Yes, I know this question is asked again and again–my apologies for asking yet again! However, we’re in a bit of a unique situation located in Hawaii, which presents unique challenges with freight, installation, and especially service. So… we dont follow the exact mainland advice. We’re a well established pizzeria in Hawaii, on one of the smaller islands. We currently own and operate a hobart p660, which we purchased used, but certainly not well maintained. Its served us well for about two years (and probably the former owners for many years before that), but lately has been acting up. We already spent about 3k on repairs, which we thought would fix the problem, however, the horrible sound continues. Frankly, our Hobart service in Hawaii is atrocious, and everything we have service our machine gets worse and needs additional repairs. We were just quoted an additional 5k repair, on top of the 3k repair, which never fixed the initial problem, but frankly made it worse. Were still up in running, but it sounds like our hobart could die any day now.
SO… all that being said… options: sink more money into a sinking ship… or spring for a new unit to avoid service issues. If option 2: we’re left with limited options (welcome to paradise!!!)… a new hobart 662 (10 weeks for delivery) or a globe sp62p (globe 60 qt pizza at 6 weeks delivery). Also about a 5k difference because of freight prices to the island. Hobart still worth it with atrocious service and 5k difference?
Update–earlier this evening Hobart service in Hawaii told me the motor was shot. No certain date on failure, but unable to fix it. Maybe on mainland an option to fix it but apparently out here in Hawaii not an option. So again back to a new Hobart vs new Globe option. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Hate to drop the cost on one of these mixers but understand its the core of any pizza business.
I would go with a pre legacy Hobart. The legacy mixers are great but break down and cost big to fix. I know a guy that works on hobarts and says the legacy models break down much more frequently than the old models. We bought a 40 year old Hobart 60qt that works like a champ. In the 2.5 years we have had the oil changed and that was elective. It was used by the Indianapolis School District to make mashed potatoes and was maintained yearly. The schools are going to premade foods and the stuff like mixers are being sold off. I worked in public schools for 23 years and they perform every recommended maintenance like clock work unlike restaurants/pizzerias that tend to use them till they break and then deal with it. Beware of new paint jobs and attachments/bowls on older mixers. That is often a cheap way to sell junk. Globe is a cheap knock off and I would avoid any of those type brands made in China. Walter
Hobart has a great reputation for lasting a long time. Have you looked for another used one? From the sounds of it, I would not sink more money in the one you have.
Also, have a look at VCM machines. They can be a great alternative. We use a Stefan VCM for dough and for dicing cheese.
Its tough to find used Hobarts out here, especially from someone reputable. Also, shipping/freight, even inter-island, is a small fortune. I never considered a VCM or Spiral Mixer, however, after researching it I think the spiral mixer could work really well for us, because we use our mixer exclusively for dough. We receive our cheese pre-shredded and have a robot coupe for our prep needs. Really appreciate everyone’s input.
Just for fun on the joys of living in paradise and distribution/shipping issues… my normal distributor ran out of cheese yesterday and didnt bother to tell me until our delivery showed up without cheese. Thankfully we use a separate distributor for some other products and they were able to provide what we need for the week. Fun times.
One more follow up. And again thanks to everyone for their input/advice.
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about the doyon spiral mixers? Seems like it would be a good fit for our shop. However, given the difficulty finding competent service out here, dependability is key.
I may be wrong but I think Daddio uses the Doyon mixer and has had good things to say about it. We use the LBC spiral mixer. This is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Never breaks down and pumps out loads of perfect dough. Brand new will cost you half the price of a Hobart.
pizzapiratespp, what size LBC spiral did you buy, the 80 or 120? How long have you had it? Is it being used at your busy store(not sure if you make dough at centralized location or at each store)? I’ve seen these at Pizza Expo the last two years but the people exhibiting them are not so friendly and I decided to go another direction when they quoted me 50% more for the 120 than they did last year. Now I see it can be had for $8900 online so I may revisit it.
I am using the Doyon planetary mixer not the spiral mixer. In general it has been good for me. I have only spent $1500 on maintenance in the 13 years I have had it.
I’m in total agreement in if you don’t need the mixer for anything else go with a spiral design mixer, they’re readily available from many sources (look them up on Google to get an idea of size and cost but not expensive at all). Best of all, there is no learning curve from your present mixer. They will mix a dough as small as 25% of rated dough capacity or as much as 125% (only in a pinch) of rated capacity.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Perhaps cutting and pasting the same info several times on old threads is not the best way to introduce yourself. We have a number of vendors who participate here and are valued community members. Chime in with your expertise when questions come up by all means but this is not a marketing opportunity for industry vendors.
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