frick 00 sawmill

[ddcuning]

jdw, the old literature indicates 8000 board feet a day under good power but I still don't have mine operational so I am not sure. At the rate I am going, it may be a few more months before I get mine going good. I was supposed to work on it this past weekend and didn't even make it over there.

Dave C

[jdw]

Have you been to frick sawmill website fricksawmill.com those people say they make every part for the old fricks. You can even buy a new 00 mill.how hard are these things to set up?

[bigred1951]

Jdw where in Ky are you located. I live in morehead. There are several mills within a 20 min drive from me. Including a big stave mill that's being built right now. I to dream of having my own big circle sawmill business. Ive had my eye on an old Corley now for years just haven't taken the time to make an offer.

[jdw]

I'm in grayson. Not far from morehead.

[bigred1951]

Not far at all. My woman's from there so we are up there at least every other week. I like band mills alright but my papaw and uncle had a big meadows mobile when I was younger that uncle sold after papaw passed. I've loved circle mills ever since. But big difference is you can run a bandmill alone or with a helper. A circle mill you need a crew to run it.

[Ron Wenrich]

If you have enough automation, you can run a circle mill by yourself.  But, your production goes up quite a bit when you have help. 

[dgdrls]

If you have enough automation, you can run a circle mill by yourself.  But, your production goes up quite a bit when you have help.

Ron where is the first automated upgrade for a circle mill done to provide the most gains?

DGDrls

[jdw]

What kind of work do you do bigred?

[bigred1951]

I'm a correctional officer at the prison in west liberty. Been there a little over 2 years. But I'm always looking for another job just waiting for the right one lol

[jdw]

Those mills in morehead I don't belive they would help a guy starting up I've had dealings with them before.

[bigred1951]

I had an interview at the stave mill thats being built here but I turned it down. I figured why go from hardly breaking a sweat to working pretty hard for the same pay.

[jdw]

I'm going monday to look at the mill it's a running operation. Then I'll have to figure our how to put it back to gather if I buy it lol.

[bigred1951]

I would volunteer to tag along lol but have to work. Is the mill on craigslist or just someone you know. The Corley mill I want is a complete operation but it hasn't been run for years. But it is all under cover in good shape. If you look through my older posts I have one about it with pics.

[jdw]

I know the guy I went to the master logger class with him.

[bigred1951]

What did you think about the class? I've thought about signing up for it but have heard mixed reviews on it. Wanted to know if it's worth the time and money.

[jdw]

The only reason I took it was at one time kentucky was thinking about making it to where you had to have it before you could sell logs to a mill. But it had some good info but most of it was liberal hippie stuff about if we cut trees the earth will explode from global warming and if we don't select cut we will kill some kind of fish or something so it was good in some areas bad in others

[Ron Wenrich]

If you have enough automation, you can run a circle mill by yourself.  But, your production goes up quite a bit when you have help.

Ron where is the first automated upgrade for a circle mill done to provide the most gains?

DGDrls

The best gains are on the carriage.  Most guys go for automating the dogs first.  That relieves the need for setting the dogs, and you can get a better grip on the log.  If done right, you can incorporate a downturn with it that helps to turn some of the logs without using a cant hook.  But, that also involves putting in either air or hydraulic, and is an added expense.  It's a game changer for sawing.

If you aren't automating the carriage, then I'd go with a live offbearer.  That takes the boards and slabs away from the saw.  It increases production by not having to wait on the human offbearer to be ready for the next cut.  It also increases safety.

There are ways to get around a log turner that are just as fast.  For the most part, I used a log turner mainly load logs onto the carriage.  After they're on the carriage, you can use the downturns or some other method if there are none.

A green chain to handle lumber is also a good option.  You can use it as a surge deck.  Load it up with material, and stack later.  We had a local mill run by a father/son combination.  The father sawed, and through automation, the son did all the edging and stacking.  The mill was an old Frick.

[bandmiller2]

I usually run my circular mill with just the old guy that watches me shave in the morning. Its very doable but production takes a hit. Myself the bottle neck is down stream from the saw. You have slab, boards that need edging and boards that need stacking. If you have a conveyer, roller table or tilted table you just postpone handling. I try to get a square cant then pussyfoot around and clean up the jam of slabs and boards needing edging. I have a throttle, clutch, flipper table next to the saw and a down stream kicker in the sawyers box. Also valuable to have a poker stick for stuff that hangs by the saw. The old belsaw is probably the best sawmill for one man operation. Frank C.

[jdw]

The old frick 00 I went and looked at today had some issues. The mill itself was in good condition but the diesel unit had issues. Guess I'm back to square one :-\

[Magicman]

Getting a bandmill would allow you to also capitalize on the portable jobs that may be available. 

[bigred1951]

If the price was right engine trouble or not. Engines are everywhere lol.

[sealark37]

Don't be discouraged.  Most older circle mills have multiple issues/problems.  All can be fixed with lots of work and some cash.  Gas or diesel, power units with problems can be repaired all the same.  If the unit was gasoline,you would be better off finding a used diesel to avoid large fuel bills.  On the other hand, if you are waiting for a low price on a running mill, you might well pack a lunch for the search, for even if the old sawyer is gone, the family will run the mill until it is broken down.  Good Luck, and Regards, Clark

[ddcuning]

When I bough my Frick, it had a UD-14 engine that had a cylinder down. I sold the UD-14 for $400 then picked up a 100kW generator with a Cummins inline 6 with only 1600hrs on it for $500. I then found and rebuilt a PTO and removed the generator head to come up with a sawmill engine. Only issue with a gen is that sometimes they have a constant speed governor on them which doesn't work for sawmill use. I agree that you can find an engine fairly easily and yes, look for a diesel.

Building on what Clark said, you are not going to find an old circle mill without issues. Mine happened to have more wrong than right but I attribute some of that to lack of maintenance now that I know more about how it was....not cared for before I bought it.

Dave C

[Jeff]

I have merged these topics. it makes much more sense to keep a story all together. the forestry forum is huge. When you separate a story into multiple topics they do not stay together and people that might be interested loose track of what is going on and then send me messages asking me to put the stuff back together again. it's much easier if you just do it yourselves.

[bigred1951]

Did you get any pics of the mill