Old sawmill refurbishment

 

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Strawberry Hill Farm historically had a fully functional saw mill operation. The farm has since moved onto other endeavors and no longer focuses primarily on saw mill productivity. The farm is now shifting towards outdoor activity-orientated accommodation, along with putting large effort into the rehabilitation of its land to its former pristine natural condition. The farm is doing this by removing exotic invasive plant species and allowing the natural fynbos and forest biomes to naturally recover.
Many of the sawmill machines have been sold but a few primary machines have been recently refurbished. These machines are back on the farm and are being used to process the lager felled exotic trees. The wood retrieved from these exotic trees are either put directly back into the farm in the form of material for infrastructure or sold as timber to fund our ongoing war against invasive plant species.
The machines include:
• The Lucas Mill - a machine that cuts planks or blocks from felled trees
• A large surface planer to put a finished surface to cut planks
• Two large band saws - these machines are used to cut planks to size or cut planks from stored blocks
• Planer blade sharpener - this machine is a shadow machine for the Planer and is dedicated to the sharpening of the planer blades.
Most of these machines are old, some of which date back to as far as 1878. They are beautiful old machines and include an old Lister Blackstone engine powered generator which used to be the power supply for the town of Albertinia. These machines showcase spectacular engineering and can be found at our new headquarter building that was the original sawmill.

Refurbished Saw Mill machines arriving back onto the farm. Looking good with their fresh coats of paint!

The team using the Lucas Mill to process a felled Black Wood tree

Old Lister Blackstone engine. Dusty from the surrounding ongoing construction.