Rebuilt Antique Sawmill Leads To Solar-Powered Kiln

Rebuilt Antique Sawmill Leads To Solar-Powered Kiln ENERGY Solar Rich Vogelsang and his son Michael spent most of last year rebuilding an antique sawmill Once that project was done they built a solar-powered kiln that allows them to dry their cut wood fast “I use the wood cut by the mill to build furniture for local customers ” says Rich “The mill was probably built in the early 1900s and came with a wooden carriage which rides back and forth to deliver logs to a 48-in dia blade The mill was sitting in some overgrown brush when I bought it with a couple of 6-in dia trees growing up through the main carriage assembly The wooden track had rotted away so we made a new track by merging the frames off a pair of old 1 1/2-ton dually pickups - a 1935 Ford and a 1937 Chevrolet We also built a new steel carriage ” He says the sawmill had changed hands and been modified many times over the years “It originally came with a 30-in dia blade and was designed to be powered by a Model A car transmission The owner replaced the transmission with the flat belt off an older tractor and later another owner used his tractor pto We still pto-drive the blade but we added a hydraulic motor with a directional control valve to move the carriage back and forth The motor drives a drum with cable hooked up to one end of the carriage We kept the flat belt pulley on the mill just for looks ” To anchor the track they filled cardboard tubes with cement and sank them 4 ft deep in the ground Their solar-powered kiln is also unique Made mostly from recycled material it measures 12 ft long by 7 ft deep and 12 ft tall with big sliding doors on one side Some 2 by 6’s from an old corn crib were used to build the frame and the siding is from an old barn The south-facing roof is pitched at a 45-degree angle and covered with clear polycarbonate sheeting while the interior is painted black to absorb the sunlight The walls and floor have 6 in of insulation A couple of fans circulate the heated air The kiln’s short north-facing roof is made from recycled tin “There are two intake vents under the eave and 4 small trap door vents below the sliding doors which allow air to escape ” explains Rich They used the kiln for the first time this spring to store pallets loaded with sawmill-cut boards “It heats up fast One day the outside temperature was in the mid 50s but inside it was 114 degrees ” says Rich The only new material they bought was plywood for the floor and the polycarbonate sheeting They used blemished red oak lumber to build a 10-ft wide pallet for hauling boards into the kiln “The loaded pallet is heavy and tippy so we have to drive our skid loader very carefully ” notes Rich Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Rich Vogelsang 5101 200th Ave Wells Minn 56097 ph 507 317-2358; sharichv@bevcomm net

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