my frick husk and farquar carrige

[sawthemlogs]

i purchased this mill this way...owner says that 's the way it was when he bought it. It's a frick husk and a.b. farquar carriage...i am new here so hello everyone...am running 56 inch 48 tooth saw with 500 rpm.wd-9 international or 50 h.p. case steam engine for power when i have extra help. Completely rebuilt both husk and carriage just for farm use in ky...lot of pine to saw due to the past  ice  storm...my question is why would this mill  frick and a. b. farquar outfit have been mismatched.

[Jeff]

Mill parts are mixed and matched all the time. Every amish mill up this way seems to be a hodgepodge of some sort.  Sometimes it happens instead of rebuilding like you did. Find another carriage in good shape and put it on.

[beenthere]

One doesn't rely on the other for a match. They can function pretty independent of each other.

Maybe the husk was good, but the better carriage became available, so it was added.

Maybe 'twas the other way around.

Maybe each was a better deal bought separately.

Good to wonder what the history might have been.

[ely]

a guy here has about 5 different mills used to build his circle mill. he saws good lumber quickly. i guess thats what matters.

[Dave Shepard]

Welcome, sawthemlogs! I like those old IH diesels. I have a UD-9 generator that runs an electric Wood-Mizer.

[fishpharmer]

Welcome, STL, to a great place. 

I have family near Lexington, that close?

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Welcome to the forum STM  I like your user name pull up a pack anytime Mate 

Nice Mill 
With the Farquar/Frick combo thay both runn on about the same dimentions and also Frick took over Farquar about the start of last centery so the oll girls done some work in her time and will still have Alot left in her  it all comes down to maintnace mate 

Happy sawing 

Reguards Chris

[Ron Wenrich]

Farquhar mills were produced in York, PA and Frick mills were produced in Waynesboro, PA.  Distance between the plants were less than 50 miles.  So, there's lots of transferable technology there.  Most of those old mills have the same basics in their husks.  The only difference may be in the gearing.

As for the carriage, you're putting your power into the cable drum drive from the husk.  You can use any type of husk as long as you get power to the drive to move the carriage back and forth. 

The Farquhar carriage is pretty much like a Frick.  I ran an old Farquhar many years ago, and when I needed a new dog, we put on a Frick.  They matched up with a minor modification.  I would bet that the trucks match pretty well between the carriages.  So, putting a Farquhar on a Frick track is probably not out of the question, and may be why yours is mismatched.

[bandmiller2]

RD,welcome,some sawyers like one brand part over anouther,or more commonly just had the parts to several mills and used the best.Myself I mixed Chase and Lane took what I liked best from each.Their are very few pure bred old circle mills.Summers I ran my old mill with a A B Farquar boiler with an Ajax 81/2"x 11 engine on its back.I limited myself to 80# due to the age of the boiler fine for softwoods but I should have had at least 100# for oak.I know what you mean about help,burning light slab you need a good fireman right on top of it to keep pressure up.If you loose a few pounds you can feel it on the saw.You fellas in tobbaco country still have a few old boilers around for steaming beds,what pressure do you run at?If you can figure it out or have grandchildren show us some pictures.Frank C.

[sawthemlogs]

thanks for allthe answers and comments...the 50 case has brand new boiler rated to carry 175 psi  but i just run 150.....yes iam just 45 miles from lexington ....home of fast women and beautiful horses or is it the other way around   hope to do more sawing when ground dries a bit

[bandmiller2]

Wow, a new boiler your in tall clover my friend,thats the holy grail for a steamer.RD,do you have a problem getting 150psi with wood ?? It seemed to me with wood you hit a wall and hard to get the pressure higher.I liken it to compressing a large spring,you get to a certin point and very hard to go above.Frank C.

[sawthemlogs]

i normally burn coal in the steamer...alot hotter and awhooole lot less work...i had no trouble keeping steam up on wood ..just gota keep throwing it in

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

That sounds like you have a Sweet Machine there Mate I love Steam Power 
When i was running two 800 hp boilers generating steam for about 12 44mbft and two 130000 bft Hwood dry kilns we use to just runn the boiler at about 110 to 130 psi to give it enough pressure to push it through the huge amount of steam pipe that we had running through the kiln systme  It worked well running on a mix of dry H/w shavings mixed with green sawdust which it worked well as it burnt in suspesion we did runn it on dry pine shavings afew times from a pine mill up the road when we ran out of our own fuel afew times  but that didnt semm to work as well as the H/w But we just uped the feed rates on the bunker and the infeed to the blower systyme and that did the trick and the thing i liked was there was'nt much shoveling to do 

I have fed the boilers on a couple of Fowler traction engins here  but that was easy as it was all 3' to 4' nice size boilerwood from 2" to 8" dia so it didnt take much to keep up  

I have a mate about 50 miles away who is about 70 yo with about 40 + boilers ,traction engins ,rollers ectect and a heap off other Cat dozers #6 ,loaders #6 or 7  and afew drotts and Timberjacks and more than afew Mack trucks  He even has a complete 30hp Steam driven Australian Hardwood Sawmill thats a goer   
 but Brian wont part with any off them  but he has said I might leave you afew things when im gone mate   

Stl do you have any pics as we ALL Like pics here Mate 

Reguards Chris