to run the motor on four 12v AGM lead acid batteries but noticed that this will take the rpm up quite a bit more than the petrol engine has and so on that basis would rather run it on 36v that would bring the rpm down to a better speed. I have a few questions about this set up please.
Firstly on this type of motor will the drop from 48v to 36v make a big difference to the torque produced.
Secondly what type/gauge of wire do I need to connect the motor to the batteries so that it can easily take the current.
Thanks in advance
James

 

[vfr400]

You realise that you need 250 amps to get 12 HP out of that? You can only discharge lead batteries to half their capacity, which means three 12v 100Ah batteries in series will give you 50Ah and your electric motor will run for 12 minutes maximum. I can't see the batteries lasting more than a few cycles at that sort of discharge rate.