Mighty Payloader coin pusher info?

[BadMouth]

One of my favorite things at the county fair when I was a kid was the Mighty Payloader coin pusher game.
My friends and I used to circle like vultures waiting for people to run out of money when they were on the verge of a big drop.
Back then it used real quarters with the occasional silver dollars or stacks of quarters on top.  There were no tokens or prizes.

For years I've kicked around the idea of building one, but I haven't been able to find much information on them.
Modern coin pushers just aren't the same.  The drop chute is handled differently and the playfield is shorter.
I bought an original Tonka T-9 Dozer off fleabay and might take this on as a winter project or gift for my father. 

The playfield seems to be just slightly wider than the dozer blade, so there is the width.
Maybe I can count quarters to get the depth.  I can't seem to find any info or video to show how far the dozer backs up though.  The attached pic is the best evidence of that I can find.

So, does anyone have info on these stashed?  Coin chutes or playfield lip in parts bins?
What was the playfield surface even made out of?

[wp34]

I loved that game as well. One of our arcades had one that dumped tokens. I'd love to see you build one.

[BadMouth]

I loved that game as well. One of our arcades had one that dumped tokens. I'd love to see you build one.

Do you remember if the blade raised and lowered?

I want to say that the blade lifted when the dozer reversed, but I almost have to be remembering wrong.
That would make it much more of a PITA for the operator.  Quarters could get under the dozer that way and I don't remember ever having a quarter go under it.

[wp34]

I loved that game as well. One of our arcades had one that dumped tokens. I'd love to see you build one.

Do you remember if the blade raised and lowered?

I want to say that the blade lifted when the dozer reversed, but I almost have to be remembering wrong.
That would make it much more of a PITA for the operator.  Quarters could get under the dozer that way and I don't remember ever having a quarter go under it.

I wouldn't have thought it would raise and lower but now that you mention it that seems familiar.   I think you are right though that having it lift would be more cause for error.

[ed12]

maybe this will help

c@p

Mighty Payloader, Crompton Penny Falls and Sweepstakes Machines.

The Mighty Payloader, Crompton Penny Falls and Sweepstakes machines are similar in their operation. The district court described the operation of those machines in the following manner:
The Mighty Payloader contains a blade which constantly and steadily moves across the playing surface. On the playing surface are tokens, prizes and coins. At the front of the machine is a coin slot. When the player inserts a coin through the coin slot onto the playing surface, the coin may land on the playing surface, be pushed by the moving blade and thereby push one of the tokens, coins or prizes on the playing surface into the dispensing bin. The player has some control over where his coin lands on the playing board. Since the spot where the coin lands totally controls whether the player wins, he has some, but not total, control over whether he wins or loses.

United States v. 28 "Mighty Payloader" Coin-Operated Gaming Devices, No. 79-2016 (W.D.Ark., filed May 18, 1979).

The district court found these machines were operated by insertion of a quarter and that the value of the prizes varies but some were worth at least $1.00. It also found there is a substantial element of chance involved in playing these games. We cannot say the machines are exempt as a matter of law under 26 C.F.R. § 45.4461-1(a).

from
http://www.leagle.com/decision/19801133623F2d510_11030/U.S.%20v.%20TWENTY-EIGHT%20%22MIGHTY%20PAYLOADER%22%20COIN-OPERATED

ed

[BigCurtis]

This was interesting as well... https://books.google.com/books?id=MSGLAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT152&lpg=PT152&dq=mighty+payloader&source=bl&ots=ZCY5MaItFJ&sig=UIWYWzk_VNQ2IqR9hTWysVTkrkQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHlZTi1_POAhXIKCYKHSUbCAsQ6AEIXDAO#v=onepage

Someone with that much dislike for the machines might have the details you're looking for if they're still around.

[BadMouth]

This was interesting as well... https://books.google.com/books?id=MSGLAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT152&lpg=PT152&dq=mighty+payloader&source=bl&ots=ZCY5MaItFJ&sig=UIWYWzk_VNQ2IqR9hTWysVTkrkQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHlZTi1_POAhXIKCYKHSUbCAsQ6AEIXDAO#v=onepage

Someone with that much dislike for the machines might have the details you're looking for if they're still around.

   Yeah, I came across that.  The crusader that wrote that book has to be an annoyance to everyone they come in contact with.
...and the machine they were railing against was using tokens instead of quarters!

There is next to no info out there on this.  The few close up pictures that I had squirrelled away from doing research years ago don't even show up in a google search anymore.

I have another question for wp34 or anyone else who may remember playing these....
I remember that the end of the playfield always had quarters stacked more than one layer high.
I think there might have been a lower ledge at the end of the playfield where a row of quarters would sit lower and other quarters would get pushed over the top of them.  Coupled with it being angled upward slightly, this caused quarters to pile up.
.... I think.

The book linked by BigCurtis mentions a "Lip" as one of the things making the game deceptive.
I'm trying to figure out whether the end of the playfield is just angled up or sits lower than the playfield and angled up.

It would probably be evident in this pic if it were high enough resolution. 

EDIT: real money and swiss army knives as prizes, those were the days! 

[paigeoliver]

There is nothing special about this machine at all, it is a simplified version of the common modern style coin pusher. It just lacks that second level. It has a longer main playfield, but that is a disadvantage to the player, not an advantage.

[ark_ader]

I always remember getting kicked off the pier for banging the floor boards of the arcade where the 2p penny pushers were. 

I never had to ask for pocket money. 

[BigCurtis]

It was just an upward slope, but "smarter" operators realized by pre-adding addintional layers of of coins right near the edge it makes it more difficult to push them up and over the lip, made it appear to players a large payoff was just waiting there, and increased the coinflow off the edges and into their pockets.

Unless a smart kid like ark_ader wandered in and created a localized earthquake

[MTPPC]

I had a modern pusher not long ago. On these modern pushers, the coins fall into a coinbox and you get tickets based on the number of coins you drop. There is a lip on the end and slots along the sides for coins to fall into the machine. There is a triangular protrusion on the surface that directs coins toward the side slots. There is a timed diverter that allows coins to be counted only during an active game cycle.  I do remeber those dozer pushers at the fair and it was very easy to piss off the crackhead running the game by banging on the machines.

[thomas_surles]

 

I had a modern pusher not long ago. On these modern pushers, the coins fall into a coinbox and you get tickets based on the number of coins you drop. There is a lip on the end and slots along the sides for coins to fall into the machine. There is a triangular protrusion on the surface that directs coins toward the side slots. There is a timed diverter that allows coins to be counted only during an active game cycle.  I do remeber those dozer pushers at the fair and it was very easy to piss off the crackhead running the game by banging on the machines.

  I remember that crackhead. He tried to throw my brother and I out for shaking the machine.