Mobile Dimension price

[forgeiron]

I am also looking at a MD saw that a friend bought in 1975. He has used it moderatly and kept the motor and carriage inside and the track under a tarp outside. The track is a little rusty but nothing is frozen up. This model uses a volkswagon engine with manual start that I would like to convert to electric start. It all seems to be in fairly good shape and he wants $5000 for it. That sounds resonable after looking at what the new prices are. Seems like a good saw to go with.

[DanG]

Welcome, Forgeiron!

$5k isn't a bad price for that rig.  I assume it is a model 127, since it dates back to '75?  I'm not sure when the 128 came out.  Paul_H has one of those that he upgraded to electric start a year or two ago.  You might save a  bit of money by not bothering with the alternator.  The alternator on mine hasn't alternated in 5 years, and I just put the battery charger on it once a week or so.  Now, if that mill has the manual crank for vertical adjustment, and your pennies are tight, I think you'd do better to upgrade that than to worry about electric start.  That engine isn't all that hard to turn over, but lifting the mill with the crank is a killer!

[StorminN]

Hey forgeiron,

If it's a 1975, I concur, it's pretty certain it's a Model 127. The upgrade from manual start to electric start is about $400, I think... not sure if that's with the alternator and ignition kit, or not. A call to Ron at Mobile Mfg. would clear that up quickly. My MD is a 1971 Model 127 and had that upgrade done before I bought it, with the alternator and normal distributor included too (early models had a magneto and no battery... I believe the magneto is $$$$ if it needs to be replaced).

Like DanG said, take a look and see if that mill has manual crank up / down... that can get old pretty quickly, and the upgrade from MD is again about $450?, the biggest cost there is the Leeson 24VDC motor. There are other options, mine came with an AC lift motor and I got sick of running a generator on about the second day, so I rigged a 24VDC gear motor from a Rascal scooter (free to me) to be the lift motor... it works great and is about the same speed as the $450 factory rig.

The other big thing to look for is if your friend's mill is rigged up with the rack-and pinion crossbeams on the endstands. The really early mills didn't always have this, (some didn't even have endstands, they were made to move from BIG log to big log using the board-and-block method) anyway... some MD's had a cable system that pulled the mill from left to right on the crossbeams and they had calibrated stops that pushed up against the cut face of the log... you would set one side of the stops for 2x material and the other for 4x, or 1x and 2x, whatever you were cutting. Long story short, if this mill doesn't have the rack-and-pinion crossbeams, it's about a $1,500 upgrade to the rack-and pinion setup, but the rack-and-pinion setup with the dial calibration wheel is MUCH, MUCH more accurate and easier to use, and a hell of a lot quicker, too... I've had both types and would rate the rack-and-pinion a MUST HAVE, unless all you are cutting is 2x and 4x rough barn wood.

The other thing to look for on a Model 127 is whether it has the rope return option... it's a wheel bolted to the left side of the mill at the head end, with a parachute cord wrapped around it. Once you send the carriage of a Model 127 down the log, there's no way to retrieve it without that rope return, until it hits the stop at the end of the track and returns on its own. The rope return is about a $130 parts kit if you don't have one... they save a lot of time on short logs or logs with lots of flare (butt cuts, etc.)

Other than that, the rest of the parts of the mill are all replaceable and MD still stocks most everything. It's pretty straightforward, but lots of bearings and belts to look out for. Again, with a call to the factory, they can look up the serial number of that mill and pull the file for it, tell you what's been done to it, all the parts that have been bought for it since it was new. They can also tell you what the original bearings clearances on, say the carriage bearings were, so you can take a dial caliper and measure what they read now and see if they need to be replaced, etc. before you buy.

More than anything, go over and mill some wood with it before you buy, make sure it runs the way you think it should... then once you get it, change the oil and adjust the valves, (it's a VW, after all) and tune her up a little and you'll be making chips fly before long!

...and oh yeah, keep us posted... and we love pictures!

-Norm.

[forgeiron]

Thanks Dan and Norm for the info. I don't think anything on the saw is electric. It has hand crank cable system for adjustment. I checked with the people at MD and they sent me some info on the electric start conversion and the kit is about $900 which seems like a lot to put a starter on. I do have an industrial VW engine in my shop which has a unit with a clutch and starter on it that might work. However the add on would move the location of the pulleys out another 6" or so. I don't undrestand why the kit coverts the engine from magneto to a distributor though. I do also have a 24 volt dc gear motor that might work for the lifter you mentioned and a backhoe as well.

[DanG]

Forgeiron, the MD version of the Volkswagen engine has undergone a lot of mods, so just switching out to any old VW is not a practical option.  I imagine the flywheel is a large part of the upgrade cost.  The flywheel end of the engine is where most of the mods are manifested, and all of those parts are proprietary to MD.  The mag firing was in place because there was basically no electrical system on the mag engines.  If you could come up with a flywheel, I guess you could save that money, but I can envision $900 worth of phone calls trying to do that.

The news is a bit happier on the lift motor.  The lift system is pretty simple, so it wouldn't be much of a challenge for an experienced fabricator.  Mine is not standard MD, and it works very well.  There are pics in my gallery.  Basically, you need a motor and gearbox, or gearmotor, and a couple of bicycle sprockets.

All that being said, I think the condition of that machine will dictate its worth.  If it is in super shape, it ain't bad.  If it has issues beyond the needed upgrades, it probably isn't worth the money.  A little surface rust on the track beam is not a degrade.

[StorminN]

forgeiron,

Wow, sorry I was wrong about the electrical upgrade price... perhaps I was thinking just the magneto price. DanG is completely right about the MD VW motor being modified, it even has a longer crankshaft than a regular VW. If there is a newer model 127 or Model 128 in your area, take a close look at it and see what he's talking about with the flywheel and all.

So... given that this is a hand-crank start Model 127, and it's got the cable system for left-right adjustment, you have to go into it knowing that and realize what sort of lumber you're going to make and how fast. Try the mill out before you decide to buy... most of all, try out that cable system and see what you think. Then try and find one with rack-and-pinion, or better yet, a 128 with hydro drive, and try that out, too.

I bought my old Model 127 for $6K, disassembled and sitting in the weeds (pics in my gallery) I was a total newbie, and I now know that I paid too much. By the time I built a trailer for it ($350 + a lot of time welding), bought the rack-and-pinion upgrade for it ($1,500), and the rope return ($140), replaced some of the bearings and had the edger shaft machined ($350) and put new belts on the mill ($150) and tweaked and tuned up everything, I now look back and think I should have just been more patient and waited for a good deal on a used MD Model 128. About six months after I bought my 127, I saw a late '80's Model 128 on a single-axle MD factory trailer go for $8K here in town... granted it had a bunch of hours on it, but it cut well every day and was a proven good mill... I kinda wish I had bought that one or one like it, instead.

Just my $0.02

-Norm.

[forgeiron]

I know this saw has fairly low hours on it and seams to be in pretty good condition and I mostly want to cut wood for myself so it appears to be  a good deal. I don't think I can see it running as he hasn't used it for probably 10 years or more. Tough decision but it seams like a much better saw overall than the others I've looked at. Norm if it's not too imposing Il'ld like to see/help you mill some wood on a weekend if that works to get a better idea of the big picture. Contact me at tmaccay@centurytel.net.

[Dave Shepard]

Welcome to the Forum, forgeiron! I am guessing that you do some smithin'? There is a blacksmithing discussion in the General Board. ;)


Dave

[StorminN]

Hi forgeiron,

Looks like I may be on your side of the water next weekend... I'll email you now...

-Norm.

[deeker]

We ended up not buying the MD, as it was on the older than we wanted  and needed some repairs.  The other down side was the eletricty avaliability.

Yes, my 91yr old dad is fine and still playing with logs.

[1GUNRUNNER]

Is it still available?