j_r0kk:
Instead of “USED”, buy “REFURBISHED”.
After a fairly extensive search, this is what we found. Maybe this info could be useful to someone else.
We were looking for big, high power decks so we limited our search to BP Y600’s and Blodgett 1060’s. There may be other large decks out there but we didn’t take much time to learn about the more obscure brands and what I did see wasn’t cheap. I also feel that we didn’t scour the New York city area as much as we could have …
New decks are about $7,000/deck. Reconditioned units are about $7500 per stack. When we found the scratch and dent set for $10,000, it seemed like the way to go… We also found a large number of the slightly smaller, older and less powerful decks. These can be a really good deal if they fit your application. Trucking ran from $600-$1,000.
I restored our present Blodgett 981 which was given to us. All of these decks are bullet proof, low tech dinosaurs with very few controls. Thermocouples and thermostats and some hinge maintenance is about the extent of it. Maybe a little sheet metal and paint work. Of course, the stones can be in any range of condition; ours were in perfect condition. I’m handy and could have handled about anything if we could have found the right combo but the pressure was/is building for this season so we went new/delivered.
There are always pros and cons… Thanks to all for the help, C.