What kinda mill to buy?

  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #27
I like the turner idea. Maybe less slamming cants into the mill.

Like the board pusher.
A guy I know made his WM push the other direction, on the regular return pass.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #28
What wears out on mills, if not abused?


This has been for sale for almost a year. Not so far from me. Friends nearby to visit while potentially inspecting for purchase.




How well were these older models built? Any known, big problems?
 
My bud had one of that vintage and it was a good machine. He put quite a few hours on it. The only bad thing is they came with Onan engines that I believe are out of business. Seems like they had a crank problem. Easy enough to check. I think hydraulics pay for themselves pretty fast.
 
The problem with those engines was probably that they spilled their seeds on the ground.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #31
Stig?


For regular operation, I'm sure hydraulics would work most profitably.

Very much, I will continue to do tree work, so don't want to sink a huge amount into a machine, when I need tree specific machines more. Being able to tow-and-mill for tree customers is appealing to me, and my intended milling market. Yesterday, I was looking at a burly, burly maple that a customer is intending to cut down. The entire base is burl.



The type of construction lumber I'd consider milling is mostly doug-fir beams. Not lots of smaller dimensional material, that lumberyards can provide. People want to build sheds and out-buildings on rural properties. I'm not sure how much market there would be.

Cedar is easy cutting, and the type of smaller dimensional stuff I'd be cutting.

Maple here, is soft, not like eastern maple.

Occasional hard hardwoods
 
Was that pretty good for an atheist or what :lol:

Just as weird, we have a company making machinery for agriculture called Mengele here in Europe.
No sense of history, I guess.
 
What wears out on mills, if not abused?


This has been for sale for almost a year. Not so far from me. Friends nearby to visit while potentially inspecting for purchase.




How well were these older models built? Any known, big problems?
Probably bearings and pumps are the wear items. Maybe lack of seeds form over use. LOL
 
@stig, i didn't catch the reference either, well played sir! :lol: i don't know that story.

I don't know about the sawmill, but i have 2 welders with onan motors. They are both easy to work on and fairly bulletproof. I don't run them for money, and perform almost no maintenance, hardly ever run them, but when i do i absolutely need them. One i run as a generator during power outages, and it never misses a beat. I've had water get in the intake and freeze in a cylinder, pulled the head to get the ice cube out, cleaned up the valves, and fired it right up. No complaints, and i know you can still get parts. You could always swap it out too if needed, engines that size are plentiful and cheap from used riding mowers.
 
If the Onan dies, just get a decent modern v twin to replace it. That is an early WM. Very basic, some limitations compared to newer ones. I think '92 is the first year when they really had things sorted.
 
Back
Top