What am I giving up by switching these planers

[stav]

Hi all, I have a Belsaw 9142 planer that works pretty good. Problem is I have a very small space to store my tools. They all go in a 9'x10' room with the washer/dryer, water heater, bikes, etc.  One day I happened on this Ridgid planer for $75.  It works pretty good as well. I don't know that I see a lot of difference in them usage wise, but then I haven't used either extensively.  Considering the space, I and thinking about selling the Belsaw and keeping the Ridgid.  If anyone has any opinion on either or the idea in general, I would be glad to hear it.  

Here they are. I do have the in and outfeed tables for the Belsaw, they are just not attached at the moment.

[WoodTinker]

My question to your question.

Which does better at SNIPE/Planed Surface and dust collection? Go with that one.

[Handplanesandmore]

Good pointers from WoodThinker.

I could not imagine that the Belsaw 9142 (made in the 60s or before) would have better dust collection which is also 1/2" narrow than the Ridgid unless your Ridgid is a very old model. Ridgid planers have enjoyed quite a reasonably good reputation among their users. My neighbor has a Ridgid (R4331?) and his opinion is that the Ridgid is better than the Dewalt 12.5" (which he once owned) in terms of snipes and dust colletion. He has given his machine quite a beating, and is happy about his choice.

Yet, if country of origin is important, Belsaw is made in US (Kansas), Ridgid China. That said, I am no big fan of old machines.

Simon

[stav]

The Belsaw does have a 3hp motor but it also has less capacity. It is much more robust than the Ridgid, but then that is one of my issues. The space required is quite a bit more as well.

I guess I’m looking for something in the cut quality or useablility that would make it worth keeping in my situation.

[DFJarvie]

What do you want to do with the planer? Will you be milling rough lumber or cleaning up smaller milled wood? The Ridgid will do a good job but once you start to throw thicker heavy rough wood at it it will not perform as well as the Belsaw. I have a Belsaw and ran 8ft rough walnut and maple with out bogging it down. I don’t think the Ridgid would work as well for this, just my opinion.

This is like comparing a compact pickup to a full size. Both will carry things but once you need to haul a large trailer or a heavy load the compact pickup isn’t going to perform as well.

[jteneyck]

Given your small space and what sounds like low use, I'd go with the Ridgid.  The only downside I see is the noise from the universal motor.  

John

[toolmiser]

I don't think anyone mentioned length of amount of use. The Belsaw will last for much longer life than the Ridgid.

How about power requirements?

[stav]

I don't think anyone mentioned length of amount of use.  The Belsaw will last for much longer life than the Ridgid.

How about power requirements?

The Belsaw runs on 220, which I have one outlet that I have to switch between three tools I have that use that.  Unisaw, compressor and the Belsaw.  Generally I am not using all of them at the same time.

[Tapper]

The Belsaw runs on 220, which I have one outlet that I have to switch between three tools I have that use that.  Unisaw, compressor and the Belsaw.  Generally I am not using all of them at the same time.

I have a Ridgid planer just like the one in your picture and it is a wonderful piece of machinery IMO. I'm fortunate to have room enough for a 15" planer with a spiral cutterhead. Still use them both now; use the Ridgid mostly for rough work. Bought it new at HD many years ago.

Doug

[EvilTwin]

One other thing to consider is ease of blade change. The Ridgid uses double sided replaceable blades and the belsaw probably has blades that need to be removed to be sharpened and then realigned back in. If you are going through lots of lumber, that will save you time and effort.

If you end up selling the Belsaw, I'll bet you get more for it than the 75 you paid for the Ridgid.