Demonstrations included cutting weatherboards/cladding on the Junior Peterson, one-person milling on the All Terrain Sawmill and the Automated Swingblade Mill, slabbing with a Peterson, using the electric winch on the Winch Production Frame, double-cutting and blade sharpening.
Peterson Sales Consultant Greg Sheehan was on-site during the demonstration days, educating visitors on the design features of the Peterson range. “I was pleased to meet new people that had been invited to come along to our Factory Demo Days”, said Greg. “A very cool aspect was how some of our existing sawmill owners mingled with these visitors, speaking to them and passing on their Peterson experiences.”
With five sawmills and slabbers set up in Peterson’s yard, the company welcomed dozens of visitors over two consecutive days. While visitor numbers were low compared to normal tradeshows, Greg said the interest of visitors was very high and resulted in six new sawmills being sold in just a few hours.
The most popular model of the day was the Junior Peterson sawmill, being operated here by our CEO, Kerris. With its ability to cut up to 6″ x 6″ or 12″ x 4″ (double cut), it ticked all the boxes for many of our visitors. The optional clip-on slabber, planer blade and sanding disc make for the perfect portable milling package.
Peterson Sales Manager Aaron Kalan was very pleased with the result of the demonstration days. “After the lockdown, while we had COVID-19 at bay, we were finally able to meet in person with people again. It was great to catch up with quite a few existing mill owners as well, and introducing them to our new inquiries led to a lot of sharing of good ideas.”
For our global audience we organised a Digital Sawmill Demonstration Day where we showcased each of the models over five hours. While the opening of the digital demonstration was affected by technical difficulties, Marketing Manager Layla Robinson was happy with the end result and is already planning the next one.
Watch our sawmill specialist Chris Browne as he cuts two slabs from the same log in a time trial, using two different mills
“We used Facebook’s live streaming service to demonstrate our range of sawmills in operation, as well as several swingblade tips and tricks. Sawmill Specialist Chris Browne was our demonstrator and has a great way of explaining the products to a varied audience. Chris has been with the company for 30 years so knows how to get the best out of our mills, and the logs!”
Because these demonstration days proved to be such a success, we’ll be repeating them in November this year, with an exclusive focus on the WPF and the JP. If you can’t wait until then, there are many Peterson owners all around the world who are keen to demonstrate their mill to interested parties.
If you’re researching a sawmill purchase, the best people to speak to are those who operate the machines on a regular basis. The millers in our ‘Owner’s Network’ have made themselves available to you to ask questions by phone or email, and some of them even offer private demos and open days at their milling sites.
Todd Tokar from Arkansas used this service to get in touch with Peterson owner Russell Wilkins. Here’s his feedback: “I just wanted to let you know what a good job Russell is doing representing Peterson. I e-mailed him with some questions about Peterson mills on Sunday and this Monday evening he called me to answer my questions. We talked for about an hour, and I had all my questions throughly answered. I did not expect to receive this kind of personal service, so needless to say I was very pleased. This is the kind of help that keeps customers happy and coming back for more business.”
You can watch all videos shot on the day on our Facebook page.
