Anyone have a Grizzly or Yorkcraft 20" planer?

[dale rex]

Gonna probably buy one or the other in the fall.:D Have a couple of concerns .......the listed width is 39 1/2 " and my door to the shop from the garage is 36". I see the specs have a footprint listed as 29 1/2" wide, so I am wondering if I can strip any wheels or cranks or levers, etc. from the sides of the planer, to get it narrowed down to fit through my door. I also dont know if I want to pick it up from the showroom(I live 2 hrs from either Wilke or Grizzly(Muncy). I am a little concerned about how to unload a 900 lb hunk of iron from the back of my van:( . I think it will fit in my Ford van, as far as the height is concerned, but it will be very close. I have heard of complaints about Grizzly shipping and Wilke being very expensive in their shipping costs. Anyone have any experiences with Wilke shipping?

[Greg Koch]

As far as getting it to your place, rent a lift truck for a day...

[Russ Massery]

Dale, I have the 15" version of the Yorkcraft. I unloaded it using a engine hoist. There are lifting bars in the lower casting I rapped a chain around. As far as the crank handles there not installed from the factory. Hope it helps....

[fRED mCnEILL]

I have a Grizzly 20 in Planer(G0454) that I bougth two months ago. I just went out to the shop and measured it. While it is 34 inches wide it is 29 1/2 inches deep without the wings.(it is shipped with the wings off) So it should fit through your door very easly. You also could get it an inch or two narrower by taking off the on/off switch box. It is aprox 45 inches high as well (out of crate)However in order to get it though the doors "sideways" you can't use the casters so I would make a dolly. Get some cheap metal casters and make a platform with double thick 3/4 in plywood and it will be quite manuverable provided you floor in the gargae is reasonably smooth.

It is HEAVY. I brought mine home in a trailer thinking I could unload it from the trailer with my tractor but the bucket wouldn't fit in so I rolled it down some planks and then was able to pick it up with the tractor.

If the box won't fit in your van take it out of the box at Grizzly and have them load it in with the forklift. Then when you get home use some planks to skid it down to the ground.

Using some ingenuity you should be able to do it or get 8 strong friends(or there sons)

Fred Mc.

[dale rex]

Fred , how do you like your planer? Does it perform well? Can you give me a short review?:)

[Ed Lang]

I ran my 20" Grizzly planer all morning yesterday getting ready for some glue ups. I like mine and have had it for about a year now. I first ran it with a 5" to 4" adapter and connected to my dual bag chip collector. I had chips that would ride out on the outfeed side. I have since installed a Clear Vue Cyclone and ran 6" duct right to it. I made a 5" to 6" adapter and now I have no chips on the outfeed or anywhere else for that matter. Running that much CFM thru the planer when it is on does make it louder than it is without dust collection.

I am getting ready to change my knives this afternoon so I'll be ready to plane more stock tomorrow. Easy job to change.

[dale rex]

Ed, did you pick yours up or get it delivered? Heard some bad stories about shipments from Grizzly............just curious.

[fRED mCnEILL]

Dale, unforntunatley since I got the planer I have been doing a house reno for my daughter so I've only used the planer sporatically but it works like I expected. One thing I do notice though, is how quiet it is compared to the Dewalt I was using.

Fred Mc.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Fred , how do you like your planer? Does it perform well? Can you give me a short review?:)

We had the Grizzly 1033 at the mesquite outfit when I was there. Far as I know, they're still using it. I personally put thousands of feet of mesquite through it over about 5 years, and we often ran it for hours at a time, only stopping to empty the dust collector. After the first time, I could change the blades in maybe 15 minutes using the jig they provide...and that was always good enough for me. I never did manage to adjust out ALL the snipe, but it was very close, and certainly acceptable. If I had to have one complaint about it, it would be that the height adjustment wheel would vibrate and actually change the setting...but we didn't ever 'lock it' either, and I've seen both a JET and Powermatic of the same design do the same thing. We had a 4" line from the planer up to a 10' ceiling, over maybe 20' and then down 12' to a G1029 dust collector. It sucked just fine unless we were planing very thick material (like over 4") that wasn't very wide. If I ever get a big one for my own shop, I wouldn't hesitate to get the same thing.

KC

[Richard Wolf]

Just be careful about loading big things in a van. It's easy to load with a forklift, but undoading without one becomes a problem if it must be tipped or lifted with a hoist.

DAMHIKT
Richard

[dale rex]

i am considering renting a liftgate truck.........it might be less expensive than getting the planer shipped, and alot less of a hassle for me.