2hp Gorilla or 3hp?

[chris del]

I have a small one man shop (16' x 32'). Never is there more than one machine going at a time. I am thinking about upgrading my dust collection and have to decide on a 2hp or 3hp Gorilla.
If money was no object I would simply just go with the 3hp.
Would the 2hp be sufficiant, or is a 3hp a must?
I have a TS, BS, Shaper, 8" jointer, Planer and maybe a 24" drum sander in the future.

Any advise/help would be appreciated.

Chris

[Joe Jensen]

I have 20 by 30 one man shop. It's just a serious hobby shop, but it's full of industrial tools. I worked with Oneida and they convinced me that 2HP was plenty for my layout. However, my planer is only a 12" Powermatic and it's only 2 ft fro the collector. My Radial saw and 8" jointer are about 15 feet away from the collector. The other motivation was power. I have a 220V subpanel in the shop that only has 50 amps. My TS is 5HP, and I was concerned that the 3HP collector and the Saw would require me to run a new line underground to the subpanel. Having said that, I have not wanted for more power yet...joe

[Jim Becker]

I have been more than pleased with my Oneida 2hp Commercial system (performance equivalent of the 2hp Gorilla) in a one-person shop scenario. At the time I was buying, I had the opportunity to do a 3hp system (older model) that was a scratch and dent, but chose to stick with the new 2hp system for height reasons. I have not regretted it one bit. It easily handles my wide J/P as well as my 22" drum sander. It will run both the cabinet and overarm guard on my TS with acceptable performance. (Which I could increase if I re-plumbed the connection to the saw cabinet) I'm running a stepped duct system originally designed by Oneida and updated when the larger cyclone went in a couple years ago. 7" to 6" main with 6", 5" and 4" drops as appropriate for the tool.

[chris del]

Id love to see installation pictures. Gorilla, ducting, machine connections etc...

Chris

[Michael Gabbay]

I bought the 3hp and I'm a 1 man shop that is 13 x 26. My feeling was that this would be the last DC I would need. So if/when I move to a bigger shop I would not need to upgrade. For the money the 3hp was a good choice for me.

[CPeter James]

I have an older 1 1/2 hp Oneida that has been upgraded to the outside filter used in the newer 2 & 3 hp units. It is a one man shop and my "ducting" consists of 25' of 5" flex tied to the ceiling (temporary for longer than I want to admit). At the end is a 105 degree bend dropping down onto my 15" planer. I can run full width boards through the planer and not a chip escapes the DC. Based on that, the 2 hp should be more than enough.

CPeter

[Christopher Stahl]

Give Oneida a call, they'll help you figure out what you need.

[Joe Mioux]

2hp is all you need!

[John Renzetti]

Hi Chris, while the 2hp might be sufficient now, get the 3hp so that any future upgrades (bigger planer, open ended wide belt), will be covered. Put the 3hp on one end of the shop and run the main trunk line down the center with drops to the machines as needed.
take care,
John

[Paul Kinneberg]

Chris I have the 3hp Gorilla and am very satisfied so far, just got it operational in the last few weeks. In the end the price was close enough that I felt it was worth it and didn't feel I was over doing it either. The only issues/complaints I have had with Oneida are around there customer service not terrible but for what I consider to be a higherend product not what I expected. Fit and finnish is great and operationally great the stand is probably the only weakness from a product perspective that little wall mount is a joke luckily for me my brother was able to fabricate a front brace for me.

[chris del]

What do you guys think about going with the 2HP gorilla, and keeping my Delta 1.5hp (50-760) strictly for the planer?

[Michael Gabbay]

If you have the room then why not? If you are worried about the planer then for a few hundred extra get the 3hp and use the room for more wood. Plus you can sell your other DC to offset the price.

[Jim Becker]

What do you guys think about going with the 2HP gorilla, and keeping my Delta 1.5hp (50-760) strictly for the planer?

I wouldn't use the old DC for the planer...the cyclone is better suited. Just be sure to monitor the bin frequently.

[Aaron Beaver]

I agree with the others, if you have the room go for the 3hp. Might be useful in the future if you have moree/bigger machines. Just take what you might have later into consideration that way you don't have to buy twice.

[chris del]

I wouldn't use the old DC for the planer...the cyclone is better suited. Just be sure to monitor the bin frequently.

What I was thinking Jim was that seing as the planer was the furthest (30') away from where the Gorilla would be going, and also being the machine that creates the most chips (not much fine dust) that it would be benificial to keep the Delta DC + my 55 gallon drum with Veritas cyclone lid. This will eliminate long ducting from the Gorilla as well as solve the capicity short commings of the 35 gallon container of the Gorilla.....
I think it makes allot of sense.... Why dont you think so?

Thanks,

Chris

[Joe Mioux]

Can someone explain to me how a 2hp Gorilla is going to be undersized for the shop that Chris has.

He is a one man shop, with the shop being 32x16 and only one tool run at one time.

From the looks of Chris' shop he has some great WW tools already.
Joe

[martyphee]

It could be undersized depending on his longest run and size of pipe. I have a 20x25 shop, but my longest run is probably 35'+. Though I have a 5hp torit with 8" mains.

[Joe Mioux]

Maybe, but I doubt it. My garage is 24x32 and Oneida has designed the duct work to make all the major tools work well with the dust collection.

[chris del]

I will not be getting any other machines, there is simply no more room in my shop. One day if we sell this property and move, I would like to build a shop at least twice this size, but that is years from now.
I am always worried about getting a smaller machine and being unhappy, thats why I asked the question here.
Price is a factor for me (these Gorillas cost allot more to get into Canada) , but so is space and amp draw (I have a 60 amp service in the shop) The 2 hp makes so much more sense to me, but I guess I will never know if it will do the trick unless I buy one and try it.

[Tom Jones III]

The best rule of thumb I've heard came from the Oneida rep that sold me a gorilla, she said the 2 HP is designed to have a single 6" port open OR two 4" ports open at once. If you can deal with that then it sounds like a 2 HP is what you want. Personally I would think long and hard before getting the smaller one. It is hard to predict how your work will change over the years.

[Jack Hogoboom]

Just a note of caution: I just got my 2hp Super Gorilla (stealth gloat:D ) and it is a monster!!! Much bigger than I thought it would be. I had to assemble it with it lying on its side and then I couldn't even budge it. Luckily, some workmen righted it for me. Having seen the size of this beast, I'm glad I didn't go for the 3hp. I had the same reaction when I saw my new IR air compressor for the first time (another stealth gloat:D ). I couldn't even get it off the shipping pallet without help.

Now if they would just finish the darn shop....

Jack