Portable

[Arthur]

I have been having various arguments about the definition of 'Portable' as in portable sawmill.

what is your definition or your mill manufactures definition of portable???

Ive been using the definition from the Oxford and the Collins dictionaries.

[Jeff]

I have been having various arguments about the definition of 'Portable' as in portable sawmill...

I hope this is not a plan to bring that here. I wont stand for "arguments" Polling for someones interpretation is fine long as thats what this is. I dont like and dont stand for this mill is better or that mill is better or you shoulda or why didntcha stuff.

With that outta the way, carry on!

[Cedarman]

All mills are portable, some just take longer to move and hook back up.

[Tom]

Am I ever so glad that a manufacturer asked that question.

Portable in the beginning of the 1900's defined a sawmill that could be dismantled and moved from one place to another, where the wood was located, and not have to build buildings, foundationse etc.  It might take a week or a month to install the mill and it would remain there until the wood was out of range.

In the end of the last century, the sawmill was put on wheels.  The first I had hear about in my area was a mill like the Mobile Dimension and may well have been.  These mills were "loaned" by the Dept. of Forestry to farmers who cut their own wood for barns.  They were portable in that they didn't require much setup.

As the Industry progressed and companies like Wood Mizer came on the scene, the saws became so portable that they required hardly any setup at all.  That's when business's like custom sawing in the Urban Environment became popular. That type of saw is what I classify as Portable.

A truly portable saw would be one that could be trailered by a small vehicle, require minimum setup (0-10 minutes), saw a variety of sizes of boards (15") and lengths of 20'.  It should have the capabilities of clamping and sawing waste wood (1' lengths) and trunk diameter sizes of 6". It should have the capability of breaking down a large log (60+" dia.)  It should have log handling capabilities to ease loading and turning.  Its width should allow it to pass through a backyard gate.  It should be able to be maneuvered by hand, and turned on its axis 180 degrees for removal or be movable forward and backward. It should be capable of sawing 1500 feet of 4/4 x 12 x 12 per day including setup and dismantling.  It should be sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of frequent setups, many miles of stop and go traffic, large logs and some abuse.

It should be capable of satisfying a minimum of two jobs a day and designed such that moving it would be no problem.

It needs to be well built, easily adjusted, repaired with over-the-counter, easily obtained parts and safe.  It needs to be designed with knowledge that there will be a  multitude of inexperienced individuals within harms way every day.  It must have a full compliment of safety covers and arresting devices to prevent metal and wood from being flung into a crowd but still easily maintained.

It should be able to be operated by one person efficiently and contain devices that would allow one person to clear the mill of lumber and timbers.

It should be powered by an engine that runs effeciently, powerfully, reliably and off of available fuels.

Its controls should be located in one specific operating area whether it be on a box carried by the sawyer, a remote station or attached to the saw.

It should be sold with a shop manual for all parts of the mill, any specialty tools,  a manufacturer's warranty of parts and labor to be performed on-site in a reasonable amount of time, an availability of parts from the Manufacturer and education of its proper utilization.

Having said that, I think there are 3 types of portability and, as an industry, we should come up with some way of distinguishing amongst them.

There is the
"carry in the woods type"  chainsaw mill
"cut a log and move the mill to the next log type" ? ? ? ? ?
and
"Move the mill on site, cut for a week and leave type" most fall in this catagory.

[Jeff]

Our mill would be by no means considered portable, but, I know of a cmc like ours that is on a trailer that is hauled to logging jobs and set up on location. It takes a day or two to accomplish set up. I certainly would consider this portable. It would not fit in Toms list unless he changed the week part to include sometimes months but in these parts it is considered a portable sawmill.

[jgoodhart]

I think Tom forgot sumtin in his descrition of a portable mill, self leveling like motor homes.

[Minnesota_boy]

I think Tom forgot sumtin in his descrition of a portable mill, self leveling like motor homes.

That's what I need.  I can't see if the mill is level and I set it up pretty badly a time or two.  I put bubble levels on it but then I break them or knock them off.  

[Ianab]

my dictionary says
" capable of being carried or moved about "

It doesn't define if that means carrying it over your shoulder, on a car trailer or a truck.
I'd kinda suggest that, if it's not bolted down then it's 'portable'

Ian

[Bibbyman]

Uncle Ed had a big circle mill that was mounted somehow on a truck frame.  He sawed mostly on his own lot by his house but ever so often, he'd move the whole she-bang to a big job for a month or two.  I was too young to grasp the details and I never saw the mill on the move.

[Buzz-sawyer]

Bubba , who lives a few hollers away, dragged a portable trailer type circular mill up from the boot heel of Missouri............its 12' wide with a 54'' blade

[Jeff]

Where's Weekend Sawyer?  Aint the Shuttle Portable?

[DanG]

So, Tom, I been wondering what your definition of "portable" is?

Mobile Dimension was indeed the one that the Fla Forestry Service bought to loan out to landowners. I don't know what happened to the program.

People ask me if my mill is portable, and I tell them it is "transportable."  I can transport it to their site if they have enough material to make it worthwhile. The mill doesn't have any self-contained log loading capabilities, and all my lumber handling stuff is pretty much tied to my location, ie, the Hootiemobile.  If I go to a remote site that doesn't have the support equipment, it turns out to be less efficient than transporting the logs and lumber to my site.

Jeff, I guess I'm a bit like the Space Shuttle. I'm portable, but it takes a lot of work to get me off the ground.

[Arthur]

Jeff - not intended to be an argument here.  Like to know the other millers deinition of portable.

Tom - well put

DanG - I have to agree with you about portable and transportable. This is my normal point.  I can dismantle a mill and transport it to another site and rebuild.  If this is portable so is the Empire State Building.

The Collins Dictionary states -

Portable 1-able to be carried or moved easily esp by hand.
            2-an article that can be readily carried by hand.

Tom - I do agree the industry needs to define with maybe NEW definitions for the transportablilty or portablility of mills as there are now many different capabilities and im sure many new ones still to come.

???Any suggestions for new definitions???

[Kevin_H.]

I think in the question to portability, there needs to be some kind of relationship between how much a particular sawmill will average in a day and how long it takes to break it down and move it..

A bigger mill my do 5 times the amount of BF in a day, but it may take 5 times longer to move it...but there should be some way to calculate the average daily BF VS. the amout of time needed to ready the mill to move...

Know what I mean?

[Tom]

I think a designation of "what type of mill" it is should be the way to go.  Define them by class.  Kind of like you define class of hitch for a tractor.

A class 1 portable mill should put it in one catagory and a class 5 should designate another.  I don't know who the authority should be but it's more complicated than may be assumed.

It would have to cover all classes of saws.

Manual.......misery whips
chainsaw mills like the Alaskan
chainsaw mills like the Logosol
bandsaw mills like the RipSaw
bandsaw mills like the LT15 and Norwoods
bandsaw mills like the LT40 and Baker 3638
bandsaw mills like heartwood's bigger band

circle mills like swing mills
circle mills like MD's and Double cuts

Semi stationary circle mills like the one Jeff described

Stationary band and circle mills

I can see someong spending a lot of time defining classes of mills.

......and yes,  setup, priduction etc.  should be part  of each class someway.   A class might even be a mix of certain types of band, circle and chain saws.    confusing.

[Jeff]

I can see someong spending a lot of time defining classes of mills.

jeez, why bother?  This would only add to confusion of the first time sawmill owner. I can pretty much tell by looking at something weather it'll fit in my pocket or go in a truck.

[Tom]

Yeah, on second thought, why bother?

[DanG]

Maybe the difference is in how one uses the mill. Tom's mill is portable, because that's the way he uses it. My mill is stationary, because I don't move it, even though it has wheels.  If you're offering a mill for sale, and it can be used in a portable operation, then offer it as a portable mill.

[Bro. Noble]

We went East one time to the Coast.  The only water fit to drink between home and the Atlantic was in the Blueridge Mtns.  Nest time we left home we took some 'PORTABLE' water with us.

[Tom]

   You're too much, Br'er Noble.