15 year old Hammer A3-41

[JesseC]

Hi Guys and Gals,

I am looking for a little insight as to what you think the value of a 15 year old A3-41 would be? It was apparently used in a hobby shop for its first 14 years of life and in a professional shop for the past year. It has recently been serviced by Felder and the tech felt that it was in pretty good shape. I have not found much for past used sales prices online, especially a machine that is this old so I am having a hard time determining what a fair price would be. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jesse

 

[online421]

have you tried Machineseeker?
https://www.machineseeker.com/comb-Conditioner-thickness-Planers-Felder-AD741/i-2592164

here is a 20 yo AD741 asking 4700 EURO. thats about 6700 USD?

make an offer that you think is reasonable and see how it goes with the A341?

 

[RKA]

I think it's worth what you're willing to pay, the market for these is very small, the size and weight also make this a tough sell.  And these days many want a segmented cutterhead, which makes the market even smaller (those looking for a deal).  I'd start at $1500 and cap my final offer at low $2000's if the service documentation clearly shows what was replaced and checked and adjusted.  If it was just looked over and the tech "feels" it was in good shape, that doesn't add value to me.

Beyond this price range there are new machines available with a warranty (regardless of COO), and I'm not willing to roll the dice on a 15 year old machine that's moved around.

But how I feel about it clearly affects what I'm willing to pay.  You might place great value on an older European machine, be perfectly comfortable dealing with any issues, and otherwise would be looking at the cost of a new machine.  In that light it might be worth high $2000's or more. 

 

[RussellS]

15 year old Hammer jointer/planer?  I am pretty sure this was before Felder bought Hammer.  So even though a Felder tech looked at it and said it was good, beware that finding old parts to fix it may be impossible.  Felder likely changed everything about Hammer machines when they bought the brand a few years ago.  Machines made by Hammer before Felder bought them have parts that are no longer made and will be difficult to find.  A brand new Hammer A3-41 is $5700 with straight knives, $6600 with spiral cutters.

 

[junk731]

Hammer and Felder have been connected for more than a few years just for the record. I have a catalog from when I first started looking at Felder equipment from 2008 and the price was $7380.00 for the A3-41 which was only a straight knife machine. Check the link below for a little more history. I personally wouldn't pay more than $1000.00 USD for a machine that old no matter the condition.
http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/Hammers.shtml

John

 

[Motown]

Last year I bought a 2003 Hammer A3-41 and, while I initially hesitated because the silent cutters are not an option, I am very happy that I decided to do it. I also had it serviced and had my B3 and N4400 fine tuned. It provides incredible results. The A3 needed some small parts replaced and it was not a problem at all getting them.

One suggestion/heads up: it is a monster of a machine (1000 pounds) to move so if you or someone else moving it yanks the jointer surface you may need to get it serviced again. If you decide to do it you may want to factor in another $500 in the event you have to get it serviced.

BTW, I paid $3000 and would do it again in a second. I hope this info helps.

 

[RussellS]

I guess Felder created Hammer in 1997.  I thought Felder bought the existing Hammer brand sometime in the 2000s.
https://www.felder-group.com/fg-en/company/history.html

So this 15 year old machine was built by the current Felder company.  Service would not be too difficult.  But its still old.