Marble Run Chain Hoist

This was my first UGears kit, but likely not my last. I've built about a dozen marble runs from other companies. Based on the parts count, and the small size of the box, I expected this would be a pretty simple kit, other than maybe building the chain. Well, turns out the chain is one of the easier parts. This kit is surprisingly intricate. Some aspects of assembling it are quite tricky, in part because it's sometimes very hard to get your hands in a location where you can apply firm pressure. But also in part because parts tolerances could be better controlled. Many of the parts fit together Very tightly. So tightly that putting so much pressure on them to seat them risks breaking them. (See my build tips section, below.) OTOH, a few parts are so loose I had to glue them so they'd stay together well enough to go on to the next step. In particular, the "Loop-the-loop" wouldn't stay together at all without glue. For the most part, though, I'd say the quality of this kit is better than most of the made in China runs I've built .

On the positive side, the instructions are very good. The drawings are clear and well marked as far as what tabs fit in what slots, and in most cases which direction a piece should face. Possibly the best drawings of any marble run kit I've built. Late in the build, where you're attaching an assembly with lots of contact points the drawings aren't quite as clear, but if you line up the parts that are clear the rest becomes obvious.

None of the runs I built worked 100% after the initial build. Balls would fall, or fly, off the tracks, or get stuck in places they're supposed to roll. I've had to make as many as 15 or 20 modifications to a couple of kits to get them to work 100%. This kit had only one small problem, where a piece that fit too loosely allowed balls to get stuck. A dab of glue and everything worked. Very good design work, UGears.

BUT, after being assembled and used for a few weeks, a couple of things have happened: two of the unsupported marble tracks have sagged, and the marbles no longer roll as freely as they did when new. And the balls are frequently rolling off one section of track. These were pretty easy to fix if you have some scrap pieces of wood (I always keep extra parts, and some of the boards so I can use the wood later.) I've posted a few photos of my fixes.

How did / do I like it? Mixed. To me there are two aspects to a marble run. One is the challenge and enjoyment of building it, figuring out what's wrong, and fixing it. (I almost miss not having more issues to fix ;) )The second is watching it in action. In part, this run is really cool. The way it traps and releases balls, and opens and closes ball paths is a very cool design. Different than I've seen it done in any other kit. But I hate that it's not motorized. I have to pay enough attention to holding it down, and turning the crank, that it distracts me from watching the balls. It would be very easy for UGears to make a motorized version. I've motorized a couple of other runs, so I figured out how to motorize this one, too. If I can do it, UGears can do it. (And probably better than I did.)

Otherwise, I'm not thrilled at how much the run flexes when you crank. If it had a solid base, instead of a thin partial perimeter, it would be a lot stiffer. That problem has mostly gone away with the motor, too.
I've posted a few photo showing how I mounted everything, and a video of it running. Finally, it needs more marbles. The kit says it comes with 10, but three of them are used as counterweights, so you only have 7 in motion. That's not enough to keep the chain hoist full all the time. Oh, and I think the solid color marbles are kind of dull and boring. Fortunately, glass marbles in all sorts of colors and patterns (16mm, or 5/8 or 0.63 inch) are readily available on Amazon and other places, and are cheap. 

Would I build another UGears marble run? Yes, especially now that I've motorized it, and the motor will drive the second kit, too. It's got some unique features I haven't seen on any of the Chinese brands, the quality is quite good, and building it was an enjoyable challenge. Not the hardest kit I've done, but also not for beginners. The ability to connect 2 or 4 runs together is very cool, too.

If you've built other runs and enjoyed them, you'll probably enjoy this one.

This was a fun, medium-challenge build. It took about 6 hours to build. It is fun to use and although the marbles occasionally get stuck, it is easy to free them again. I’m looking forward to getting another marble run and attaching them.

Realy fun to build this Marble Run Chain Hoist. Pretty cool to make it work, I recommand for people who love manual activities.

Look great, Not yet assembled .

It's my second Marble Ru Chain. The first one was a great fleasure. The scond I din't jet start.

I have so enjoyed building and operating the chain hoist marble maze. The design is intriguing, the manufacture of the parts is excellent, and the instructions are thorough and easily understood. Bravo!

My second build of this same marble run do I can join them. Love this marble run!

Excellent design and quality, the finished build works exactly as it should. My dyslexic daughter got on extremely well with the word free instructions.
It says 14+ on the box and I'd definitely not recommend it to anyone younger ( I know we all like to think our children are advanced but don't set them up to fail, let them enjoy it when they are ready).
Follow the instructions, when it says sand and wax do it to ensure smooth running.
If I had to ask for an improvement it would be the marbles, the mechanisms are so finely balanced that the slight differences in weight can cause an occasional stoppage.

Really enjoyed making this. Full marks to whoever designed the runs - quite ingenious.
Not for the faint hearted. Although the illustrated instructions are excellent need to concentrate as there's no text. Need strong fingers and wrists to get components to click together.
Well done. Tempted to get another one!

Ich habe diese Kugelbahn gebaut. Gerne würde ich sie mit weiteren Modellen erweitern. Gibt es Erweiterungen, bzw. Anbauten zu kaufen?Ich habe diese Kugelbahn gebaut. Gerne würde ich sie mit weiteren Modellen erweitern. Gibt es Erweiterungen, bzw. Anbauten zu kaufen?

This is my first UGEARS model, I found it exceptionally fun to build. I did have some issues getting the three way switch to operate smoothly, so I took it apart, sanded the moving surfaces and applied some more wax and now it works great. My only suggestion for improvement would be a guard on the side of the return run as occasionally when the accumulator releases a marble will fall off the side due to speed.

Looking forward to my next one! :)

Très bon circuit. J'adore

My second model. Lots of fun to watch. After I assembled it, there was a problem that I traced back within a few minutes to not following the instructions carefully. I was able to pull apart the model enough to redo the offending part and now it works beautifully. Lots of fun to watch, changing the speed, going one marble at a time, etc. My grandkids will love it.

As with the marble run lift this is a great machine to build and to run. Few instances where the hoist gets stuck but generally very good. Mesmerising to watch the marbles fly around the loop. Great to build it together with the family and even better that this is eco-friendly and not too much plastic used (wrapping could be the next thing to improve). Thanks for the good work.

This is amazing! I saw that other people had problems with the chain, my chain also had kinks but after less than a day, it was working smoothly. I’m, 12 and it took me less than two days to build this. I also built the V express and I don’t think this was as hard to build.

Ich vergebe 5 Sterne +++. Es ist meine Erste Kugelbahn, aber sicher nicht die Letzte. Sehr gute Qualität der Bauteile. Leicht herauszulösen. Sogar "Spare Parts" sind dabei. Wurden nicht benötigt. Die Anleitung ist sehr gut und das Ding funktioniert großartig. Ein echter Hingucker. Steht auf meinen Schreibtisch.

An update to my previous review and an extra star, to boot. I found the problem, slightly adjusting the two pieces (44), and the chain now runs freely. Truly excellent model now!
I received the Stepped Hoise for Xmas today and look forward both to building it and connecting it to the Chain Hoist.

A really enjoyable build, but the hoist itself gets stuck quite regularly at the bottom, just when it's picking up a marble. Also, you have to set the marble run very flat if all the mechanisms are to work properly. That said, this is another remarkable piece of engineering, and I have the other marble run model ordered for Xmas and am really looking forward to joining the two.

First of all I would like to point out that I assembled several models of Ugears. Compared to competitors assembling instructions and layout of booklet is great and all pieces are normallx verxy precise. However now to the marble model. For the first time I am a little dissapointed. The whole machine is not very stable. In order to run it you have to fix it with your other hand quite strongly. For little children not makeable. Therefore it seems better to mount the machine on a wooden plate. Furthermore there ar some gears not really running well and surface of marbles is not very clean. Some of balls are stopping on there way to the lift. Hope this is helpfull.

Well thought out. Build was not hard, but you must follow the good pictorials. There was one difficult connection to insert subassembly g5 in as found on page 42 and 43 of the assembly manual. Took my time and got it all in.

I did have some stoppage when I first mounted the "chain" and finally traced it to a not so lubed area on the chain and on one of the gears. Cheated and use a small spritz of WD40 on all the gears and chain, let it dry for a couple of hours, then gave it another small spritz and let it dry overnight. Works great.

One item I would like to see is a more sturdy base. I have a 4 yr old granddaughter and she wants to turn the crank but the whole thing moves as she cranks very energetically, so I have to really hold it down by the thin base. A thicker, heaver base plate under the entire unit would be helpful.

still building. Some problem with the chain jamming on the sprockets. Still can't imagine what functions are driven by some of the gears!

Ingenious design... Don't know how they figure this stuff out. Bought 4 sets to connect together. Have built one so far. Took about 8 hours, on and off. Amazingly, after assembling all 400 pieces, turned the crank and it worked the very first time! You'll see that you have to be very careful about thoroughly waxing specific pivot points at the top of the track, because that's where the marbles have barely enough kinetic energy to make the system work. But it's a beautiful thing! Can't wait to build the rest and connect them all together!

I bought two of these marble hoists. Building them was awesome . I connected them together lots of fun .As always I'm impressed with the engineering, quality and precision of your products. Thanks to the quarantine I've built over 40 of Ugears models. Keep up the good works. Thanks Bob

Great build. Parts fit very well. Now you need to offer a motorized version

Works well as a single unit but cannot get it to work when two joined together

Ich habe diese Kugelbahn gebaut. Gerne würde ich sie mit weiteren Modellen erweitern. Gibt es Erweiterungen, bzw. Anbauten zu kaufen?