Old sawmill ,the big round blade type

[Sprinklerman]

I have a friend selling his farm and he asked me If I wanted the old sawmill thats up there . I am guessing that its 1940's to 1950's vintage .last used in the early 1980's , Last time I looked at it was in 1985 . I am wondering if it is worth the time to go and get it ?

 

[groundcover]

My neighbor has one,sawed a lot of wood in it's day. Powered by a Rolls Royce diesel ! He is 91 now, great knowledge of the woods and all things mechanical .

 

[Rustyiron]

Is the mill undercover? A lot of the wooden "parts" can be rotted but would not be that hard to replace… if you had a sawmill:laughing: I'd love to be in your position, understanding that it will prolly take a lot of work to get everything working. Go for it if you have the time & devotion that it may take.

 

[Sprinklerman]

it was under roof , dont know what condition its in , the roof or the mill . I never have the time , dont really need a sawmill ,but its free , I just have to drive 200 miles to get it .

 

[Ed of all trades]

Back when I was a kid we used to go take logs to a sawmill to get them sawed into lumber. The guy had an old mill like you are talking about and moved it around in the woods and just hauled the logs out to the mill with a tractor and a swingcart. He would snake the logs out to the piles fer the swingcart with a mule. He cut and snaked in the morning and sawed in the evening. Had a 5 man crew and did a lot of work with that mill. Replaced most of the wood every time he moved the mill. If you have the time and the logs, or people who will bring in their logs, go for it. those things last forever. Ed

There is a book put out by Frick that tells you how to build the wood and talks about steam power.

 

[MossRoad]

I'd take it just for the yard art value alone! :laughing:

Plus, I hate to see anything go to the scrapper. Maybe it could be made to work well again. Got any photos?

 

[Egon]

I'd suggest that to set it up again for sawing would be an expensive operation. If you have to hire extra help to run it there may be safety concerns.

But; get it, save it for posterity.

note: we have no idea of what it looks like.

 

[FarmWrench]

I have a Bell saw. Runs off tractor PTO. I'd love a Frick. Where is it? If you're close I'm willing to work on a deal.

 

[Sprinklerman]

I'd suggest that to set it up again for sawing would be an expensive operation. If you have to hire extra help to run it there may be safety concerns.

But; get it, save it for posterity.

note: we have no idea of what it looks like.

Last time I saw it was 30 plus years ago , it looked like it was all there back then. i will probably go up this fall and check it out .I was told you have to have 1 of everything before you die . I havent had a sawmill yet .

 

[grnspot110]

My farm renter has a circular sawmill, powered by tractor PTO. His dad, with his help, has sawn lumber for me in the past. I cut the log & told them where it's at, they did the rest!

 

[farmer2009]

Go for it. As others have said I'd love to be in your shoes. Would really like to have a circle mill but it's on down the list and I haven't found one reasonable yet.

Where did you say it was? Laughing.

 

[tcreeley]

We had a sawmill as a kid- used to contract out with the state forests and set up and cut on site during the fall and winter. 4' round blade and a travelling carriage for the log. Cut a lot of wood before we got out of the business in early 1960. Had a couple of power units for belt drives. Had an edger to trim the boards. - Go for it!

 

[Sprinklerman]

Go for it. As others have said I'd love to be in your shoes. Would really like to have a circle mill but it's on down the list and I haven't found one reasonable yet.

Where did you say it was? Laughing.

In west virginia , down the road on the right .

 

[Tompet]

My neighbor has one,sawed a lot of wood in it's day. Powered by a Rolls Royce diesel ! He is 91 now, great knowledge of the woods and all things mechanical .

Great photos of your neighbors mill. How long ago were those photos taken because if those are pretty current he is doing all right!

 

[Mysfyt]

How is it powered? If it's by tractor PTO, I'd go for it.

Used to lend my Farmall H to a guy who had one like this because his little Ford didn't have the HP to run it. He cut a lot of lumber with that thing and I was amazed how accurate it was.

He was quite a character too. Built a rack on the back of his motorcycle to bring the blades to the shop that would sharpen them. It was quite a sight to see him going down the highway with those big circular blades bolted upright on that rack catching all that wind!

 

[farmer2009]

In west virginia , down the road on the right .

Know exactly where now. (Not really.) If you decide against it I might be interested. But really those are nice to have around so you should give it a try. Any pictures?

 

[Mikejeakins]

If you go to Lanesville Indiana for there Heritage days they have a circular saw mill that is running off of old steam engines as well as other power. its really cool.

 

[Sprinklerman]

Know exactly where now. (Not really.) If you decide against it I might be interested. But really those are nice to have around so you should give it a try. Any pictures?

No pictures , its 3 or 4 hours away . My buddy said i can have it . Now I have to find the time to go check it out .

 

[rocketfish]

No pictures , its 3 or 4 hours away . My buddy said i can have it . Now I have to find the time to go check it out .

That's the best kind FREE!!!!

 

[Sodo]

Dragging a tree out of the woods and cutting it into lumber is very satisfying. If you have a need for the lumber you will like it. If not, the amount of work it takes to get one board will be disappointing. I would like to have a circular saw mill, I like the old-school pattern it leaves on the boards.