Mixers and slicers are the last purely mechanical survivors in a kitchen full of circuit boards — gears, clutches, belts and blades that fail honestly and fix beautifully. They're also the equipment most likely to be older than the person operating it, which in the case of a Hobart mixer is a feature: these machines were built to be rebuilt, and we rebuild them.
Mixers: dough is the killer
Nothing ages a planetary mixer like pizza dough. A 60-quart batch of low-hydration dough loads the transmission harder than anything else the machine will ever meet, and an undersized mixer doing it daily eats itself on a schedule. What that sounds like in the kitchen:
- Grinding or rumbling in the gearbox — worn gears or bearings. Clicking under load is a different animal than a steady growl; both mean stop running it and call before metal shavings finish the job.
- Clutch slipping — the motor runs, the agitator bogs in stiff dough. Adjustable and rebuildable on classic Hobarts (A200, H600, the Legacy HL series).
- Speed selector jumping out of gear — shift fork and detent wear; shifting under power accelerates it, and most crews shift under power.
- Bowl lift sagging — worn lift components letting the bowl drift down mid-mix until the beater strikes the bowl. That contact is the sound of two repairs becoming four.
- Attachment hub play — the #12 hub that runs your grinder and shredder wears oval and starts chewing attachment shanks.
- The walking mixer — a floor machine migrating across the tile isn't personality; it's feet, mounting and load balance, and it's fixable before it shakes something loose.
Slicers: sharpness is a safety system
A dull slicer blade doesn't just tear the prosciutto — it makes your staff press harder, and pressing harder near a spinning blade is how deli accidents happen. Slicer service is safety service:
- Blade sharpening and sharpener service — glazed sharpening stones polish instead of cutting an edge; we true and dress or replace them, and sharpen blades properly.
- Carriage drag — worn tracks and bearings turn smooth strokes into a sawing match. Product thickness wanders, RSI complaints follow.
- Motor and drive issues — belt-driven units telegraph with squeal and slip; gear-driven ones hum and stall.
- Guards, interlocks and adjustment plates — kept correct and compliant, because a missing guard is an injury and a citation sharing a calendar.
Repair or replace: the great divide
Here the answer splits cleanly by pedigree. Classic Hobart and Globe machines are effectively permanent — transmissions, clutches and motors can be rebuilt indefinitely, parts remain available decades on, and a rebuilt 40-year-old Hobart beats a new lightweight import in every way that matters. The imports are the other side of the divide: when a budget mixer's gearbox goes, the repair often costs more than the machine did. We'll tell you which side you're standing on before any money moves.
Keep the workhorses working
Gear-oil checks, clutch adjustment, belt tension, food-safe lubrication, blade and sharpener service — twenty scheduled minutes per machine, a couple times a year, on a maintenance plan. For the bakeries of Lake Worth Beach and the delis and pizza kitchens from Boynton to Delray, that's the difference between equipment that retires you and equipment you retire. One number: (561) 695-9808.