"Steve W." wrote:

wrote:
Does yours have the metal gears or the plastic ones? They are
interchangeable but the metal lasts longer (although it is a bit
noisier) especially if you run the dough hook a lot.

Bought my wife one and she wore it out in a year with the dough hook,
stripped the cast zink gears in the planetary section. Got a new one
since it was still under warranty (barely) and it's been fine since--
but she's gone back to kneeding by hand. Do the commercial units have
a better planetary section as well?
--Glenn Lyford

She must have made a lot of dough. I've only seen a couple with the
planetary stripped and those were for the same reason. The commercial
units use an all steel planetary and gears. Look at the KM25GOX
http://chefstoys.net/product_info.php?products_id=234


You won't be able to break the Hobart N-50 version, but it will break
the bank at $1,600 or so. It's the same physical size as the other 5qt
bowl lift models, but it's 15# heavier and has an induction motor and a
real 3 speed gear transmission. I was lucky enough to get a used N-50 at
a much better price.