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