Is there any reason why I couldn’t triple stack this oven if I used shorter legs? I know the first obvious reason would be that the top oven is too high to reach. Way I figure it, by adding a third oven the height distance to the deck is approximately 13". So if I drop the leg size from 16" to 7" I’ll be saving 9" in the legs for a net change of +4" in height to reach the new deck. Being almost 6’, that would still be too high for me. If I built a small platform in front of the ovens, the area the pizza guys would be working, say a 4’ W X 8’L X 4" H size, this should compensate for the additional height increase.
I did consider upgrading to the y-800 ovens but the depth is an additional 9" and the space would probably be too tight for my pizza guys to work comfortably.
George & Dave I have a question. Will code let you put a platform infront of an oven or any other cooking appliance? I remember when we put platforms infront of 300-500g steam kettles and OSHA had a fit with us. It ended up with either specially design stairs w/railing or a built-in concrete curb…also with safety railing. I just don’t want to see someone fall or slip while on the platform and then grab the oven for support. It yells burn burn burn! :shock:
I tried that “platform in front of the oven” thing, it went away after the first person - with a pizza in each hand - tripped over it and went, literally, head-first into the open oven. OMG. She was a tough little psychopath, worked the rest of her shift.
The platform would be the length of the oven and the width would be from the oven to the prep table directly in front of it…less then 4 feet. The person making the pizzas would always be on the platform as would the topper. The third person running the ovens would be until they went to the cutting/boxing station which was directly next to the oven. So in essence, no one would be able to trip and fall into the oven since everything in front of the oven is raised 4" or so.
Obviously I’m grasping at ideas to solve a capacity problem. I guess it’s a nice problem to have, but on our busy night the wait is excessive and we do lose some business.
I would rethink this solution. You still have significant risk of tripping on either side… what if someone trips and falls onto the platform and pushes someone that is getting a pie from the oven? Or falls off stepping down towards the cutting table? There are just so many things that could happen that the risk will be high and I would worry about injury and insurance issues could also come up. You already said that you do not have the extra 9" for 800’s too fit… so that tells me you are going to have people squeezing by each other on the platform anyway? This is not a good idea! :!:
Just a thought… if we are going to short legs…why not go to 4-5" and just take care of most the height difference that way? I do not think that would cause any heat or ventilation problems. Is there any codes that require the legs to be higher? It’s not like commercial ovens sit more than 4-6" off the ground. George…what’s your experience with that?
The last thing to come to mind is back issues bending that far to check and access the pies. It does not matter either with short legs or platform… the bend will be the same for the most part. You are either lowering the ovens or raising the worker. I understand you need more production capacity…but maybe a change in kitchen layout might be in order?
I have a triple stack y-600, had the legs cut to about 4 inches to clear the hood. I have never used the top oven. I think you would have to be above 6’ 4".
We’ve been in business for 8 years and have always had this capacity problem. We’ve pretty much learned to live with it. We did open up a second store less then a year ago that quickly ran into a similar problem on the weekends. Here we were lucky that we had the space to trade up to a bigger oven and prep table and our first week results with the new equipment were very promising. Just wish I could come up with an idea for the original store that is actually feasible. Well, thanks for all your feedback.