Couple of interesting old mills

I went to a Sawmill clearance auction today down Pinjarra way where they had some scraggy looking packs of timber and lots of junk.

Two of the bigger pieces of gear there were these two mills.

This is a FORESTER MOBILE BANDSAW 3CYLINDER LISTER - PETTER DIESEL MOTOR ~3,000HRS. APPROX 5.5M X 850MM BED
Hard to tell from the photo but is has had a hard life and "NEEDED SOME WORK" - it went for $3.5k - probably a fair price.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...d=291476&stc=1

The second one was LEWISAW 8.4M X 1.9M WIDE Bed, 18HP VANGUARD PETROL MOTOR.
Also well used - it went for $8k which I thought was a bit much
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...d=291477&stc=1

ohhhhhhhhh... I've got a soft spot for the Lewisaw. They were without a doubt the best man portable sawmill in the world for a long time, and maybe still are. If you could carry the timber out then you could carry the saw in - can't do that with a Lucas or Peterson or any of the other "portable" mills out there (except maybe that chainsaw powerhead swingblade Jake Peterson does now) - and if you could carry the saw in you could sling load the timber out under a chopper.:D

It was a shame to see the Lewisaw become an Ecosaw.... they took the best points of the design and screwed them up. I dont know about the D & L version.... never seen one in the flesh. But David Lewis's original design with a 13 HP Briggs was a nifty piece of kit.
The other swingmill guys are yet to beat them in a lot of respects: weight, portability, and cut to taper in particular.

I'm glad they don't make them anymore.... I'm too old and unfit to use one the way it was meant to be used now.

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Originally Posted by John.G

ohhhhhhhhh... I've got a soft spot for the Lewisaw. They were without a doubt the best man portable sawmill in the world for a long time, and maybe still are. ~

~I'm glad they don't make them anymore.... I'm too old and unfit to use one the way it was meant to be used now.

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Agree with you, having worked with 3 original Lewis saws they are hard to beat, just hated reaching under or over the side rails

I've seen an Eco-saw operate and it was nothing to write home about - like you mentioned DJ, getting the sawn timber out didn't look fun, was "painfull" just watching.

Prices for both seem to be each end of the spectrum, maybe someone was 'emotionally encouraged' to buy the Lewis - $8k does seem a bit much

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Originally Posted by Sigidi

I've seen an Eco-saw operate and it was nothing to write home about - like you mentioned DJ, getting the sawn timber out didn't look fun, was "painfull" just watching.
Prices for both seem to be each end of the spectrum, maybe someone was 'emotionally encouraged' to buy the Lewis - $8k does seem a bit much

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The bidding started really low ($2K) and by the time it reached $3k there were two obviously keen bidders. One was a young bloke from the country that had driven 250ks and I had spoken to him before hand and he seemed like a nice young fella. The other was an older bloke. When the bidding reached $3.7k it looked like the young bloke had it and I was feeling happy for him but then the older bloke pitched back in and I was wondering if he was just pushing the price up. I then though the young bloke was going to stop at $6k but it kept going.

The mill had obviously been left outside without a cover on it so it probably looked worse that it really was.

I think I know this mill, wanted to charge exhorbitant prices for burls. Then $50 for a bunch of mill ends in his firewood pile. Always hot and dry down there, not far from Alcoa
Willy

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Originally Posted by Willy Nelson

I think I know this mill, wanted to charge exhorbitant prices for burls. Then $50 for a bunch of mill ends in his firewood pile. Always hot and dry down there, not far from Alcoa
Willy

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It's actually in Ravenswood bout 3 minutes from the Ravenswood pub on the south side of Pinjarra road. It can't be seen from the main road - it's a little way in off the main drag.