Old bread baggers don’t have to be sent to a bakery’s bone yard. Instead, they can be refurbished and provide many more years of operation — much more efficiently than they currently may be operating.

Bettendorf Stanford, Inc., Salem, IL, and The Henry Group, Greenville, TX, both offer bagger rebuild programs. Matt Stanford, vice-president, Bettendorf Stanford, said the company can update older baggers such as a Mark50 by installing new gearboxes, drives, belting and chains. If the bakery is only able to run the machine at 40 loaves before updating, he said he can guarantee after refurbishing the bagger, it will produce up to 60 loaves per minute. And while a new bagger may run a “hair faster” than a rebuilt machine, according to Mr. Stanford, the difference really is negligible. A rebuilt bagger only costs about 70% as much as a new bagger, he noted.


The Henry Group reuses as much of the older baggers as possible — such as the core frame, guards and body — while replacing all parts needed to put it in top mechanical condition.

“Bakers can save 25% or more when compared to the cost of new baggers and receive in return essentially a new bagger from an electrical and mechanical vantage point,” said Darren Jackson, COO, The Henry Group. “The bagger is equipped with essentially the same components as our new baggers, but by utilizing parts that can be refurbished, we can pass the saving on to the plant. Rebuilding baggers in this manner redeploys a portion of these old assets as a direct sustainable resource and saves on long-term capital expenses.”