Felder Fat300 alternative?

[jordanrossbell]

I am currently having my new A3-31 calibrated but it has been an absolute nightmare. I bought it and began the "calibration" process about 6 months ago. I bought the thing so that a tech would come to the house and really dial it in after fussing with a similar machine in the Jet. I am beyond frustrated with Felder for that, but I ended up going to their shop after they convinced me to take a trade in machine as they felt my new one from austria was defective and not allowing it to hold its calibration. i went and checked it out and the machine was in good shape, plus they are giving me a 1000.00 rebate. I am going to take the money and just keep it but I saw their Felder Fat300 cart in there and hadn't ever seen it. I did a search on here and saw some older posts. Although I dont love the idea of buying something from them again, they possibly are gonna try to make a deal for me on their used one in the shop. New they are about 1600.00. I find that to be too much for what I would use it for. I already have a solid work bench with end vise so this would strictly be to use as an adjustable outfeed for the Hammer, band saw should i re-saw some long boards, and even handling larger sheets on the table saw. I know HF has a hydraulic cart with 500lb capacity but that dang handle goes up too high and i feel like would just get in the way. I suppose i could make an mft top or similar to go perpendicular to the top of the cart. Anyone find a more reasonably priced option? Im certainly not wanting to wait for Felder for what I am sure is at least a 6 month wait. Thanks everyone.

 

[DavidCBaker]

I'll be listening to see if anyone has a cheaper alternative but of equal quality. Meanwhile--and I know this wasn't your question--I was loathe to pay that much for my FAT 300, but I have to say that it's an invaluable piece of equipment. I use it every day, in all sorts of ways, and it's fantastic.

 

[bertv]

Felder don’t makes the FAT’s. I think they are OEM’ed by RUWI. See
https://ruwi.de/en/wood-line/lifting-table/

Sold by (amongst others):
https://www.sautershop.com/ruwi-table-lift/

And:
https://www.bannedlink.com/merk/196/ruwi.html
(sub banned link with gereedschappro dot nl )

I am sorry you had a bad experience with the A3. I love mine…

 

[online421]

I am currently having my new A3-31 calibrated but it has been an absolute nightmare. I bought it and began the "calibration" process about 6 months ago. I bought the thing so that a tech would come to the house and really dial it in after fussing with a similar machine in the Jet. I am beyond frustrated with Felder for that, but I ended up going to their shop after they convinced me to take a trade in machine as they felt my new one from austria was defective and not allowing it to hold its calibration. i went and checked it out and the machine was in good shape, plus they are giving me a 1000.00 rebate. I am going to take the money and just keep it but I saw their Felder Fat300 cart in there and hadn't ever seen it. I did a search on here and saw some older posts. Although I dont love the idea of buying something from them again, they possibly are gonna try to make a deal for me on their used one in the shop. New they are about 1600.00. I find that to be too much for what I would use it for. I already have a solid work bench with end vise so this would strictly be to use as an adjustable outfeed for the Hammer, band saw should i re-saw some long boards, and even handling larger sheets on the table saw. I know HF has a hydraulic cart with 500lb capacity but that dang handle goes up too high and i feel like would just get in the way. I suppose i could make an mft top or similar to go perpendicular to the top of the cart. Anyone find a more reasonably priced option? Im certainly not wanting to wait for Felder for what I am sure is at least a 6 month wait. Thanks everyone.

a couple of years ago I needed a FAT300 but couldnt justify the cost and the 300kg capacity, probably one of the worst investment for the amount of money they ask. I bought an industrial 2400mm x 1200mm pneumatic/hydraulic table (about 8 x 4). goes up and down by air, holds 2000kg/4000lbs. cost 1/2 of FAT300, second hand of course.

 

[SighcologyWorkshop]

I am currently having my new A3-31 calibrated but it has been an absolute nightmare. I bought it and began the "calibration" process about 6 months ago. I bought the thing so that a tech would come to the house and really dial it in after fussing with a similar machine in the Jet. I am beyond frustrated with Felder for that, but I ended up going to their shop after they convinced me to take a trade in machine as they felt my new one from austria was defective and not allowing it to hold its calibration. i went and checked it out and the machine was in good shape, plus they are giving me a 1000.00 rebate. I am going to take the money and just keep it but I saw their Felder Fat300 cart in there and hadn't ever seen it. I did a search on here and saw some older posts. Although I dont love the idea of buying something from them again, they possibly are gonna try to make a deal for me on their used one in the shop. New they are about 1600.00. I find that to be too much for what I would use it for. I already have a solid work bench with end vise so this would strictly be to use as an adjustable outfeed for the Hammer, band saw should i re-saw some long boards, and even handling larger sheets on the table saw. I know HF has a hydraulic cart with 500lb capacity but that dang handle goes up too high and i feel like would just get in the way. I suppose i could make an mft top or similar to go perpendicular to the top of the cart. Anyone find a more reasonably priced option? Im certainly not wanting to wait for Felder for what I am sure is at least a 6 month wait. Thanks everyone.

It isn't pretty, but it sure works well. 300 bucks on Facebook marketplace plus a couple hours of work. Very stable, mobile and significant range make it very useful in my shop.

 

[P_K]

Rangate has their own one as well. Not a whole lot more cost effective though. https://rangate.com/products/rangate-lift-cart-standard

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

To the best of my knowledge, the Felder FAT tables are produced by Felder (using cut-offs from their CNC production), the RUWI tables are re-badged Felder tables. I have a Felder FAT 500S and I love it, it gets daily use in the center of my Shop. Not a particularly "sexy" purchase, but neither was the hydraulic frame press, which also gets daily use and paid for itself in a matter of months.

The Rangate carts are very good, my understanding is that many of the components (casters, hydraulic cylinder, etc...) are sourced from Europe, but fabrication and final assembly are performed in North America. My understanding is that Rangate has several other size/weight configurations in various stages of design, should be hitting the market sooner or later....

In terms of cost, between Rangate, Barth, Felder, etc..., the Market seems to have settled on an equilibrium price for the carts. Yes, there are other products which are adjacent, but for these mobile, non-powered carts designed for woodworking, there just isn't anything on the market that features the same build quality at a meaningfully lower cost.