when to buy paste machine?

[flash]

i am shopping for a ramco pm62 and would like to know when is the best time of year to buy one. are they ever on "sale" or is the price fixed year round. also is the pm62 deluxe worth the extra money over the regular pm62? any advice appreciated. thanks

[Cliff Hayes]

We have owned two big Ramco's, and the prices varied by retailer. www.paintstoreonline.com has some unbelievably low prices, but they do not include shipping. We got ours at the Siperstein's chain of paint stores in NJ.

Don't waste your money on the Deluxe. All of the extra gear attached to the machine actually hinders its ease of use. It also adds considerably to the weight. I can get the PM62 in and out of the back of my van by myself. It takes two of us to move the PM62DX. I considered stripping down the DX and turning it into a standard PM62, but it was going to be an engineering hassle, and I eventually sold it for $1500.

Just checked the paintstoreonline site, and the PM62 happens to be on sale for $100 off the regular price. Here's a direct link:
http://www.paintstoreonline.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_prod.html?p_prodid=504&p_catid=19

[flash]

cliff thank you very much for the information. have you had any experence with the pm62tm model. i understand that it is a table top model and does not have the front roller or come with the table /stand. does the front roller make a big difference.? and is that the only differenceK? thanks

[Cliff Hayes]

No, I don't have any experience with the tabletop model. For all the effort of buiding a table that works with the machine, why not just buy the whole package to begin with? Besides, the rolling stand is incredibly convenient. It even collapses like a gurney when you put it into the truck. The booking table is indispensible, also.

We bought a PM62 in the summer of '96. We bought the DX in the summer of '01, when it looked like we were going to have two big jobs running concurrently. For the next three years, until I sold it, we used the DX maybe once, and that was only because the other machine was in use at the time. The PM62 is, in my opinion, the best machine for the money, and I wouldn't bother trying to save a few dollars by purchasing a table top version. These machines are supposed to make you money. The more efficient they are, the quicker the dollars roll in. Our first machine paid for itself (in saved labor costs) on its first outing, which was twenty five rooms at a Days Inn. It would have been ridiculous to have saved $500 skimping on the stand/roll holder. It's an integral part of the machine, and I can't imagine doing without it.

Update:
I just looked at the paintstoreonline site again, and the ad for PM62 says Free Shipping. That's an unbelievable deal: $1,899.00, no sales tax, and free shipping. I'd jump on that one, for sure. Give me a call if you need to be talked into it. :D Where are you located?