Hobart 20 QT Mixer

I am looking to purchase a Hobart 20 QT Mixer. The most common model number is A200, although I think they have a newer line…Anyway, the ones I am looking at are the A200’s. The manual says these come with a 1/2 HP motor and most of the folks on Ebay advertise them that way, but when I see pictures of the spec plate many of them clearly say 1/3 HP motor in them.

Can anyone explain why this is? Did they change the motors they were using at some point?

As always, thanks in advance.

My older A200’s have a 1/3 HP motor whereas the my newer model 20 Quart Hobart Legacy mixer comes with a 1/2 HP motor. Perhaps someones looking at the manual of the newer Legacy mixer. Incidentally, if you can swing the price, the Legacy is a much improved product and I would strongly recommend it. Shift on the fly transmission with no worries of your helpers shredding the gears, swing out bowl is easier to remove, pull pin makes the beaters or hooks easier to remove, and the safety cage is easy to use.

Thanks for the input. The manual(s) that I am referring to are A200 not the Legacy ones, so still a little confused. Gun to my head I am certainly trusting the plate not the manual. However, if I cannot trust the HP in the manual I am looking at, then I may not be able to trust the loads that it says it can handle either.

In a previous question I posted about mixers, one comment was to ensure that whatever I selected should have at least a 1/2 HP motor.

I may consider the upgrade in the future, but for now (just starting out - building a new store) everything will probably be used.

Did you find the 20 QT 1/3 HP A200 to be adequate for making your dough in?

We do small batches with the A200 with 13.5# flour and 65% hydration rate. They do work for this application. I have a mobile food operation thus have used the A200’s due to the lower weight. I’d use a 30 quart minimum if the weight wasn’t an issue. How much dough do you anticipate making per week?

That is great input.

Good question. I need to crunch some numbers to answer that adequetely, however I am certainly building the store to be profitable at lower sales volumes, and then will upgrade equipment as volume grows. I expect to have a soft open and start around 2-4K a week and hopefully grow into the 8-12K (which will clearly require an upgrade) range over time. I plan to make all of my own dough and sub buns.

Do whatever you can to afford a 40 qt now. Upgrades are fun thoughts, but hard to make happen come crunch time. SO many demands on money/assets/space. The 20 will be adequate to start, but adequate sounds like a big risk when you are planning for growth. Starting off ahead means you have some room to grow before upgrade becomes mission critical.

I just checked the tags on our A-200 mixers and they are shown as being 1/2-H.P. (these are for the older mixers, not the new Legacy design. The Hobart specification for the 20-quart mixers is 4-Kg. of of pizza dough, or about 8.75-pounds (actually 8.8-pounds). Are you sure you want a mixer this small? It really doesn’t leave much room for you to grow. A 60-quart mixer will provide you will plenty of growth capacity. With the 60-quart mixer you could start out using a 30-quart bowl (with attachments) and then progress up to either a 40 or 60-quart as needed.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor