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Grizzly Planer?

Started by Papa1stuff, October 27, 2012, 04:33:51 PM

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Papa1stuff

Anyone have any comments about these planers ,They look good and aren't to bad a price.
1987 PB Grader with forks added to bucket
2--2008 455 Rancher Husky
WM CBN Sharpener & Setter

woodmills1

I have a grizzly 8 inch jointer I love as well as a grizzly low budget sharpener I hate but cannot live without
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Tree Feller

Quote from: Papa1stuff on October 27, 2012, 04:33:51 PM
Anyone have any comments about these planers ,They look good and aren't to bad a price.

I have the Grizzly GO453 15", 3 hp planer. It is a 3-bladed planer since I didn't spend the extra $600 for a spiral head. However, it is a major step up from the benchtops.

I also have a Dewalt DW733 that the Griz replaced. The Grizzly has an induction motor instead of that screaming universal motor that is on the 733. It will take a big bite if you need to remove a lot of material per pass but also leaves a finish that is comparable or better than the 733.

The only thing I dislike is that if you are taking only a skimming cut, it will leave "tracks" fom the infeed rollers. The upside is that the roller doesn't slip like the rubber ones can.

I would definitely buy it again.
Cody

Logmaster LM-1 Sawmill
Kioti CK 30 w/ FEL
Stihl MS-290 Chainsaw
48" Logrite Cant Hook
Well equipped, serious, woodworking shop

YellowHammer

I have the Grizzly Polar Bear 3 hp spiral 15 inch. I have had it just over a year and use it to skip plane much of the thousands of bdft of kiln dried lumber that I sell.  I also ocasionally contract plane in batches of less than a Mbf per customer.  I just planed a thousand bdft of red oak with it in the last two days, no problems.  So I use it a lot and it's a good planer, sometimes running for consecutive days nonstop.  Reliability has been excellent (pulley bolt and key came out twice) and it has triple v belts that are still in good shape.  The carbides last a loooong time and there are inexpensive aftermarket cutter inserts available at low prices.  It does need a pretty beefy dust collecter, it pours out the chips so much that I gave up on bagging them and blow them straight into my dump trailer. 
YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Papa1stuff

Thanks for the replies .the Grizzly Polar Bear spiral 15" is the one I was looking at.
1987 PB Grader with forks added to bucket
2--2008 455 Rancher Husky
WM CBN Sharpener & Setter

YellowHammer

If you don't mind me asking, will you be planing mostly softwood or hardwood?  What quantities?
yH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Busy Beaver Lumber

Have both the Grizzly 15" spiral cut planer and 6" spiral cut jointer and love them both




Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

Papa1stuff

Quote from: YellowHammer on October 28, 2012, 08:07:53 AM
If you don't mind me asking, will you be planing mostly softwood or hardwood?  What quantities?
yH
I will be doing both hardwood and soft ,not real large quantities .
This whole sawmill thing is kind of a hobby for me .
My Wife thinks I am kind of crazy,she says you are retired  ;D
Most all the logs I mill are from the landfill!
1987 PB Grader with forks added to bucket
2--2008 455 Rancher Husky
WM CBN Sharpener & Setter

YellowHammer

I shopped around quite a bit knowing I was was going to push mine pretty hard, but couldn't justify spending the bigger bucks for the heavy duty 5 hp or larger industrial models.  Couple tips if you get one, adjust the bed rollers up about .010 above the bed ways and it will allow rough sawn lumber to feed smoother on the first pass.  Also it's got a circuit breaker/contacter that was factory set too low and it kept tripping as soon as the motor would load.  So I adjusted it up to the max rating of the electic motor and now it'll grunt and power through the cut instead of prematurely tripping.  Good luck whichever you decide
YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

WDH

I have the GO453Z with the spiral head.  I have planed thousands of BF thru it, and it works fine.  If I take more than a 1/16" cut in hard wood, the circuit breaker/contacter will trip, and I have to reset it.  But, it has not been a major problem.

Yellowhammer, how do you adjust the circuit breaker/contactor????????  That is the only problem that I have had.  That thing cuts like a dream.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

LeeB

Ditto on .010 on the bed rollers. Check the rest of the settings when you set the rollers. Found my outfeed roller set at 040 and should have been 020. Sure works better now. Also be aware of the belt pully bolt that was mentioned. Mine fell off too pully and key never moved though. I found it when I went to reset the outfeed roller.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

YellowHammer

There is a small current limiting pot located inside the little plastic contactor enclosure, just nearby the circuit breaker reset button.  If you can see the reset button, you should be abe to see the potentiometer.  Around the pot are numbers that correspond to the number of amps the breaker will trip.  Use a small flathead screwdriver and dial it up.  Make sure the planer is unplugged because all this is where the 220vac is coming in. 
I also keep my hand close to the red E-stop button.  If you are taking a big cut and hear the motor load up to where it's not going to make it, quickly hit the E-stop button and you will usually keep from tripping the breaker since its at a higher setting.  Then just lower the bed a couple turns to unload the motor and switch the planer back on to  continue planing the board.
Or just very quickly spin the bed handwheel down to unload the meter without shutting the planer off.

YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Woodey

I have the Grizzly GO454Z 20" Spiral cutterhead. It works great.
The 5 HP motor hogs off the wood. I would suggest to anyone in the market for a planer spend the extra money for a carbide spiral cutterhead. It is well worth the extra $$. I have several Grizzly machines and they are good quality.
WOODMIZER LT40HDD34CAT w/accuset
JLG SKYTRAK 6036 Telescopic Forklift
NYLE L200 KILN
BAKER M412 MOULDER

Papa1stuff

Thanks again for all your replies,I took the plunge and ordered the 15" Polar Bear Sprial!
What is a fair price just to plane someone"s lumber?
1987 PB Grader with forks added to bucket
2--2008 455 Rancher Husky
WM CBN Sharpener & Setter

WDH

Alright! 

I charge $.50/BF, but that is in only little doses.  Normally I do not plane wood for people as the 15" Grizzly is not a production machine to say the least.  It is all about time and productivity.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

YellowHammer

Congratulations.  8)  Me too, I charge 50 cents a bdft.  I don't do big production quantities, but a fair amount of my customers ask me to plane their wood once they buy it and think about feeding it through their lunchbox planer.  So it makes me pretty steady money.
Robert   
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Papa1stuff

Thanks for the imput!
Hey at my age am not looking to run this machine or my WM all day every day,but maybe once in a while someone would like some boards planned ;D
1987 PB Grader with forks added to bucket
2--2008 455 Rancher Husky
WM CBN Sharpener & Setter

WDH

I timed how long it took me to plane 100 BF and then figured the price using a $/hour # that I was comfortable with.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

metalspinner

 8) 8)

Congratulations on your new planer!  You'll be happy witgh it. :)

I have the 20" Gizzley spiral head and never regretted the purchase. I'm still in the market for a larger dust collector.

When you guys say you will "plane a  customers lumber", do you mean planing each side to make it smooth or taking it down to finished thickness?

Danny's right, these are not production machines and alot of time would be spent planing and emptying dust collectors.
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

YellowHammer

I routinely skip plane any FAS grade boards to increase their marketability and price.  I take a light cut with the planer to get the lumber to a uniform thickness, remove any cup, provide a nice bright surface, and make sure there aren't any surprises.  I put the Grizz in high gear and run the boards through pretty fast.  It makes the boards much easier to sell, even at a significantly higher price. 

Then, if a customer pays for it, I'll plane the lumber to whatever finished thickness they want.  Small quantities while they wait, larger quantities they have to give me a day or two. 

I figure since I charge $0.35 per bdft to saw logs, then charging $0.50 per bdft to plane lumber is easy money.  It also gives me a slightly larger customer base because many of my customers are woodworkers and not everybody has a planer, or wants to use one.

I did have to upgrade my dust collector to one that allows me to attach a 6 inch discharge hose directly to the blower and bypass the bags or they would fill up all the time. So I use the discharge hose to blow all the chips outside into a big pile.  Lately I've been blowing the chips straight into a dump trailer.

As much as I use the planer, sometimes I wish I did have a bigger one, maybe one powered by a V8, but the Grizzly does surprisingly well for my use and has planed a whole lot of wood.


YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

WDH

YH,

I do the same thing on some boards like some pecan and q-sawn white oak so that the customer can see the figure.  Makes a huge difference.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Papa1stuff

My Grizzly came this afternoon,but it is still in the crate that it came in :(
I hurt my knee the other day and don't want to agitate it,it's better ,so mayby tomorrow I can at least get it out of the crate! ;D
1987 PB Grader with forks added to bucket
2--2008 455 Rancher Husky
WM CBN Sharpener & Setter

YellowHammer

Papa1stuff
Did you get it working?  Are the chips flying?
YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

WDH

YH,

I found the current limiting pot that you mentioned, and dialed it to the medium setting which I believe is 16 amps.  It was set on 15 amps, and the highest setting is 17 amps.  Just dialing it up one amp really helped.  Thanks for the heads up.  12" wide, dry, white oak is a bear on the 30 Feet Per Minute speed  :).
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Woodchuck53

Just a question about the 15" models. About 2 years ago i had to replace the right angle gears on the table raising crank. Any one else have to do it? My machine is about 8 years old now.
Case 1030 w/ Ford FEL, NH 3930 w/Ford FEL, Ford 801 backhoe/loader, TMC 4000# forklift, Stihl 090G-60" bar, 039AV, and 038, Corley 52" circle saw, 15" AMT planer Corley edger, F-350 1 ton, Ford 8000, 20' deck for loader and hauling, F-800 40' bucket truck, C60 Chevy 6 yd. dump truck.

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