Grandfather's sawmill

[foote2floor]

I wanted to share with you guys my grandfathers sawmill. If I remember correctly my grandfather bought his current property on the early 70s and brought this contraption. As he hand cleared the land he downed, cut, and stickered the lumber. He let it dry in the open rain for a few months to wash out the sap, then covered it with tin to let the moisture dry out. He placed the hardwoods in his house for atleast a week for them to get accustomed to the inside environment. All the trim, cabinets and walk through doors are hardwoods from his property that he hand built.
Now for the sawmill itself. It is powered by a RIO F-22 gold comet motor and transmission that has been converted to run on propane. If I remember we cut in second gear. And yes, we have to hold on the steering wheel, lift a leg up and press the clutch while shifting. The belt is a wide synthetic belt used in round balers. He gets them used from a friend and we stitch them together for the correct length. The sawdust is removed from the pit below the blade by a auger in a galvanized tube ran by a electric motor.
We have not been able to run it lately for the lack of time. We will be running it this fall though. I went and checked on my 87 year old grandpa today and he just fell a huge red oak. He will cut the limbs and unusable parts of the trunk for firewood and the trunk will be milled.

 

[MIKE R]

Very cool. Thanks for posting.

 

[mrpoppy58]

I wanted to share with you guys my grandfathers sawmill. If I remember correctly my grandfather bought his current property on the early 70s and brought this contraption. As he hand cleared the land he downed, cut, and stickered the lumber. He let it dry in the open rain for a few months to wash out the sap, then covered it with tin to let the moisture dry out. He placed the hardwoods in his house for atleast a week for them to get accustomed to the inside environment. All the trim, cabinets and walk through doors are hardwoods from his property that he hand built.
Now for the sawmill itself. It is powered by a RIO F-22 gold comet motor and transmission that has been converted to run on propane. If I remember we cut in second gear. And yes, we have to hold on the steering wheel, lift a leg up and press the clutch while shifting. The belt is a wide synthetic belt used in round balers. He gets them used from a friend and we stitch them together for the correct length. The sawdust is removed from the pit below the blade by a auger in a galvanized tube ran by a electric motor.
We have not been able to run it lately for the lack of time. We will be running it this fall though. I went and checked on my 87 year old grandpa today and he just fell a huge red oak. He will cut the limbs and unusable parts of the trunk for firewood and the trunk will be milled.

Your Grandpa must be much of a Man. Not many around like Him. Have a good Day and enjoy Him while You can. My Grandpa is not with Us anymore.

 

[Renze]

Thanks for posting ! Though i am a metal man myself, sawmills have allways interested me... Been thinking of building one, but too many other projects.

 

[PapaPerk]

Very nice! I would buy it off you if you were closer! :thumbsup:

 

[Farmerford]

Great pictures! I worked on my grandfather's sawmill as a youngster in south Georgia in the 1950's. It was very much like that; six cylinder IH distillate engine, with no muffler. But at least it was on the other side of the saw from the operator. Looks like your granddad (you?) stands right by that old REO; bet his ears ring at the end of the day.

 

[creekbend]

I sincerely enjoyed the story content and the pictures. In regards to your Grandfather staying active: :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[foote2floor]

We both run it as needed. I am unsure of the routing, but the exhaust exits under the grill in the front we slipped a piece of 3 inch metal pipe over it to extend it farther from the "drivers" area.
I am a car enthusiast and I have never seen a complete RIO vehicle. This model is a inline 6. I am sure the emblems alone are worth a fortune. But why ever ruin the nostalgia of it.

 

[20 20]

very interesting, thanks for sharing

 

[joshuabardwell]

My neighbor has a similar mill. It's a real treat to watch him work, and a nice bonus to be able to buy the rough-sawn lumber off him for 1/3 what it would cost at the Big Box store. Since fuel prices went up, he and his son (third generation miller) have had to get jobs in order to make ends meet, but I don't think anything will stop him milling lumber. He just seems to love it.

 

[KYErik]

Very nice set up- how big is that blade? Any idea what brand that sawmill is?

 

[foote2floor]

I don't not know the brand right off hand. The blade is a little over 3ft across. We can only cut planks about 12 inches across on a single pass. We can do large if we cut about half the log and then flip it end or end on the carriage.

 

[beeforty]

For todays history lesson, REO is the initials of Ransom Eli Olds who founded Olds Motor Vehicle company, sold it, was later bought by GM and then started REO Motor Car Company. Some models were called "Speedwagon" immortalized in music by the band REO Speedwagon.

 

[Renze]

Some models were called "Speedwagon" immortalized in music by the band REO Speedwagon.

The Speedwagon was a model that became highly popular because there was a need for a fast truck during the Prohibition....