Powermatic 201 vs grizzly 20" planer?

[Nick Crivello]

Hi gents,

Would you rather have a 20" grizzly 1033x with helical head or 22" Powermatic 201 planer in your smallish workshop?

I have the grizzly that I bought new about 18 months ago; some teething/calibration issues but a decent machine. A 7.5hp 3ph Powermatic 201 with the straight knives has popped up very close to me at a reasonable price point such that I could sell the grizzly and essentially break even.

The specs clearly indicate the Powermatic is a different class of machine. Despite the footprint between the two machines being similar, the 201 is about 400lbs heavier. The grizzly is on a mobile base and I'm able to easily move it about, whereas the 201 would likely live on a small pallet and moved via pallet jack as needed.

Should I pursue it or expend the time/energy elsewhere?

[Mark Gibney]

If the Grizzly does what you need it to do then perhaps stay with the Grizzly.
If you're young and you are growing a woodworking business, and think that one day you'll invest in a helical head for the Powermatic (I prefer helical over straight knives) then think about the Powermatic.
Even if you are growing a business, the Grizzly might work for you for the next 30 years as it is - will you be a one-man custom workshop or a production shop making flooring? So it depends on where your woodworking is headed.

[Jared Sankovich]

The 201 is a better design, and has a segmented infeed roller and chip breaker.

[Tom M King]

It's probably already gone by now.

[Bill Dufour]

FYI a big planer like that is easy enough to move with an engine crane and a trailer. I moved my Powermatic 18" planer by putting two 4x6's through the cutting throat. Stuck out about 12" on each end. Looped a lifting strap around each end and single point lift with an engine crane. A good, none redwood, 4x4 would probably be strong enough.
Bill D

[Phillip Mitchell]

Definitely a different beast in terms of design and build quality but do you need it / will you benefit from it?

Or do you value that enough personally to be worth the time / $ suck of switching horses?

I am picky and sometimes make decisions of equipment choices more personally than from a strictly business mindset; I always shop for good deals but often times choose equipment that is “overbuilt” for the job at hand because I want the peace of mind that it can handle whatever I throw at it, maybe years down the road. I also really value working on machines that hold their calibration as close to perfectly as you can reasonably expect and get irritated if I’m always worried about or having to fuss with calibration / alignment / accuracy so I make the choice to overkill it a step of two to get used industrial grade even in a one person custom shop. Some folks (who probably make more $ than I do) don’t care and run whatever plugs and plays the simplest in their operation.

What sort of prices are we talking about here? If I were going through the effort of switching large planers then I would look for something European / older American personally, though that is personal taste, and I’m sure the Taiwanese-built 201 is a decently stout machine.

On the subject of moving it around...I have a ~1500# 20” SCM planer that is on a shop made “mobile base” that rolls on 6” steel wheels. My concrete slab floor is very rough and uneven / has dips and holes and I am still able to move it around as needed (which is often), though it can be a bit of a chore depending on how bad the floor is in certain sections. A smooth floor would be no problem at all moving that size machine for me. Pallet jack and bolted 4x4, etc base is also a fine way especially if you have the room to leave the pallet jack available close by.

How is your mobile RPC setup working out?

[Nick Crivello]

To Tom's post, I found out that it has already been sold. :rolleyes:

He was asking $3200. It was close by, with my trailer it would've been a long afternoon's effort to move and get into the shop.

I occasionally see planers of this class in the $4-6k range. There was a nice 9hp griggio/laguna advertised on here that I missed out on. I keep running into weird calibration issues with the Grizzly that I haven't got a handle on. With most of the machines in the shop now being 3 phase I have this weird impulse to convert the rest. :D

I'm still a one man hobbiest shop looking towards a small business/side gig in the future with an interest in furniture. Have gotten plenty of recent experience moving these heavy machines around and a pallet jack hides close by under the Felder slider.

I ended up going with a regular 20hp floor unit with a panel on the wall as the mobile one was looking to be another $1k or so. In retrospect I should have gone that route for the convenience factor and ease of relocating it as needed when I invariably move things around in the shop. It's been working great running the 10hp felder and 5hp dust collection simultaneously though. :)

[Mark Gibney]

You missed out on this Powermatic machine, but now is a good time to reflect on what you might want to do if a similar opportunity comes around again.

If you've worked with one of these machines or similar, and feel it would be a much better fit for your work now and in the future then that's something to consider.
If you covet this machine because of the cool factor over Grizzly, then maybe proceed with caution.
If you had bought the Powermatic you would then have to move the Grizzly on. So take into account your net spend over buying the Powermatic, selling the Grizzly (how long will that take?), and any other incidentals that you might have to pay for.

When another one like this comes up for sale you'll be much clearer on what you want to do.