The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Sawmills and Milling => Topic started by: jbcollum on August 23, 2010, 08:21:08 AM

Title: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: jbcollum on August 23, 2010, 08:21:08 AM
I am looking to purchase a swing blade mill.  I am having trouble finding one.  I would like to find a Lucas model 827 or 830.  Could anyone help me locate one of these mills used?
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: paul case on August 23, 2010, 08:27:20 AM
i saw some of those on sawmill-exchange.com.      pc
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: Magicman on August 23, 2010, 09:19:01 AM
Good luck and Welcome to The Forestry Forum.  Keep us posted on your search/success.  Whatcha gonna be cutting?
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: hogs4hobby on August 23, 2010, 09:42:26 AM
i have a lucas 1030 that im thinking about selling? it has less than 150hrs on it & i have 8 blades. i bought this mill new in april of 08', absolutly nothing wrong with mill.
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: Meadows Miller on August 23, 2010, 10:11:19 AM
Gday

First off Welcome to the Forum JB  ;D 8)  You have come to the rite place pull up a pack and hang around awhile Mate  ;) ;D 8)

Lucas Mills are a Nice mill and i have sawn on them for 12 years now i just wish i hadn't mucked around about getting my own for 10years though I have Both a 8-20 and a 8 month old 10-30 Now  thats already paid for itsself twice over in 55 hrs of milling ;D ;D 8) theres not anything thats a pita to tackle these days as they are productive on almost any log and you can knock out plenty of timber on your own if your working solo Mate  ;) ;D ;D 8)

Now tracking one down even down here where theres approx 1 lucas mill for every 10000 people in this country and its a hard task to find one as people tend to hold onto them and  I was lucky that the 8-20 came up at the time it did it was about 10 years old then and they where asking only $3k less than what they had paid for it  you are probobly lucky to see 3to4 good 8" mills come up a year on the market here and theres an 8-27 in QLD atm with 875hrs on it and they are asking $10900au for it   ;) The good thing is that they do hold their Value very well  ;) ;D 8)

Pauls links a good one for second hand mills  and ive spent abit of time on there over the years drooling  over equipment ;) :D Now when you take into account that both options are both 7 years old and ones been used in a fulltime milling operation and they are both out of warranty my opinion would be to go with the 8-25 with under 300hrs in that case but you still have to get it home too Mate  ;)

(edit) that being said the mill with the upgrde on the motor and new box might be worth a look too if those components are still under waranty Mate  ;)

Another option would be to put your cash together to put down a deposit and take it to the bank and go for a new 8-30 mill for $16k with that you would have the security of having the full two year warranty on everything and plus bank managers like new gear  Mate

There is also a new model out thats been avaliable here for about two years here called the 7-23 which is aimed at owner builders and weekend millers with a full cut of 7&7/8ths inches or an Aussie 8" 200mm board  ;) i dont think its avaliable in the Usa though you would have to check with bailys Mate

Also Our 8-20s on the market atm for $9000au its had new gear box & clutch in the last 50 hrs it also has a side winder upgrade and afew other things like a sett of lucas log chocks & Plastic blade pockets/carriers  it has a log book with it and has been serviced evey 50 hrs with me ;)  I milled some hardwood with it the other day and she's still running like a swiss watch  ;) ;D 8)  8)

We wont let it go for much less than that as we have had a couple of idiots offering us stupid amounts for it otherwise it can sit in the shed untill i need  a second mill for more production ;) or my Mate Pauls 11yo son has shown keen intrest in learning how to mill but i have told him he has to wait till he's  about 14 which he aint too impressed about as he can already drive forks and loaders better than most  ;) :D ;D 8)

Again Welcome Mate

Regards Chris

Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: jbcollum on August 23, 2010, 01:13:07 PM
Quote from: hogs4hobby on August 23, 2010, 09:42:26 AM
i have a lucas 1030 that im thinking about selling? it has less than 150hrs on it & i have 8 blades. i bought this mill new in april of 08', absolutly nothing wrong with mill.
Could you get me some pics of the mill and what price you would be looking to get for it.
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: jbcollum on August 23, 2010, 01:16:19 PM
Quote from: Magicman on August 23, 2010, 09:19:01 AM
Good luck and Welcome to The Forestry Forum.  Keep us posted on your search/success.  Whatcha gonna be cutting?
Thanks.  Just gonna be cutting some oak, pine, into dimensional lumber.  We are looking to build some barns and other buildings here on the property.
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: jbcollum on August 23, 2010, 01:18:20 PM
Quote from: Meadows Miller on August 23, 2010, 10:11:19 AM
Gday

First off Welcome to the Forum JB  ;D 8)  You have come to the rite place pull up a pack and hang around awhile Mate  ;) ;D 8)

Lucas Mills are a Nice mill and i have sawn on them for 12 years now i just wish i hadn't mucked around about getting my own for 10years though I have Both a 8-20 and a 8 month old 10-30 Now  thats already paid for itsself twice over in 55 hrs of milling ;D ;D 8) theres not anything thats a pita to tackle these days as they are productive on almost any log and you can knock out plenty of timber on your own if your working solo Mate  ;) ;D ;D 8)

Now tracking one down even down here where theres approx 1 lucas mill for every 10000 people in this country and its a hard task to find one as people tend to hold onto them and  I was lucky that the 8-20 came up at the time it did it was about 10 years old then and they where asking only $3k less than what they had paid for it  you are probobly lucky to see 3to4 good 8" mills come up a year on the market here and theres an 8-27 in QLD atm with 875hrs on it and they are asking $10900au for it   ;) The good thing is that they do hold their Value very well  ;) ;D 8)

Pauls links a good one for second hand mills  and ive spent abit of time on there over the years drooling  over equipment ;) :D Now when you take into account that both options are both 7 years old and ones been used in a fulltime milling operation and they are both out of warranty my opinion would be to go with the 8-25 with under 300hrs in that case but you still have to get it home too Mate  ;)

(edit) that being said the mill with the upgrde on the motor and new box might be worth a look too if those components are still under waranty Mate  ;)

Another option would be to put your cash together to put down a deposit and take it to the bank and go for a new 8-30 mill for $16k with that you would have the security of having the full two year warranty on everything and plus bank managers like new gear  Mate

There is also a new model out thats been avaliable here for about two years here called the 7-23 which is aimed at owner builders and weekend millers with a full cut of 7&7/8ths inches or an Aussie 8" 200mm board  ;) i dont think its avaliable in the Usa though you would have to check with bailys Mate

Also Our 8-20s on the market atm for $9000au its had new gear box & clutch in the last 50 hrs it also has a side winder upgrade and afew other things like a sett of lucas log chocks & Plastic blade pockets/carriers  it has a log book with it and has been serviced evey 50 hrs with me ;)  I milled some hardwood with it the other day and she's still running like a swiss watch  ;) ;D 8)  8)

We wont let it go for much less than that as we have had a couple of idiots offering us stupid amounts for it otherwise it can sit in the shed untill i need  a second mill for more production ;) or my Mate Pauls 11yo son has shown keen intrest in learning how to mill but i have told him he has to wait till he's  about 14 which he aint too impressed about as he can already drive forks and loaders better than most  ;) :D ;D 8)

Again Welcome Mate

Regards Chris



Thanks Chris and thanks for the info.
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: fishpharmer on August 23, 2010, 02:31:11 PM
Welcome to Forestry Forum jbcollum.  The 618 Lucas I recently acquired has really impressed me so far.  I recently completed a job sawing up a large red oak, went very well.  Have you had the opportunity to run a Lucas? 
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: pineywoods on August 23, 2010, 08:19:01 PM
hey fish, where's the pics ???
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: fishpharmer on August 23, 2010, 10:30:36 PM
Piney, there's something wrong with my camera and computer, I don't think they speak the same language.  Some changes in hardware have created more of a communications gap.  But then again it may be operator error. :-[

Still waiting for Jeff's FF application for iPhones. ;) :D :D
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: Jeff on August 23, 2010, 11:17:18 PM
Wait no longer.  Download a facebook app for your phone. Upload your photo to facebook.  Get the image url from your facebook page.   Go to your gallery, click the image upload link, put the image url in one of the boxes under the URI/URL Uploads: area.   Continue from there. This will copy the image to the forum server. Choose an album for your photo. :)

hogs4hobby, I hope you understand the guidelines for using the forum to sell a mill...
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: paul case on August 23, 2010, 11:38:02 PM
jeff,
you are handier than a shirt on a pocket.  pc
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: jbcollum on August 24, 2010, 01:51:43 PM
Quote from: fishpharmer on August 23, 2010, 02:31:11 PM
Welcome to Forestry Forum jbcollum.  The 618 Lucas I recently acquired has really impressed me so far.  I recently completed a job sawing up a large red oak, went very well.  Have you had the opportunity to run a Lucas? 

I have not had the oppurtunity to run a Lucas or any sawmill for that matter.  This is all something new to me.  From the research that I have done, that seems to be one of the easier mills to run.  We are looking to use it here on our property to saw up some trees to build a few buildings with.
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: sigidi on August 25, 2010, 07:34:19 AM
I guess Chris (aka Meadows Miller) did my job for me - no need to chime in on how much I like my Lucas  ;D :D ;)
Title: Re: Want to buy a swing blade mill
Post by: tjhammer on August 25, 2010, 01:18:29 PM



       jbcollum


  you can ck this site for used machines


SAWMILL EXCHANGE
USED 1-2 MAN CIRCULAR SAWMILLS FOR SALE
(as of Wednesday August 25, 2010)
These are portable and transportable mills for 1-2 person personal and commercial use.  The two types are:

Specialized 3-blade circular sawmills    Specialized swing-blade circular sawmills

    tj