PinDoc Pinball Playfield Rotisserie: Unboxing, Assembly, and Review

Cary Hardy·video·31m 49s·analyzed·Jul 12, 2021

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

PinDoc Rotisserie review: professional-grade stand vastly improves playfield restoration workflow.

Summary

Cary Hardy provides an unboxing, assembly, and detailed review of the PinDoc Rotisserie, a professional-grade pinball playfield work stand with optional Sidekick and Slider accessories. He compares it favorably to his homemade rotisserie, highlighting superior build quality, ease of use, and compact storage. Hardy concludes that while a rotisserie isn't necessary for playfield work, the PinDoc model significantly improves workflow and accessibility.

Key Claims

PinDoc Rotisserie comes in three tier models (Pro, Premium, LE) with identical functionality but different aesthetics and ease-of-use features
high confidence · Hardy directly states the three-tier model structure and explicitly notes that all tiers deliver the same core functionality regardless of price point
The base rotisserie weighs approximately 40 pounds of metal and is constructed from high-quality, heavy materials
high confidence · Hardy weighed the boxes upon receipt and stated '40 pounds worth of metal'
The Sidekick provides complete playfield access with added security for mounted playfields, especially beneficial for stacked playfields that don't allow standard clamping
high confidence · Hardy states 'the sidekick gives me an extra feeling of security' and notes it's 'especially on stacked playfields that don't give you access to use clamps'
The Sidekick is compatible with Bally/Williams System 11 and WPC playfields using 8726 playfield holder brackets or sliding mechanics; requires 1.5-inch hole drilling for Gottlieb Premier and Stern compatibility
high confidence · Hardy reads directly from product documentation regarding compatibility requirements
The PinDoc Rotisserie has a small footprint and can be completely disassembled and stored in its original shipping box
high confidence · Hardy explicitly states 'once you're done with your project it can be easily disassembled and put back into the same box that it arrives in' and contrasts this with his previous homemade rotisserie

Notable Quotes

“Do you need a pinball playfield rotisserie? No, no you don't. But that's why you tuned into my channel, is because you don't want to hear me shill shit, you want to hear what I think.”
Cary Hardy@ 2:01 — Sets Hardy's credibility by establishing he won't promote products he doesn't genuinely believe in; establishes that rotisseries are optional but valuable tools
“The only thing shaking is my table. Otherwise, that's on there.”
Cary Hardy@ 10:14 — Demonstrates the rigidity and build quality of the assembled rotisserie base during initial construction
“The sidekick gives you complete playfield access with the added security of knowing the plate field is secure.”
Cary Hardy@ 22:39 — Summarizes the primary value proposition of the Sidekick accessory; balances accessibility with safety
“To my fellow restorers out there, if you are in need of a quality rotisserie, I cannot recommend this one enough.”
Cary Hardy@ 30:30 — Direct endorsement targeting the core audience of hobbyist playfield restorers

Entities

Cary HardypersonPinDoc RotisseriescompanyJohnny MnemonicgameHarbor FreightcompanyWilliamscompany Ballycompany GottliebcompanySterncompany

Signals

?
community_signal: PinDoc reached out to Cary Hardy after seeing his struggles with DIY rotisserie design in previous video content, indicating active engagement with creator feedback and community pain points
high · Hardy states 'After this segment was shown in one of my recent videos I was contacted by Pindock Rotisseries. I guess they really felt my struggle in this section.'
?
product_strategy: PinDoc Rotisseries employs three-tier pricing model (Pro/Premium/LE) where functionality is identical across tiers but ease-of-use and cosmetic features vary by price point
high · Hardy states 'when it comes to functionality and quality, the tiers do not matter' but notes that 'higher tier models are going to gain you ease of use as well as a sweeter look'
?
technology_signal: PinDoc Rotisserie represents significant advancement in aftermarket playfield work equipment compared to DIY solutions; addresses longstanding pain points in accessibility and security for playfield restoration
high · Hardy demonstrates clear workflow improvements (complete 360-degree access, dual-access clamps, Sidekick security) over his previous homemade rotisserie

Topics

Playfield restoration and work standsprimaryPinDoc Rotisserie product features and assemblyprimaryAftermarket pinball accessories and toolsprimarySidekick and Slider accessory compatibility and benefitssecondaryPlayfield support methods and security considerationssecondaryDIY vs. commercial pinball toolssecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Hardy is genuinely impressed with the PinDoc Rotisserie's quality and functionality. He provides balanced criticism of his own homemade version while clearly endorsing the commercial product. His approval is earned rather than promotional, strengthening the positive sentiment. No negative criticisms are voiced about the PinDoc product itself.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.095

This was my struggle in real time when it comes to installing a playfield on my homemade rotisserie. Now was it cheap to make? Sort of. Did it do what I needed it to do? Sort of. Now was it easy to work with? Not really. After this segment was shown in one of my recent videos I was contacted by Pindock Rotisseries. I guess they really felt my struggle in this section. I was pretty content with what I had made. Why bother with the fancy ones? Right? Well, that was until I got my hands on one. In this video, I'm going to be showing you how to assemble and use the entire Pindock Rotisserie combo. But exactly what is the Pindock Rotisserie? what what the what's up guys and welcome back to my channel where i talk and do everything pinball so if that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below now the chances are if you're watching this video then you're more than likely in the market for a pinball playfield rotisserie and by the end of the video i would hope that i have given you all the info that you need in order to make up your mind and if you're watching this video in order to know how to put this whole pin dock rotisserie together i hope to satiate that need as well now let's start with the elephant in the room do you need a pinball playfield rotisserie no no you don't and that's That's something that all pinball playfield rotisserie dealers will not like to hear me say, but the fact of the matter is, you don't need one. But that's why you tuned into my channel, is because you don't want to hear me shill shit, you want to hear what I think. Now for the first few years in this hobby, me working on my games, I did not have a pinball playfield rotisserie, and that's why I know and state that you don't need one. because I've been there. I've done all the work without one and now I do work utilizing one. So for the first few years I did not use one and then I felt you know what let me have a rotisserie. You know maybe there's some benefits to it and spoiler alert for you guys out there there are major benefits to utilizing a playfield rotisserie. Now even at the time there were rotisseries on the market to purchase, but me being the cheap person I am, I decided to build my own, utilizing a buddy of mine's homemade version as a template. Now, it has done me well over the last few years. I've utilized it for many playfields to do all types of restorations or work, but ignorance is bliss. Sure, my homemade version allowed me to do what I couldn't do before without one, but there were still quite a few limitations. Not to mention it really wasn't built with the best materials. Enter the Pendok Rotisserie. Crafted with high quality and heavy materials. And I'm not kidding. I weighed the boxes upon receiving them and you're looking at about 40 pounds worth of metal. Okay, so the quality materials is nice, Carrie, but what is this going to cost me? Okay, let's rip off this band-aid. When it comes to the rotisserie by itself, there are three tier models. The Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition. Now we call them Limited Edition or LE rather, but I don't know if that would be the correct term for it because there is no limits to how many can be purchased. But a rose by any other name still smells just as sweet. Now when it comes to functionality and quality, the tiers do not matter. If you get the cheaper pro model, you're still going to get the high quality grade materials and it's going to do everything that the premium and LE models do. But the higher tier models are going to gain you ease of use as well as a sweeter look. And the same goes for the two options for the sidekick and the sliders. There are two tiers for those being premium and limited edition and the only difference is the powder coating. If you choose the limited edition with powder coating, you have a nice selection of colors to choose from. The model that I will be unboxing and putting together is the LE Blue. So going back to my initial statement slash question, do you need a pinball plate filled rotisserie? No, the answer remains the same. But the reasoning behind owning one also remains the same. And that is, it makes the job a hell of a lot easier. I've got the instructions on here on how to assemble this. Me personally, I'm much more of a visual person, so having just text alone on explaining how to go about putting this together is not enough for me. I know there's a bunch of you out there that are the same. So we are going to be putting this together without using the instructions. That is the plan. Of course, that could change if I really just don't know what I'm supposed to do. But I have a pretty good idea on how this is supposed to be put together. And if at any moment I feel like I do not know what I'm supposed to do, I will by all means look at the instructions. All right. So this is obviously going to go. We're going to put this together. This end right here and this end right here. Now this is obviously going to have to go over here because the plate still sits on that. So that one's going to go right there. This one's going to go right here. Now there's already a slide bar in here. Okay. So this should go already into place. I feel like that needs to Alright so that goes in there like that This one that goes in there like that. Alright. I have got these bars flush to the table. Like that. And these Should do the same on this end over here. to the table. Get this one out of this one. Blush to the table on that one as well. So now we need to connect both ends like so. So that's pretty much connecting them to where I'll be able to distance them correctly at a certain point in time. Tighten those up. Now you've got one solid piece. I'm not kidding when I say solid. The only thing shaking is my table. Otherwise, that's on there. Now these, let's figure out how these get, oh, okay. I've already figured it out. Let's take this off. And these are both the same, so there's no difference on that. and do these screw into place or they just slide right on in. Looks like they screw into place. I'm getting deeper and deeper into the bar. There we go. Probably get one more turn out of it out there. That's pretty darn flush. Then I'll put the remaining nut that was originally on there to keep it tightened in place. And we'll do rinse and repeat with this end. the nut off of that and we'll we can match it with this side where the turn knob is on the same which I think I'm gonna do actually so yeah this one seemed to go in a lot easier I think the easiness of it will greatly depend on the powder coating on whether or not it's in the threads probably get one more turn out of that there we go nice and flush put that nut on there and then these should buckle down in place like that. Mm-hmm. Have this end over here. And buckle that down in place like that. Now guys, that's it. If you have just the base model rotisserie without the sidekick, and we can loosen this knob up right here to determine how fast and easy we want to be able to turn this. Once I tighten this knob right here, that buckles that end down to where it's either going to be solid in place or just makes it to where it requires a little bit more effort to turn it. Goodness gracious, yep, loosen that up. Now to put a plate build on here you're going to want these to be level with the table or ground that you are utilizing. We are ready to go. Now of course before I go about mounting my plate build there's going to be a couple of things that I'm going to need to do first. One, I need to measure exactly the distance between this L bracket right here and this L bracket right here on how the plate field is going to be able to slide into place. Now if I've got a bare plate field it would be that simple. I'm going to be utilizing my Johnny Mnemonic that is already semi-assembled. So I've got objects on the back side of the plate field and depending on if there's anything mounting on the rear end like towards the top up here which there is this is where the side kick is going to come into play. So now we're going to assemble the sidekick and we'll put this to the side. Look how that just comes, look at that, solid. all right so i'm not gonna lie guys i've already assembled the sidekick to figure out how to put this dang thing on and i have now disassembled it so now it's taken completely apart even more so than it typically would be when you get it in the package. Now I had to get out some tools in order to do so. What you're going to need is a 9 16th. I've got this as well as a 9 16th and a ratchet but you're also going to need a size 19 for the bigger ones. Now what you could do is completely assemble this thing and have somebody assist you which is highly recommended But chances are if you like me you want to know how to do this by yourself if you can do it by yourself then you can easily do it with somebody assisting you so i'm going to show you how to do it by yourself if you want to assemble it with a friend or whatever then so be it so starting out we're going to take one of the bolts you're going to have two of these it's going to be cut off like that this is the bolt that you're going to use to go into this portion right here so I would sit right here and you can just raise it up and then spin it around so it locks in place that flat end has been cut off is there for a reason so that's able to rest in there and be nice and solid so I've got that in there that shouldn't go anywhere take your other bolt that is not cut off and that's gonna go down here through this way if I can get make sure I get that on camera but that's one's gonna go in here all right so let's start off by grabbing this portion right here get a good look at it and we're going to be putting this on here first let's get a washer in here then we'll put this one in here another washer and then the bolts now I'm basically just gonna have it sitting in there for right now now the bottom bolt is going to be going in down here at the bottom and it should feed through and it should feed through right there so once again so down here you want to put a washer on right there then you should be able to feed it through. Another washer, another bolt. Once again this is just loosely on here so it's not going to go anywhere and you're going to rinse and repeat on the other side. The sidekick works on all Bally Williams System 11 and WPC playfields that use either the 8726 playfield holder bracket or the sliding mech like I have in this video. The sidekick can also be used on Gottlieb Premier and Stern, but a 1.5 inch hole will need to be drilled in the existing playfield support brackets. When using the Sidekick with a pivot type playfield holder, the tooted washer must be installed and tightened extremely tight. All right now this is where you're going to take this and these should line up with the four holes on both sides if you have these portions loose enough. So Since I've got this side down, I'm going to grab my bolt. Let's do a washer. Steek it through all the way on this side. Do another bolt. That's in place. Let's go to the other side. Bolt and washer all the way over. Washer and a nut. Now we pretty much have the structure in place, so we're just going to continue. Do the one all the way over to this side. in order. Washer bolt, washer nut. All right now all the hardware is in place. Now it comes down to just tightening everything up as it stands so that way it's not going to go anywhere. So I'm going to use my 9-16, hold that in place, make sure I have that in the right direction. Tighten that up. Get it a little tighter, shall we? Alright, that's nice and tight. So now the ones on the end over here, this is where you're going to need your number 19. Alright, these should be locked in place so you shouldn't have to have a tool on the other side. So we're just going to go ahead and get that locked down. That ain't going anywhere. Same goes for down here. That's nice and tight too. Get the other side. All right, this is on there good. Honestly, the Sidekick is a great help and addition to this product, especially on stacked playfields that don't give you access to use clamps and hold the playfield to a bare rotisserie now in comparison to not using the sidekick i feel that the sidekick gives me an extra feeling of security depending on the clamps to hold up my playfield has always been a worry for me so in a nutshell the sidekick gives you complete playfield access with the added security of knowing the plate field is secure. Now since we're using the side kick we are not going to need this on one side so on one side that's up to you you need to remove this bolt by using a half inch socket. Leave it there a certain amount of time it should lift out of place There we go. So keep that handy. You're going to need that for this portion right here. So we put these pieces down right there And then this extra piece right here we can just set that to the side as well All right now before I go lifting this playfield up and just throwing it on here I need to make sure it going to fit So there's going to need to be adjustments made to make sure this is neither too long or too short of a gap in order for this to fit in. Now, it's not going to be your standard length of a playfield because we have this additional sidekick right here. So what I need to do is get out my measuring tape and measure from the bottom of the plate field that will be resting on here all the way up to Let's go ahead and do it to the middle of this bar right here So I'm sitting at right at 48 so I need to extend out so I'm going to loosen these up and I should be able to extend this out and this out. right there at 51 so once I know I'm good then I can tighten these back down tighten that down. So both sides have been tightened down and one last final check. Should be good now. Now every playfield varies in size and weight so it is strongly recommended that you use two people when mounting this to the pin dock rotisserie. Now they recommend you take off these entirely. I'd say you can keep them on. One less thing to disassemble if you don't have to. Now the only thing is on this version you can't go turning it without any kind of support holding this in place. You can pick up some handy dandy little clamps right here from Harbor Freight that you can put over the top like so. I recommend you use the rubber mounts that way there's no damage that can occur to your play field from pressure. Now for some reason I can't find the other replicant of that so I'm going to use a different one right here to show you that you can use it with multiple sizes and we'll just go a little deeper on this one just to make sure we don't have any obstruction. There so now with those in place you can still do what you're wanting to do I'll say we'll turn it to this side and you can tighten that down. Just make sure that you've got these nice and secure for the playfield doesn't go anywhere else. Now as great as the sidekick option is, that still leaves the bottom half of the playfield depending on clamps to hold it to the rotisserie. I'm putting the sliders on while the playfield is out of the cabinet but ideally you would put these on right before removing it from the machine. It is also recommended to mount these once you have removed the playfield mounting and lifting brackets that I still have installed. That is why this is taking longer to install it. The factory brackets can easily be reinstalled once the playfield is back in the cabinet. I find the slider option very helpful for the same reasons I love the sidekick. It gives me the ability to fully access the playfield while giving me security. Now this is how I've got this side mounted. Now chances are this is not going to be recommended but this is the way I'm doing it. It's probably more recommended if I was to remove said brackets to give me more threads to screw on than I've currently got on here. I should be good to where it shouldn't come flying off or anything, but those are all buckled down, which gives me the ability to move this around and then not go anywhere. And there it is. This playfield rotisserie is fully installed. All you got to do is loosen up these two knobs then you can swivel this any direction you feel good about you want to work on it like this and you just tighten this side down tighten your other side down and staying good as your table is and you can work on this side but if you want to flip it completely over, loosen those up, rotate it over, tighten them back up, and continue working on it. It gives you the ability to look on both sides and work on it. And whenever you're done. Loosen them up, roll it back over, tighten it back up. There you go. Thank you. Now there you have it. The Pindock Rotisserie, the optional sidekick, and sliders. I'm very thankful for Pindock Rotisseries sending me their products so that way I may use it and give all of you the feedback on how I feel about it. To my fellow restorers out there, if you are in need of a quality rotisserie, I cannot recommend this one enough. Something else to note on this rotisserie is the fact that it's got a small footprint, meaning once you're done with your project it can be easily disassembled and put back into the same box that it arrives in. Unlike my previous rotisserie that I built this one can be stored away and not take up real estate and then it can easily be brought out reassembled for your next project. To purchase your very own Pindock rotisserie I will put links in the description down below. If you like what you've seen here give me the thumbs up it really helps out the channel and if you haven't already be sure to hit that subscribe button down there ding my dong that way you can be notified of whenever i upload something for your viewing pleasure and until next time guys peace out you