Grizzly 3 HP G0562ZP Dust Collector
For the sake of full disclosure, you have to understand for the better part of my 3-year woodworking journey was performed using only a 9-gallon shop vac I would wheel around from tool to tool. In the beginning had no dust collection and had to work with the garage door open. After very little time and a whole lot of coughing and sneezing I decided to cart a shop vac around from tool to tool I intended to use. The shop vac worked; it sucked. But it sucked. That is to say it didn’t suck enough. After turning to the internet, I found the Grizzly G0562ZP. At the time of this post you can get this dust collector for $1800. This price can be discouraging but it was the least expensive 3HP dust collector I could find with the best reliability. Now my understanding is that if you intend to plumb your tools in with 4” duct work, never waster your money on a dust collector with less that 2.5HP.
That being said there are 5 criteria I judge every tool around.
Cost - I place Cost above all else because you’ll find that there is no end to how much tools can cost. When you go down this rabbit hole, you can probably find a super expensive version of this tool that will do what you want, 20x’s faster, be automated, and tell you where you left your keys.
Performance - Does it do what I paid for it to do? Can it perform the task I need it do well?
Durability - How long will it do what I ask it to do? Is it flimsy? Does it feel “cheep?” It can be a little difficult to use as long as it’s going to stand the test of time. A new tool that’s easy to use but breaks immediately is worth less than a tool that is “fidgety” but lasts forever.
Ease of use - After I buy a tool the first thing I do after opening it is throw the instructions immediately into the trash. This is because I’m a man… and that’s what we do. It’s to test the tools ease of use. Is this thing easy to use? Is it intuitive? Does it have a million parts? If I have to put this thing together, does it make sense? If, the answer to any of these questions is unfavorable I run to the trash and get the directions out.
Aesthetics - I’m not too picky. Aesthetics doesn’t mean much as long as the other 4 criteria are met but I don’t want a tool hogging up space in my shop that looks like it came from the stone age.
For simplicity's sake each criterion can only get up to 1 Star. At the end I’ll add the stars up. No scale and no math. Highschool was almost 25 years ago. I’m not using any equations to review tools.
1) COST - 1 ⭐
$1800 is a wild amount of money to spend on a vacuum. But rest assured that if you’re reading this it will be the largest and best vacuum you’ve ever bought. I plumbed by all my major tool stations into the Grizzly G0562ZP using 4” PVC piping and it works great. There are tons of more expensive options and less expensive options but I think that this make and model is right in the sweet spot of performance and reliability.
2) PERFROMANCE - 1 ⭐
The Grizzly G0562ZP has completely lived up to everything I expected. Now keep in mind I went from using a shop vac to this monster. I’ve never fiddled with small or larger dust collectors. I’ve got it plumbed into 3 tools and the dust I have to deal with has reduced dramatically. All three tools reduce down to a 2” hose and I have to leave all the blast gates open so the motor isn’t overworking. You actually have to be careful where you swing the intake hose. Swing it the wrong way and you’ll be sending random stuff through the 12.75” aluminum impeller in no time.
3) DURABILITY - .75 ⭐
I’ve only had this this tool for a year so it’s difficult to speculate on it’s durability. I like to think that a year of use is a good milestone to justify judging a tools durability but the fact that most, if not all, components are made outside the USA gives me concern. It’s just hard to believe that you can a 3HP dust collector for $1800.
4) EASE OF USE - 1 ⭐
After assembly all you have to do to use this tool is “flick” the on switch. Setup does take an hour or two which isn’t bad, but it’s totally worth it.
5) AESTHETICS - 1 ⭐
I like to think the Grizzly G0562ZP looks awesome in my shop. I like the colors and shape. It looks great by my wall. It’s big enough to say, “I’m powerful” yet not too large for its footprint to be concerning.
