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Thinking about portable sawmills

 
Posts: 1670
Location: Fennville MI
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Recently started pondering on the subject of portable sawmills. Paul has sung the praises of his electric swingblade, but I have not seen much else in the way of mill discussions here. A quick search brought up Paul's machine and pretty much nothing else.

So, anyone have any recommendations, advice, commentary pro and or con regarding the merits and downsides of various portable bandsaws?

What to look for, what to watch out for, trailer models versus ground types?

My first impressions are that the swing blade approach cannot cut wide boards, but can crank out 2x4's pdq, leaving me leaning toward a band saw model, and that having it all assembled integral to a trailer sure meakse it easy to take to a work site.

What does the community have to say?

Thanks for your comments.
 
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The only problem with a trailer is you are limited in length. Usually not an issue, but you can't make big beams for pseudo timber frames.

The biggest issue if doing this for money is material handling--you need one that can load the logs quickly and easily without another machine.

Second issue is the engine(s). That is where they save money for the entry level machines.
 
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