A planer for planing wood slabs. Large wood slab workpieces are planed by a heavy planer which includes a vertically stationary planer frame with drive wheels for horizontal movement along a pair of spaced apart rails, and a pivoting frame portion which is pivotably affixed to the stationary planer frame, for adjusting the
depth of cut into a workpiece of a planer cutter head, which is rotatably mounted to the pivoting planer frame. An adjustable drive cylinder is used to adjust the pivoting planer frame and thereby adjust
depth of cut. Workpiece clamps hold the workpiece in place. A leading-edge roller, a
trailing edge roller, and airbags are used to provide downward pressure on a workpiece to secure it during operation. A control panel is provided for manipulation by an operator of range of variables, including
depth of cut, or rate (horizontal movement) of
cut.