Which bandsaw? Bigger motor vrs resaw height

[Josh Goldsmith]

I am torn between a new G0555 and a slightly used G1073Z for about the same price. The G0555 is a 14" bandsaw with a 1hp and if you add a riser kit you can get 12" of resaw. If you went with the G1073Z it is a 16" bandsaw with a 2hp and only a 7 3/4 resaw height. They don't offer a riser for it. So i need your opinions! My dad is telling me to go with the 14" bandsaw because you can always upgrade your motor and since we are mechanical contractors we run across motors all the time that would work. Still i don't know how i feel about that. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks

Josh

[Mark Rios]

I owned a G0555 with the riser and it was great. However, It was a little underpowered for wood that would take advantage of the extra height. I had to cut real slow with it and had a lot of trouble keeping the 3/4" (max size) blade tensioned properly. Again, it was a great saw but I really should have had a bigger saw. I popped a few breakers trying to resaw some big stuff. If I had the choice between the two, after looking at the sw on the Griz website, I would go with the G1073, especially with teh bigger motor and larger blade width capacity. It was just too hard on the saw trying to use the extra height to the fullest. Maybe once in a while it would be okay but I found myself cringing alot of the time when I knew I was pushing the saw and it would talk back to me.

The G1073 looks like a good choice between the two, IMAO (In My Amateur Opinion)

[Tom Jones III]

I have a little c-man 12" with a 5" resaw capacity. Several times now I have needed 8" or 8.25" resaw capacity. I can't really speak to the HP issue but gut feel is that it is a little underpowered at large resaw heights.

[tod evans]

josh, for years i used an old delta that i stuck a 5hp motor on. upgrading motors is commonplace, don`t think twice about it.........02 tod

[John Bailey]

Josh,

Take my comments with a grain of salt as I don't have a band saw, just researched a lot. I've seen the 1073 a few times and was impressed by the "stoutness" of the machine. I would guess it's a better bet, as long as you know you're not going to be resawing anything bigger than this saw is limited to. On the other hand, the 14" saws seem very popular and the 12" resaw ability seems like a good idea. There are a lot of posts here that would suggest down the road everyone wants more resaw ability.

Didn't help a bit, did I!!:o

John

[Allen Bookout]

josh, for years i used an old delta that i stuck a 5hp motor on. upgrading motors is commonplace, don`t think twice about it.........02 tod

I agree. You could go with any size motor that you wanted to. Just be sure to go with the same size motor pulley, or near same size, that was original to keep the blade at the proper speed.

[Josh Goldsmith]

So you guys are basically saying go with the bigger resaw capabilities because you can always replace the motor for more hp but you cant add resaw height down the road. Does that sound right?
Thanks Josh

[Travis Porter]

I recently upgraded the old delta 14" I had to a bigger motor. It was an open stand so the motor went out back. Down side to it was I had to make a new pulley cover/guard and get a new belt as the original motor location would have kept me from opening the lower wheel door, but otherwise no issues. I would recommend the 14 to get the resaw height later if wanted.

[Allen Bookout]

If it were me if and I did not need the extra resaw heigth there would be no contest. The G1073 would be the winner hands down, especially at near the same price. No modifications necessary and cast iron wheels and a little more throat capacity and more robust. If you REALLY need the extra resaw capacity then you have to go with the GO555 and upgrade the motor to at least 2hp.

[Bart Leetch]

[QUOTE=Josh Goldsmith]I am torn between a new G0555 and a slightly used G1073Z for about the same price. The G0555 is a 14" band-saw with a HP and if you add a riser kit you can get 12" of re-saw. If you went with the G1073Z it is a 16" band-saw with a HP and only a 7 3/4 re-saw height.

Be aware the the 0555 motor mounts at the front of the motor to the cast iron of the lower part of the saw, it doesn't mount to a base plate this may be harder to find a bigger motor that will fit. My friend used to have a
G1073 its a great saw but has its limitations because of re-saw height. He lost it in a fire. He now has a G0555 with riser but has not done any re-sawing of real thick material yet.

I have a G1019 a saw with a riser block that they don't manufacture anymore. It came with a 3/4 Hp motor which I have traded out with a 1 1/2 Hp motor that I had in the shop. It made a big deal of difference.

My suggestion is be patient & try to find an older Delta 14" saw with a riser block or purchase a riser block for it & then put a 1 1/2 HP motor on it & you'll have the best of both worlds at a lower cost. One thing about the older Delta is they have the lower guide set up closer to the bottom of the table & the saw is very well made.

With the riser block you will not be limited at a later date should you need to re-saw. Remember what your are doing now isn't necessarily what you will be doing later don't limit yourself.

[Allen Bookout]

Bart said: "My suggestion is be patient & try to find an older Delta 14" saw with a riser block or purchase a riser block for it & then put a 1 1/2 HP motor on it & you'll have the best of both worlds at a lower cost. One thing about the older Delta is they have the lower guide set up closer to the bottom of the table & the saw is very well made".

I totally agree! I bought one of the last American made ones, top only, and built a stand and installed a riser and a 2 hp motor. It is a great saw for its size. The only thing that I might disagree with is the cost. Just a quick look around at prices it looks like that you may have to pay about $400 for a reconditioned one plus about $100 for a riser kit, as well as I remember, so you are at $500 not considering any shipping but since you have access to free motors that should be it except for may be some minor retrofit dollars. If you take a look at this thread you can see that mine cost a lot more than yours would as I had to purchase the motor ($250), switch and base materials. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=22178

I do not know where you live but if you do not live too far from Atlanta to make the shipping charges too bad you might want to look at this site as this is where I bought mine from and was treated well by them. They have a lot of new, reconditioned and used Delta bandsaws. Perhaps some other members have some other good places to buy also.

www.redmond-machinery.com (http://www.redmond-machinery.com)