Great video and very, very helpful information. Picked up my A3-31 on 01/26/22 after a long wait. I avoided the pallet jack completely by blocking up the machine while on the pallet, putting on the wheels and leveler feet, and then removing the blocks. I screwed a block to the side of the pallet opposite my ramp so the machine didn't accidently roll off the back side. I assembled and used the handle and wheel set to run the machine down a ramp off the SIDE of the pallet, using the leveler feet as "brakes" as needed. My ramp was about 5 feet long. Very easy...an hour of prep for a 15 second ride. Thanks for taking the time to make the video.

Great demo. Very helpful. I followed you when setting up my new A3-31. I did not use a pallet truck to get it off the pallet, but rather installed the wheels and levellers first (using a hydraulic car jack to lift one side and then the other). I then used slid the machine down a ramp alongside the pellet using its own lever, with small movements to prevent the machine from gathering speed. Your method is probably safer. For the 17mm distance, I used a sliding square very successfully (no need for dominos).

I'm taking delivery on my A3-41 in a couple weeks and this video is GOLD! Thank you so much for taking the time to putt this video together to help fellow woodworkers.

I have had the A3-41 for 2 years now and absolutely love it. It is worth every penny

Thanks for putting this together. The handles holding the bed in place on my A3-31 were over-tight when delivered, and I couldn't get them to budge with modest force. Your video helped me understand the DIRECTION I needed to turn the handles as I ramped up force to get them to release. I also really appreciated your showing the nylon screws on the slide for the fence. My fence was binding like crazy before when I moved it. The simple adjustment of the nylon screws made it much smoother.

Thanks for the video. I just received my A3-31 just before Christmas, having ordered it in March 2021, so a bit of a wait. Fortunately they were able to deliver the machine into my garage, but the challenge was moving the machine from the garage to the adjacent workshop which is connected through a 3 foot wide door. So the mobility option wouldn't work. Solution was to lift the partially disassembled pallet onto two wood runners with swivel casters attached. To lift the machine I used scaffolding with a winch to lift each end. The wood runners with the casters was then screwed to the underside of the plywood deck. After lifting one end the 5x5's were slid out and then the machine lowered onto the casters. The machine on the pallet deck was easily rolled into the workshop. To lift the machine off the pallet I used the scaffold and with a winch at one end and come along at the other end with straps under the machine frame (not under the tables, supplied directions specifically instruct to not do that). With a rope tied to the machine and scaffold to prevent tipping each end was lifted up and the pallet with casters was rolled out from under the machine. Then lowered the machine to the floor. Scaffolding and winch was used again to slightly lift the machine to install the mobility kit. All of this was done because I don't have a pallet jack and I was working alone.

Thank you so much Jason! My A3 41 arrived yesterday after 8 months waiting. A Felder technician will come to calibrate it in 3 weeks from now but I wanted to install it before that. Unpacking the planer demotivated me because all those parts gave me the creeps. Luckily I found your video and it pushed me back to my workshop. You made my day, thanks a lot!

Thank you so much for putting this video together Jason. I just received confirmation from Felder that my A3-41 will be arriving next month, so this is perfect timing. I’m going to rent a mini skid steer to get the machine from my driveway to the my basement walkout door. Thanks to your video, I have a lot better idea of what to expect.

Thanks so much for this video!! Just got my A3-41 off the pallet with ease thanks to you! Had the room and it was the full length of the plywood and it was easy. Full size pallet jack and that is the way go for the A3-41. 👍

Jason - thanks for another great video. My A3-31 arrived two days ago and I was able to use your method for building a ramp and rolling it off the pallet to my garage floor. I used a full sheet of 3/4" plywood over 2x4 framing for the ramp. The A3-31 base must be narrower than your A3-41 because one of the pallet jack forks was about 8-10" past the front (long) side of the machine. I just raised the pallet jack the minimum necessary and applied some pressure to the other side to keep everything balanced as I came down the ramp. Again - your video was excellent and a great help to everyone wondering how to un-crate their new equipment.

Thanks for this video. I am currently setting up an A3-41. I built a ramp down the same end of the crate and rolled it off on 1" schedule 40 PVC pipes.

Thanks Bent for this Video! It helped a LOT! I got my A3 31 yesterday and had a few differences that may help others to know: - The base of the A3 31 is not the same (anymore?), it is narrower than on the a3 41. However, i used a normal sized pallet truck und that worked fine. It was a little bit instable when the tables are down, but very stable when they are up. I build a ramp like in this video, we had no problem getting the machine of the pallet. Two people is better than doing it alone! - My machine came without feet. There aren't any mentioned in the manual, so maybe that changed or the A3 31 never had one, I dont know. - My machine was just wrapped in plastic. I live in germany and it had to travel just via truck. No wood housing with good screws for me ;) - My pallet had a metal base instead of a wooden one. So I could not screw my ramp to the pallet. But that was not a problem, nothing was sliding around. Hope this helps, Joey

Glad everyone else had a great experience. Figured I'd put a counterbalance out there. Mine came in with a rusted corner, scratched, and lettering falling off, & missing two pieces. Emailed 3 or 4 different email addresses and got no response. Finally got ahold of someone on the phone and no one knew what was going on. I got the machine in Dec, it's now mid march, and we still don't have everything sorted out. Oh, but they did send me a spray for the rusted corner. So generous for a 7k purchase :) Best of luck peeps.

Thanks for the explanation about the narrow pallet jack, really helped me get the machine off the pallet!

Amazing video. Details just awesome

Thanks Jason. I just got a shipping confirmation on my A3-31. Should be here first part of April and this video will be very helpful. You just got me very excited!

Hi Jason, thanks for the great set up video. I recently received my long awaited A3-31 and your clear, step by step instructions were a great help. I did have to rent a narrow (21" wide) pallet jack to fit my A3-31 and leveraged your info from Felder regarding tipping up the table to create better balance while rolling on the pallet jack.....worked great. Keep up the great content!

This is similar to the Hammer demo video much more detailed. Thank you. I found your method for setting the 17mm clearance for the fence and the auxiliary table extension brackets very useful. The problem I had to solve with my A3-31 was the pallet was on top of a second pallet. So you never know how the Machine is going to show up. I ended up building cradle to go under the machine and using straps and an engine hoist to lift the machine and pull out the pallets from underneath. Even though I did not use the lifting bots I did install them and leave them in place for possible future use by me or my heirs.

Congrats!

Thank you for putting in the work to make such a detailed assembly video. I just picked mine up yesterday and will be assembling it this weekend.

Getting my machine end of March. Thanks for a great video. Will make my job much easier.

My A3 41 was delivered 2 days ago but was too busy to set it up. perfect timing

Love my hammer a3 26 🔥🙌🏻☺️

The tip on using dominoes for the spacer was very helpful! Thank you!

Just bought this machine and gathering as much info as I can. Thanks for this video! Cant wait to get it home. Now im worry its a bit big (depth wise). Thanks again for the great content.

You sir, have great timing. Thank you kindly.

A note on getting it off the pallet to supplement what you did. I have the A3 31, and I have been thinking over how I would get of off the pallet and get it on a mobile base. Spoiler I’m still mulling over how to get it on the mobile base (which I’m sure will either involve an engine hoist or a bunch of blocking and leverage). If you purchase the mobile base accessory then it’s fairly easy to get the machine off the pallet. Utilizing 4 foot long by about 4 for wide piece of plywood, I screwed supports to the bottom so that the plywood is supported through out the whole length and width. So I followed the same Method, but instead of using a pallet Jack (which I did not have access to a narrow Jack), I approached this from the wider side of the pallet. This allowed me to use a few blocks and a piece of wood to very carefully lift one side of the machine at a time so I could attach the mobile base wheels. I was SUPER careful due to the balancing game, but it was fairly straight forward. Once the wheels were attached I used the leverage arm (without the rubber feet attached) to very carefully lift and somewhat drag to control the speed down the ramp. The most difficult portion is the final step where the lifter arm wheels are on the floor and the machine is still on the ramp. As He had a quick take off, I was expecting this, BUT I was able to control it better by leaning my weight into the lifter arm to balance the weight and slowly allow the machine to get over the final Hump on the plywood hump. Next step is to figure out the mobile base, (a Bora heavy duty one with 4 casters) so I can easily navigate my shop. The downside to the felder mobile base is it only allows travel in one direction, so it would require me to Move all my tools to move the machine (except for the one direction). The purchase of the felder base was worth it getting it off the pallet, and it’s about what a week rental for a pallet Jack would be.

How did a video this detailed get any thumbs down. Just goes to show you cant please everyone. Excellent tutorial. Thanks for making it👍‍‍

Thank you!

Congrat's Jason! I plan on ordering a Hammer/Felder unit myself at some point. So excited to watch you get this thing set up..

Thank you for this video. I have just ordered an A3-41 and was wondering the best way of getting it off the pallet on my own. You answered that question for me.

The 17mm offset for the fence rail can also be done with a metric double/combination square. Appreciate the video.

Jason. Awesome video! Wish I had for my A3 31 when I had it. I recently got a sweet deal on an AD741 and love it. Not much video content out there on the Felder lineup. Enjoy! They are fantastic machines.

how did to connect a dust extractor?

Great tips there, if ever you need to change the bearings on the cutter block please do a video 👍 I’ve just changed mine and with trial and error did manage but it would have been a massive help to have seen something along those lines.

thanks for the video! my hammers are on a cargo ship between dover and calais at the moment 🙂. the discussion on the regular vs narrow pallet jack was very useful. glad to see a regular pallet jack works for the a3-31. would you know if it'll also work for the k3w? (doubt it'll work for the n4400 but it's much lighter.)

Impressed, you have a pallet jack too in your shop :-)

A3-31 on order so I'm excited to see your experience, thanks. Question - I believe their video shows him using the pallet jack to lift up the machine one side at a time to install the mobile base parts. I'm curious why to decided to go with the brute force lift on the wheel side and the multiple spacer lift on the handle side? Thanks for any thoughts.

Would it be possible to install the mobile base and legs while the unit is still on the pallet jack, in order to avoid all the tilting operations later?

Hi Bent - great video as always from you. Do you think it is possible to get it down from the pallet without a pallet fork if you start by mounting the wheels for the mobility kit, and the mould the ramp for the long side of the pallet?

Make sure you don't over-torque those front lock handles. I watched a guy who had same machine who is bummed that he wrenched them and put an impression in the metal. These planer jointer machines are all backordered. I ordered the Jet 12" one but later discovered extended backorder; so I contacted Felder; they are September. Thought of changing my order to Hammer until I just received unexpected notice (email) that my Jet order is now ready soon to be shipped; maybe it happened because I inquired.

How did you connect a dust extractor? to a vacuum flex hose in inches.

Do you think there's enough room to add a wixey wr550 digital readout to the planer?

I bought the hydraulic base for my SaWStop PCS. I love how easy it is to maneuver the saw. Do they have a similar base for this?

This is a great video! Thanks for putting it together. After waiting for 8 months my A3-41 is coming in a couple weeks. I have been a little nervous as my shop is a little remote so I have to pick it up and a freight terminal with a trailer and haul it to my shop. Just want everything to go well. When I ask Felder they say I need a 25 or 30 AMP breaker. I noticed you went with 20 AMP. Any issues? Also Felder videos talk of the tables being adjusted for a concave cut to create a "spring joint" on glue up. I don't know what to think of that? Do you have any thoughts?

A3-31 is on the truck from Felder's warehouse now. Excellent video - thank you. What did you use to convert from the Hammer's dust port to your collection system?

Excellent and helpful video as usual, Jason. I got my A3 31 a few days ago. I couldn't use a pallet jack like you did, I could rent one but then wouldn't have a way to get it off or on the truck, so I had to get creative. You don't show one in the video, but do you use an extension cord with the unit? If so, any recommendations? Thanks for posting. Mark

Thank you so much for posting this! It really gives an overview of what to expect when the machine arrives. Getting mine off will be a challenge, as I don't have a truck to get a pallet jack home. I'm curious why you went with the Domino spacing solution vs.ripping a 17mm wide strip of plywood, gluing/brad nailing it to the underside of the board, and then using that for your reference? Seems much simpler than a Domino mishmash. Is there something I'm missing?

I'm curious about the supporting foot,are they an ti-vibration material, such as synthetic rubber,something like a hockey puck density.

Hey Jason - thanks for a terrifically produced video. I've been on the hunt for an excellent planer and Hammer is definitely the one. I work in a basement shop such that getting an A3-31 down there would be very difficult. Do you think it is feasible to remove the tables of the A3-31 in order to make installation doable? And do you have an opinion of reinstalling the tables and the needed calibration afterward? Thanks again! Mike

Thanks for the video! I just received my A3-31, and the cabinet seems smaller than your A3-41. With a 27" pallet jack, I think the outside leg would be too far out to lift the bolts, even with the inside leg all the way to the left. Just curious, what is the width of your cabinet?

Awesome video Jason, can't wait to get one! Did you order direct from Felder?

It seemed like the motor took a while to wind up?

Thanks Jason for the detailed video - appreciate it. I am about to order an A31 and have been reading troubling comments from a number of folks about defects in the jointer tables on both sides of the cutter. Many are seeing ‘hollows’ of .15 to .20mm in spots. Have you had any of these problems? Also, some folks have seen table movement after initial setup. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

Do you know how I can adjust the planer to remove snipe? I get some on the trailing end of the board and can't seem to fix it. And congratulations!

What is the minimum planer thickness that you have ever went to (1/2",1/4") ? Awaiting my machine as of 8Feb23 (in the shipping Que).

Congrats with your new A3. It looks like an aircraft carrier compared to the A3 26

Woot woot!!! You got it in brother!!! I’m waiting for mine to arrive “fingers crossed” it’ll be in my shop in September so I’m saving this to my KZfaq playlist to watch It and be ready when it’s time to set up!!! If you don’t mind telling my the actual dimensions like width, length and height. I’d appreciate it.

Thanks so much, Jason! Your video is so good that Felder sends it out with their email saying your equipment is on the way. Mine is off the boat and on the truck and should be here early next week. Did those bolts you used to contact the outboard arm of the pallet jack come with the machine? Do you know what size will fit the holes?

Hi Jason. Thanks for posting the video. My delivery is targeted for April and I was starting to put together the electrical package. I bought a 30A breaker and 10ga wire because it's a 4HP motor which would put it at a max load of around 28A. The salesman told me it's specced for 30A but many people run it on 20A which I found kind of odd. In your video you mentioned it's internally protected at 20A which if that is the case, then there's not a really a point to using 30A service and it could just be plugged into on my standard 220/20A outlets. Does the manual itself have any information on this and/or what does the motor nameplate have listed? I guess if you can run a 16" wide hardwood through it and it doesn't trip, then all is well.

"it is possible to do it by yourself..." Next time use a 2x4 + fulcrum! Mine A3-31 without the crate was put onto an euro style pallet about 8 inch above the floor. I never planned to make a ramp but used 2x4, fulcrum, some blocks and a lot of time wiggling up and down in order to get it down on it's wheels. The (small) extension does fit on the outfeed side of the planer but is a bit hard to install/take off. Did you order some extensions? What do you think of the longer extensions? The supported extension will need height adjustments all the time (jointer infeed and planer outfeed).

Engine hoist,with industrial straps,

A3-41 arrived yesterday. any regrets I should know about before I sell the two powermatics? Trying to free up floor space. Haven't seen ANY used PMs on the market so selling them looks like a move a can't undo.

I'm at the last part of assembling my A3-31... and got tripped up on the wiring. As you show... there are 2 black wires (labeled 1 and 2). Which one is the neutral leg?

Where did you rent the pallet jack from? Or do you own it?

Would love to know the how loud it is when planning?

Thanks for making this video. I'm strongly considering buying either this machine or the 12" version, and this video will help in the decision. I currently have an old 6" Jet jointer and the DeWalt planer that half the woodworkers on YT seem to own. I figure the Hammer 12" machine (and maybe even the 16") would take up less space than my two current ones do. I doubt I'd have a lot of need for 16" of jointing capacity, but a 16" planer would be great! Wheeling that thing off of the pallet looked like a major operation! Do you know if there is a way to attach lifting straps to the A3 instead? I have a huge exposed beam in my garage ceiling that's easy to hang a winch from. When I need to move a heavy tool onto or off of a pallet (or wheeled base) I'll typically use a winch if the tool can be attached to it safely. That's not the beam's real purpose - it holds up the ceiling and roof - but It's come in handy quite a few times.

I thought you already had the A-3 and was using it? you bought another one?

After a few weeks of using it.... how do you like it?

Kind of a silly question to those who've received their A3-41: do the "lifting bolts" Jason uses come with the unit or are they some spare bolts he had lying around?

Hi Jason - the mobile base is actually called a rolling carriage with lift bar. Per their website they rolling carriage without lift bar is about $130 and the lift bar is ~$100 - can you confirm if the rolling carriage product came with the leveling feet for the side opposite the wheels that you installed because they are not in the pictured in the product picture and the parts are not listed in the description. As an aside, the website needs to do a better job of marketing this accessory - it is confusing. If I am spending $230 or so I want to make sure the leveling feet are included. thanks.

Thank you so much for this video. I've been looking to order this specific machine. Your video has greatly reduced my stress level on setting one up. Did you need to adjust the beds to ensure co-planar? Have you been happy with it? How much snipe do you seen when using it? What dust collection are you using with it?

Does hammer sell a mobile base?

Holy Crap! They want $1400 for shipping!?! Crap, I was really contemplating getting this unit. Wow, shipping is almost as much as a high quality 8" jointer all by itself! Ugh :(

After thinking about your unit really interested about the digital dial that has a needle after some real world use. The concern is repeatability once height is adjusted. Truly enjoy your channel. Thanks

PURCHASERS AWAITING RESIDENTIAL DELIVERIES - Be prepared to move your equipment from curbside to your shop. Some Freight Companies are no longer backing up driveways, and insist on dropping freight in the street. Even if every other past freight driver has backed up your driveway with no problem, be prepared for this situation and have transportation ready! Also, even if you paid for "delivery", be prepared to pick the item up at the terminal, ESPECIALLY if inclement weather is expected. Felder will send you several emails about having a pallet jack available, but it's unclear to what extent you need it. DO NOT IGNORE THAT RECOMMENDATION, since once it leaves Felder's facility, you are at the whim of the trucking company and the drivers. Some companies and drivers are experienced and reasonable, do not count on your driver being experienced and reasonable. BE PREPARED WITH ALTERNATE TRANSPORT AHEAD OF TIME!

Whear abailable

Thank you for convincing me not to buy a Felder combo machine. I had been wondering what to do with the 120 mm dust exhaust and now I see I need an engineering degree to get it into my shop, not to mention the acres of plastic wrap going into the waste. It is mind boggling that a company can charge that much for a machine without providing built in casters and clear, simple direction for unboxing. This looks like the least user friendly product I have seen in a long time.

I could see me trying to get that down into my basement shop 😳😱🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Okay, how long did it take you to remove all the 2x4's and plastic? I only ask, because according to Felder the delivery driver must stay there until you complete this! Hello! Good luck with that! Any-Who, I purchased a A3_41 from Felder that was delivered damaged, which my salesperson was contacted on the day of delivery, and the broken machine still sits on my shop floor coming up to five months now! The first month they respond to your calls and emails and tell you they have summited your claim, but then it gets less and less. Your salesperson is your customer support person and at or around the 90 day period they will tell you they have nothing to do with claims! if this is so, why are customers directed to contact their sales agent? and strung about for a couple of months? then your sales agent will forward you to a person in logistics that doesn't respond to calls or emails. If your thinking about buying a Felder machine, don't! This company sucks! I purchased a brand new machine from them that they delivered damaged. Now I have to go to court! Wow what a great company! They totally suck!!

Der Kundendienst von Felder / Hammer ist in Frankreich sehr schlecht. Ich warte schon seit 6 Monaten auf den Austausch des Wellenschutzes von meiner neuen A3-31. Es gleitet nur mit einer Kraft von ca.14 NM (12/13 kg)!!! Die Antriebsriemenscheibe des Motors wurde bei den ersten Gebrauch aus-geschraubt und Blockieren der Motor und die Maschine!!! Die Ecken des Hartmetalls der Spiral Welle brechen leicht ab beim kleinsten Ast auch im Weichholz.

I am sorry TOY

It’s like the saw stop highly over priced unless you’re a commercial cabinet or woodworking shop ....I can put up with a couple things for a couple units ...planer and a jointer for about a third of that price