Getting Closer to Jointer Purchase

[Ed Calkins]

The dust collection is almost completely installed (cyclone mounted outside with no filter :)), electrical is in, and I am getting close to ordering a jointer. While I still scan craigslist and some used sources, my most likely is a Griz 0609X, however a Griz 0480 and an Oliver 4240 are not yet ruled out. I live in a remote area far from any dealers, and getting help to load and unload machines is difficult. So I am very gun shy of having shipping damage or quality issues that require re-crateing and returning the machine. While I realize there is always some chance of this I need to minimize it. The Oliver machines are uncrated when they come in from (Taiwan, China?), Baldor motor and Byrd head is installed and then the jointer is run, chked out, re-crated and shipped to customer. The result (they say) is extremely low -- almost never -- quality issues when customer gets the jointer. The 10" Oliver would be about $800 more than the 12" Griz and for this I would get the Baldor motor, Byrd head, and less chance of a bad shipment I think. It would be worth something to me and I would pay extra if Griz would offer a USA check out of a machine prior to shipping to a customer --e.g. run it, inspect for obvious quality items, chk table flatness to spec, etc. but that would mean un-crate and crate. So finally my question, I read with interest the recent thread where someone got three (I believe) Griz jointers and had to return them all. I realize pics were not posted and we do not know for sure how serious the issues were. Such a scenerio would be a disaster for me. Are there recent Griz jointer buyers and have you experienced good shipments, or have you had quality/shipment issues? And, any recent Oliver buyers out there and what was your experience. Thanks in advance, Ed

[paul dyar]

I ordered a GO490X Saturday 02/21/09, it arrived the next Friday. I (like you) was concerned about damage. I have read some horror stories. It was raining here in the southeast when it arrived, so I didn't open before signing off on it. Other than 2 little dings on the edge of the bed next to the cutter-head (a fine file across them and can not tell they were there) and some minor scratches on the bed it was in good condition. I have a 6" Jet and it is not in the ballpark with this machine. It is louder than I expected, but it passed the nickel test.

paul

[keith ouellette]

I bought the grizzly 8" parallelogram jointer. Its a good jointer but I did have a shipping issue.

It was supposed to be at my house on wed. They came two days early and my wife could not get me at work. The J... A.. who unloaded it tried t do it without using his lift gate. I have no Idea why. He dropped it on end and broke the crate. My wife really knew nothing about what was going on and just signed where he told her to and did not tell her to note any damage.

Grizzly said they could do nothing because no damage was noted on the invoice. I called the trucking company and they asked why no one noted the damaged crate before. Dead end.

It turned out there was nothing wrong with the jointer when I un packed it but if there was it would have been my problem.

MY advice. Tell who ever is at your house "if a delivery comes for me and I'm not here, tell them to go away and come back when they are supposed to." thats the new rule at my house.

[Paul Ryan]

I dont mean to high jack this thread, and dont want to start a grizzly bashing contest. However the processes that the oliver machines go through should really be looked at in the grizzly organization. There have a been plenty of horror stories lately.
Good luck with the new jointers, I think using a tried and true company that inspects machines before they go out is the best choice in your situation.

[Pete Hay]

I've purchased four big [to me] machines from Grizzly and have had zero shipping or any other kind of damage. All machines were ready to accurately run out of the crate.
As you're obviously concerned, opt for picking the jointer up at the freight depot. That way you can inspect the crate status before it ever gets on your vehicle.
A second benefit of depot pickup is that you get unlimited time to safely get it from your vehicle to your shop floor.

[Paul Greathouse]

I recently received a 12" Jointer and a 20" Planer from Grizzly. They were both well crated especially the Jointer. It was bolted to a steel tubing frame and boxed in with 1/2" plywood. Check out my gloat thread on the jointer if your interested in how it was crated.

The plywood crating was slightly damaged on both machines but no damage to the machines themselves. The damage was more than likely done by the carrier after it left Grizzly. Just stop by at any of your local frieght depot's and you will understand. Forklifts and people criss-crossing the unloading floor at a very hurried pace. It's easy to see how a crate could get some fork damage. Its amazing that they don't have a high accidental injury rate in that industry.

I picked both machines up at the freight depot and had all the time I wanted to inspect the crates. They even let me borrow a hammer and crowbar to partially open the crate on the planer because it had an obvious forklift stab wound but as I said earlier the machine was fine.

[David Christopher]

within the last 2 months I have had several deliveries from grizzly and all of them came in secured in heavy duty crates without a scratch and worked perfect strait out of the box

[guy knight]

i have had 2 griz jointers 586 and now a 609 both came with no damage but the 609 was poorly assembled with most of the bolts loose and the 2 holding the cutter head on were finger tight but i wasn't complaining on those made it easier to change the head to a byrd and the grizz bolts are rather cheap broke 2 off with little torque applied other than that it is a good machine

[James Williams 007]

I had a Grizzly jointer delivered and it did have a little ding in the front panel but that was the shipping companies fault and griz sent a new one out right away. Grizzly was great to deal with and the jointer was set up perfectly out of the box in fact I am struggling to set up the new knives as well as the original ones:o!

[Ed Calkins]

Thanks to all for your comments and shared experiences. A few responses, I do not have the capability to do a freight depot pickup. I will require a delivery with a lift gate to my shop. I have a block and tackle I can use to get the unit off the pallet etc. I am hearing that most Grizzly purchasers get a good machine and excellent customer support when they need it. Although, a 0609 with loose bolts and weak bolts are not confidence builders. I also want to correct an error I made in the original post on the price comparison between the Oliver (present day variety) and the Griz. Griz has a G0480 jointer that looks very similar to the Oliver 4240. The price difference between these two is $800. The Griz has their spiral head and the Oliver has the Byrd Shelix head and the Baldor motor and the US checkout. Delivery of both is free at this moment. The 12" Griz 0609X is $300 more than the Oliver 4240. I want a 10" or 12" jointer so if all was equal the 0609X would be my choice --- I do however value the added pluses as described of the Oliver process. I would like to see Grizzly offer a US checkout, operation, table flatness, etc. as a priced option for those of us willing to pay for it. I realize shipping damage could always happen. Has anyone purchased an Oliver jointer? thanks to all for your time and feedback, Ed