# My 1340GT Story



## Jake P (Oct 27, 2021)

My 1340GT Story........

I placed my original lathe order for a 1228VF-LB back in early Feb. and by late March I had changed that order to a 1340GT.  Originally the expected date for the 1340GT was early to mid July, which changed as that date approached to late Aug/early Sept.
I fully acknowledge that all of these shipping woes are in no way PM’s doing, we are all just having to live with the fallout here.

After upgrading my order to the 1340 I contacted Mark Jacobs and arranged with him for a VFD conversion setup, which has been sitting and waiting for the lathe to arrive.

Well…. by Oct 7th the lathe had finally made it to Cleveland and was waiting for trucking to PM’s warehouse.  And I was getting worried that the lathe might not get to me before the snow flies in my area.  At the rate it was going with transportation delays I was afraid it could be 4 more weeks yet, and an early snow storm would make the roads a mess of corrosive materials.  Getting trailers and machines out on our public roads after snowfall is a sure way to end up with rust buckets due to the salt/gravel mix that goes on the roads, and I was worried I was going to have to rent equipment to get the lathe to my home and into my shop.  Trucks can't navigate my drive, so I have to go out to get loads like this.

It was on the morning of the 7th, out of pure exasperation more than anything else, I made a search of Craigslist within 500 miles of my home, and what do I find…….. a 4 day old add for what appears to be a hardly used, like new, 1440GT with extras in Bigfork Montana about 3.5 hours from me.

I quickly called, made a deal and arranged to pick it up the next day!

Here's one of the photos from the sellers add:







The protective plastic film was still on the machine!  There was still cosmoline on some of the machine and the 8" 4 jaw was still sealed up in it's shipping box.  I don't think this lathe had 5 hours on it.

He had the lathe in a hangar attached to his house, and the floors were almost polished smooth concrete, so we were able to very easily slide the lathe on it's base after removing the feet and leveling bolts.  Then with a winch I pulled it right up onto my tilting trailer and secured it for the trip home!






Here's the load at my place:






I have a good friend with a tractor large enough to lift this machine (mine won't) so he brought it over and I was able to get it into my shop with little effort:






And here it is as it sits now:






So, you may be wondering about the 1340GT? 

I have a friend who owned a 1228VF-LB (now sold) and I asked him if he was interested in upgrading to a 1340GT.  He decided that it was time!  He currently also has a mill on order with PM.

The 1340 made it to the local terminal on the night of the 25th. I had them hold the lathe at the terminal as it would be easier to go there and get it since they would put it on the trailer with their forklift.

My friends property is pretty remote, 4 miles off the pavement on a mountain side, and his shop is on a pretty steep incline.  Here's a shot of the lathe getting uncrated in his shop after we got it off the trailer.






That picture does not even convey how steep his drive to the shop is!  It was just about the limit of backing the load up that gravel incline.  Without 4 wheel drive it would not have been possible!

The crate for the 1340 was nice and stout, very well packaged.  The two boxes for the stand were wrapped to the top of the box and the shipment was in perfect condition, no damage!











And here we are today Oct 27th.  I have a like new 1440GT (single phase, awaiting Mark’s VFD conversion magic) and a good friend has been able to upgrade his 1228VF-LB to a 1340GT with Mark’s conversion ready to install!

So now I have a 4 year old mostly unused 1440GT and my friend has a brand new 1340GT, but neither of us have a warranty (PM does not transfer warranties.)
Is that a big deal???  Obviously neither of us considered it a show stopper, but it brings up a question.

PM obviously feel strongly about the quality of these machines to give 5 year warranties, then why not at least have a warranty transfer system with a fee so second owners can have some assurance?
I imagine there are reasons that Matt has for not doing so.  It just seems to me that a warranty transfer fee with a time out period before claims, as the insurance companies do, could be a win win situation.

So that’s the story.
If it had not been for these crazy shipping delays we have today I would have never even seen the 1440GT add, as I would have long ago been happily living with my 1340GT.
And as it works out (I got a REALLY sweet deal on the 1440GT) I’m into this machine over all for a little less than I paid for the 1340GT.
So I saved a few thousand and my buddy saved over a thousand from todays prices!
We're both happy campers


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## Janderso (Oct 27, 2021)

Well heck, it sounds like you have a lathe!!
If nothing goes wrong, you don';t need a warranty.
Just get to know it, buy the tooling you need and make parts 
Congratulations!


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## pacifica (Oct 27, 2021)

It's a limited warranty anyway(essentially parts ). Also you send the defective part and then they decide if they will give you another. Diagnostics, labor and replacement is on you.


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## Tipton1965 (Oct 27, 2021)

What was the reason for the guy selling an almost brand new 1440GT?  You both got good machines.  Happy ending!!


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## Jake P (Oct 27, 2021)

Tipton1965 said:


> What was the reason for the guy selling an almost brand new 1440GT?  You both got good machines.  Happy ending!!


He said it belonged to his son in law, and that "he was no longer with them".  I didn't ask and he didn't explain any further.  
I suspect from other things said and what I saw that it might not be what it sounded like.  But that's all pure speculation.


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## Cletus (Oct 27, 2021)

Beautiful machines!    Congratulations!!


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## 7milesup (Oct 27, 2021)

That is awesome Jake!   You won't regret having a 1440 at all.  Mine is identical to yours except mine says "Eisen" on it.  Congrats there my friend.


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## Jake P (Oct 27, 2021)

7milesup said:


> That is awesome Jake!   You won't regret having a 1440 at all.  Mine is identical to yours except mine says "Eisen" on it.  Congrats there my friend.


Thanks Neil!


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## SRay53TxTn (Oct 27, 2021)

CONGRATULATIONS!
What a cool  story and pictorial - thanks for sharing it!
Been thinking about upgrading my PM-1228 and this made me smile.


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## Tipton1965 (Oct 27, 2021)

By the way, I too think the warranties should transfer to the next owner.....especially on a brand new machine.  Earlier this summer I sold a brand new Eisen 1340 lathe that was still on the pallet.  No warranty for the new owner even though it had never even been fired up.


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## davidpbest (Oct 27, 2021)

Congratulations Jake.  All’s well that ends well.  

I totally understand the reluctance to transfer warranty on used equipment since provenance of upkeep could be questionable.

But I do agree that warranty on new equipment should transfer - with the possible imposition of a fee that discourages arbitrage.  PM makes a profit on a newly sold/delivered machine no matter who ends up with it, so supporting the end user with a warranty is no additional cost to them and would contribute to PM’s reputations value.  

Setting that aside, your resourcefulness paid off nicely.  I still think you have an alternate day job opportunity finding under valued equipment for others.  I could do with an Acra LCM-50, so keep an eye out please.


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## Jake P (Oct 27, 2021)

davidpbest said:


> Setting that aside, your resourcefulness paid off nicely.  I still think you have an alternate day job opportunity finding under valued equipment for others.  I could do with an Acra LCM-50, so keep an eye out please.


Too funny David!  We both know that at least half of my deal finding acumen is due to you  

My RF-45 would not be sitting in my shop now if it were not for your help!


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## mattthemuppet2 (Oct 27, 2021)

what a cool story and what beautiful places to live!


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## Just for fun (Oct 27, 2021)

Good job Jake,  very nice find!   Sounds like you and your friend both scored!


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## SteveStash (Dec 31, 2021)

I can't believe I let this one get away.  I was the first person to respond to that ad.  But for me it was a ways farther and a little more money than I wanted to spend at the time. Stupid me! I kick my self now every time I think about it.  I know my wife is tired of me complaining about passing it up.  I can't blame her, she told me to do it, but, no, I had to be logical!  I wondered if I would see it pop up on here.   Not sure I'm glad it did.  Brings all the pain to the surface once again.  Congratulations on a great deal.  I'm happy for you. Well kinda, I'm trying to.


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## Jake P (Dec 31, 2021)

SteveStash said:


> I can't believe I let this one get away.  I was the first person to respond to that ad.  But for me it was a ways farther and a little more money than I wanted to spend at the time. Stupid me! I kick my self now every time I think about it.  I know my wife is tired of me complaining about passing it up.  I can't blame her, she told me to do it, but, no, I had to be logical!  I wondered if I would see it pop up on here.   Not sure I'm glad it did.  Brings all the pain to the surface once again.  Congratulations on a great deal.  I'm happy for you. Well kinda, I'm trying to.


It’s a small world after all!  I feel for you as I’ve been there a few times in my life as well.
These things can be a conundrum for sure……. “Look before you leap” vs. “He who hesitates is lost”.
I understand the distance issue as well, I don’t care to drive much anymore but for me this was less than a third the distance that I had to go for my mill.

Edit:  Looking at the map, I wouldn’t have made the trip either in your situation.


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