A portable sawmill can be a very useful piece of machinery for milling on the farm, as well as being a good source of off-farm income. Several models were on display at the Canterbury A&P Show, attracting some onlookers by the sweet smell of freshly-sawn macrocarpa.
Peterson Portable Sawmills was one of those doing their thing under a cloud of sawdust.
Factory supervisor of the Rotorua-based company Kurt Williams says quite a few farmers have bought them because they have logs around the farm that can be used for things like fencing cattle yards. “A lot do jobs for neighbours. Some people buy them for hobbies.”
He says the company started off in a shed at Reporoa. It now has 21 staff and exports all around the world.
The mills are made of aluminium and stainless steel, and can therefore be left outside without corroding. All the mills can be operated by one person, and can be assembled or disassembled in 10 minutes and carried on a Hilux ute. This ease of set up and ultimate portability allows for Peterson mills to be the most efficient in the world. By bring the mill to the log, rather then then the log to the mill, no extra heavy machinery such as diggers or loaders are needed in order to get milling with a Peterson.
Mr Williams says most models can cope with logs up to 1.8m (6′) in diameter.
“They will do anything you can throw at them.”
He says the mill can be set up directly over a log, making it unnecessary to haul logs.
A new blade, the MicroKerf, creates less sawdust, allowing better wood recovery, which is especially important with valuable native timbers.
Peterson portable mills range from about NZ$11,000 to NZ$40,000, and are available in sizes ranging from 6″ cut to 10″ cut.
