Any recommendation on a heavy duty thickness planer? The first job I have is to send 4 kilometers of rough sawn 3 meter, 1x6" teak through. Despite the Makita 2012NB getting very good reviews in the US, I know 2 people in Thailand who have this model and they both found it to be lacking durability, both broke down, and say it is not suitable for big jobs. No real budget in mind, just want to understand what options might be out there.

 

I have a 5.25" wide heavy duty Hitachi Model 136 that I bought 16 years ago when I built my house. It's been though many house and furniture builds since with no problems other than the normal sharpening.  Many of the Thais have old Makita 3.25 units and they seem to be always on the fritz and borrow mine for big jobs - after I inspect what they intend to plane as nail heads are not an option.

Good info, just one other question. I see planers and all sorts of other high quality looking wood working tools sold under the name Big Wood. Does anyone know anything about them? Below is a link to the picture of the Big Wood MB-103 and spec sheet for all Big Wood planers. It has 4 blades rather than 2. It is floor standing weighing over 300 pounds despite being one of the smallest models they sell. On paper it looks like much more machine for the money than the Makita for just a few thousand baht more.

 

http://www.spi-intertrade.com/14514896/bigwood-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%97%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%AA%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%89-%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B8%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%99-mb-103

After some picture comparisons, it appears Big Wood is made by a company in China called hanvy.cn.