Dough Rounder decision

[noreason]

Are you still running the same motor on that unit?

Same original motor as far as I can tell! I replaced the conveyor belt motor but the roller motor is still holding strong!

 

[paul7979]

Ok so after talking to AM about my problems, they say the screw and the drum are both worn. 3,570 to replace before tax and shipping… ouch.

The machine is old, over 20 years, but I figured I’d share this info to anyone who might be looking at a used machine or something.

Another $1500-$2000 and you could have a brand new Somerset rounder. Ask A&M if they have a blemished screw that they would sell you for a few hundred cheaper.

 

[noreason]

Can someone show me what the bottom of the AM manufacturing dough roller “barrel” is suppose to look like? Mine has always “jumped” when I load it with larger balls unless I run it without the plastic disc… Seems wrong and AM mentioned “tabs” being broken off or something… before paying thousands I’d love to try and fix it myself.

Can someone show me / tell me what’s wrong here?

http://thinktank.pmq.com/data/xengallery/0/595-783ec21f7c8c18d64a4ce73daaf8e120.jpg?1484620793

 

[stilllearning944]

We bought a rounder after pizza expo last year. It works fine but mostly the employees prefer to roll by hand. It only takes a 16 oz dough ball every 3 seconds - if you put them too close together they combine. Works great for 6 oz dough balls. It looks just like this one http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-Overstoc...239395?hash=item3cdb9874a3:g:KdMAAOxygPtS4sga I might sell mine soon.

I must say we have this same model. Had it over 3 years now with no issues. We had push back from employees at first now those same employess wont do dough with out it. Less fatigue throughout the day with this machine unless your very low volume.

 

[pizzanow]

Well I finally pulled the trigger on a dough rounder, I went with the Somerset SDR400-T for about 5500. After a week of use, I have some regret in not getting the RT900, which I have used in the past.

First of all, pieces of dough come off and get stuck between the top housing and the rounder, eventually these little pieces get pretty big and are than flung onto the floor. There is a tendency to want to grab the bits of dough as they come around but as I’ve told my employees just ignore them because there is enough room to get your finger in there and get pinched pretty good, and the dough is almost impossible to grab anyway. I actually can’t believe there is a gap there, that’s just terrible design.

My second issue is we put our dough on sheet pans, we don’t use dough boxes… and this thing is designed for a dough box and that is it. We will try to build something to raise this thing up so it’s at least level with the table, currently we made a ramp out of a sheet pan and a deep dish square so the dough rolls onto the table from the machine. The tray often moves so it’s a bit of a pain. I really don’t understand why this wasnt made to at least be level with standard height prep tables.

Third issue is this thing needs to go up against the table perpendicular and can’t be in-line with the table the dough is on. For a one person job the machine needs to be walked around each time to tray the balls. Usually there are two people so this isn’t really an issue… but it does kind of suck. With the RT900 back in the day we had the rounder between two tables and it would just spit the balls out onto the table… we really can’t do it with this machine unless we reverse the tables and dough mixer, as is now if we put it next to the table the balls will spill out against the wall. I never literally wanted to be balls to the wall. Plus I fear my employees will occasionally miss and toss a ball onto the floor.

Fourth, the cleaning is fairly similar to the rt900, the drum and auger and housing all clean up quite easily. The problem here is the little bits of dough that get stuck down in the machine around the circular disk, under and around the disk these need to somehow be brushed out. There is a door that opens to allow you to access it, but this is something that doesn’t need to be done with the RT. My fear is if I’m not constantly keeping an eye on it, this machine will not get cleaned properly and the dough will build up.

So in summary, I regret not getting the RT900, my wife even told me that’s what I get for being cheap. My employees take forever to cut and ball dough, and teaching someone to roll dough is often an excruciating experience I no longer have to deal with. No doubt this will help me out immensely when we’re not there and will help them get through dough in a more reasonable amount of time. If anyone has any nifty ways of dealing with any of these issues, I’d love to hear them.