Pinball Lifter. Works like a charm. Little pricey but worth it for me and my bad back

1000 lbs. Capacity Hydraulic Table Cart
http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lbs-capacity-hydraulic-table-cart-69148.html
$250 No need to modify the cart. Lift from the rear. It jacks high enough to reach a trucks tailgate.
You can also lift from the front but have to make sure the front of the cap doesn't hit the handle brackets, which can scratch the cab. Just load from the back and you dont have to worry about it. People say you cant load this from the front, but that is not true.

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In my case all my pins are on floor sliders. So I just slide the pin out and load it from that point. For me I also have to get the pins out the back and all the way around the house and then into a truck and this works great. The deck for my patio door in the arcade isn't built yet. So I use the jack to lift the pin about tailgate height into the arcade. You can still lift pins from the front with this if you have the head down. Just put some rubber over the handle pivot-bracket if you are worried. When you have it pulled out then just switch to the back when you are ready to push it.

Put it on the Sears ATV jack it was designed for, if you haven't already. That jack has a very soft let down, which I like, and a decent set of wheels, though I am probably going to add PBLifter's wheel kit to mine as I think the larger, softer wheels will do better on my concrete basement floor.

The ATV jacks are way more tippy compared to the 1k jack above. Also the wheels make it over huge cracks in the walkway around the house. I can unload/load a pin from my truck all way way around my house and lift it up into a patio that is several feet off the ground.

The downside. This jack is very heavy, you need a ramp to get it into a truck. So, that will prob be a deal breaker for most.

Is this the one you are talking about?

http://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-hydraulic-table-cart-61405.html

If so, what specifically don't you like about it? I am thinking of getting one of these.

Pinball Skates are love, Pinball Skates are life. For just rolling things around anyway.

You know you can replace the wheels with better ones, right? I did that more than a decade ago when the inside guts of the stock wheels started breaking down. No problem with the wheels after that.

I looked around and found some wheels that didn't have a plastic interior hub, unlike the wheels that came with the lift table. I think the axle size was slightly larger than the stock wheels as I remember drilling out the axle holes a little bit on the Harbor Freight cart. Wish I could remember where I got the wheels - they had many different choices. Wasn't a regular retail outlet.

I'm leaning toward an overbuilt hydraulic lift. I've gotten by with just a hand truck for 17 years, but my body is starting to crap out.

Does anyone know why the Penguin Cart has been out of stock for so long? I have one and love it but I would love to by a second one for the shop.

http://penguinamusement.com/

I spoke to the owner a couple years ago. He was more interested in selling the business and rights than a cart, so I presume they are essentially out of business.

I flipped the handle around when I put it together, and it works great from the front. As mentioned, thing is as heavy as a pinball machine, so it only goes on road trips when I can load from a ramp. I have had trouble fitting between the legs on a couple of older games, but take off 1 front leg and no worries. Of course, it's HF, so I've had to put loctite on some of the bolts that don't like to stay in place.

The 500lb fits much better through the legs, I went with the 1000lb because of the stability while rolling a machine around. My buddy has the 500lb, and he likes mine a bit more in that regard. Plus, it being wider it gets a better purchase under the cabinet, FWIW, IMO, ETC.

I have used pretty much everything at this point. For years I have used a combination of pinball lifter (with upgraded wheels) and occasionally pinball skates depending on the need. If I had to start over from scratch I would probable go with the 500lb HF cart with the modified handle bent slightly like the 1000lb version.

Pinball Lifter. This is great because it goes up and down nice and smooth. It lets you get the machines from the front. It lets me get the machine to the exact level of my Suburban bed to allow sliding the game in and out easily. It also is just light enough that I can put it up in the truck by myself. The downside is the poor clearance. It needs smooth surfaces and long gradual ramps.

Skates. The skates are really neat despite having to crawl under the game to put the wheels on and lever lift the machine. What is cool is the way they stay attached when you lift the machine to go over curbs or door thresholds. They can be a little unstable until you get used to them. They are nice and light so you can take them with you easily.

Harbor Freight. As long as you have it modified so the handle bends back slightly, these work great for all the same reasons as the Pinball Lifter but with a lot more ground clearance and even better maneuverability. They are heavy as shit though. the 1000 pound version scratches legs and sometimes does not fit between.

Sliders. I have low cut pile carpet and I slide my machines around all the time to rearrange them. I use the cheap sliders in combination with the rubber cups sold by Pinball Life. The rubber cups spread out the weight and keep the levelers from deforming the sliders. The rubber cups make the game sit more evenly without slowly sinking in and making the game out of level.

Penguin Cart. I hate these f@ckin things. They have no redeeming value whatsoever.

Two wheel dolly and a stool. This is the way to go if you transport games upright.

What happens if you don't modify the handle?

You can't get the cart as far under the machine to balance the load. You end up basically pushing it in as far as you can which puts the handle right up against the machine and smashes your knuckles when you try to push it. If you bend it back too far that can take away from maneuverability in tight places like rounding corners in a tight hallway or entering a small elevator like they have at the Pinball Asylum.

I have the Harbor Freight lifter and did the hinge modification to the handle. Works great and allows you to store the lifter under a machine when you aren't using it.

I did the same thing and I really like mine.

I've got a HF 500lb version without the handle mod yet. Works great.

Ditto, See https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/modified-harbor-freight-lift-table/page/5#post-2457507 for details on the hinge mod. If you don't want to do the mod, you can always leave the handle loose (and not really use it other than releasing the lift).

Can you elaborate on what you don't like about these? We have done a few mods on ours and I wonder if those address what you didn't like.

ebay.com link: New Pinball Dolly Lift Cart

The only way to fly. I have used many different pinball lift options. This is the best, hands down. Light, easy to operate, one pump to lift, one pump to drop. Easy to roll, works on various height pins. I can't think of any negatives. I have two at the museum, they work flawlessly.

The one thing you can't do with that lift is to lower a legless pin from a 90 degree angle, and then use the lift in place of your back. That makes it sort of a non-starter for me. That, and the fact that it's really only useful for pinball machines.

I do it often. From 90°, install front legs, by hand lower pin from 90° so it's resting on it's front legs. Lift rear of pin, slide cart under, raise lift, install rear legs.

Also, that scenario is much less frequent, than simply using the cart on legged pins. The majority of the moves are going to be with legs on. It works so much better than the other options, that it negates the legless scenario.

Hi RC,

Have you seen this lift cart? WARNING, viewing the below website may give you a migraine headache, LOL, you will see what I mean once you view it.

http://www.pinballmedic.net/yellow_jacket_pinball_dolly.html
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-lift-advice#post-2461276

It seems like it may be a decent option, but you will need to reach out to the manufacturer to see if they are now manufacturing them again. In May of 2015 he was looking for a new space for his shop so that he could begin manufacturing again.

Gord

Yeah, it's that "lift rear of pin, slide cart under" that I want to avoid. With a lower profile cart, I think I can just lower the pin directly onto the cart.

My biggest complaints are as follows in no particular order.

There are only two height settings, up or down. It makes it a lot harder to slide the machines in and out of a vehicle if you can't equalize the height. Also, I like to lower the machine until it is just above the ground so I can position the rubber cups and sliders before lowering it to the ground.

They are really big and bulky, so they take more room to store and are not practical to bring with you unless you have a huge truck or trailer.

There is no handle for pushing or pulling, so I always end up pushing the machine itself when moving. The machine ends up sliding all over the place every time I hit a crack, bump or while on carpet. Putting some sort of rubber to stop sliding makes it harder to load and unload. Having a handle to push or pull with at a comfortable height would make things nice and help get over cracks and carpet by pulling.

At a show there is often a long walk back to my vehicle to get the next machine. These carts are a royal pain to move long distances. This goes back to the lack of a handle at a comfortable height problem above.

Some people don't have enough ass to lift the machine. Note, this is not a problem for me.

Once I slipped carelessly when lowering a pin and got my foot caught in the mechanism. Needless to say my foot was black and blue for weeks. At least it was not broken.

My comments:

1) I agree with this one. Even getting the machine to settle back down into the pre-existing carpet dents is a pain.

2) I get this one as well. But since we have moved into the enclosed trailer with the ramp method of moving pins it's less of an issue than it would have been in the pickup truck bed loading days. And one nicety is you can put the cart under a game in the trailer and the spring pressure will hold it in place (assuming you are transporting games on the legs like we do).

3) I agree on the awkwardness of pushing the empty cart. What we did to help with the sliding around is we put that non-skid tape all along the top. Doesn't hold it quite as tight as rubber would but enough to prevent incidental sliding around on top of the cart. Seems to be a good compromise.

4) I just watched my daughter lift a machine this past weekend and I know she can't weigh more than 105. Admittedly she hovered for a couple of seconds but eventually the machine did go up. But like you this isn't really an issue for me either.

5) Thanks for the warning! It will inspire me to be more careful, I had never really thought about falling off that bar while lifting.

It appears this is all for nothing anyway as someone posted that Penquin is out of the cart building business anyway. Someone is selling a close replica on Ebay however.

If I have heard correctly, this is basically a "casket dolly" which someone figured out works well for pinball.

I've also heard that some of the casket movers have a height issue when trying to sneak them under certain manufacturer's games. I think it is really just the front face of the cabinet that is the issue, since the cabinet bottom is actually recessed a bit.

Since you're giving this product two thumbs up, can you confirm or refute any of the claimed shortcomings of the casket dolly I've heard of from others?

What is the height in the fully lowered position? Any issues whatsoever with any machines?

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PBlifters is within 10 miles of you. Bruce and his father make some nice pinball lifting equipment. He's in Bloomfield, NY.

I also have a real pinball dolly cart but all of them I see nowadays seem to come with cheap ass plastic wheels on them too.

The first thing I do is buy heavier-duty casters for it with solid rubber wheels and then they roll real nice. I looked around a while and finally found the ones I like the best with the correct bolt pattern at Tractor Supply.

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I have one. Yes it will hit the front of some games so you have to go from the side or rear to get under/store. I think it was stern or de games that weren't high enough? I have mine under black hole and it fit. Mine also had to have a new shock installed and it works great, love it, but with the caster wheels were bigger/roll better...could be changed out I suppose, but can't get too big

Actually I was lowering a Target Alpha, fell back, slipped off the unlock pedal and my left foot went into the mechanism just as the entire weight of the machine clamped down onto it. I yelled but no one was around. I was in terrible pain but had to fight through it and get up on one foot and jump onto the lift bar to release my other foot. Like most of the dollies I've seen the shock on this one was old, worn out and useless. This only added to the force crushing my foot!

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If you have swivel wheels up front make sure you lock them before you lower or raise you game this way.

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