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U Turn 4/8 Select


jimbo

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If you are only going to vend candy, then these machines are overkill.  Four selections of candy is usually overkill in most locations and eight selections of candy is extreme overkill and totally ridiculous and you will end of throwing away the slow moving (now stale) products.  I only use them to sell a mix of toys, candy and gumballs to adults and kids.

Jax

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Yes!  Sometimes the "pivot rod" breaks and the coin pawl will no longer work and that allows the mech to spin freely.  Sometimes the coin wheel starts to wear out and the quarter "slips" a bit and will not turn.  Sometimes people cheat the mech with "sticky" quarters or game room tokens and get free stuff.  Sometimes people simply break them to get free stuff.  You need to be in "civilized" places when using a uturn.  I place metal machines and metal mechs in those "uncivilized" places.  Uturn claims to use a start-of-the-art plastic (called delrin or something named like that) that is as strong as metal - yea right!

Jax

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  • 1 year later...

I am new to the bulk candy vending business, but I will make a few comments about U-Turn machines.

I have two machines on location so far, and 2 more in my basement awaiting placement - all 4 machines are U-Turn 4-in-1 models. I wouldn't think of buying these machines new. I paid $83 apiece for the last 3 that I purchased off of eBay, and the machines are in excellent condition. That price seems about right to me.

I agree with those who say that these machines are difficult to service. They have inside them little plastic trays that are supposed to catch the quarters. Without adhesive of some kind, the trays will not stay in place. Even when the trays do stay in place, they are only marginally effective in catching the quarters. When you go to do a pull, you end up fishing around all over inside the machine - with limited space to maneuver - to collect stray coins. There has to be a better design for capturing the money.

Also, I agree with others in this thread who have concerns about product going bad in U-Turns that are placed at slower accounts. Having said all of this, I will continue to use the 4 U-Turns that I have, but, regarding the ones yet to be deployed, I will fill them only about half-way to start.

Crimson Tide

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  • 5 months later...

I have purchase U-turns, Vendstar, Ultravend, 1800, Seaga and the Double-Headed Globe kind and I really like the U-turn for their durability. These will last longer than any other machine I've seen on the market. Yes, they are expensive, but that is why you should NEVER BUY NEW from the manufacture. I've been selling refurbished machines on my website and on ebay and had lots of happy customers. The other great thing about these machines is their pitched lid which makes it impossible to put the coffee cup on or other things that can spill and make messes on the machines. The last obvious advantage about these machines is their ability to vend 8 different candies. These machines aren't right for every location but they work great in the locations that are able to sell a lot- that way you can extend your time-frame for needing to service the location. If it's not a great selling site, I prefer the Vendstars as they are a cheaper machine and very simple to operate.

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  • 1 year later...

Question for those familiar with U turns,

I currently have 15 Terminators (8 select) on my route and about 6 more in the garage. Some of the one's on location are underperforming (surprise) and the garage machines are not performing at all. I need to replace some (most) of the smaller bottom canisters in order to place the garage machines.... they are cracked and broken.

 

My question is this- couldn't I just cut the threaded rod that goes up the middle of the machine in order to convert it to a 4 select machine?

Other option is to piece them together, and Craigslist them out. Then buy some smaller double and triple heads to replace the located machines with...

 

Thoughts ?

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  • 7 months later...

I have an oppurtinity to buy five uturns , for 550 delivered to my house from three hours away, 3 are the regular 4 pod s and two are the biggest one uturn sells (the eliminator or terminator I can't remember ) the guy is supposed to be at my house tomorrow at 530 and I've read all these reviews and now I'm second guessing my purchase , I know a lot of people don't like these things but is it worth it? I called and found out how much they cost brand new and they're ridiculous, but I have a couple of locations that have 70 employees that work at like factories and a tire plant that don't have any vending machine snack machines or anything that I would put them at, should I put my money towards other types of machines ? I have about 10 vendstar 3000s , and four round beavers , along with 10 northwestern gumballs , and 2 uturns at other locations , I'm just now starting out only a month in it , I'm new to this so I'm really not sure if this is the right decision , would these be good to add yo the mix in the right spot ? It sounds like a fair price but I'm not sure ,can somebody please give me some advice, it's still not too late for me to back out , thank you

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I have an oppurtinity to buy five uturns , for 550 delivered to my house from three hours away, 3 are the regular 4 pod s and two are the biggest one uturn sells (the eliminator or terminator I can't remember ) the guy is supposed to be at my house tomorrow at 530 and I've read all these reviews and now I'm second guessing my purchase , I know a lot of people don't like these things but is it worth it? I called and found out how much they cost brand new and they're ridiculous, but I have a couple of locations that have 70 employees that work at like factories and a tire plant that don't have any vending machine snack machines or anything that I would put them at, should I put my money towards other types of machines ? I have about 10 vendstar 3000s , and four round beavers , along with 10 northwestern gumballs , and 2 uturns at other locations , I'm just now starting out only a month in it , I'm new to this so I'm really not sure if this is the right decision , would these be good to add yo the mix in the right spot ? It sounds like a fair price but I'm not sure ,can somebody please give me some advice, it's still not too late for me to back out , thank you

Where are you located in Alabama?

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  • 3 weeks later...

they have differant coin mechs for differant coins over there?here they only have 25 cent mechs as far as I know.

They have different coin mechs for each country for the types of coin. The problem here in the US is  that they have a .25 and are trying to get the .50 working, but after that?:huh:?? Their current design will have to change. They used to offer metal coin mechs at a premium, but now don't. I have Uturns and am looking to go into singles, doubles and racks because the mechs are going to limit the Uturn in years to come. .50 will be the norm for gumballs with the next economic down turn or so. 

Just my opinion!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes!  Sometimes the "pivot rod" breaks and the coin pawl will no longer work and that allows the mech to spin freely.  Sometimes the coin wheel starts to wear out and the quarter "slips" a bit and will not turn.  Sometimes people cheat the mech with "sticky" quarters or game room tokens and get free stuff.  Sometimes people simply break them to get free stuff.  You need to be in "civilized" places when using a uturn.  I place metal machines and metal mechs in those "uncivilized" places.  Uturn claims to use a start-of-the-art plastic (called delrin or something named like that) that is as strong as metal - yea right!

Jax

I know this is an old post, but they now have Mechs that stop the sticky quarter problem, and the pawl problem has been addressed as well, but I still use their metal mech's in hard places. they're spendy, but work good. 

Their next issue is metal .50 mech's!

In mobile

If you can get those locations, they are the machines to use in my opinion.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Question for those familiar with U turns,

I currently have 15 Terminators (8 select) on my route and about 6 more in the garage. Some of the one's on location are underperforming (surprise) and the garage machines are not performing at all. I need to replace some (most) of the smaller bottom canisters in order to place the garage machines.... they are cracked and broken.

 

My question is this- couldn't I just cut the threaded rod that goes up the middle of the machine in order to convert it to a 4 select machine?

Other option is to piece them together, and Craigslist them out. Then buy some smaller double and triple heads to replace the located machines with...

 

Thoughts ?

This is a little old, but for future reference, yes you can. 

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  • 1 year later...

Two years later, how are you U-turn boys doing? I go to look at a small route tomorrow. The guy could be totally blowing steam, but he makes big claims. $700 per month out of ten. . . . Doesn't have time for them anymore. . . . smell test. . . . fishy. . . .

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Well here is an update since some postings from 2009 have risen from the dead!  So to update the record and to set it strait...

 

I sold off ALL of my U-turns in 2011.  Yahoo!

 

Some reasons:

 

Plastic coin mechs require to much maintenance and are easier to cheat than metal mechs.

Service can be a pain.  Many coins do not fall into the 4 boxes.  Exposed screw tips can jab (or even cut) fingers when scooping up loose quarters,

Parts are EXTREMELY expensive.

Multi-candy selection vending is A BAD BUSINESS MODEL (IMHO).

 

OK rodney, maybe u-turn has improved their mechs.  But plastic is still plastic.  And if you buy an older route or some used stuff off eBay, you will most likely get some of the older generation mechs.

 

Below is the link when I announced "The Big News" (along with some other comments).  ^-^

 

FYI Note: The comments about the jump suit was a reply to a now-deleted post from Bouncy Balls (formerly Kelly) concerning one of his favorite Republican presidents in the 2000 era and a former member who wore a jump suit.   I remember that old post like yesterday.  Just in case anyone was wondering what that response was about!   ;D

 

I am now done talking about U-turns!

 

http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9904-mission-accomplished/?hl=%2Bmission+%2Baccomplished

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Well here is an update since some postings from 2009 have risen from the dead! So to update the record and to set it strait...

I sold off ALL of my U-turns in 2011. Yahoo!

Some reasons:

Plastic coin mechs require to much maintenance and are easier to cheat than metal mechs.

Service can be a pain. Many coins do not fall into the 4 boxes. Exposed screw tips can jab (or even cut) fingers when scooping up loose quarters,

Parts are EXTREMELY expensive.

Multi-candy selection vending is A BAD BUSINESS MODEL (IMHO).

OK rodney, maybe u-turn has improved their mechs. But plastic is still plastic. And if you buy an older route or some used stuff off eBay, you will most likely get some of the older generation mechs.

Below is the link when I announced "The Big News" (along with some other comments). ^-^

FYI Note: The comments about the jump suit was a reply to a now-deleted post from Bouncy Balls (formerly Kelly) concerning one of his favorite Republican presidents in the 2000 era and a former member who wore a jump suit. I remember that old post like yesterday. Just in case anyone was wondering what that response was about! ;D

I am now done talking about U-turns!

http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9904-mission-accomplished/?hl=%2Bmission+%2Baccomplished

We're on the same page jax. I just said almost the same! Mechs for improved a little, but still replace them and they're cheated way more! Find toothpicks in them at every restaurant.

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  • 8 months later...

today,I own no uturns at all! mainly because the 50 cent coin mechs were expensive and the machines weren`t the greatest to service.I also decided to switch to all northwesterns with 1 key code.FYI certain style coin mechs had the same issue with the same part failing,which they did address.it was still a plastic mech and wouldnt work in certain high risk locations. they did work well in locations with limited space. I havent been following up on this machine,but if they come with metal 50 cent mechs or perhaps if  you can do 3 toys and 1 gum or 2 toys skittles and gum. I sold all my 8 ways before my 4 ways. 

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today,I own no uturns at all! mainly because the 50 cent coin mechs were expensive and the machines weren`t the greatest to service.I also decided to switch to all northwesterns with 1 key code.FYI certain style coin mechs had the same issue with the same part failing,which they did address.it was still a plastic mech and wouldnt work in certain high risk locations. they did work well in locations with limited space. I havent been following up on this machine,but if they come with metal 50 cent mechs or perhaps if  you can do 3 toys and 1 gum or 2 toys skittles and gum. I sold all my 8 ways before my 4 ways. 

 

They don't have a metal mech for the .50 and if they do it will be north of 30 ea. The new .50 mech looks better, but is still plastic and didn't hold up well at all. The quarter still pushes down in the mech after a short use. I used a few to see if they would work for the 4 selects I had out with toys. 

I can now say that they are still plastic and still don't hold up. This was off the newest style mech.

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