Powermatic Planer Value

[DieselDennis]

Got an estate sale coming up nearby.  Shop seems to be stocked with lots of good tools.  Seems to be a case where the husband died and the widow is finally selling off the things.  

There's a Powermatic planer in the lot.  Looks like the 15" model.  New price on this model is $3,200, but that is with a Shellix head.  I'm guessing this one is older and just has the straight knives.  Two questions:

What's it worth as is?
What's it worth if it was cleaned up, tables polished, etc.?  

Half of new price would be $1,600.  But if you removed the value of the upgraded cutterhead, then I'm thinking a good used price might be $1,250.  Am I close or way off?  

   

   

[Lumber Yard®]

I had that planer (Model 15) for a few years... I paid $350 for it off of CL. It had a standard cutterhead in it when I bought it. I put a "Byrd style" cutterhead in it and used it for a few years that way. IIRC I sold it for $1350 about 10 years ago, it was in good shape and still on the first side of the carbide cutters. HTH

I'm cheap but I could see paying $500-$600 for that used 15" planer if I needed it.

[barryvabeach]

I may be cheap as well, but I am with Lumber Yard on the amount I would pay.   IMO,  the half list price of a particular machine is not a good starting place when looking at some machines.   In some cases, a maker sells at a premium compared to others, maybe due to its warranty or customer support.  Both those factors are not important when the model is as old as this one is.  So instead,  I would start at 1/2 of the current price of a similar machine, not just a Powermatic.  I just checked and a Grizzly 15 inch 3 hp is around $1,375  , so in good condition, that would mean just south of $700,  deduct for rust and clean up, and you hit Lumber Yard's estimate.  

BTW,  I did buy an old PM50 Powermatic jointer a very long time ago, and looked at what it cost new, and IIRC,  I paid about 1/3 of that price.  In retrospect, I would have been better buying different model new, since the motor on the old one was underpowered by modern standards, and somewhere in its life someone had thoroughly screwed up the assembly of some of the parts so the rear table couldn't be adjusted,  and I had to completely rework part of it.  

BTW,  the Grizzly with the helical head is only $1,800.  I haven't owned a Grizzly planer, but have one of their bandsaws and it is running strong years later.

[Stwood_]

Thats one that griz copied and it sells new for around 1400.00

I wouldn't go over 500.00

[stav]

Lots of good advice here. I would follow those guys.

[rwe2156]

My daddy used to say wherever what one will take and one will give meet, that's the best price.

Grizzly didn't copy anything, nor did Jet. They look the same because they all come out of the same foundry in Taiwan.

That said, Stwood is right they are basically the same planer you're just paying for (maybe) a better motor & switch, and the yellow color.

[aquaticjim]

They look the same because they all come out of the same foundry in Taiwan.

How do you know?  I hear that all of the time about the Asian crap to justify buying the cheapest copy of something.  The truth is that no one knows.  The 15" and 20" planers were designed after Jet purchased Powermatic so they share the same source in Asia.  Jet corporation paid for the tooling that resides at the foundry.  Do you really think Jet lets that foundry cast the same iron for other manufacturers using the Jet tooling?

[Ray Newman]

Is there a chance you could run a board through it? 

Maybe contact the person holding the sale, tell him/her you are very interested in the machine but need to do a test to determine if it is in working order. On a great deal of used machinery I am skeptical. Guess I have read of too many people buying machinery that needed too much work for the selling price.

Any on-line reviews or other information about this model?

[measure once cut remeasure]

If i was in need of a planer for my own use and not something i planned to resell my limits would be:
5 hp single phase with a name brand motor max $ 700
5 hp single phase with a no name motor max $650
3 hp single phase with a name brand motor max $ 650
3 hp single phase with a no name motor max $ 600

I would prefer this older powermatic to a dewalt bechtop that would be about $600 plus tax

[fredhargis]

Made any decision on what to do, Dennis?