Bringing a Crabb Sawmill back to life and back to work!

FuzzyMuzzy · Feb 26, 2016

Hello again all!

Well, to make a long story just a little shorter, my soon to be father in law owns 40 acres of woods and camping and hunting ground just 2 miles away from my house out in the country. He is going to be building a cabin there and was interested in getting a sawmill to saw up some hardwood logs he has to use for finishing interior and such.

After a little searching I found a sawmill a few hours away, or rather he found my wanted add. The price was more than right so we picked it up last weekend, along with a detroit 2-53 power unit (at the time we thought it was a 2-71).

Brought it back to the shop and started working on it, and that's when things got weird.

This sawmill is from late 40's early 50's (to my knowledge) and it works and moves and is free as though it was brand new. The dogs even slide laterally with little effort. there was only one small little ratchet piece that needed a little squirt of oil. and thats it. The cable that runs the carriage is not frayed one bit (though it could have very well been replaced). I was almost disappointed, I thought I was going to have to work on this thing!

I have reservations about whether the 2-53 will be enough power for it, but we already have it so we'll give it a shot.

I will continue to update this as time goes on.

Enjoy,
Pete

jCarroll · Feb 26, 2016

If you really want to feel good, price a new blade like the one you have.

Take your time - and measure twice - setting it up. Otherwise you will cut a lot of tapered timber.

It's hard to get good results with an underpowered mill. Is 3 phase power available where you want to set it up?

Keep us posted.

FuzzyMuzzy · Feb 26, 2016

Unfortunately no, his cabin doesnt have any grid power to it as of yet, he has a large generator for charging the camper batteries, but the price tag to have power brought across the one field edge from the road was upwards of 30k.

We are going to pour a number of footings to mount the saw to, and then anchor it down with all-thread and jam nuts to level it if/when the ground shifts.

Ultradog MN · Feb 26, 2016

Nice score.
I wish I could be there the first time you
fire up that Detroit. It will sound, rattle,
scream, roar, shake and most of all Stink
magnificently. I love those old things.

FuzzyMuzzy · Feb 26, 2016

Oh it most certainly did just that. When it first lit it was only hitting on one so it REALLY sounded like the guts were about to come out of it.
Another guy there with us looked worried, "should we kill it?!?"

To which I replied, Nahh and cracked the throttle open and it cleaned up and purred like a walrus. Not to mention the muffler was straight through and the case was open at the top, in a short ceiling steel building. Yeah, I bet we woke up half the town.

Dick2 · Feb 26, 2016

If you don't know how to sharpen that blade, try too find an old timer that can teach you how to sharpen it. A really good job of sharpening the blade will make a good sawmill great!

Donald Lehman · Feb 26, 2016

The local Amish sawmill feller uses the 318 Jimmie on his, but it is a bigger unit than the one you have. Your mill looks like it hasn't sawed a lot of lumber.

When I asked the Amish guy, why the 318 Jimmie? He said because you can buy em cheap and when the thing goes bad, you simply swap it in for a new motor for very little cash to boot.

FuzzyMuzzy · Feb 26, 2016

As far as the blades, theres actually two there, leaned up against each other. We were told, anyways, that one blade had just been reconditioned, and the other had been but had hours on it. From what i can tell they both look pretty darn sharp. Plus he had a bucket of inserts and the tools to lift the blades and to put new inserts in.

I agree that this saw looks like it either had a very easy life, or that whoever owned it took the best care of a machine I have ever seen. We took the flat belt pulley off last night, and it took maybe 15 minutes. And all the hardware came loose without a torch or breaker bar or anything serious. and I have yet to have a single bolt twist off. It's eerie, like this thing was removed from a museum. I have tools or implements that are 5 years old that have rusted shut.

I like the detroit engine because I know they are tough as nails and plentiful, and nobody wants them because they're noisey and heavy. If I have to find a bigger 4-71 or 6-71 to run it I will definitely find a use for this two-banger.

ray_woods · Feb 26, 2016

Hammering a saw is best done professionally.
I expect it'll be the humans that cry Uncle not the Detroit once the sawyer finds his groove.

All sawmill guys like to give advice. I'm going with mill saw logs. Tree top to the saw. Green wood. Be safe.

Great project it'll last a few life times under cover.

ed will · Feb 26, 2016

Hi, you can probably file it yourself but you have to
watch the set. Also those big circular saw blades
need to be hammered. I used to take mine to a
sawmill and the filer did it for a case of beer. Ed Will
Oliver BC

Bob Harvey · Feb 26, 2016

Good score ! Back in the day I ran one that looked much like that for cutting railroad ties. Got paid per tie and I got to keep the side lumber. The guy that owned it would look at a log and figure how many ties (#1's & #2's) and just slab the rest. I took a little longer and came up with some real nice side lumber (some I kept, the rest I sold) and small slabs for firewood. It was a REAL scary unit when I took over. For example the tracks were held down with bent over nails, and the carriage would jump all over the joint. Spent the time and re-leveled and attached the rails with lag bolts/washers and carriage bolts where applicable. Did real well $$-wise. Have phun !

sms · Feb 26, 2016

Someplace I have an old sawmill catalog that shows a mill being run with a single cylinder hit and miss
(maybe throttle governed) engine and it claims "saws 4000 feet per day" IIRC. I figured they were sawing
ties myself.

jm. · Feb 26, 2016

8 ft and 10 ft logs the little 2 53 will hold out. Where it will play out is sawing longer logs. You have a lot of energy stored in the blade when you hit the log but longer logs like 12 and 15 ft you may need a little more power. Sure is a neat little mill. You and or could save by sitting large timbers lit half a tie and then take a level and saw them all off. Concrete will be better if you can get it level.

caterpillar guy · Feb 27, 2016

That will saw all the lumber you want. Back in the 80's we went to a local guy that had just an old Ih pickup engine running a 72" blade.
We were hauling in 21&22 ft logs. All Oak And Ash. He would just let it saw. Later he got a D-7 cat from an old mill. That runs it like
nobodies business. You do hear it talk when the governor kicks in.

Elton Fancher · Feb 27, 2016

One problem with underpower, when you lose rpm's you will start to bow the saw, thus comes the the title Thick and thin lumber company. 3 head block mill,if you got enough track you might saw up to 20 feet long. Anyone can file inserted teeth, when they get short you need a tool to replace. With adequate power and good logs, especially softer hardwoods like poplar, you can hit 8000 ft. in a pretty good day. Way more than the little bandsaws that travel around, which are lucky to get 1500 ft. a day.

GarryinNC · Feb 27, 2016

Could some of you explain about hammering the blades? I have always heard of it but have never been quite sure why you have to do it. In the 1940s, my dad says there was a man in Hamlet, NC, who hammered sawmill blades. Said he had a big piece of tree stump with a slight concave in the top of it.

Great looking mill. I grew up around Detroits and Cummins in the 60s and 70s.

Thanks
Garry

FuzzyMuzzy · Feb 27, 2016

Hammering a blade is where they put a little bit of an umbrealla in the blade so that when its at speed, it straightens out yet retains just a slight clearance so the side of the blade towards the center of the teeth doesnt drag on the log as it passes. (I'm very newly educated about this so if i'm wrong please correct me!)

And thats why when a blade is hammered for a specific rpm, in my case 500, thats what we need to turn it at otherwise it wont give a good straight smooth cut.

FuzzyMuzzy · Mar 4, 2016

Does anyone here have any input on a dust collector-blower setup for such a sawmill?

We are currently working on getting the engine frame welded up and mated to the sawmill. The big 4 groove v-belt pulley FINALLY showed up yesterday, as well as an impeller for a dust collector that I got off ebay for a steal.

I am planning on using a flat pulley mounted in such a way as to work as a tensioner and at the same time, would be the driving shaft for the blower to suck the sawdust from below the blade, and then blow it a fair distance to a pile or trailer or whatever. I plan on having an intake screen to keep large debris from going through the blower, but want to provide some suction to keep the airborne dust down, as well as reduce build up in places you don't want it to.

Ozlander · Mar 4, 2016

You're worried about having enough HP and then you want to add a blower to the load.
Good luck with that.

FuzzyMuzzy · Mar 4, 2016

(quoted from post at 18:18:21 03/04/16) You're worried about having enough HP and then you want to add a blower to the load.
Good luck with that.

Im setting up the machine how i want it to be set up, if the 2-53 doesnt have enough beef, like im saying it may not, the beautiful thing is that i can take the clutch and PTO off and bolt it up to any other detroit engine, of which i have several contacts of 4's, 6's and even a pair of 12V-71's for a very good price.

Besides that, the impeller i got is designed to run efficiently at 3k rpm from a 1hp ac motor. I dont thibk that will make or break the power budget.

FuzzyMuzzy · Mar 15, 2016

Getting closer, Just need to finish the motor mount to engine platform connections and the tensioner/blower.

WI Dan · Mar 15, 2016

I like the pictures Fuzzy.

OldJDIron · Jun 20, 2016

Hi Fuzzy,

I have a Crabb Mill also that I recently put back to work. I have a 4-71 Detroit that has PLENTY of power to run the 52" blade. Let us know when your ready to start sawing.

mj · Jun 20, 2016

(quoted from post at 12:05:33 02/26/16) Hello again all!

......................a detroit 2-53 power unit (at the time we thought it was a 2-71).

..............................
I have reservations about whether the 2-53 will be enough power for it, but we already have it so we'll give it a shot.

I will continue to update this as time goes on.

Enjoy,
Pete

Seems to me that you are borrowing trouble ............ [b:1e47c21b4a]TRY IT[/b:1e47c21b4a]and then you will know if you have 'enough' power. (For some guys, too much power is not enough!) 8)

Bringing a Crabb Sawmill back to life and back to work!

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