Hobart N50 Mixer Disappointment
Well, today my brand new N50 mixer was delivered. With eagerness I unpacked the mixer and set it on the counter, but something did not seem quite right. The bowl seemed to be crooked. On further inspection, it was not the bowl, but the actual mixer upright was bent to one side. In other words, the upright and the base were not at 90 degrees. It was more that a half inch out of plumb.
Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed, as the shipping box did not show any overt signs of damage (just normal wear one would expect of a 50Lb box). Anyway, with sadness, I began to repack everything for the return voyage to Amazon. But before packing, I checked out the rest of the mixer. To my confusion, I could not see any placard with the power rating, Model, etc. Older models had this on the speed adjustment plate, and others had it on the bottom rear.
I took the opportunity to check the bottom of the base. There I found not a placard, but a sticker. More surprisingly, there was no "Made in the USA" on this label. Rather, the now ubiquitous "Designed and Assembled in the USA". I was shocked. While I will always pay more for items made in the USA, I do not believe the premium would be justified for simple assembly of imported parts.
While I still believe this is a great mixer, I am now questioning whether or not this is worth re-buying once my return is processed, since the price is over $2K and the "Made in the USA" factor may be gone, and I can buy another brand of imported mixer for quite a bit less. Does anyone have any information regarding the extent of imported parts for these mixers (aside from the bowl and attachments)...
My balloon has burst, and I need someone to talk me into this mixer now! I will be hitting the used mixer sites to look for options as well.
Return the mixer, get a new one and see how it goes. I think Amazon is pretty good about returns. That's been my experience anyway. Good luck.
Here is the label underneath the base of the N50 Mixer. You can see that Hobart does not indicate "Made" in the USA...perhaps these are made with a percentage of parts (50-75%) that no longer meets the definition of Made in USA. If this mixer is made in the US, why not indicate it? Some sites do show that this mixer is "Certified Made in USA", meaning all or nearly all components are made here...but again, no indication on the machine itself.
I sent a request to Hobart with no response yet. It would be really nice to understand what a consumer is getting for the premium price.
P2B
Well, it seems that globalization affects also this kind of machine :/ If you want an genuine USA made mixer, the solution will consist in buying a used&refurbished one (historically, as far as I know, the N50 has been made at the Troy headquarters as well as the canadian factory at North York, Ontario).
...maybe a refurbished C100!!!!
I will need to do a bit more investigating to see if the N50 commands the premium price over a used/refurb, or other model. Thanks for the input.
According to my own experience in servicing different hobart mixers, the early models used better casting parts and were more carefully finished.
This is not the current subject, but if I had to choose models for my personal use, then I would go for the following :
- large model : H600, since it uses the same gears than the V1401, meaning that these parts (designed to handle 140Qt) are significally under-stressed for the jobs done on a 60Qt mixer.
- small model : the C10, for its very basic but very strong mechanical transmission thanks to unique coupling between the gearbox and the motor, which is able to damper the worst mistreatments caused by a coarse user.
For the Hobart C10 (I assume same as C100), how small a volume can be mixed with the 10qt bowl? Sometimes I will work with smaller volumes...My Hobart HL6 6qt was great for all volumes I needed, as was my KA 5 qt that burned up and the KA Professional that blew out the gears. I fear the 10qt may not mix at low volumes...what is your experience?
FYI the Hobart HL6 is great but the agitator shaft cracked, and unfortunately there are no parts available...I will need to go to a machine shop for a custom part. Thus the reason I am looking for a "new" mixer...either another new N50 or a rebuilt C100...it is a tough choice....
Hi again,
Yes the C10 and C100 are functionally identical. The max and min kneading abilities of a planetary mixer depend deeply of the quality of the flour as well as the dough's hydration percentage. For almost 10Qt models, considering 500g of standard flour (at 50% hydration) is a good minimum compromise for an efficient kneading action.
To all who responded,
I took the advice from these replies and promptly returned the N50, and instead purchased a "New Refurbished" Hobart C100...this unit is old but has been totally refurbished with a full breakdown, new bearings and seals, sanded to base metal, and repainted. I took about 4 weeks for this replacement to be completed. Bowl and tools are aftermarkets, but the unit itself is original. It just arrived today and I have not worked it under load yet, but it runs very quiet in all 3 speeds, and looks fantastic. I hope to get decades (hopefully) of more work from this beauty!!!
P2B
Call Hobart and tell them that for $2,000 you expect not to get a defective mixer, and that the unit you received is being returned forthwith.
(MOMENTS LATER)
I just looked on amazon.com and the price for a new N50 is now $2,823.