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Thread: Looking for Information on a Sawmill

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Location
    Gladstone, MI
    Posts
    1

    Looking for Information on a Sawmill

    Good afternoon everyone,

    I'm looking for some assistance with identifying the Make/ Model and a rough value for a sawmill on my grandparents property.

    It has a 54" blade and looks like it would be able to utilize a 16-18' log. Looks like it could be powered off a PTO tractor or a separate power plant. It is older than 1950.

    I'm afraid that is all the info I was able to gather from family members that know anything about. Thanks for your assistance!

    Chris
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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Shenandoah Valley in Virginia
    Posts
    918
    My father had several Frick sawmills... it does NOT look anything like them...

    It appears much lighter made than the Frick's...

    Will be watching as I have seen one in the Shenandoah Valley, but it is long gone..

    Curious what it is..

  3. #3
    I'd agree with Ed,.. That looks like some sort of cobbled together home-made type setup though Im sure someone who knows old mills would easily identify the setworks. Killer is the home-brew mills are typically more work than they are worth to move. Even a decently cared for 00 frick is a lot of work to re-set. The rail road ties and all the small components and a lot of pretty obvious site fabrication would (to me) make that a difficult mill to move. Years ago I looked at several 00 Fricks with insert blades, some in full operation, some complete but in pieces, and as I recall the most expensive was $2500 and the mill's that were in parts with no power unit (diesel) were $600-$800 but those were commercially produced mills.

    No idea, but my guess is depending on the blade, pretty much anything anyone would give you would be a handshake and get it out of here.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Shenandoah Valley in Virginia
    Posts
    918
    Here is a link to a very similiar mill..
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XILCJ2bM1Zk

    Thinking it may be a Belsaw or something in that category...
    Believe it is a commercial brand but on the low cost end for basically do it yourself.

    Attn Mark:
    Dad had Frick 00 mills and we could dismantle it and set it up in a new location in two days....
    In the 50-60's no one wanted sawdust, so when the pile got too high, we would simply move the mill...
    sometimes only 100-200 feet !!!
    Have a finger that is 1/2" short due to reaching into a 54" blade while off-bearing when I was 12 years old!!!
    That was in 1958... Learned you never wear gloves while removing slabs and boards...

  5. #5
    Ed,

    No shock that someone who knows the mill could re-set quickly. Im talking about someone buying a mill (Frick or other) and setting and debugging it from scratch (new owner). Its not a two day process in this day and age.

    Sorry about your finger. Whenever I've been around one of those blades I go into a dead blank stare and a shudder thinking of the possibilities.

    Been around a twin blade a few times, like a 54 on bottom and a 4x on top timed and staggered. 4x diameter blade on top was lowered in when needed to split like 48" slabs.

    Double horror

  6. #6
    Thats homemade the torch cuts on the ibeams tells you that

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