I registered just to post this reply, hoping it might help out others that have been looking into the Schulz brand and not finding much on the Internet.
I found them selling them on craigslist in Houston, and also on eBay (swingtechnology1). I'm pretty sure they are made in Brazil and probably shipped to GA and their other distribution centers. I'm in Houston and mine came from Schulenberg, TX.
I was hesitant too, for the price it seemed like you were getting a step up compared to other quality compressors. Unfortunately the longer I kept shopping around the more the prices seemed to keep going up (especially when trying to buy American). Another issue was availability, some places could take up to SIX WEEKS to deliver! Schulz had it in stock and was at our business in two days.
Some of the prices for various models:
10HP L-Series: $1,800 (~1,000 RPM Pump - 35CFM @ 175PSI)
10HP V-Series: $2,200 (~700 RPM Pump - 34/35CFM @ 175PSI? - Same pump as 15HP just slower speed)
15HP V-Series: $2600 (~1,000 RPM Pump - 50.1CFM @ 175PSI)
Shipping was more than reasonable too, only $65 (commercial location).
At first we were going to get the 10HP L-Series because it was so cheap and when we had more money get a rotary screw, but in the end decided on the 15HP just because it wasn't *that* much more but the step up from L to V series gave a lot more CFM. Almost got the 10HP V-Series because of slower pump RPM, but again the more CFM we can get at the shop the better.
This thing pumps up FAST! I haven't adjusted the pressure yet (I was going to dial it down some), but it cuts off at 175psi, and cuts back on at 145psi I think? It takes less than a minute to fill back up!
You have to be careful a lot of the specs on the schulz website list "displacement CFM" and not the actual CFM. After digging around and comparing the numbers, their CFM for each HP range seems to be within 1-2 CFM as the competition. Look at the specs on the eBay user I gave, he gives CFM @ 100 & 175PSI.
I was kind of surprised, for a 15HP monster it was actually probably a little quieter than our other 5HP compressor (running an aftermarket pump from NorthernTool).
While doing research you start to noticed a lot of the pumps looks the same, most of the nicer ones are copies of the standard Saylor Beall design. But I realized the pump that my Schulz uses also seems to be used by others, I think I saw Schrader had a copy but the cylinders didn't look nearly as beefy. Of course, design in one thing, where it is actually made, and the internal parts used is an entirely different matter.
My only semi-negative, one of the belts broke after only about a week. However, I called Matt and he overnighted a pair of replacement belts. The compressor was capable of running off of the one belt so I can only assume the broken one had some sort of defect. The belts are Gates brand, which is a decent and well known brand.
The motor is a WEG and it's a TEFC (totally enclosed) so if you wanted to stick one of these outside you could. The air filters are Solberg, about the most common you can find for air compressors.
When comparing other compressors, I looked at Campbell Hausfeld (I liked them because of the 17,000+ hr bearing rating, and also the compressor held 4qts of oil!), Quincy (50,000+ hr bearing rating, USA made, very well known name), Compressed Air Systems (Located in Dallas, made in USA but sources parts from all over), Champion, and a couple others.
The CAS brand was very nice, especially if you want the "full package" model (air aftercooler, auto-drain (pressure activated, not electric!) etc, etc. Their pumps are the Saylor Beall copies, and supposedly they own the pump plant in China. Also if you get their annual maintenance kits I think the pump can have up to a 6 year warranty.
http://www.compressed-air-systems.com/ The only downside is it was like ~$500 more for a 10HP basic model than the 15HP Schulz we got.
I don't even think I would need to talk about Quincy. The only negative thing I have to say, when I was at Northern Tool I saw they had both 5HP & 7.5HP models there. The 5HP had the Baldor (USA) motors. But the 7.5HP were WEG... Kind of disappointing considering I thought Quincy used all Made-in-the-USA stuff... Maybe it was just for that model or something, I don't know. Quincy gives up to 5 years if you buy their annual maintenance kits.
Campbell Hausfeld's seemed nice as the model I was looking at (10HP) held 4qts of oil, most other pumps you see only hold about 1.5qt. Also the pump ran at 700RPM. 3 year warranty too. Also it was a little cheaper, I found $2,600 for a 10HP model.
Oh yeah, on most other brands to get a TEFC motor costs extra too.
So after weighing all the pros and cons and doing research online, we decided to take the plunge for the Schulz because of the price. It's only been running a month, but so far it's been solid (knocks on wood). The price simply can't be beat. I don't know if it's just them trying to penetrate the US market and get their name out there or what. In south-america they appear to be a huge brand name (like the equivalent that Quincy or Ingersol Rand is here).
If you really plan on running your pump hard then I would probably spend the extra cash for one of the better known brands like Quincy. But if you are just a small shop or for your garage, the Schulz is probably more than adequate. Especially considering the prices for the 5HP & 7.5HP models, if I didn't already have one for my garage I probably would of picked of the smaller models up. They are most definitely better quality than the cheap 60 gallon things you see at Sears or Home Depot.
