Band saws: General 270 or Mini Max MM16

[JP]

I have started looking at band saws to replace my Jet 14". Here in Canada the MM16 would have to be imported, and although the cnd $$ is stronger it still will cost north of 3000$$ cnd. An alternative I have looked at is the General Intl 18" 90-270 (3 hp). Does any one have the General, or has any one compared it to the MM16. How would you rate/compare each one versus the other. What are the major differences. The General can be had for about 2000$$ cnd. Is the difference 'in your opinion' worth the extra 1000$$ cnd for the MM16.

Thanks Jim parkesjg@*remove*hotmail.com

[Bill Wallace]

Well, I (of late) have become a real Girzzly fan

Their prices are incredible, very reasonable shipping prices also listed on their website for each product and the few machines of their's that I've worked over have been real sweet.

I'm looking forward to starting in a shop soon that has a Grizzly 20" planer and 25" belt sander and I'll be bringing in my own 1 HP floor model Grizzly spindle sander.

Unfortunately I haven't ever used their band saws so maybe others have opinions on that. I did notice that with Grizzly you have to get to a

20" before you get up to a 3 HP unlike the MM which has 3 HP in the 16". However, the Grizzly 20" is cheaper than the MM 16 and that includes shipping!