Grizzly G0453 Planer - Crate Size / Weight?

[Marty Tippin]

I'm looking at buying a Grizzly G0453PX 15" planer and am trying to decide whether I should pick it up from the warehouse (it's only a couple hours away) or have it delivered.

If I pick it up, my concern is how to get it out of the back of my pickup truck - it's a heavy package at over 600 lbs, but I can't tell whether it ships pre-assembled or if it comes in pieces that I can wrangle one at a time without taking the whole crate out of the truck. I have a friend with a skid loader and forks that I might be able to coerce into helping, but he's 20 miles away and it's a hassle to get it loaded and unloaded for a 5 minute job...

So, owners of this model, what was your assembly experience like? Did any of you pick up the planer at the warehouse?

[Bill White]

Have ya contacted Grizzly customer service for this info?
Bill

[eugene thomas]

I had 20 planer delivered few weeks ago from grizzly. All had to do is clean off shipping grease and put on the in feed and out feed table and few other things.

[Jim Sevey]

Eugene is right. The infeed/outfeed tables have to be attached (plus some handwheels, etc). You are still looking at close to 500 pounds. I used a friends tractor with forks- he can attach forks to the front end loader bucket. It's a heavy piece of machinery.

[rudy de haas]

Hi:

One of Grizzly's strengths is in their website documenation - the spec sheets ( see http://cdn0.grizzly.com/specsheets/g0453_ds.pdf for yours) gives the crate dimensions - 30 x 31 x 47 for the G0453 - all in one crate. 675 pounds - get a forklift!

[Victor Robinson]

It ships mostly assembled and upright in its crate. As Jim says you can unpack the tables and some of the accessories, but you would definitely need the forklift or 4 guys to get it off the truck.

Assembly is fairly minimal...just remember to add gearbox oil...the manual mentions topping it off but mine shipped bone dry.

[scott vroom]

When I had my 0453X delivered the driver placed the pallet right onto my shop floor. The pallet was small and rickety but we managed to slide the unit down a wood ramp to the floor....easy job for 2 of us. For me personally, I can't imagine driving several hours round trip, and then having the problem of how to get the pallet off the truck, just to avoid a $150 delivery fee. If you have it delivered make sure the delivery truck is equipped with a lift gate and a pallet jack. I've never encountered a driver not willing to drop a delivery right onto my shop floor (25' contrete driveway from street to shop, with wide access door).

[Marty Tippin]

For me personally, I can't imagine driving several hours round trip, and then having the problem of how to get the pallet off the truck, just to avoid a $150 delivery fee.

With lift gate service, delivery is actually $185. And, since I live in Missouri, I have to pay sales tax also (an extra $140)

It'll cost maybe $70 round-trip for fuel, plus a few hours of my time, so yeah, I'm motivated to keep the extra $110 in my pocket (or at least have it available to spend on other goodies while I'm visiting their *huge* showroom)...

So I guess I'll have to bribe my buddy with the skid loader and forks...

[Wade Lippman]

Actual cost is at least twice the gas cost; wear and tear on truck and tires. Even calling your time free (up to you to value that...) you won't save much of anything picking it up.

[Mike Chalmers]

Actual cost is at least twice the gas cost; wear and tear on truck and tires. Even calling your time free (up to you to value that...) you won't save much of anything picking it up.

Time is money, except when you are having fun. I say, go get it. If I had a chance to visit a Grizzly show room, I'd pay.

[Phillip Gregory]

I'm looking at buying a Grizzly G0453PX 15" planer and am trying to decide whether I should pick it up from the warehouse (it's only a couple hours away) or have it delivered.

If I pick it up, my concern is how to get it out of the back of my pickup truck - it's a heavy package at over 600 lbs, but I can't tell whether it ships pre-assembled or if it comes in pieces that I can wrangle one at a time without taking the whole crate out of the truck. I have a friend with a skid loader and forks that I might be able to coerce into helping, but he's 20 miles away and it's a hassle to get it loaded and unloaded for a 5 minute job...

So, owners of this model, what was your assembly experience like? Did any of you pick up the planer at the warehouse?

I know this is a real late reply but in case anybody else using the search function finds this thread like I did, I will answer it as I recently bought one of these and picked it up since I live pretty close to Springfield, MO.

The planer weighs 675 pounds. It's a little smaller than a washing machine in size but MUCH heavier. It has to remain standing up as it ships nearly completely assembled. Any pickup can handle it easily and the forklift at the warehouse can plop it right into the bed. You will need a tractor or forklift to remove it from your truck bed as it's too heavy to put a hand cart underneath and roll down ramps. I personally used a ~30 hp compact tractor with a loader to remove it. I simply put the bucket flat against the top of the crate, threw a log chain around it, and then picked it up and carried it into my shop. My tractor weighs about 3500 lbs with the loader and it needed about 400 pounds of counterweight on the 3-point hitch to be able to back up from the pickup truck with the planer lifted up. I have a garage door, so I just opened it, drove in, and set the planer down. A pallet fork instead of a materials bucket on the end of the loader makes it much easier but you don't absolutely need one. You will need at least a small compact tractor (e.g. not a subcompact like a Kubota BX, Massey-Ferguson GC series, or 1-series John Deere.)

The main job you have to do when you get the planer is to degrease it, put 80W-90 gear oil in the gearbox, and attach the infeed and outfeed tables and level them. The only other things not attached are the handwheel, the mag switch (you just have to screw it to the frame), and the kickstand. You can roll the planer off the bottom of the crate after you attach the kickstand wheel if you make a short little ramp out of a 2x6. You can also pull out the forklift lift bars, hook chains under them, and pick up up off the crate once the sides are off.

Actual cost is at least twice the gas cost; wear and tear on truck and tires. Even calling your time free (up to you to value that...) you won't save much of anything picking it up.

KCMO isn't far from Springfield. Just take US 71/I-49 straight down to Springfield, it's not quite three hours to get there. There are plenty of fun things to do in Springfield in addition to go to the Grizzly showroom, such as go to the giant original Bass Pro Shops store.

[Joe Pack]

Not the planer you are asking about, but a buddy helped me pick up a full-size SawStop cabinet saw a couple of years back. The Woodcraft loaded it into the bed of the pickup truck with a forklift. When we got back to my house, we backed the pickup into the garage, then rolled an engine hoist up to the tailgate, ran a heavy duty lifting strap around the pallet/saw, then lifted the whole thing up off the bed of the truck about 2 inches...enough to clear, but not so far as to cause damage if the unit was dropped. After letting it hang for a minute or so with no problems, we eased the pickup out of the garage, leaving the saw hanging. We then lowered the pallet to the floor. We did not try to roll the hoist around, we just lifted straight up, then straight down.

Of course, you would have to have a hoist available, but that's what friends are for!

[Jim Andrew]

A small tilt bed trailer will handle the weight of the machine easily, and you can back your trailer up to your shop and slide it off, by tilting the bed down. And then you can use the trailer to transport your mower or atv. Or pick up a bargain clist buy.

[Phillip Gregory]

Not the planer you are asking about, but a buddy helped me pick up a full-size SawStop cabinet saw a couple of years back. The Woodcraft loaded it into the bed of the pickup truck with a forklift. When we got back to my house, we backed the pickup into the garage, then rolled an engine hoist up to the tailgate, ran a heavy duty lifting strap around the pallet/saw, then lifted the whole thing up off the bed of the truck about 2 inches...enough to clear, but not so far as to cause damage if the unit was dropped. After letting it hang for a minute or so with no problems, we eased the pickup out of the garage, leaving the saw hanging. We then lowered the pallet to the floor. We did not try to roll the hoist around, we just lifted straight up, then straight down.

Of course, you would have to have a hoist available, but that's what friends are for!

A gantry hoist or a simple block and tackle connected to a ceiling joist or I-beam (that is rated to support the weight) can also work.

[glenn bradley]

When I had my 0453X delivered the driver placed the pallet right onto my shop floor. The pallet was small and rickety but we managed to slide the unit down a wood ramp to the floor....easy job for 2 of us.

This is basically what I did. Where I live the truck can back right up to me so the driver put the planer on the lift and lowered it a bit, backed into the shop and lowered it the rest of the way. I built a temporary ramp out of scrap, bought a coworker lunch during which we swung by the shop and walked the planer of easily. To unload from a pickup I would want a lift of some sort; cherry picker, gantry crane, whatever. I would not want to ramp is down from pick-up bed height without three more helpers but, that's me.