I am down to the short straws on purchasing a G 0453. I have viewed the machine in the Springfield store and have seen dozens of positive reviews with very little negative. I also have a Grizzly 1023s cabinet saw and couldn't be more pleased.
Our son-in-law owns several pieces of Grizzly machinery and is generally very pleased. However, he told me this weekend that his 5 year old G0551 surface planer has been the one tool that he fiddles with the most. Nearly all his problems are related to maintaining cutter-head height relative to table. I witnessed this once while we were planing some stock and the head clearly sagged during the operation. He says it is most prevalent when running rough sawn stock. I realize the G0551 and G0453 are very different machines. The 0551 is a top-motor design that raises and lowers the cutter head. The 0453 is a bottom motor machine that moves the table.
I still have that ounce of doubt. Has anyone out there experienced cutter head height or any other serious problems with this machine?
RonB