Ercolina vs. JD2 Model 54

bellinoracing · #1 09-05-2022, 08:44 PM

So it has been years since I have owned a bender but I am thinking of getting another one soon. I would like something powered and for light production. I have owned benders from JD2, pro tools and for a short time a table top Ercolina. I told myself years ago If I bought another one it would be a bigger Ercolina but the Model 54 from JD2 looks like a very nice tool for a good price. I am sure an Ercolina would be better but they more expensive, especially if you want to add a rotary positioner which I probably would want to early on. So I guess my question is is Ercolina that much better to justify the additional cost? It just seems to be only slightly better for a lot more money. I would probably be looking at a 2" tube bender from Ercolina, possibly a 2.5" but there again cost goes up significantly with that capacity increase. I doubt I would ever use the 3" capacity of the Model 54 but it nice to know I have that ability. Any thoughts?

TheBandit · #2 09-09-2022, 04:47 PM

Hydraulic M54 will do up to 90 in a single shot while the fully electric Erco SB48-TC looks to do up to 180 in a single shot; not sure if that matters to you depending on what you produce. The JD dies use a u-strap while the Erco dies use a j-hook which may be a little easier/faster to load for production work. The Erco has a swing-away counter die which from my minimal experience makes it easy to release and load/unload - the JD seems to have some kind of pull-back system which I'm not familiar with. It looks like Erco may have a few more accessories, one being a tie bar which would help strengthen things when bending heavy wall materials. I cant find any info on their rotary indexing options.

I have no personal experience with either machine - those are just what I see looking through the specs. Hope you find what you need and thanks for posting - someone here should be able to help!

bellinoracing · #3 09-11-2022, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBandit

Hydraulic M54 will do up to 90 in a single shot while the fully electric Erco SB48-TC looks to do up to 180 in a single shot; not sure if that matters to you depending on what you produce. The JD dies use a u-strap while the Erco dies use a j-hook which may be a little easier/faster to load for production work. The Erco has a swing-away counter die which from my minimal experience makes it easy to release and load/unload - the JD seems to have some kind of pull-back system which I'm not familiar with. It looks like Erco may have a few more accessories, one being a tie bar which would help strengthen things when bending heavy wall materials. I cant find any info on their rotary indexing options.

I have no personal experience with either machine - those are just what I see looking through the specs. Hope you find what you need and thanks for posting - someone here should be able to help!

Thank you for your comments. After a little more research I noticed Ercolina dies are about 3x the cost of JD2 dies. I dont expect dies to be cheap but they were no that far out of sight years ago when I had a Ercolina. One die I looked at for 1" tube was just under $1000 for the Ercolina

.I think Ercolinas also are a gearbox drive which is nice until they need a rebuild. I would much rather rebuild or replace the pump and cylinder that the Model 54 uses. I think for a high production shop maybe the Ercolina is better but for my lower production shop it looks like the Model 54 is the obvious better choice. Thanks again