Athens mine site, sawmill and campus cable buyers

Mine sites and the road in

A former mine site is not a plant. The access road is often unpaved, steep and graded for a pickup rather than for a loaded van. Trailer space at the top may be a few hundred square feet of level ground, and after rain the whole approach becomes a judgement call.

Mining cable is worth the trouble. Trailing cable and shuttle car cable are heavy, copper dense and built to be dragged, and a reel stored under cover is one of the better lots in southeast Ohio. The same reel stored in the open on a bench is a different proposition entirely.

Sawmills, kilns and dust

Hardwood mills run on motors and hydraulics in an atmosphere of dust and humidity, and the kilns add heat. Cable in a mill is usually in conduit on the wall or in portable cord out on the yard, and the portable cord is what fails. A mill that has just changed out a motor is the best moment to ask about cable, because the old leads are usually still lying where they were dropped.

Sawdust holds moisture against a jacket and the jacket gives up at the low points. A mill's cable rarely looks damaged; it looks dusty. Wipe a section and look for the fine cracks that follow the bend, then check the ends for corrosion under the jacket.

University and institutional construction

The university builds continuously, and the work is phased through occupied buildings. That means the contractor's surplus is small, clean and stored indoors: part reels of metal-clad cable, cartons of data cable, and the short building-wire lengths that come off a panel change. It tends to arrive in a job trailer that is already packed and waiting to leave.

Institutional surplus is the easiest material to value in the county, because it is new, tagged and often still in the original packaging. The difficulty is the schedule. A lot released in June may not be able to leave the building until handover in September.

US-33, SR-32 and the weather

US-33 is four lanes to Columbus and SR-32 runs northwest toward the river. Both are good roads. The county roads between them are not, and winter closes some of the mine access altogether for weeks at a time.

Time the removal for dry ground if the site is unpaved. That single decision avoids most of the problems a southeast Ohio lot can create, and it asks nothing except a look at the forecast and a call to whoever maintains the road.

• Graded gravel that turns to clay after rain
• No turning circle at the top of a bench
• Weight-restricted bridge on the approach
• Overhead lines at the gate
• Snow not cleared above the county road