"High End" Pinball Dolly Comparison

[Joel]

I need a pinball dolly. I am setting machines against a wall (no
carpet), close together, and figured that of my options to get to the
backs of the machines and move a machine out for service, a dolly that
could be stored under a machine would be best.

I searched the RPG archives and it seemed that although the Harbor
Freight dolly was liked by some (not specifically for pinball
machines), the top ones were from Wico, Penguin, and perhaps the one
offered by Marco. I read several posts where people were happy with
their Penguin and Wico dollys, but can not find out how the good
dedicated "high end" dollys compare....not by cost, but in performance.


Anyone able to educate me on the
differences.....eg....specifically....how does a Wico dolly compare to
a Penguin? Is one better than the other and why? Does one fit better
under a machine? Does one lift better and better support the machine?
etc. Thanks.

Joel

[pinlicious]

Post by Joel
I need a pinball dolly. I am setting machines against a wall (no
carpet), close together, and figured that of my options to get to the
backs of the machines and move a machine out for service, a dolly that
could be stored under a machine would be best.
I searched the RPG archives and it seemed that although the Harbor
Freight dolly was liked by some (not specifically for pinball
machines), the top ones were from Wico, Penguin, and perhaps the one
offered by Marco. I read several posts where people were happy with
their Penguin and Wico dollys, but can not find out how the good
dedicated "high end" dollys compare....not by cost, but in performance.
Anyone able to educate me on the
differences.....eg....specifically....how does a Wico dolly compare to
a Penguin? Is one better than the other and why? Does one fit better
under a machine? Does one lift better and better support the machine?
etc. Thanks.
Joel

i am gonna make this short and sweet....

PENGUIN! 100% PERFECT FOR THE JOB AND SIMPLY THE BEST. PERIOD!

Pinlicious ( ...there is no spoon.)

[Joel]

Thanks, Pinlicious. I noted that people like the Penguin, and I am
leaning in that direction, but before making the purchase, I was
wondering how it is different from the others....eg. what makes it
better. I was hoping someone here has seen-used the Marco, Wico, and
Penguin and can tell me the differences. I can not find that
information here. Thanks.

Joel

[mikeo]

Joel,

If I'm not mistaken, I think Wico sells the Penguin cart.

The Penguin cart is very good. The pivot arms mount to the outside of
base frame and lift table making it the most stable. And it has an
easily replaceable and readily available automotive application shock
for the drop assist.

Early Wico generations of these carts had the pivot arms on the inside
of the frames which made them less stable but still very practical and
stable enough.

The biggest thing with the Penguin cart is that it is a tad shorter
than earlier generation carts by Wico and others. This allows you to
most easily fit it under a Williams/Bally WPC generation game. With a
Wico cart you may need to leave the front levelers up a little higher
to fit the cart under.

Now if you are lifting early generation EM games (50's through early
70's for Gottlieb games) with the taller 31" legs, you will be very
close to the limit of being able to lift them without draging the leg
levelers across the floor. But you could easily insert a wood spacer
on top of the lift table if you are going to be moving these EM's very
often.

The reason I know is I have a Penguin cart as well as an early
generation Wico cart.

Let me know if you have any other questions on this.

Mike O.

[Mike Schudel]

Post by Joel
Thanks, Pinlicious. I noted that people like the Penguin, and I am
leaning in that direction, but before making the purchase, I was
wondering how it is different from the others....eg. what makes it
better. I was hoping someone here has seen-used the Marco, Wico, and
Penguin and can tell me the differences. I can not find that
information here. Thanks.

The penguin lift is sold by Wico, Marco and Pinball Direct among
others.

Stay away from anything that uses a $4 bottle jack...

--
Mike S.
Kalamazoo, MI

Gameroom: http://tinyurl.com/4hfev
WCS Owner's List: http://tinyurl.com/39cjo
MB Scoop Repair: http://tinyurl.com/9lfu
------------------------------­--------------

[Ron Donohue]

Joel:

I also have the Penguin and have never regretted buying it for a
second. I ordered direct from the manufacturer, and they were very
helpful and friendly. The dolly came quick with good instructions and
was pretty easy to put together. I think that most of the other
vendors you listed are selling pretty much the same dolly (if not
identical item marked up), with the exception of the Harbor Freight
model which is not specifically designed for pinball.

I thought about rigging up a Harbor Freight, but in the long run went
with the Penguin due to build quality and the fact that I have quite a
few games. I use it often enough to make the extra money spent at the
outset a non-issue in my mind. If you are looking at the higher end, I
do not think there is much competition on the actual dolly, only on
what seller you want to use.

Ron

Post by Joel
I need a pinball dolly. I am setting machines against a wall (no
carpet), close together, and figured that of my options to get to the
backs of the machines and move a machine out for service, a dolly that
could be stored under a machine would be best.
I searched the RPG archives and it seemed that although the Harbor
Freight dolly was liked by some (not specifically for pinball
machines), the top ones were from Wico, Penguin, and perhaps the one
offered by Marco. I read several posts where people were happy with
their Penguin and Wico dollys, but can not find out how the good
dedicated "high end" dollys compare....not by cost, but in

performance.

Post by Joel
Anyone able to educate me on the
differences.....eg....specifically....how does a Wico dolly compare to
a Penguin? Is one better than the other and why? Does one fit better
under a machine? Does one lift better and better support the

machine?

Post by Joel
etc. Thanks.
Joel

[JohnnyO]

Anyone ever try this Yellow Jacket Pinball Dolly?
Looks like they make a standard and a heavy duty version.

http://www.pinballmedic.net/index.html

Post by Joel
I need a pinball dolly. I am setting machines against a wall (no
carpet), close together, and figured that of my options to get to the
backs of the machines and move a machine out for service, a dolly that
could be stored under a machine would be best.
I searched the RPG archives and it seemed that although the Harbor
Freight dolly was liked by some (not specifically for pinball
machines), the top ones were from Wico, Penguin, and perhaps the one
offered by Marco. I read several posts where people were happy with
their Penguin and Wico dollys, but can not find out how the good
dedicated "high end" dollys compare....not by cost, but in performance.
Anyone able to educate me on the
differences.....eg....specifically....how does a Wico dolly compare to
a Penguin? Is one better than the other and why? Does one fit better
under a machine? Does one lift better and better support the machine?
etc. Thanks.
Joel

[pinlicious]

Post by JohnnyO
Anyone ever try this Yellow Jacket Pinball Dolly?
Looks like they make a standard and a heavy duty version.

that thing looks like a pos. it looks like a pin would tip over if you
had to move it on carpet.

W-I-D-E-R IS BETTER :-)

Pinlicious ( ...there is no spoon.)

Post by JohnnyO
http://www.pinballmedic.net/index.html

Post by Joel
I need a pinball dolly. I am setting machines against a wall (no
carpet), close together, and figured that of my options to get to the
backs of the machines and move a machine out for service, a dolly that
could be stored under a machine would be best.
I searched the RPG archives and it seemed that although the Harbor
Freight dolly was liked by some (not specifically for pinball
machines), the top ones were from Wico, Penguin, and perhaps the one
offered by Marco. I read several posts where people were happy with
their Penguin and Wico dollys, but can not find out how the good
dedicated "high end" dollys compare....not by cost, but in performance.
Anyone able to educate me on the
differences.....eg....specifically....how does a Wico dolly compare to
a Penguin? Is one better than the other and why? Does one fit better
under a machine? Does one lift better and better support the machine?
etc. Thanks.
Joel

[p***@yahoo.com]

Pinlicious - do you really think a 5 inch wheel is going to have
trouble with carpet?

Wide?!? The Yellow Jacket pinball dolly is 16.5 inches wide which is at
least as wide as the Wico 'gurney' style dolly that I have used and
hated. The Wico will not fit in the same pick-up truck with a pinball
and does not use hydraulics, it uses the operators weight to lift the
game.

The YJ dolly, with it's extremely low center of gravity and four
"self leveling" lift arms, held a pinball in a flat position even
when I took a four player EM down a set of steep stairs (stairs
protected by plywood of course). I have never had any trouble with a
pinball tilting (except when playing one).

For a direct html link to the Yellow Jacket pinball dolly or the YJ
billiard table and pinball dolly go to:
http://www.pinballmedic.net/lift.html

Pinball Medic will be at this years Pinball Festival near Dallas, Texas
if anyone would like to try our dolly.

PINBALL MEDIC

[pinlicious]

Post by p***@yahoo.com
Pinlicious - do you really think a 5 inch wheel is going to have
trouble with carpet?

the trouble isn't the wheel, it is your small base on the floor. so
yes, i see BIG trouble trying to move a pin by yourself with that
dolly.

Post by p***@yahoo.com
Wide?!? The Yellow Jacket pinball dolly is 16.5 inches wide which is at
least as wide as the Wico 'gurney' style dolly that I have used and
hated.

because the wico dolly is shit as well, i am talking about the PENGUIN
dolly. what are your personal thoughts on that one? imho it is
ABSOLUTELY THE BEST HANDS DOWN.

The Wico will not fit in the same pick-up truck with a pinball

Post by p***@yahoo.com
and does not use hydraulics, it uses the operators weight to lift the
game.

who cares about that? i want a dolly that will do the job the best.
penguin is my choice.

well, it looks like you are peddaling your dolly, good luck on sales,
but i'll stick with the penguin. maybe you could become a distributor
as well? :-)

Pinlicious ( ...there is no spoon.)

Post by p***@yahoo.com
The YJ dolly, with it's extremely low center of gravity and four
"self leveling" lift arms, held a pinball in a flat position even
when I took a four player EM down a set of steep stairs (stairs
protected by plywood of course). I have never had any trouble with a
pinball tilting (except when playing one).
For a direct html link to the Yellow Jacket pinball dolly or the YJ
http://www.pinballmedic.net/lift.html
Pinball Medic will be at this years Pinball Festival near Dallas, Texas
if anyone would like to try our dolly.
PINBALL MEDIC

[chuckster]

Has anyone tried those "skates" sold by Marco? I know these are not a
lift, but at $139 it seems to be an affordable alternative to a lift
and is easy to store out of the way. I have a Penguin and love it, but
I also have four of those Home Cheapo "3 wheel movers" that I use for
the machines I work on in the shop and these work well too, but you
have to lift the machine up to slip one under each leg.

[pinlicious]

Post by chuckster
Has anyone tried those "skates" sold by Marco? I know these are not a
lift, but at $139 it seems to be an affordable alternative to a lift
and is easy to store out of the way. I have a Penguin and love it, but
I also have four of those Home Cheapo "3 wheel movers" that I use for
the machines I work on in the shop and these work well too, but you
have to lift the machine up to slip one under each leg.

i don't know what style skates marco sells, but if you don't want to
pay for a penguin dolly, the skates can get the job done. it sure is a
bitch crawling up under a game though.

Pinlicious ( ...there is no spoon.)

[PT]

The skates are great for moving machines around your house. I can move
machines by myself from room to room and squeeze through tight turns.
The skates are actually attached to the legs then the machine is lifted
using a lever. The skates stay attached if you lift the machine to
clear a step. You can really move fast with them. I have wheeled
machines in and out of places much faster than a cart could safely go.

There are a couple of drawbacks; having to crawl under the machine to
attach the rear skates and you can't take the legs off and on like you
can with a cart.

The advantages are speed, manuverability, stablilty, easy storage and
cost.

Good luck
John

[Ken Layton]

As one who has worked for a game operator for 25 years, we had both
versions of the Wico dolly. We had bought the early version with the
hydraulic piston & rubber wheels as our first dolly. It worked quite
well for us both in the shop and out on the moving truck (our trucks
all had lift gates). A few years later we were buying so many pinballs
that we bought a second Wico dolly. The second one turned out to be the
new style which had the shock absorber (instead of a hydraulic piston),
hard plastic wheels, and the "two-step" lift.

In my experience, I loved the old Wico dolly as it was built much more
ruggedly, rolled better over various terrain (thanks to the rubber
wheels), and let the games down slowly and gently thanks to the
hydraulic piston. This sucker really took the abuse from our moving
crew and continued to perform well. When the hydraulic piston finally
started leaking, we took it across town to a local hydraulic repair
outfit and they rebuilt the piston for about $75. One thing to be aware
of is never lay this cart on it's side or flip it upside down or the
fluid will run out all over the place.

Now the new Wico dolly---- now that's another story altogether. I hated
it and so did the moving crew. Seemed like this thing was flimsy. The
shock absorber only lasted a couple of months. The hard plastic wheels
made the pinball bounce all over the place when moved over some
surfaces and I don't know how many times the wheels got torn off. The
only good thing about this version was the "two-step" range of lifting.
One step raised the legs one inch off the floor. The second step lifts
it 6 inches off the floor.

[Josh A.]

Post by Ken Layton
we had both
versions of the Wico dolly. We had bought the early version with the
hydraulic piston & rubber wheels as our first dolly. It worked quite
well for us both in the shop and out on the moving truck (our trucks
all had lift gates). A few years later we were buying so many

pinballs

Post by Ken Layton
that we bought a second Wico dolly. The second one turned out to be the
new style which had the shock absorber (instead of a hydraulic

piston),

Post by Ken Layton
hard plastic wheels, and the "two-step" lift.

Ken, is the one currently shown on Wico's website the "new" or "old"
version? It says it has a hydraulic piston:

http://www.wicothesource.com/new2/pages/page48.htm

- Josh A.

[Ken Layton]

Wow that's the first time I've seen that version, but it looks like
they went back to their roots and went back to the hydraulic piston and
rubber wheels.

The first model we bought was back around 1980 (version 1---hydraulic
piston/rubber wheels). Then around 1984 we bought the second version
which had the shock absorber/hard plastic wheels. So I guess you could
call the one they sell now a "version 3"?

By the way, the second version with the shock absorber/hard plastic
wheels had the metal wheel baseplate WELDED on so it would have been
dificult to change wheels. When the wheels got tore off we
mickey-rigged whatever wheels we could find or fit on there to keep
this dolly in service.

Both versions we had did have a little difficulty in sliding under some
of these newer pins like Addams Family. They would rub/scrape the
bottom of the cabinet unless you lifted the game a bit before sliding
the dolly underneath. Of course the old original version (hydraulic)
performed flawlessly under the weight of what I would call the heaviest
game ever made, Williams LINE DRIVE BASEBALL.

[Otto]

I bought mine from Competitive.

It is just a tad high with machines on carpet(they settle) but all I have to
do is pull up on the step bar(while pressing down slightly on the platform
and the platform lowers nicely and enough to roll the lift under the pin. It
stores nicely under the pin with just a bit of the step bar poking out.

I think part of the reason it runs high is the shock is new and stiff.

I am guessing that as years go by it will break in some and settle lower
with no weight on it.

Btw, I paid 299 for a single. We dickered off 30 bucks and that helped cover
most of the shipping.

If you can get together with the pinheads in your area you can probably do
much better with a bulk order.

Otto

CARGPB11

My web page: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-Ottoslanding

[pinlicious]

Post by Ken Layton
As one who has worked for a game operator for 25 years, we had both
versions of the Wico dolly. We had bought the early version with the
hydraulic piston & rubber wheels as our first dolly. It worked quite
well for us both in the shop and out on the moving truck (our trucks
all had lift gates). A few years later we were buying so many pinballs
that we bought a second Wico dolly. The second one turned out to be the
new style which had the shock absorber (instead of a hydraulic piston),
hard plastic wheels, and the "two-step" lift.
In my experience, I loved the old Wico dolly as it was built much more
ruggedly, rolled better over various terrain (thanks to the rubber
wheels), and let the games down slowly and gently thanks to the
hydraulic piston. This sucker really took the abuse from our moving
crew and continued to perform well. When the hydraulic piston finally
started leaking, we took it across town to a local hydraulic repair
outfit and they rebuilt the piston for about $75. One thing to be aware
of is never lay this cart on it's side or flip it upside down or the
fluid will run out all over the place.
Now the new Wico dolly---- now that's another story altogether. I hated
it and so did the moving crew. Seemed like this thing was flimsy. The
shock absorber only lasted a couple of months. The hard plastic wheels
made the pinball bounce all over the place when moved over some
surfaces and I don't know how many times the wheels got torn off. The
only good thing about this version was the "two-step" range of lifting.
One step raised the legs one inch off the floor. The second step lifts
it 6 inches off the floor.

i don't know which one is better for people moving pins over cement
and off road terrain, but i can promise no-one will be disappointed
with the penguin dolly in home use. heck, if the wheels are such an
issue, swap them out :-)

also, the penguin dolly will lower to roll right under the pin, a wico
one requires you to jack the machine up, i mean, why have a cart at
that point ;-)

Pinlicious ( ...there is no spoon.)

[pdale]

Is this the famed 'Penguin' everyone has been talking about?

http://www.happcontrols.com/material_handling/33111400.htm

[Mike Schudel]

Post by pdale
Is this the famed 'Penguin' everyone has been talking about?
http://www.happcontrols.com/material_handling/33111400.htm

Sure looks like it.

--
Mike S.
Kalamazoo, MI

Gameroom: http://tinyurl.com/4hfev
WCS Owner's List: http://tinyurl.com/39cjo
MB Scoop Repair: http://tinyurl.com/9lfu
--------------------------------------------

[pdale]

Ah, thought so.

Bought one from Happ many moons ago. Works great.

Whomever buys my SP gets a free Penguin...

[Ken Layton]

Looks like the Wico version 2 piece of crap to me. The Happs specs
don't say if the wheels are hard plastic or rubber---it just says
'casters'. And it has the shock absorber. I don't about that one. It
looks kinda sucky to me.

[Mike Schudel]

Post by Ken Layton
Looks like the Wico version 2 piece of crap to me. The Happs specs
don't say if the wheels are hard plastic or rubber---it just says
'casters'. And it has the shock absorber. I don't about that one. It
looks kinda sucky to me.

That's what the penguin lift looks like now. They have hard plastic wheels
and a shock absorber. If you don't like the wheels, Grainger has a crap
load of polyurethane wheels that you can swap out.

As far as the shock absorber...I like it. I've seen the bottle jack
versions and they *suck*.

Slide this puppy under the game and stand on the bar...up goes the pin.
Press on the release lever and the pin comes down slowly.

Now put a electrically operated hydraulic d.c. pump, battery charger and an
up/down toggle then you will have something. My father-in-law has one that
you can lift and move a helicopter by yourself with...now that's cool.

--
Mike S.
Kalamazoo, MI

Gameroom: http://tinyurl.com/4hfev
WCS Owner's List: http://tinyurl.com/39cjo
MB Scoop Repair: http://tinyurl.com/9lfu
--------------------------------------------

[flipperboy]

I believe the Pinguin is a dolly, not a cart. The link shows a cart.

The dolly has a feature that lets you rest the pin, when titled back
towards you, at about 15 degress. I've seen PinL's, and it is far
better then yellow trimmed ones from Home Depot.

Post by Mike Schudel
Now put a electrically operated hydraulic d.c. pump, battery charger and an
up/down toggle then you will have something. My father-in-law has one that
you can lift and move a helicopter by yourself with...now that's cool.

Michigan Scott
I think, therefore I play pinball. :P

[Kenbo]

Post by Ken Layton
Looks like the Wico version 2 piece of crap to me. The Happs specs
don't say if the wheels are hard plastic or rubber---it just says
'casters'. And it has the shock absorber. I don't about that one. It
looks kinda sucky to me.

The penguin uses a sealed gas shock absorber which works great, and it
won't leak if you turn it upside down. If it goes bad you can go down
to any auto parts store and buy a new one for $25. The wheels on it do
seem to be the hard kind, but they bolt on and are replaceable if you
don't like 'em. I've thought about installing pneumatic tires on it.

[Don]

I've had the pinball skates for a couple of years. I recently bought
the Penguin Dolly off eBay and can only say I wish I'd bought this
years ago. IT'S GREAT. I doubt I will ever use the Skates again.....

- Don