its no different than any other hydraulic bottle jack. the rubber plug is fine, you should only fill the reservoir up to the bottom of that hole IF the jack were vertical. like mentioned above, if you over fill it then when the table comes down its going to force the plug out, if you replace it with a bolt and overfill it the table wont come down, there has to be an empty space for non pressurized fluid to return to. if you want to be critical, tip the table up towards the handle end until its vertical, then fill it to the bottom of the hole, no more. too much and you going to make a mess.

The way you explained it makes sense. The confusion then would be 100% caused by the manual. It tells you to not even use it until you bleed it. It references an actual filler bolt. It says somewhere that it only ships half full. Notice step 4 that tells you to completely fill it. Step 5 references threads that are not present on a rubber plug lol. I guess the true winners this time are those that DIDN'T "RTFM" lol!

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haha.. I feel your pain. the instructions are garbage. but keep in mind, its Horrible Freight. I have the same table and saw that too.
but you really dont need a bolt. I am guessing the instructions were written when they were working out the design, once it was translated nobody bothered to proof read it. The table is just mediocre by design, mine will slowly drop no matter what I do if I leave it up. but for 200 bucks what can I expect.

I followed the manual and experienced the flying plug a couple of times before I realized the instructions were wrong. Mine still slowly drops but it works more than well enough to get the job done. I have taken it to several festivals where it has done extensive and good service.

I wish someone with adequate experience would post a youtube video of exactly what they did to get this working... Seems like horrible freight can't be bothered and no one has even tried to properly documented the refill procedure.

Just weird.

When mine was low I just added hydraulic fluid, raised/lowered a few times to bleed it, then reinstalled the, apparent "rubber plug of death"....No issues

Expires April 11, 2024

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Yea great cart all I did was cut the handle down so it fits under a pinball machine ,had my for 10 years now still going strong and for the price

Here’s my mods.

If I had it to do over again, I’d raise the pivot point so the handle could lay flat.

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Grab a coupla binimi boat hinges, and a cheap pipe cutter, and ya still can!

https://www.amazon.com/Keehui-Connector-Stainless-Coupling-Hardware/dp/B07W4HMMY1/ref=asc_df_B07W4HMMY1/

Nice! Thanks for the suggestion.

CrazyLevi Does the handle lower completely on the Apollo cart or do you do a special adjustment for it? My HF cart has oil drained out and looking for another cart.
Thanks in advance!
sputnikim

Did you use 7/8" or 1"?

The handle is fixed in place. But the cart is so long that you don't need a folding handle to move games even from the front.

Again, this thing is a monster. Not for leaving the shop (unless you have a truck with a lift-gate) and not for any area where you don't have room to store it.

I think he was wondering if any part of this mechanism allows for the handle to be folded. For instance, lowering it flat on the surface of the lift table so the whole thing can be stored under a pin.

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Yeah I suppose it does. I'm pretty sure that's how it arrived (folded over). I'll check again and see how easy it is to fold it back down; would actually help me for storing it.

Yes, thank you Ballderdash and CrazyLevi - that is my question . Please let me know if you can.

I haven’t bought the pivot yet. The HF tubing on mine is 1” o.d.

Can you report back on this? Possibly with a picture if it does indeed fold…

Buy them off of AliExpress and you'll get two for the price Amazon is charging. Make sure to select the 25mm ones.

Boat Hardware Accessories Pole Railing Mast Canopy Stainless Steel Tube Pipe Folding Swivel Coupling Connector 22mm/25mm
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqpGx6E

Sadly, my lift table is toast.

I tried refilling again, this time I saw the hydro fluid was leaking from the seal around the piston.

Sorry to hear that. I really want to know from CrazyLevi if this cart’s handle folds without modification. It may be the way to go for your replacement. https://www.apolloliftus.com/products/a-2001

Excerpt from the webpage you posted:

FEATURES:

Foot pedal cycles to max height: 32
Handle can be folded down
Handle plate provides protection from falling down

Fantastic. Reading is hard, ok?! lol

Hey I didn't mean to come across as snarky.... I had to pore through that site before I found that, it wasn't right out front or anything

That looks like a bit sturdier cart than the HF one... if mine ever fails I will keep that in mind as an alternative.

That cart is nice... but; ouch the price. Not much more expensive than the HF table; but, the HF table can be couponed down a bit.
Considering how much I use mine a various points throughout the year... I need to give the replacement some serious choice.
Does Granger and/or that other tool store (northern tool) have a suitable equivalent?

Buy a good one once or buy a crappy one twice? Deal with filling the hydraulic fluid and modifying the handle or begin using it out of the box? I learned the hard way by watching my old man. He’d buy the crappy version of everything in order to save a buck. I guarantee he ended up spending more money and time in the long run, both fixing and replacing his budget brand.

I've got original WICO carts (3 of 'em) and I do enough pinball work that I'm really happy I have them. I'm not sure I have any hydraulic fluid in any of their cylinders... I just partially step on the release pedal as I lower the pinball gently.

I was quite surprised that Happ Controls sells the modern remake of the WICO:

https://na.suzohapp.com/products/pinball_parts/33-1114-10

My WICO carts are 19 1/2 tall, and modern Stern's are 18 1/2 clearance if you have the leg levelers with nuts screwed all the way up. This is an annoyance, but according to Happ's spec sheet, the new ones are made with 17" clearance, so they should easily slide under new Sterns.

Another annoyance is that Data East pinballs like Jurassic Park I sometimes have to put a 2x4 board on the back of my vintage wico carts to raise the back legs up high enough to where the leg levelers don't drag.

I still find the WICO style cart to be an indispensable part of my modest pinball operation. It's just the right tool.

I know that this is a thread about the Harbor Freight table, and a friend of mine has been using his Harbor Freight table nearly every week to move his pinballs around for a lot of years. It's a good product, but not quite heavy-duty enough for my usage.

I wouldn't doubt for a minute that the HF and the Apollo are made from the same mfg. In both cases the handle flips forward, which is not what you want so you need to reverse the handle. The cable for the trigger becomes tight but it can reach. Looks like identical brackets to me. Are the hydraulics the same, that's probably the biggest question.

I have this cart. I required all 4 wheels to be swivel type to navigate narrow corners. It’s the same as you linked but a more direct source and cheaper. https://twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1315

Does the handle fold on top of the bed so it can be stored completely under a machine in use?

Maybe I’m missing something but I don’t see an easy way to fold over the handlebar.

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The thin metal bar going across is for your foot. You push that bar down and it will unlock the handlebar. It will only go backwards unless you flip the handlebar then it will only go forward. The Bimini mod allows it to go both ways.

This thread served me well. That Lowes receipt and the Amazon links really helped. You definitely need those 15 manly minutes in the garage, and some other hardware, to get the modified HF handle working properly and securely.

Great thread!

Bimini

HF

That's great I'll try it. I was gently pushing it down with my hand but obviously you need some more gusto!!!

Will make it easier to store it. when I'm not using it the thing is huge!

my cuts weren’t perfect and the set screws on the biminis were coming loose. I ended up using blue locktite as that’s all I had but definitely would suggest something stronger to hold them in

Handle doesn’t fold on the cart but squeezes down and under the front edge of a machine to tuck in nicely.

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It folds !!

Just in time. Need to get it out of the way for Allentown prep

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