Should I buy a used Barley Crusher?

While reading through some local classifieds I came across someone selling a barley crusher for 40 dollars. I'm wondering if the Lifetime Warranty will still apply to me even though I got it second hand. Having never dealt with the manufacturer I am unsure if I will be asked to provide proof of purchase in the event that it wears out in the future.

He claims he bought it in 2005/2006. However the guy selling it doesnt sound too thrilled with it. While he says it works great with plenty of grip left on the roller he also comments that he is tired of the passive roller slipping. He says that he has to dismantle the unit and clean it in order to get it to function, that it worked for a while but now its no longer grabbing once again.

Does this sound right for a barley crusher or do you think perhaps his unit is defective? If there is a problem with it do you think the manufacturer would cover it? 40 bucks for a grain mill is a steal but I'm wondering if I'd be getting myself into more trouble than it is worth.

Normally I would just check it out but the guy lives 1.5 hours away from my house. So pretty much if I'm going to drive out to him, I'm going to buy the unit. I just hope it is an issue with his spacing and perhaps his method, and not so much an issue with the unit itself. It wouldn't cost too much to ship it back to the manufacturer but once again, if the warranty doesnt carry over or if I'm forced to prove my purchase then I'd be SOL. What do you guys think?

I think I would head that way with intentions on buying it. Great price, not much can go wrong that can't easily be fixed, most probably an operator malfunction.

Even my Monster Mill MM-3 sliped sometimes. It came from tightening stuff down a little too much. I'd just pick it and see what you can make of it for that price.

Go for it! There are several threads about making repairs to the BC, and they might even offer some help from the BC site.

T

Some people can ruin a stick. Just sayin.

Yeah I sent them an email at [email protected] but I get the feeling there must be some problems going on with the manufacturer. My email was returned to me:

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This report relates to a message you sent with the following header fields:

* Message-id:
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* Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:06:16 -0500 (EST)
* From: DAVID M***** <sub2k1@*****.com*>
* To: [email protected]*
* Subject: Lifetime Warranty on used Barley Crusher?

Your message cannot be delivered to the following recipients:

* Recipient address: [email protected]*
* Reason: Remote SMTP server has rejected address
* Diagnostic code: smtp;550 [email protected]**account is overquota
* Remote system: dns;mx02.peoplepc.com (TCP|167.206.4.197|65202|207.69.189.42|25)

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So their account is over quota and they don't have a phone number listed. I'm trying to contact them in advance to see if they would honor the warranty on the product.

It really just needs to be cleaned and lubed. Also condition your malt to cut way down on dust for future use and you should be able to use it for a lot of crushing before having to take it apart again. I'd buy it and sell it if it does not work for you, someone here will always give you at least your $40 if not more.