Hamilton Hopper Question

You?ve got two problems. It probably wouldn?t hurt to put in a new payout switch or at least have one on hand. It?s part #11-0008 they are about $35 or so. The quarters under the wheel is a major problem. This is extremely hard on the motor and will ruin the motor transfer case if left unrepaired. It binds up and puts stress on the motor transfer case. The problem is you?ve got to much clearance between the wheel and the motor mounting plate. This is cause by excessive end play on the motor transfer case shaft. You only want to have about .010 of clearance between the wheel and the motor mounting plate. You need to loosen the hub from the motor shaft and reset the hub. You need a long 3/32? Allen wrench to do this. The wheel might also be bent.

Thanks for the info Randy.

I'm going to have the hopper serviced this week. Are there any other parts on the hopper that are subject to wear? I have a feeling that the previous owner did not do much preventitive maintenance.

The Hopper Bowl Assembly will wear a groove at the bottom of the bowl. When this happens you?ll get jamming issues. The wear groove at the bottom of the bowl looks almost like it was made that way.

Randy said:

The Hopper Bowl Assembly will wear a groove at the bottom of the bowl. When this happens you?ll get jamming issues. The wear groove at the bottom of the bowl looks almost like it was made that way.

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When the hopper bowl gets the grove worn in it , is the only fix a new hopper bowl?

robtl said:

When the hopper bowl gets the grove worn in it , is the only fix a new hopper bowl?

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In theory you could machine the hopper bowl and inlay a strip of stainless steel to bring it up level and not have to replace it again, but I doubt it would be cost-effective compared to just replacing the bowl. One of our hoppers just rolled the counter over and has never needed any service other than a replacement payout switch. I've replaced many hopper bowls, and it's not even a difficult job.

About the only thing you can do is replace the Hopper Bowl when it gets a groove cut in it. I?ve seen some Rube Goldberg fixes that end up costing the operator more than a Hopper bowl in the long run. If you need to replace the Hopper bowl you want part #11-0017A the list price is $57.61. The hardest part of replacing the Hopper Bowl is setting the Payout switch.