# Grizzly 8027 vs Harbor Freight 2 HP industrial dust collector



## ellen35 (Jan 1, 2009)

Question for my LJ friends: I am looking at 2 dust collectors. One is the Grizzley 1 HP and the other is a Harbor Freight 2 HP. Both are the same price range: $149 + delivery (Grizz) vs $179 (HF). I am very partial to Grizzley as I am very happy with my table saw and bandsaw from them but I am wondering if the unit from HF is any good. The Grizzly is 500 CFM while the HF is 1350 CFM. I am impressed with ABrown's review of the Grizzly but wondered if anyone has any experience with the HF unit. I know how iffy HF can be but also know that there are some of you who like some HF products… I know you have to be very selective. I only hook to one machine at a time and anything would be an improvement over my dust deputy and shop vac… which work well, by the way, but I'm looking for better!
Any recommendations or experiences with either product would be appreciated, especially if you have experience with both or love one or the other. I am limited to 110 v.
Thanks,
Ellen


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

I stopped reading after the Grizzley 1 HP….

get the HF. anything below 1.5 HP in my opinion will quickly need an upgrade the HF DC gets rave reviews and does a fantastic job. do get a Winn cartridge for it though.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Hey Ellen
I have three Hf 2hp units and have had them as long as 8 years .They work like champs. If you have a store close to you ,you can get the DC unit for $139 with the coupons on the back page of this months American woodworkers and the have their 20% off coupon there too.


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## Viking (Aug 26, 2009)

Ellen;

Go with the HF 2HP, add the Wynn 35A canister filter, and put a garbage cas pre-separator in front of it and you will have a high performance system at budget price.

The HF comes with a bag filter that is rated at about 5 micron particle size. The Wynn 35A filter will reduce that to sub 1 micron and increase flow (velocity) as the standard 5 micron bag is about 35 sq. ft. surface area and the Wynn is 274 sq. ft. area. I went with the Nano Filter.

http://www.wynnenv.com/35A_series_cartridge_kit.htm

There were HF coupons to buy the HF DC for $139.99 in March and April Wood Magazine that still should be within expiration date. There are a lot of HF 20% coupons in several magazines.

Good luck and let us know which way you go.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

I passed up a bunch of 1HP DCs to get the HF 2HP. CFM ratings are overstated on virtually every DC on the market, Including that 1HP 500 CFM Grizzly…

Check out the reviews here. There are more than a few on the HF DC, including a particularly well written review...


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## live4ever (Feb 27, 2010)

Ellen, we're samers. I'm thinking about the same two models myself and looking forward to the advice you get.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

If you can look past the name plates and see the raw machines for what they, I think you'll find the HF is the more substantial machine of these two….bigger motor, bigger impeller. The HF may not be the end-all, be-all to DC's, but its pretty well proven to be sufficient for hobby shops, especially if you do the Wynne cartridge upgrade, whereas the Griz is less well proven in this case.


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

Ellen, I have a 1hp Delta and it's a very good machine. I got it for a song after bartering with the people at home depot because it had a brace missing.

My comment is that if I had to do it again I'd get a larger motor. 1hp works well but it doesn't get quite all of it and you need to close all other gates before you open another to get the best suction. Also, you are limited as to the run of your hose. Mine are within all 6 feet of the collector but I'd like to run some along the ceiling to the other side of the room. I think it wouldn't work really well.

If I HAD to use a 1 hp one all the time and had to do it again and my tools are pretty much on one wall I might get a good shop vac and connect it to one or two powertools that I use all the time then move it for others and save about $200 in machine and plumbing cost. With a 1 hp collector you've got to open and close gates anyway why not move a hose?
The best scenario though would be to hard connect a 2hp or greater one. I can't speak for the brands though just the experience.


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## SST (Nov 30, 2006)

Most guys I know say that 1 hp is just not enough. I have the HF & it works great. Motor is rated at max 20 amps, so it's a good idea to have a dedicated circuit if you can. Watch for a 20% coupon. I got mine at the $139 sale price & they let me use the 20% coupon on top of that. I think it cost me about $112.

I just couldn't pass that up, and I'm happy with it to boot. -SST


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

I have a Delta 1HP that is just okay. I have the HF 2HP that is double okay. Works good for my jointer,TS and planer. I going to upgrade it to the Wynn filter soon. Look for the coupons for HF and save some money. I paid $139.. for the HF and 149.00 for the Delta(and I worked for Lowes!!!) I run the HF on the same circuit as my battery chargers and have never had a power problem.
Besides…no shipping.


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## davidroberts (Nov 8, 2008)

After many years of small screaming shop vacs and much sweeping, and with considerble thought, crusing craig's list, and looking for other brands to go on sale, I've decided on the HF. 2hp and a 5 micron bag for $139 is a deal. Even those that bash HF on other sites say this DC is a diamond and well worth the price. It's one of the few HF tools that many agree is a good deal. I tend to agree also and gave the coupon to my wife who will pick it up for me June 20th, Father's Day. I'll be so surprised and excited!!!


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

This is an interesting discussion. We have the 2 hp Grizzly that I love and got an excellent deal on CL for about 100.00. The problem we have is we are moving into a large shop and this means longer hose runs for some of the equipment. I am doing an island style so those machines are going to be fine but I have other machines that will be along a wall and a fair distance from the dust collector. I have thought about adding a couple 2 hp dust collectors down the road to run with some of our equipment.


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

well i have a lot of experiance with the grizz…..i dont think sucking air is the best ..but i know the grizz is good at blowing hot air…LOL….......i dont know about hf , but the increase is power is quite a lot…the more suction power the better…just dont know how long it will run…good luck ..i hope you can find someone who has some experiance with it…grizz


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## ellen35 (Jan 1, 2009)

Thanks everyone. I just got all my HF coupons together and will head over there this week. I can't thank everyone enough for all the good information and recommendations. 
Ellen


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## MichiganJim (Nov 6, 2013)

This is a great thread, thanks everyone. I'll be getting the HF DC system and running a can before it too.

Can it be switched to 220 to reduce amps?


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