shepherdsflock Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Does anyone know this machine? http://cedarrapids.craigslist.org/for/4262551230.html Is it a decent machine? Would you want a machine like this on your route, or is it junk? I've been wanting a small candy crane, and this is in the right price range for me; but I know nothing about these machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 AGE Challenger candy crane Built like a tank,fairly easy to move Oddly designed compared to other cranes the belts wear out and it does have overall design flaws Good crane and still supported by s&b candy in st louis I have a few and tried to buy more I love 24" cranes Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 AGE Challenger candy crane Built like a tank,fairly easy to move Oddly designed compared to other cranes the belts wear out and it does have overall design flaws Good crane and still supported by s&b candy in st louis I have a few and tried to buy more I love 24" cranes Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using Tapatalk 2 In your opinion, is the guy's asking price of $500 reasonable? I rarely offer the asking price, I just want to know if it's even in the ballpark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Yeah good deal if its 100% working imo Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 Yeah good deal if its 100% working imo Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using Tapatalk 2 How are these machines for repairing; are the belts difficult to replace when they wear down? Have you had many problems with electronics? What do you recommend for a vend price; 50 cents? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 heres the bottom line. $500 is a good price on any used crane. I would buy working used cranes for $500 all day. 24" cranes are rare on the used market. If you want to get in to cranes this would be a good starter crane. Either buy it or don't the questions you're asking aren't really relevant to evaluating if its a good buy or not. All my "candy cranes" are @ 50c. I do not put any candy, I learned that lesson early on (yuck). I use a toy mix in some and in others I use a mix of 2" caps that I make myself. Its a mix of premium items , a few capped $1 and $5 bills and mostly cheap junk. Th easiest is the straight toy mix used for a candy crane get it from S&B and just dump it in you may have to adj the claw strength to get your COG where you need it. The mixes usually aveage like $0.03 per item so you want the claw to be strong (caues its play until you win, so you want to let it win quick) but not too grabby or it will get a huge pull every time and screw up your COG. thats why i tried caps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I personally think that shepherd's questions about repair are relevant because if its a golpher to repair be might not want it Just my two cents Edit:Hey the gopher filter worked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 They are very simple to work on. S &. B is a good resource for them. Only thing you can't get is power supply's. If it goes bad you can buy a power supply from s&b but have to rewire the crane. We used to have them but replaced with newer units. We hauled them for scrap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 I went and looked at it over my lunch break (it's in a guy's garage close to where I work). It appears to be in pretty decent shape. Missing the lock; probably a good thing since I would want to put a new lock in it anyway. Everything seemed to work just fine. The volume for the sound effects was a little loud. He had the original owner's manual, I didn't have time to look to see if the volume could be adjusted. He's also got a real nice Impulse play more win more pinball type machine that I'd like to get off his hands. On the Challenger machine, I took a good look inside the machine (as good as I could without a flashlight) and found a sticker with the date of manufacture. It was built in 1993. It's currently set at 25 cents play price, but the manual has instructions for changing the price. It can be set in 25 cent increments all the way up to 2.00 dollars. If I end up buying it, I'll probably set the price at 50 cents. heres the bottom line. $500 is a good price on any used crane. I would buy working used cranes for $500 all day. 24" cranes are rare on the used market. If you want to get in to cranes this would be a good starter crane. Either buy it or don't the questions you're asking aren't really relevant to evaluating if its a good buy or not. All my "candy cranes" are @ 50c. I do not put any candy, I learned that lesson early on (yuck). I use a toy mix in some and in others I use a mix of 2" caps that I make myself. Its a mix of premium items , a few capped $1 and $5 bills and mostly cheap junk. Th easiest is the straight toy mix used for a candy crane get it from S&B and just dump it in you may have to adj the claw strength to get your COG where you need it. The mixes usually aveage like $0.03 per item so you want the claw to be strong (caues its play until you win, so you want to let it win quick) but not too grabby or it will get a huge pull every time and screw up your COG. thats why i tried caps I have a pizza place with an 8 way rack that does about $140/month. Do you think this machine would do well there? Or do you think it would just shift sales from my rack to the crane? I've got a few different places I can put it, but not sure what would be best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I use these on routes still They are solid and workhorse I use mine to vend 2 inch capsules or eggs (all loser mix... golpher I could not get rid of ) $.50 cent play till you win you can adjust claw strength volume Play time attraction mode Tries (play till you win) Price The belts are not difficult and wear every 2 years bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I went and looked at it over my lunch break (it's in a guy's garage close to where I work). It appears to be in pretty decent shape. Missing the lock; probably a good thing since I would want to put a new lock in it anyway. Everything seemed to work just fine. The volume for the sound effects was a little loud. He had the original owner's manual, I didn't have time to look to see if the volume could be adjusted. He's also got a real nice Impulse play more win more pinball type machine that I'd like to get off his hands. On the Challenger machine, I took a good look inside the machine (as good as I could without a flashlight) and found a sticker with the date of manufacture. It was built in 1993. It's currently set at 25 cents play price, but the manual has instructions for changing the price. It can be set in 25 cent increments all the way up to 2.00 dollars. If I end up buying it, I'll probably set the price at 50 cents. I have a pizza place with an 8 way rack that does about $140/month. Do you think this machine would do well there? Or do you think it would just shift sales from my rack to the crane? I've got a few different places I can put it, but not sure what would be best. A candy crane should do good there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I use these on routes still They are solid and workhorse I use mine to vend 2 inch capsules or eggs (all loser mix... golpher I could not get rid of ) $.50 cent play till you win you can adjust claw strength volume Play time attraction mode Tries (play till you win) Price The belts are not difficult and wear every 2 years bill Mines outside (covered) gotta swap the belts every 6mo but like I said built like a TANK had it outside w no cameras or alarm...no break ins they should make more cranes like this, heavy construction,plexi not glass, t-handle lock Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using Tapatalk 2 I personally think that shepherd's questions about repair are relevant because if its a golpher to repair be might not want it Just my two cents Edit:Hey the gopher filter worked For 500 bux it doesn't much matter, ur options are limited. No crane I've come across is really beyond a 5/10 in terms of fixing difficulty. The fact is 500 is a great price for a workin crane game and 24"ers are awesome cranes much easier to locate and move around only downside they require more service Some guy in daytona had 15 of these but he would never call me back about it sad I missed out on them Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 I think I'm going to bite the bullet and buy this machine. Everything worked when I tested it, the only thing it needs is locks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Boy, what a bad experience this turned out to be. After testing the machine twice, I picked it up two weeks later and took it to my location. Upon plugging it in, the claw did not close, and the coin mechanisms were giving random credits. Sometimes it would take two coins per credit, sometimes it would give 8 credits per quarter, sometimes it took four quarters per credit. I took the machine back to the guy I bought it from and told him I wanted my money back. He refused, so I left his crane in his driveway. I'm out the money I spent on the stupid thing and still have no crane. Lesson learned: negotiate refund parameters before purchasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Boy, what a bad experience this turned out to be. After testing the machine twice, I picked it up two weeks later and took it to my location. Upon plugging it in, the claw did not close, and the coin mechanisms were giving random credits. Sometimes it would take two coins per credit, sometimes it would give 8 credits per quarter, sometimes it took four quarters per credit. I took the machine back to the guy I bought it from and told him I wanted my money back. He refused, so I left his crane in his driveway. I'm out the money I spent on the stupid thing and still have no crane. Lesson learned: negotiate refund parameters before purchasing. What? Why would you do that you maniac! Its ur own fault Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Ive always bought used equipment and never even thought a refund was a possibility. Unless you finance the equipment not much you can do. Used equipment usually means as is. Not sure why you would leave it behind, I think getting it repaired or selling it AS IS would have been a better alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Two reasons: I have no where to put it; and it's 20 years old and I'm not willing to try to troubleshoot it and hunt down parts that probably aren't available anymore. With nowhere to put the machine, even if I wanted to fix it I have no place to do it. I also have no place to store it until it would sell as is. The whole refund thing came about because the machine was operating fine two weeks before. When I came to pick it up, I was very careful about loading it and unloading at the location. When I plugged it in, it did not work as it had before. Something significant had happened to the machine in the two weeks between when I tested the machine and when I picked it up. The claw as not closing at all and the coin mechanisms were very erratic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Two reasons: I have no where to put it; and it's 20 years old and I'm not willing to try to troubleshoot it and hunt down parts that probably aren't available anymore. With nowhere to put the machine, even if I wanted to fix it I have no place to do it. I also have no place to store it until it would sell as is. The whole refund thing came about because the machine was operating fine two weeks before. When I came to pick it up, I was very careful about loading it and unloading at the location. When I plugged it in, it did not work as it had before. Something significant had happened to the machine in the two weeks between when I tested the machine and when I picked it up. The claw as not closing at all and the coin mechanisms were very erratic. Gotcha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Two reasons: I have no where to put it; and it's 20 years old and I'm not willing to try to troubleshoot it and hunt down parts that probably aren't available anymore. With nowhere to put the machine, even if I wanted to fix it I have no place to do it. I also have no place to store it until it would sell as is. The whole refund thing came about because the machine was operating fine two weeks before. When I came to pick it up, I was very careful about loading it and unloading at the location. When I plugged it in, it did not work as it had before. Something significant had happened to the machine in the two weeks between when I tested the machine and when I picked it up. The claw as not closing at all and the coin mechanisms were very erratic. first of all parts are available thru s&b, its mentioned here a few times IN THIS THREAD...repairs are not particularly difficult (didnt you even ask that) if you weren't prepared to repair it why even buy it in the first place. second, the seller might have broke it, he might not have, two weeks is a long time to let something sit, life lesson always check the equipment before cash gets exchanged for all u know you could have broke it during transit my guess whatever was wrong was probably simple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Two reasons: I have no where to put it; and it's 20 years old and I'm not willing to try to troubleshoot it and hunt down parts that probably aren't available anymore. With nowhere to put the machine, even if I wanted to fix it I have no place to do it. I also have no place to store it until it would sell as is. The whole refund thing came about because the machine was operating fine two weeks before. When I came to pick it up, I was very careful about loading it and unloading at the location. When I plugged it in, it did not work as it had before. Something significant had happened to the machine in the two weeks between when I tested the machine and when I picked it up. The claw as not closing at all and the coin mechanisms were very erratic. Personally, because used machines are nearly always sols "as is" I would have rechecked everything before handing over cash for that very reason. Certainly a painful lesson, sorry to see it happen to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.