Performax SuperMax 37HD Drum Sander - Good price?

[Jay Garvie]

Is $1700 a good price for a Performax SuperMax 37HD drum sander that is in good shape? It's 12 years old, has a single drum, 5HP motor, 3-phase (with a 3ph to 1ph converter included). Or, with this kind of age on it, would I be better off putting my money towards a new SuperMax 37 x 2? This is going on the second floor of the building my workshop is in, so if I didn't have to take into consideration the weight of the machine I would consider a wide belt sander also.

[Patrick Kane]

Yes, supermax makes a very similar sander currently and I want to say it’s $4-5,000. I had the same model and sold it for $2800 with extra sandpaper and a waffle/rubber belt. Highly recommend spending the $250 on the rubber belt.

[David Kumm]

I'd hold out for a 37x2 in the 2000-2200 range. Dave

[brian cammarata]

I think its fair, maybe a tad high. Just another data point. I recently acquired 10 year old Performax 25x2, 5hp, DRO and with intellisand feature for $1000.

[Patrick Kane]

Whoops, completely glossed over the single drum and 3phase aspect of the OP's machine. My machine was 5hp single phase and dual drum.

[Chris Holder]

Is $1700 a good price for a Performax SuperMax 37HD drum sander that is in good shape? It's 12 years old, has a single drum, 5HP motor, 3-phase (with a 3ph to 1ph converter included). Or, with this kind of age on it, would I be better off putting my money towards a new SuperMax 37 x 2? This is going on the second floor of the building my workshop is in, so if I didn't have to take into consideration the weight of the machine I would consider a wide belt sander also.

I picked up a single phase supermax 37x2 with 5 hp motor about 12 years ago for $1000. I felt like it was a steal. Couple of things to be aware of with the supermax.
1. the drive table can be persnickety. I had a couple of times where it would work the drive belt into the side and was tough to adjust to keep it straight. I eventually was able to do so, but the drive belt is about a $300 piece of sandpaper- you don't want to screw it up.
2. It is not a planer. Seems common sense, but when you are sanding really wide pieces, you must go slow. It will not hog off wood like a wide belt sander.
3. Great dust collection is a must! I have struggled with this one until recently when I upgraded to a cyclone. In the past, the sander would either gum up and burn the wood or fill the entire shop with sawdust, both bad options.

I think this is a fair to good price at $1700, but that depends on condition and whether you would need to build buy a separate phase converter.

[mreza Salav]

Seeing all the prices, I doubt anybody has come close to what I paid for my perfectly fine 37x2 with 5HP motor. $300CAD$
When it was posted I thought the seller had missed a zero ($3000, which is about half the price of a new) seemed more reasonable than $300. I couldn't get there fast enough :D