2001 10kg Toper- what do you think it's worth?

[stolenchurch]

There is a 2001 10kg Toper roaster for sale in Canada. It seems to be missing the external chaff collector and generally there is very limited information about the machine and the condition. The company selling it is legitimate (it isn't a complete scam), but it's basically "as is" "where is"- no warranty, they have never used it etc.

What do you think it is worth?

I am currently roasting on a Diedirch IR3 and am looking for expanded roasting capacity efficiency, is this a good move up or a step backwards?

I've debated quite a bit between new roasters (like a mill city 15kg) or trying to chase the very small market of used roasters. I've also looked at pricing and options for other Turkish made brands. Budget is an issue, unfortunately.

Thanks for any feed back.

 

[sae]

Depends in what condition it's in and how easy it would be to get parts. I've heard some of those old Topers had some funny motors and gear boxes - not sure if this is true. If you can buy all the parts you need to fix/maintain and it's in good shape then I'd say about CDN $8000. Without photos or knowing the condition I'd say much much less. Where are you located?

 

[solock]

I paid around $6500 for a late 90's 10K toper and had to replace an exhaust motor so have about $7K into it, otherwise in great condition, good bearings and burner and modern gas controls. Fair price all in compared to others and very serviceable with many non proprietary parts.

 

[solock]

The motor is a universally spec'd metric motor, not as usual as standard us available motors to be sure but not rare either.
The belts, bearings and electronic components are not proprietary and for a roaster approaching 20 years old may not be popular but they are available through ebay or mcmaster carr etc. THe burner controls on my roaster are honeywell igniters and valves and controller so even available at homedepot etc.

A quick email to toper support got me a no later than next day response as to spec's that mattered and I sourced locally.

Had to replace a main bearing, and the "bearings" that are the floor rollers all for <$20 for a well spec'd replacement.

Added a environment and bean temp probe for artisan control, purchased a backup temp controller for the original system and am good to go for years.

I usually run a 6kg batch, and get a 14 minute time from drop to dump, could go shorter but Im happy with the flavor.
Same general settings with a slightly higher drop temp had a 8kg load go to just short of 15 minutes total.

Really havent run it at 10kg more than a few times at this point but am pretty confident that I could get that in in 15 total as well.

Found no need, based on flavor to go sub 14~15 minutes but at least on propane it could.

While not as "safe" as the hand holding support of a diedrich or other us built roaster with factory parts, I actually prefer knowing that I could source any wear part or mission critical part on my own. No doubt i all goes well and success follows Ill look at those when it is time to upgrade, the Toper is a well built machine and will serve me well.