Collins Brothers steam powered saw mill
outside view outside view
gang saw
cuts stem into planks 		gang saw 1 gang saw 2
feed of scrap wood into furnace wood intake
wood fired boiler boiler and aux engine driving air intake fan furnace and boiler
70 kW main engine (dual cylinder) and generator (left of engine)
Dave Collins looks a lot friendlier in reality, sorry for this grumpy image 		Dave Collins next to main engine
whistle blowing for teatime
Mrs. Collins at the controls
Note the steam driven "constant boiling unit" behind the coffee table 		Mrs. Collins pulling the strings to blow one of 5 whistles tea time
Note that Collins Brothers Sawmill is not a museum, but a real life business. Energywise it is completely self sustained. Running at about half capacity, it produces enough wood waste from cutting to fuel the boiler, drive the steam engine and generate electricity to power the various on site saws and blenders. There are more saws not shown on this page. Fuel consists of small pieces of wood, not saw dust, as one might guess form the long exposure shot on this page.
A connection to the grid is available, but only single phase and used for lighting etc. when the mill is closed over weekends.
Admission charge is NZ$5,-- (visited March 2001), which is undoubtly worth it. Visitors have ther own platform inside the mill, overlooking all operations without infering with works and saws. Mrs Collins explains how the idea was born and what it took to get the various steam engines from around the country. All folks extremely friendly. If north of Auckland, go there.

images and text by Peter Apian-Bennewitz,