Blow Molders

Shannon Treger, KD Machinery · Reviewed 2026-08-14

Three things decide which used blow molder fits: the style of machine, the number of heads and their centre spacing, and the platen size. Get those right and the rest is detail. Most blow molders KD lists fall between $49,500 and $192,500, though the range runs much wider at both ends.

Most of the 95 blow molders KD has listed fall between $49,500 and $192,500, with asking prices across the group running from $14,500 to $1,350,000.

What style of blow molder do you need?

This is the first question our plastics desk asks, and it is the one that most often gets skipped. The four styles are not variations on a theme; they make different parts, and a machine bought in the wrong style cannot be adapted into the right one.

• Accumulator head — the head stores a charge of melt and delivers it in one shot. This is the style for large parts, heavy-wall parts and handleware: drums, tanks, cases, automotive ducting. It is the most common style in KD’s own history among the machines whose style we can identify at all.
• Continuous extrusion — the extruder runs without stopping and the parison is cut on the fly. Suited to high-volume runs of smaller, lighter containers where cycle time matters more than shot weight.
• Reciprocating screw — the screw itself acts as the shot mechanism. Typically smaller machines, and common on bottles and small containers.
• Injection blow — the preform is injection moulded first, then blown. Chosen where neck finish and dimensional precision matter most, typically pharmaceutical and cosmetic containers. KD has listed only one, which tells you something about how rarely these come to the used market.

In practice the choice is driven by the part rather than by preference. Large, heavy-wall parts push you to an accumulator head, because the machine has to deliver a big shot fast enough that the parison does not sag under its own weight before the mould closes. High volumes of smaller containers push you to continuous extrusion, where the extruder never stops and cycle time is what you are buying. Reciprocating screw machines sit at the smaller end, on bottles and small containers. And injection blow is the choice when the neck finish has to be precise — pharmaceutical and cosmetic containers, where dimensional accuracy at the opening matters more than anything else.

If you are between two of these, the question to answer first is your part’s weight and wall section. That usually settles it.

How many heads do you need, and what head centres?

Head count is the first thing to settle, though on our own numbers it is not what sets the price. Across KD’s listings, single-head and twin-head machines both run to a median asking price of about $89,500 — 16 priced single-head machines against 21 twin-head. What separates two blow molders on price is size and capability rather than the head count on its own, so settle heads for the part you are making and look elsewhere for the budget.

Head centres — the spacing between heads — is the specification buyers most often have to ask us for, and it is the one that quietly rules a machine in or out. The centre spacing has to suit the part being made and the mould you intend to run. A machine with the right head count and the wrong centres is the wrong machine.

Centre spacing on machines we have handled has ranged from around 100 mm to over 500 mm, and it is quoted inconsistently across the industry — sometimes in millimetres, sometimes in inches, sometimes as “2 x 100 mm”. If a listing anywhere gives you a head count but no centres, that is a question to ask before anything else.

There is no clean formula to give you here, and we would rather say so than invent one. The centre spacing has to clear the mould, not just the part — so your part’s widest dimension plus the mould body around it, plus whatever the machine needs between adjacent moulds. That is why two machines with the same head count can suit completely different jobs.

The practical approach is to work from a mould you already run, or one you intend to have made, and check the centres against it before you go any further. If you tell us the part and the mould dimensions, we can tell you whether a given machine will take it.

What platen size does the job require?

Platen size sets the outer limit on the mould you can fit, and therefore on the part you can make. It is quoted as height by width, and on the machines KD has listed it has ranged from around 10 in × 10 in on small reciprocating-screw machines up to 1,400 mm × 1,330 mm on large accumulator-head equipment.

Two things are worth checking rather than assuming. First, some manufacturers quote the full platen and others quote the usable platen area, and the difference is not trivial when you are close to the limit. Second, platen size and clamp tonnage are related but not interchangeable — a large platen on a light clamp will not hold a demanding mould shut. KD records clamp tonnage on about two fifths of the machines it has listed, so it is worth asking for where it is not shown.

What does a used blow molder cost?

Across the 95 blow molders KD has listed with a published asking price, most fall between $49,500 and $192,500, with the full range running from $14,500 to $1,350,000. That top figure is not typical of anything — it is a single large modern machine, and quoting it as a market price would be misleading.

One thing worth correcting, because we published it ourselves: head count does not move the price. Single-head and twin-head machines in our listings both run to a median of about $89,500 — 16 priced single-head against 21 twin-head. Earlier readings of a smaller sample suggested a gap; a fuller one does not support it.

Where we do have enough machines to quote a builder figure: Uniloy runs to a median of about $169,500 across 13 priced machines, and Bekum to about $109,500 across 15. Read those as a reflection of the machines each builder is represented by in our stock rather than a ranking of the builders.

We are not quoting a figure by machine style. Style is recorded in a spec field on very few of these machines — most carry it in the machine name instead — and a median built on a handful is not a market rate, it is an anecdote with a dollar sign on it. Ask us and we will tell you what we are seeing.

Every figure on this page is an asking price from KD’s own listings, not a record of final transaction values.

How should you read a used blow molder listing?

Here is something we will say plainly, because you will run into it on our site as well as everyone else’s: blow molder listings are frequently incomplete on exactly the three specifications that decide the purchase.

Of the blow molders live on this site as we write this, about three quarters do not state head centres, the same proportion do not state the style in a spec field, and more than half do not state platen size. Some of that is genuinely unknown on older machines that arrived without documentation. Some of it is simply that the person listing the machine did not have the figure to hand.

What that means for you is practical: do not read a missing specification as a specification of zero, and do not rule a machine out because the page is quiet. Several of the machines on this page carry their style in the machine name rather than in a field — a “Sterling Accumulator Head” is an accumulator-head machine whether or not a spec row says so.

The fastest way through it is to call and ask. We can usually get head centres, platen dimensions and clamp tonnage on a specific machine the same day, and if we cannot, that itself is worth knowing before you travel to see it.

Reference numbers help — every machine on this site carries one, and quoting it gets you to the right answer faster than a description will.

Should you buy a machine built in the 1990s?

You will have to consider it. The median blow molder KD has listed was built in 1998, and the fleet spans 1980 to 2025. This is a class of machine where a well-maintained older unit is a normal purchase rather than a compromise, which is not true of every machine type we sell.

What tends to last on these machines is the structure — the frame, the clamp and the platens. What tends to date them is everything attached to that: the control, the hydraulics, the heaters and the screw and barrel.

So the questions worth asking on an older machine are about the wear items and the electronics rather than the year on the plate:

• Screw and barrel condition. Wear here shows up as output and quality problems, and it is not a cheap fix.
• The control, and whether it can still be supported. An unsupported control on a sound machine is one of the few things that genuinely dates a blow molder — and it is also one of the more straightforward things to retrofit.
• Hydraulics and heaters. Leaks, drift and dead heater zones are common on machines that have sat.
• The head itself, and whether tooling for your part exists or would need making.

A well-kept machine from the 1990s that has been in production and maintained is a normal purchase in this class. A newer machine that has sat outdoors is not. Ask us what we know about a specific machine’s history — we would rather tell you than have you find out after it lands.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between accumulator head and continuous extrusion?

An accumulator head stores a charge of melt and releases it as a single shot, which suits large and heavy-wall parts. Continuous extrusion runs the extruder without stopping and cuts the parison on the fly, which suits higher-volume runs of smaller containers.

What are head centres, and why do they matter?

Head centres are the spacing between the heads on a multi-head machine. They have to suit the part and the mould you intend to run, so a machine with the right number of heads but the wrong centres is still the wrong machine. It is the specification buyers most often have to ask for.

How much does a used blow molder cost?

Most of the 95 blow molders KD has listed with a price fall between $49,500 and $192,500. The full span runs from $14,500 to $1,350,000, but the top of that range reflects a single large modern machine rather than a typical purchase. These are asking prices from our own listings.

Does the number of heads change the price much?

On our own numbers, no. Single-head and twin-head machines in KD’s listings both run to a median asking price of about $89,500 — 16 priced single-head machines against 21 twin-head. Choose the head count your part needs; what moves the price is the size and capability of the machine.

Why do some listings not show head centres or platen size?

Sometimes the figure is genuinely unknown on an older machine that arrived without documentation, and sometimes it simply was not to hand when the machine was listed. A missing specification is not a specification of zero. Call with the reference number and we can usually get it for you the same day.

Is a machine from the 1990s too old to buy?

Not on its own. The median blow molder KD has listed was built in 1998, and a well-maintained machine of that age is a normal purchase in this class rather than a compromise. Condition, controls and head condition matter more than the year.

Key facts

• KD has listed 165 blow molders, of which 41 are available now.
• Most listed machines fall between $49,500 and $192,500 asking, across 95 priced units.
• Head count no longer separates price: single- and twin-head machines both run to a median of about $89,500.
• Style is rarely recorded in a spec field – most machines carry it in the machine name instead.
• The fleet spans build years 1980 to 2025, with a median of 1998.
• Sterling, Uniloy, Bekum, Graham and Cincinnati Milacron are the makes KD has handled most.

What is in stock at KD right now

Browse current inventory, or start from a related category or a machine we are listing today:

• 2008 ST TA150 ASPI COEX SECO
• 1992 Techne 20000

Figures on this page are asking prices from KD’s own listings, indicative only, and not a valuation of any particular machine. Specifications and prices change – please confirm anything you intend to rely on with us before purchasing.