I used to own a LitterMaid - it lasted about a year and a half before the rakes started to get stuck during operation, unable to handle the load. And finally, while I was traveling one weekend, the rakes got permanently stuck and stripped the plastic gears. I managed to repair the thing once - (I'm a mechanical engineer so it was easy taking the thing apart and repairing it, but it wasn't exactly a hygienic task!) - by removing the gears and reshaping the plastic teeth. It lasted another couple months like this, but since the plastic teeth were already shot, when the gears started slipping a second time, I just tossed the thing (metal gears would have prevented this problem or even LitterMaid selling replacement plastic gears would help).