I answered an ad on our local internet bulletin board for a Wood-Mizer saw mill for sale. The guy wanted $500 for it! He said it was run about 2 years ago.So I had to go look. Well, the Kohler engine was seized, all the roller chain was rusted solid and all the wiring was brittle and corroded. I bet it had sat outside and unused for ten years. I told him the only thing salvageable was the frame and I offered $250. He said he needed $350 to fix his car so a deal was made at that price. I also got a box of 10 new saw blades. I can find a new motor and chain is cheap and my brother-in-law can rewire it. what do you think? How did I do? It is a Wood-Mizer LT40 with a 21' deck capable of sawing 36" logs with a trailering package.
Did I get a good buy?
- Thread starter cat10ken
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
valekbrothers
ArboristSite Guru
Personally I think you got ripped off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I better refund your money, take the mill and go looking for the crook that sold it to you................
I better refund your money, take the mill and go looking for the crook that sold it to you................
Ted J
ArboristSite Operative
You can buy a new 30 HP Kohler engine for $2K, tear it down, rebuild, and repaint it. and you still come out ahead. A new one would run ya $16k, so yeah... ya did... ok...... OH, and you suck too! LOL
Good Buy.....
Ted
PS: Now, you do know that you have to supply pictures, right? ASAP
Good Buy.....
Ted
PS: Now, you do know that you have to supply pictures, right? ASAP
gr8scott72
Addicted to ArboristSite
You can buy a new 30 HP Kohler engine for $2K, tear it down, rebuild, and repaint it. and you still come out ahead. A new one would run ya $16k, so yeah... ya did... ok...... OH, and you suck too! LOL
Good Buy.....
Ted
PS: Now, you do know that you have to supply pictures, right? ASAP
More specifically, you can get the Kohler Command 27 horse twin cylinder engine for $1,850ish shipped to your door complete with muffler and everything needed to run it.
Sounds like you did great.
There's a woodmizer sitting at a guy's house close to mine. It's just sitting there out beside his shop. I've never seen it used. I really need to stop by and chat with him. Looks like his even has a diesel on it.
irishcountry
ArboristSite Guru
You do suck!! You have to get it running and get some pics on here!! Awesome
Brmorgan
Addicted to ArboristSite
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,248
- Reaction score
- 348
Geez I can't even find a decent trailer to haul my ATV around with for less than $500, let alone a friggin' MILL!! Way to go. You might be surprised at how well that roller chain can be revived with a good soak in some penetrating oil. The same may work for the engine - if it's just been sitting out in the elements for a few years and wasn't prepped for such, it's possible that a bit of water got into the cylinders or bearings and corroded them up a bit. Pull the plugs and spray some good penetrating oil/cleaner like Releasall etc. into the cylinders and let sit for a while, then try again. The lower bearing shouldn't be corroded if there's oil in the crankcase, but you never know.
The way you "stepped in it" on the mill, you'll probably find a new engine on a pallet somewhere [close] too - For another few hundred $$$$$$. Me, I'd be tearing the old one down first, just to see what is really siezed.
Well guys, I'm the original poster on this thread and there is a change in plans. I pulled the head off the Kohler and there was no rust on the piston or valves and the bore was clean and not scored but I couldn't budge the flywheel. I finally took a 2x4 and a 3# sledge and tapped on the flywheel fins on one side and then the other enough times to get it to finally move. Then the brother-in-law took a socket and breaker bar on the crank nut while I tapped on the flywheel until we got it completely freed up. We pulled the flywheel and the magnets inside were a mass of rust, probably caused by years of accumulated mouse urine from the massive nest in the cooling fins. Actually the engine isn't in that bad of shape and I think it will run again but now for the change in plans.
While we were working on it several people stopped to look and visit and one was especially interested and today he offered me $2000 for it and I said "SOLD". I probably could have gotten more if I had advertised it but now it's gone and I have a tidy profit and can go looking for another deal. I will take pictures if someone can walk me through on how to post them on here.
Thanks for all the replies
While we were working on it several people stopped to look and visit and one was especially interested and today he offered me $2000 for it and I said "SOLD". I probably could have gotten more if I had advertised it but now it's gone and I have a tidy profit and can go looking for another deal. I will take pictures if someone can walk me through on how to post them on here.
Thanks for all the replies
Brmorgan
Addicted to ArboristSite
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,248
- Reaction score
- 348
Well I won't say that you made a mistake since it's hard to argue with an almost nine-fold profit, but yeah, you probably could have done a little bit of restoration work and sold it for multiple times that. The funny thing is that I'd bet anything that the guy who bought it from you thinks he got an even better deal on it at $2000 than you thought you did at $350.
Tim L
ArboristSite Member
Try unsticking the kohler by putting mystery oil in the cylinder for a few weeks.If that doesnt work by a 24 hp Honda.
gr8scott72
Addicted to ArboristSite
Read post #8.
Ted J
ArboristSite Operative
Hate to say it ...... NO PICS, DIDN'T HAPPEN!!!
Yes, Mr. Ted J it did happen. The ones pointing the fingers are usually the biggest liars. I expect a full apology when the photos appear.
Ken
Ken
Well, I'd have to say for $250, you absolutely STOLE that mill. I paid $3500 for my WM LT30 and it wasn't much better than yours was. ANY Wood-Mizer, even one that's pretty much junk, is worth a minimum of $3000, because the parts are pretty much off the shelf, and even a bad frame can be repaired and straightened. It's worth more than that in scrap value anyway.
As for selling it for $2000 - I think you did yourself a big dis-service because I really doubt you'll ever find another one for less than that. I would not have sold that mill (especially after tearing the engine down) for less than five grand. You can replace every major important part on that thing for about $4000 and you'd have a working mill for a quarter the price of a new one.
I know it's been a couple days but if you really want to have a sawmill I'd back out of that deal as fast as humanly possible. Wood-Mizer will help you rebuild that thing too. Their support for older mills is second to none.
You didn't mention if it was a hydraulic LT40 or just the manual version - if you have the hydraulics, that mill is worth ten grand even without an engine.
As for selling it for $2000 - I think you did yourself a big dis-service because I really doubt you'll ever find another one for less than that. I would not have sold that mill (especially after tearing the engine down) for less than five grand. You can replace every major important part on that thing for about $4000 and you'd have a working mill for a quarter the price of a new one.
I know it's been a couple days but if you really want to have a sawmill I'd back out of that deal as fast as humanly possible. Wood-Mizer will help you rebuild that thing too. Their support for older mills is second to none.
You didn't mention if it was a hydraulic LT40 or just the manual version - if you have the hydraulics, that mill is worth ten grand even without an engine.
Last edited:
Personally I think you got ripped off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I better refund your money, take the mill and go looking for the crook that sold it to you................
x'2--and ill help take it off your hands also----andddd, try and see whats wrong with the engine before you condemn it, might not take much to get it going-----
The mill is not hydraulic. The more I talk to people, the more I am finding out that I should have asked more for it. I got the check yesterday and he is picking it up today. It is only going about 10 miles from me so if I need anything sawed it isn't a long trip. It is an older guy buying it so maybe I can make a deal to buy it back from him when he can no longer run it. I'm sure his kids would have no use for it. Yes I am having second thoughts about selling it but can you imagine the whining and unbelievers if I had sold it for $5000?
Ken
Ken
Well boys if someone that knows how to post pictures will post their e-mail address or private message me I will send them the photos to put up here for all to see.
Ken
Ken
Ted J
ArboristSite Operative
But Ken... one of the basic unwritten rules of almost any forum, if there are no pics to back up an obvious great deal, then it didn't happen. that just means it's :spam:
Now, would I lie to you?
Don't be teasin' us.... besides, we like pictures. If you haven't figured that out yet well.... I don't know how else we can shame you into posting pictures. Pictures are
Ah, and about that apology..... yea right!!!! :hmm3grin2orange:
CHEERS
Also here's a sticky from the "pictures forum" on posting pictures, have fun.
Ted
PS: You do know I'm just picking on ya, all in good fun don't you?
gr8scott72
Addicted to ArboristSite
Pictures are easy.
Go to photobucket and sign up for a free account. Then upload your pictures to your account. Then copy and paste the line into your post.
It's that easy.
Brmorgan
Addicted to ArboristSite
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,248
- Reaction score
- 348
Posting pics isn't that difficult once you figure it out, but it isn't readily straight-forward, and I have yet to see a good How-To here on AS for whatever reason.
Under the "Additional Options" section of the New Thread / Reply To Thread window, click on the "Manage Attachments" button. This will bring up a window where you can browse to the folder on your computer that contains the pictures you want to post. Select the pictures you want to upload one at a time, up to 5 per post. There is also a size limit of 300KB for JPEG files so you may need to resize your pictures before uploading them.
Once your pictures are uploaded, they will be listed right below the aforementioned "Manage Attachments" button. You can leave it as-is at this point if you want, but if you want the pictures to be displayed IN the post rather than just as links, you'll need to right-click on each picture's link and select "copy location" or "copy shortcut" depending on your browser. In the message box, put the cursor where you want the picture to appear in your message and click on the yellow icon above that (sort-of) looks like a mountain and sun. This will open a little dialog box - right-click in the text box and Paste the link you copied earlier, and click OK. Repeat for additional pictures.
Hope this makes sense, like I said I don't know why it has to be such a cryptic procedure with such an abject lack of instructions available. Took me a while to figure it out for myself when I first joined up.
Under the "Additional Options" section of the New Thread / Reply To Thread window, click on the "Manage Attachments" button. This will bring up a window where you can browse to the folder on your computer that contains the pictures you want to post. Select the pictures you want to upload one at a time, up to 5 per post. There is also a size limit of 300KB for JPEG files so you may need to resize your pictures before uploading them.
Once your pictures are uploaded, they will be listed right below the aforementioned "Manage Attachments" button. You can leave it as-is at this point if you want, but if you want the pictures to be displayed IN the post rather than just as links, you'll need to right-click on each picture's link and select "copy location" or "copy shortcut" depending on your browser. In the message box, put the cursor where you want the picture to appear in your message and click on the yellow icon above that (sort-of) looks like a mountain and sun. This will open a little dialog box - right-click in the text box and Paste the link you copied earlier, and click OK. Repeat for additional pictures.
Hope this makes sense, like I said I don't know why it has to be such a cryptic procedure with such an abject lack of instructions available. Took me a while to figure it out for myself when I first joined up.
