Will A 40 HP Case Steam Engine run a 48 inch Frick Cir Saw mill?
A 40 hp engine would be huge. Case rated their engines different than other makers. Dad has a 20 hp Minneapolis that drug a D8 Cat in a tug-of-war. That engine weighs about 10 tons empty if I remember right. A great uncle had an 18 hp Case (measured the same as the other makers) and although it was quite a bit smaller than the Minneapolis, would be plenty big to run a small sawmill.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/YaBBImages/userpics/steam3.JPG)
I think my Uncle Chick's Case was 16 hp. I now have the mill (but not the engine). I have not measured the blade but I know it's more than 48".
PAULDESHAW,welcome to the forum.I have no idea,but want to know do you have a plan?Those steam engine are huge.I only see them on TV.Seems odd a great big steam engine is only 18 hp or so.I can only compare to a 18 hp of today.
The power of a steam engine (or torque) is about 3 times that of a gas or diesel engine. Yes a 40 hp or even a 20 hp speam engine would run the mill if you have the belts and husk to get the rpm's right for the hammering of the blade.
At the "steam-up" at Brookes, Oregon They have run a No2 American Mill with a 52 inch blade with a traction engine about the size of your Case. It just plays sawing fir logs to about 24 to 30 inches in diameter. The only problem is there is a little lag time in the governer opening up, the sawyer has to adjust the sawing speed accordingly.
love to hear the chug of the steam engine, and the whine of the blade of them sawmills in action---
watchis'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsE1svF8I4M
I tailed boards off this mill a few years ago...come to think of it, that is likely
where I got bit by the bug.
don't remember how big the saw was tho'
That was really cool. 8) 8)
Thank you to all of the replies to my 40 HP case question. I live in western Iowa and the Case is for sale within 100 miles and belonged to this parties Grand Dad. I can also use it on my Humming Bird Woods Bros Threshing machine.
In the early '60's South Dakota put the horse power of your vehicle on the registration. If a car had 100 Brake HP the registration listed it as 25HP. That would be 25 real horses, what I was taught as taxable horespower. That was how they rated tractors.
Stevem
Paul whats the bore and stroke of your engine and what pressure are you running??Steam works well in mills and on the railroad because for a short time you can draw 2 to3 times its rated horsepower to get you through the tough spots.I know an 8 1/2X11 steam engine at 80#will cut pine well but for oak and outher hardwoods you need at least 100#.Keep us updated on your project Paul. Frank C.
My information on the 40 hp Case is that it is a 8 1/4 X 10 simple engine. Steam engines have valves that let steam into the cylinders all the time the piston is traveling. This is why they have so much torque even at low rpm's. A compound engine also lets steam into the other end of the cylinder as the piston is returning. You could set the valves with a lever to an 'economy' setting so that steam was only let in at the beginning of the piston's travel. This saved steam and thus water and fuel and would be used when ideling or with a light load. I think the hprating is at 120 psi and that is usually what the pop off valve was set at.
Zopi, was that a new Wood-Mizer?... :D
Quote from: jpgreen on April 15, 2008, 11:17:38 AM
Zopi, was that a new Wood-Mizer?... :D
Nope, But it would look better if it were
ORANGE! :D
Paul welcome aboard,go into this project with your eyes open.Their is nothing on this earth more vicious than high pressure steam.These old traction engines are 100yrs old made in the same era as the titanic from the same steel.Before I hired a heavy hauler to truck it home I would find an "old" boiler repairman to inspect it.Young repairmen and inspectors will just shoot it down they don't understand.Find old books,Audels and Croft power plant series are some of the best,again new books won't tell you squat about old boiler management.Everything about old boilers is dirty heavy and hard to find be ready to crawl into the firebox to roll and beadover tubes.It will probibly be one of the hardest most exasperating projects you were ever involved in but the most rewarding.Frank C.
also, you can search books.google.com for books in the public domain, there is alot of good info on steam engines in there...found and engineers manual for a Corliss engine..