www.sausagemaking.org

We have a Northern Tool 5lb vertical stuffer, type 604005e. Two of the small cog teeth, made of plastic, are damaged (being helped by son winding enthusiastically).
Quote (inc delivery) was £40 ish for replacement. New completer machine is on offer at the moment for £ 78.

I would prefer to get metal replacements for the gears.

In anearlier post http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8910&hilit=metal+gears vagreys said:

.....The LEM 5 lb. stuffer has metal gears and the Grizzly can be retrofitted with gears from LEM if the Grizzly gears ever break. That's my plan of attack!
Here's a link to LEM for the gears.... http://www.lemproducts.com/product/1470 .....

They are for for their 5lb vertical stuffer, model #606, which looks identical to the Northern Tool one.

Are these available nearer the UK?

I can't believe it!

They were a few quid when I bought them for mine. I recall that I actually posted the part numbers on here for others to buy them.

wheels wrote:I don't know of a metal replacement for the gears but spares are available from Northern Tools even though they are not on their website.

When I got mine the references were:

Large Gear 604005 - 001
Small Gear 604005 - 002


Oddley also got the handle screw - Handle screw 604005 - 011

They're not on the website shop - you have to phone.

HTH

Phil

They were nothing like the price you've mentioned. I think I'd be speaking to their management and mentioning the 'Sale of Goods Act'!

Thanks for the reference numbers, will try quoting those to Northern Tools if I can't get hold of metal ones anywhere.
When I phoned they said they didn't have the small gear but came up with that price for large & small gears together.
I'm Always on tenterhooks when anyone else is using those fragile gears. Will be even worse if I know they're £40 to replace!

I also was given prices for a set of 3 stuffer tubes £3.99, quite reasonable, and the tube fixing nut was about £27 (I'd gone a bit light headed by that time).
When there's spare hands around, could have someone preloading the next casing to save time. Need tube with spare nut on as nut won't fit over the larger tubes once loaded.

Plan was to get replacement gear plus a spare one; tube set and tube nut. but that came to £122!

I know that this is waaay off topic but what is the Sale of Goods Act?

petertr wrote:In anearlier post http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8910&hilit=metal+gears vagreys said:

.....The LEM 5 lb. stuffer has metal gears and the Grizzly can be retrofitted with gears from LEM if the Grizzly gears ever break. That's my plan of attack!
Here's a link to LEM for the gears.... http://www.lemproducts.com/product/1470 .....

Reply from LEM:
"The price of the gears is $29.70 and shipping to the UK approximately $42."

So I don't think I'll be getting those - even if I was sure they'd fit the Northern Tools 5lb stuffer.

I doubt that any legislation stops suppliers charging what they like for spares. Once out of warrenty you've probably had it!
If Northern Tools wanted to ensure a good after-sales reputation, they should carry spares at a reasonable price. If enough customers start going elsewhere NT might get the idea.

The annoying thing is that I think a tooth chipped the first time we used it, there was a crack noise when plunger reached bottom, though it continued to work fine. It's just this year, when using a stiffish mix through the small nozzle that the problem was identified. It slips a tooth each time the chipped one passes.

May just try to sell the stuffer as is, "fine if mix not to dry", and go for a slightly larger one as we are doing bigger batches now.

Will look at spares situation before choosing. I'll certainly not be going to NT again!
Any recommendations? - around 5l vertical

JerBear wrote:I know that this is waaay off topic but what is the Sale of Goods Act?

In essence it states that anything sold must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose.

Implicit in the act is that if an item fails within its expected lifetime you should be able to get it replaced or repaired, regardless of whether the warranty has expired.

In this case the argument hinges on whether the plastic gears are fit for purpose.

Nice sounding protections. I wouldn't feel comfortable about the longevity of plasitc or nylon gears though they're touted as solid by The Sausage Maker here in the States. Regarding a recommendation?... I decided to go all in for something that would definatly be up for the abuse of many years of sausage making, the F.Dick 12 lb stuff. No argument that it's pricey so you have to really be invested in the hobby but the thing is built like a Panzer.

i had the same problem with 5lb stuffer i broke my small gear making sausage what its made for, cant get gears anywhere so have to buy new stuffer not from nt though, it really is bad sevice i contacted north tool US but the shipping was silly.

My 5lb NT stuffer plastic gear broke within warranty. I got a replacement pretty quick in the mail but I wish they would've let me roll its value into a 15lb stuffer with metal gears instead.