Is my LEM a LEMON???

[dirtsailor2003]

Might as well---The guy who made parts of your first stuffer had a few.


Bear

I have a feeling he was at the JD distillery!!!

 

[mneeley490]

I received mine a while ago, but I haven't had time to push any sausage thru it yet. I did inspect it when it arrived, and I did not see the raised area that Dirtsailor photographed. 

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I received mine a while ago, but I haven't had time to push any sausage thru it yet. I did inspect it when it arrived, and I did not see the raised area that Dirtsailor photographed. 

I have run 30 pounds through the stuffer since I rebuilt it. I have had no problems. I haven't even had to hook up the hose to it.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

bump

 

[dragonmaster194]

Case, I toohave been looking into stuffers and youe post has made me not want any Lem products.  Customer service is the most important part of any business.  Since theirs was horrible in my opinion they are off my list!  Thank you for this post, and I am glad it was partially resolved, even though it should have been quicker and a new replacement sent,  Keep on keeping on, Steve  PS, the sausage looks great, I hope I will be able to make some soon.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

 
Case, I toohave been looking into stuffers and youe post has made me not want any Lem products.  Customer service is the most important part of any business.  Since theirs was horrible in my opinion they are off my list!  Thank you for this post, and I am glad it was partially resolved, even though it should have been quicker and a new replacement sent,  Keep on keeping on, Steve  PS, the sausage looks great, I hope I will be able to make some soon.

Thank you! I've been trying to get motivated to stuff some more as we are getting low again.

Yeah having worked in the service industry all my life customer service is number 1 before anything else. Thank fully so far my rebuilt stuffer isn't having any other problems.

 

[markk]

Sorry for your experience in dealing with LEM on a obvious manufacturing defect. I purchased a 15 pound Kitchener stuffer from Nothern Tools in 11/2011, it came with steel gears, black in color. In looking at the LEM, Grizzley and Northern Tools Suffers they all seem to be the same thing with maybe the exception of the material the gears are made of and the the suffer tubes. I have probably stuffed 1000 pounds or more of sausage since I bought the stuffer and it has worked well. Saturday we stuffed 100 pounds of sausage and I noticed that in places it was very difficult to turn and black flakes appeared on the top of the piston. I have not removed the frame from the base yet but I suspect I have damaged the internal part of the large vertical gear and the center thread rod. I have stuffed a lot of cold, stiff meat, I have the parts list and Northern Tool phone number and will contact them on Monday and see what the cost of parts will be to repair. i hope they are reasonably priced and the service is better than you experienced. I probably should have added more water.

 

 

[dirtsailor2003]

 
Sorry for your experience in dealing with LEM on a obvious manufacturing defect. I purchased a 15 pound Kitchener stuffer from Nothern Tools in 11/2011, it came with steel gears, black in color. In looking at the LEM, Grizzley and Northern Tools Suffers they all seem to be the same thing with maybe the exception of the material the gears are made of and the the suffer tubes. I have probably stuffed 1000 pounds or more of sausage since I bought the stuffer and it has worked well. Saturday we stuffed 100 pounds of sausage and I noticed that in places it was very difficult to turn and black flakes appeared on the top of the piston. I have not removed the frame from the base yet but I suspect I have damaged the internal part of the large vertical gear and the center thread rod. I have stuffed a lot of cold, stiff meat, I have the parts list and Northern Tool phone number and will contact them on Monday and see what the cost of parts will be to repair. i hope they are reasonably priced and the service is better than you experienced. I probably should have added more water.

 

Yes just add more water!!!!!!

 

[cal1956]

after reading dirtsailors original post, we didn't go near the LEM  , we bought a 15 lb Vivo instead and are very happy with it

but to avoid the problem Mark k had   I added a small amount of white lithium grease to the metal gears  

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Just a holiday bump

 

[atomicsmoke]

People might not take the time to read all 200+ entries on the thread. I believe you should write a one-sentence summary. Something like "add more water".

Sorry. Had to do it.

 

[mummel]

Sometimes you just got to let go lol.  You will feel better if you do.

 

[mschwartz26]

MarkK, did you ever hear back on your inquire from Norther Tools?  I have a 5lb Kitchener (http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200449319_200449319) and ran into the same issues as you last night.  I was about 20% into stuffing 70lbs of sausage and my stuff stopped working.  I noticed the very fine metal shavings.  Now when there is any pressure on the gears there is a popping noise and the gears slip.  My rod will actually slip through the gears and move an inch or so up or down.  I am assuming that I have the same issue.  

I can't even figure out a way to get the rod out.  When I crank it all the way to the stop it stops and don't appear to allow you to crank it all the way up and remove the rod.  Any help on how to get the rod out?

My issue is I now have 50lbs of meat in the fridge that needs stuffing but no stuffer.  I guess there are worse issues to have...

 

[smokin phil]

.

 

[mschwartz26]

Yeah...I knew it was going to be something very straight forward as this.  One too many beers last night when I was trying to figure this out!  I took the bottom off and now have everything apart.

I assume that the rod is not suppose to be able to 'slide' through the middle of gear?!!  Probably another stupid question - but do I need a new hear or a new rod?  I see that there are very fine threads inside of the gear.  It appears there is a metal fitting that inserts into the plastic gear and that piece is where the fine threads are.  If this is truly metal I guess it would account for the shavings I have seen at the top of the base where the rod comes out.  Are those shavings from the thread inside of the gear or from the rod?

Sorry for hijacking this thread but seems like my issue is something others are having.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Yeah...I knew it was going to be something very straight forward as this.  One too many beers last night when I was trying to figure this out!  I took the bottom off and now have everything apart.

I assume that the rod is not suppose to be able to 'slide' through the middle of gear?!!  Probably another stupid question - but do I need a new hear or a new rod?  I see that there are very fine threads inside of the gear.  It appears there is a metal fitting that inserts into the plastic gear and that piece is where the fine threads are.  If this is truly metal I guess it would account for the shavings I have seen at the top of the base where the rod comes out.  Are those shavings from the thread inside of the gear or from the rod?

Sorry for hijacking this thread but seems like my issue is something others are having.

Just add WATER!!!!!

 

[stones]

Well, I have read every post from the start, and CS is the key to new business as well as repeat business, and I for one will never buy from a POS company like that! I would rather spend extra cash to ensure that the equipment I purchase is well supported. My thought are that equipment breaks, and needs support and in today's world, the real value of a company is in after market service and parts.... Take a look at Cat.. They are focused on the after market sales and support. I would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention before I made a grave mistake and invested in a LEM product.:yahoo: On a good day, I would never had shown your restraint in dealing with idiots like that! Hello, Northern? I would like to purchase a stuffer..........

 

[hdflame]

I posted early in this thread about my problems with LEM and their POS stuffer and customer service.

I purchased a 15 pound Kitchener stuffer from Nothern Tools and haven't looked back.  Mine has all metal gears and works great.  I just bought the Kitchener mixer.  I've put it together but haven't had a chance to use it yet.  It appears to be as well made as my stuffer and from the reviews, I'm sure I will LOVE it as much as the stuffer.

BTW, the mixer was on sale and I had a $20 off coupon to boot!

I also have the Northern #12 electric stuffer that I bought several years ago on sale for $99.  No problems whatsoever.  It doesn't do a very good job at stuffing which is why I bought the stuffer.  Also, I wish the push tube was just a tad bigger in diameter.  I'm going to make a bigger one from wood.  I bought an extra #12 blade for the grinder just for a backup.  I am in the process of sharpening the blades and grinding plates.  I'm curious as to how much this will improve the performance.

No problems so far with Northern products or customer service.  Just my 2 cents.

Oh, just add water!  :) 

 

[diggingdogfarm]

I've had their plates rust and metal in the grinder auger stud that I mentioned in another thread was so crappy that it was rubbing away....easily rubbed a groove in the stud.
I won't buy from LEM again!

I got rid of the crappy LEM grinder (Yay!) and bought a Cabela's 3/4-hp #12 last fall!!!
It's a MUCH better grinder! I'm VERY happy with it so far!
No more Big-Bite BS!!! :biggrin:


:yahoo:

 

[tropics]

I got rid of the crappy LEM grinder (Yay!) and bought a Cabela's 3/4-hp #12 last fall!!!
It's a MUCH better grinder! I'm VERY happy with it so far!
No more Big-Bite BS!!!

Martin check this out works great

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...imi7tudd-743a2a06-2e60-479e-9ce4-e9257260b645