# How portable is portable?



## Ken C. (Jan 27, 2021)

Hi all,
I'm seriously considering a portable saw mill for two major reasons.
One, is for personal milling on my own property from logs I get once on a while.
The other is to offer a service of onsite milling of trees for clients who want to repurpose trees that need removal for whatever reason.
What is involved in transporting a portable mill?
Your thoughts on this?


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## Ken C. (Jan 27, 2021)

I tried. I'll take any help I can get. Thx!


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Ken C. said:


> I tried. I'll take any help I can get. Thx!


Be patient. Your original post was late in the evening. Evenings and nights are slow. Give it at least one full day to gather responses.


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## Ken C. (Jan 27, 2021)

Hey there,
Thx. I accidentally posted this twice. Is there a way to delete posts?


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

Ken C. said:


> I accidentally posted this twice. Is there a way to delete posts?


Where is the second post? I don't see it.

My sawyer has a portable sawmill and pulls it behind his truck all over this region. He keeps it set up at his house and brings logs in to cut, dry, and sell.


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## Ken C. (Jan 27, 2021)

Thx for reply. Having never used one, I'm wondering how much breakdown and set up is involved in transport, and use at each location.


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

Ken C. said:


> I accidentally posted this twice. Is there a way to delete posts?


In the upper right corner of your post do you see the 3 vertical dots? Click those and you can either edit or delete that post. I don't know if there is a time limit for deleting.

OOPS! Just checked on this post, you can't delete, only edit a post.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

To delete an unwanted post, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the post, then choose "Report." (Yes, even though it is your own post.)

In the "Report Reason" field, write something like "Please delete my post." (I usually include an explanation about why I want the post deleted.) When finished entering your text, click the brown "Report" button below.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Tool Agnostic said:


> To delete an unwanted post, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the post, then choose "Report." (Yes, even though it is your own post.)
> 
> In the "Report Reason" field, write something like "Please delete my post." (I usually include an explanation about why I want the post deleted.) When finished entering your text, click the brown "Report" button below.


You can also choose "edit" and delete out your reply, but you still need a 4 character reply, so type in "deleted".
Sometimes, I can totally edit it out and then choose "New Posts" and it will be gone.


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## Dave McCann (Jun 21, 2020)

Ken C. said:


> What is involved in transporting a portable mill?


That is too vague to be answered. What brand and model mill are you asking about?
As an example; my friend (who owns timber in Minnesota) owns a Lucas Mill which is portable enough to transport in a 1/2 ton pickup, yet is fully capable of handling logs being sawed by "hobbyist or small production, sawyers".
(6) LUCAS MILL - Model 6-18 - YouTube This mill is especially popular in locations where large trucks and equipment cannot easily access. Think Amazon rain forest for an extreme example. The frame work is all aluminum. The entire sawmill is designed that two men can carry any piece of it into a remote area for assembly.

On the other hand, his son (who owns land immediately adjacent) chose to purchase a Woodmizer Bandsaw style saw mill. Portable Sawmills | Wood-Mizer USA (woodmizer.com) He purchased one setup on it's own wheels which he can tow down the highway.

Each of these mills, has it's pros and cons but vary vastly in set up and how they are transported, based on individual needs.


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## TwelveFoot (Dec 30, 2015)

If you get something trailer mounted it would be as simple as pulling up and dropping the legs on each corner.

A ground track model of bandsaw would come with 2-3 short pieces of track to bolt together, after setting up a somewhat level pad (4x6 lumber or similar), then setting the saw-head on (which weights a few hundred or more pounds.


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Ken,
deleted your duplicate thread. 
Mike Hawkins


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## High_Water (Sep 13, 2019)

If you're buying a mill then look at the trailer mounted models, I run a tk 1400 and I love it. You still have to remember to bring all your tools and extra blades and everything you need no matter what, as a general rule I forget at least one thing every time I haul the mill somewhere, fortunately most of my work is for friends and family. I've seen people with the ground models set up on a lowboy, which I guess works too, but seems like it would be more trouble than its worth if you're buying new. The other major things to consider is whether a clients tree is truly accessible, or limbed, or even worth milling. And to me the hardest part is trying to get people to understand what it takes to actually stack and dry the lumber to make it usable, but that could change depending on your area, I'm in a highly urban area and people always seem surprised you can even cut your own lumber so the have no clue about drying. Break down and set up is fairly simple for the models made to travel, mine is simply adjusting the outriggers until the deck is level, usually takes 15 minutes or so all together, I take the water tank down when on the road but you can always just strap it down which is 2 minutes to set up, and mine has ramps for parbuckling whereas others may have hydraulic log lifters so that just depends on your model. Cleanup can depend on how big of a job you do and where its at, in the middle of nowhere its fine leaving a giant pile of sawdust, but in somebody's yard I like to keep dust gathered as much as possible and blow everything down with a leaf blower when I'm done.


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

High_Water said:


> I take the water tank down when on the road


What is the water tank for? Just curious.


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## High_Water (Sep 13, 2019)

Bob Bengal said:


> What is the water tank for? Just curious.


 It's for the blade lube drip system, it came with the mill.


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## TwelveFoot (Dec 30, 2015)

Bob Bengal said:


> What is the water tank for? Just curious.


Blade lube like High_Water said. Generally soapy water, mainly to keep sap from building up on the blade, partly to keep the blade cool.


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## Ken C. (Jan 27, 2021)

TwelveFoot said:


> If you get something trailer mounted it would be as simple as pulling up and dropping the legs on each corner.
> 
> A ground track model of bandsaw would come with 2-3 short pieces of track to bolt together, after setting up a somewhat level pad (4x6 lumber or similar), then setting the saw-head on (which weights a few hundred or more pounds.


Thanks. That helps, a lot. I wasn't sure if they can be transported with the band saw up. Now, I just need to research with one to get.


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## JIMDC49 (Oct 17, 2021)

Here are some pics of my Wood-Mizer LT30. Easy to tow and set up. It was stored for 10 years. I just got it up and running again.







portable mill, a


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## Ken C. (Jan 27, 2021)

Nice! Do you mind replying with the model, and options? I imagine you're happy with it...?
Love the photo of processed boards!


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## JIMDC49 (Oct 17, 2021)

LT30 all hydrolic or motorized. That's close to 4000 BF of full size 2x4, 2x6 and 2x8s on that trailer + a lot of stickers. 9 hours with this mill. 14 hours total. Trying to figure out how to attach a Barcalounger with a cup holder. They have a chair attachment for $1200. I have friends that have manual mills and those things are so slow. Very happy with it.


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## Ken C. (Jan 27, 2021)

Nice. Thank you.


High_Water said:


> If you're buying a mill then look at the trailer mounted models, I run a tk 1400 and I love it. You still have to remember to bring all your tools and extra blades and everything you need no matter what, as a general rule I forget at least one thing every time I haul the mill somewhere, fortunately most of my work is for friends and family. I've seen people with the ground models set up on a lowboy, which I guess works too, but seems like it would be more trouble than its worth if you're buying new. The other major things to consider is whether a clients tree is truly accessible, or limbed, or even worth milling. And to me the hardest part is trying to get people to understand what it takes to actually stack and dry the lumber to make it usable, but that could change depending on your area, I'm in a highly urban area and people always seem surprised you can even cut your own lumber so the have no clue about drying. Break down and set up is fairly simple for the models made to travel, mine is simply adjusting the outriggers until the deck is level, usually takes 15 minutes or so all together, I take the water tank down when on the road but you can always just strap it down which is 2 minutes to set up, and mine has ramps for parbuckling whereas others may have hydraulic log lifters so that just depends on your model. Cleanup can depend on how big of a job you do and where its at, in the middle of nowhere its fine leaving a giant pile of sawdust, but in somebody's yard I like to keep dust gathered as much as possible and blow everything down with a leaf blower when I'm done.


Thank you for that detail. I'm in a rather urban area, too. I like that it doesn't take much time to set up/ break down.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

good luck Ken, keep us posted. i almost pulled the trigger on one several times, still get the urge. i watch for used all the time also....


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