Old Grizzly Planer or Buy New?

[Chris Kalnasy]

Sort of at an inbetween spot currently.

A local friend has a Grizzly G0551 2HP planer for sale for around $900 to $1000. It has had the grizzly spiral cutter head installed which is a sweet upgrade for sure as I have a bench top 'helical style' planar now. But at the same time I have been eyeing the G1021X2 Extreme Series 3HP helical planer ($2000 plus shipping) or the G0891 Fixed Table 3HP Helical Planer ($1800 plus shipping). And in regards to the new units I would wait for a sale for the specific one to pop up to try and save at least a couple hundred bucks.

Anyhow, would you spend the extra money for something brand new with a warranty as well as 2 speed feed rates for both models (I am unsure if the used unit has 2 speeds or not, eventually the later years of that model did have it)? I don't tend to take super deep passes when planing, especially when you consider currently my benchtop is 110V and probably in that 1 1/2 HP range.

Thanks!

[Ben Grefe]

Re: 2 speeds.

I’m sure many home/hobby workflows make use of the 2 different speeds, but I can tell you, mine does not. I leave mine in the slow setting and don’t touch it.

I have a G0454Z, which is very similar to the G1021X2 from the looks of it. Quickly checking out the G0891 and G0551, I think the rigidity upgrades with the larger units are well worth the extra money. Cast Iron infeed and outfeed tables make a big difference as well.

I wouldn’t put too much value into the warranty either. IMO it’s basically good for catastrophic failure and that’s about it. Otherwise these are somewhat simple machines that will require adjustment and tuning, regardless of age. If you think your friend has taken good care of their unit, then it’s probably just as good as having the Grizzly warranty.

If it were me, I’d pickup the G1021X2 in your spot. I’m very happy with the similar one I got.

[Bill Dufour]

How wide a cut? Can the fancy cutterhead be moved to a different machine? The cutterhead alone may be worth the price especially if it can be swapped into a heavy duty machine.
Bill D.