Grizzly G 1021 15 inch Planer

[Goodwin Heil]

Hello All. Once again I have a quandary. I have a friend that lives in Missouri, near Springfield and in conversing with him yesterday, I mentioned that I would be coming to Grizzly in late February to pick up a new 15 inch planer, with spherical cutter. He texted back with a pic of a 1989 Grizzly G 1021 15 inch Planer that was out in his barn. Said he was considering selling it about a year ago. It used to be his Father's, who died some years ago. He also said he did not use it very much.

My problem is...he left it to me to establish what is a fair price for it. It seem, from the pic to have some surface rust and my friend says it was working when his father passed away 3 to 5 years ago and as I said, had not been used much at all. At this point I do not have a lot of information on it other than what I have said. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could go about establishing a range to negotiate from for both of us?




Grizzly planer.jpgGrizzly planer 2.jpg

[glenn bradley]

Little used but, little cared for as well. The paint color puts it's manufacture well before my first Grizzly purchases of 18 years ago. Maybe someone with a Griz that color can be more specific. Grizzly has re-used that number for a different format planer (motor in the cabinet below as opposed to riding on top). That format planer is now sold as a G0815, 3HP at about $1100. My assessment of a used value would be based on oil changes (probably never if the ours are that low), pitting on parts that need to be smooth, judgement of what the inside of the motor looks like if the outside looks like it does and so forth. Sorry I can't be specific but, maybe I have given you some food for thought.

[jamil mehdi]

It's an old 4 post planer that probably needs knives and a bunch of TLC. I would offer $350 and shrug when the guy says "no way".

[Mike Kees]

Check to see if the motor runs and if you do not mind cleaning it up (rust) offer $300 tops. It could run well for years yet if it has not been used much. It also may very well need new bearings on the cutter head and in the motor. Financially you need room to maneuver if it becomes a "project". Also it will have a three knife cutter head not the helical. It may be cheaper to upgrade to a helical in this machine instead of buying the new machine, depends on if you have more time than cash.

[Goodwin Heil]

Glenn, Jamil,and Mike, your help, as usual, is invaluable. The surface rust I can see does not worry me too much. I restore planes and handsaws much worse, but I am concerned, as was mentioned, about the motor. My friend and I have known each other quite some time and I am considering a drive to examine it. That is usually best. It is about 400 miles, but I haven't seen him in a long time anyhow. I am also concerned about whether I could get a spherical head for it. You all have given me much "food for thought" and I am very appreciative. Thank you.

[Bobby Robbinett]

Looks like on the Grizzly website you can’t get a new 15” model with a spiral cutterhead for under $2,000. I have a clone of the old 15” g1021 made by Bridgewood from that same era. It is a beast. Mine was also stored out in a barn and was quite rusted. It took some work to get the rust off but I wouldn’t trade mine for a new one. You can get a Byrd cutterhead with bearings and seals for under $830. Definitely want to install new bearings when you do the swap. These planers are built like tanks and it is my understanding that some of the internals are heavier duty and of higher quality than the new models that replaced the original g1021. I know for sure that the motors are better built. I built a shop made mobile base for mine and recently ordered some cast iron infeed and outfeed extensions from Grizzly that I intend to retrofit to my Bridgewood BW15p.

I would offer him $300 and maybe go up to $350. Another good item to get for these is a rotacator. These things are so handy and you will find a ton of uses for it. Works great for making sure that your platform is parallel to the cutterhead or knives. Another good upgrade is a new outfeed roller and roller blocks. Some of them came with metal serrated outfeed rollers. I would check and if so I would order a new rubber out feed roller from Grizzly. If you do this it would be good to also replace the bearings blocks too.

[Keith Outten]

I own the same 15" Grizzly planer. Bought mine new around 1983 I think. It still runs perfectly today in spite of the fact that it has been heavily used. I planed 400 board feet of hardwood every month for ten years when I was running my dry kiln, the rest of the time it was used just for personal projects. I think I have worn out three sets of knives, the fourth set is in my planer now and I have always sharpened my own blades. I use a Makita slow speed wet sharpener that removes very little metal from the edges so my planer has seen a lot of hours. I think the original purchase price was $550.00 (US). I have only had to change the oil in the gearbox, no other maintenance has been required other than waxing the bed before I use it every time.

It weighs about 500 pounds, its a beast of a machine for the money. I doubt I will ever need to replace my planer. I still have the original manual, if you buy the planer and need a copy I can help.

[Jared Sankovich]

The pre 1995 planers need two additional gears to run a shelix/helical head. The drive and driven gear off the cutter head to be replaced with the newer parts. One of those gears also needs shortened to fit in the old housing.

[Goodwin Heil]

Good morning friends. The wealth of knowledge keeps pouring in. It is soo impressive.

Bobby, That fact you mentioned is what started this. I mentioned to my good friend, Todd, that I was going to buy a new 15 inch at $2250. I had already planned on the new sealed bearings, with the thinking being that the oil had run out of the open bearings sitting and could have possibly have rust on the bearings. At a quick glance at the Byrd site it did not appear there was a cutterhead available for this machine. I most certainly could be wrong. Is the rubber outfeed roller a direct swap, if you might know. another concern is the new one is 3 hp and this is 2 hp. will that make a difference, particularly as I work with mostly hardwoods.

Keith, your offer of a manual is outstanding and in the spirit of this forum. I thank you and if I do purchase it will take you up on it. Your feelings and mine coincide pertaining to the old machinery. I have always felt they were built better, may not have all the doodads, but will run all day. That is why I ride an Old Harley.

Jared, much appreciation for your advice. The gear that needs shortening, does that have to be milled?

Thank you all for your help.

[glenn bradley]

This is all sounding very good. If you can get the machine for a good price and upgrade the head you will be in good shape. I do not know if that machine has the serrated steel feed rollers but, if I were going to do the head I would look into a rubber outfeed roller and swap it at the same time.

[Goodwin Heil]

Yes Glenn it is supposed to, and I certainly would.
I also found out he has the infeed and outfeed tables that it came with.

[Lisa Starr]

Go for it. I have that planer, and it came out of a manufacturing firm that ran PVC thru it for years. I've now had it for 6 years and other than the general cleaning it needed I've only replaced the gear oil. Still running straight blades and it does just fine on everything I want it to do.

[Goodwin Heil]

Well, My friend found two on Ebay at $800. One does not run and is rusted. The other is a little old lady in Maryland. Probably only drove it to Church on Sunday. Actually, It is in nice shape and has a mobile base, But for $600 more you can get a new one with knives, mobile base, 3 hp motor and all the bells and whistles of a new one.
We have decided, as we both have full schedules, through the holidays, we will continue this in early January. He can look further into prices. I have already told him that if he thought he could get $800 for it he need to sell it, that I would not pay that. I have not told him, but I have determined that in January, I would go to $350, possibly as high as $400 and that's it. this is a project and I can see another grand going into it to make it as it should be. If that was to be the case , I probably should just buy a new one.