"Best Buy" Sawmill Made Even Better

"Best Buy" Sawmill Made Even Better WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 34-1-13 The new Lumber Smith Portable Sawmill was just what Kenny Bowman had been looking for. "The price was right and it was sized for what I wanted to do," he says. "I had been looking for a sawmill half way between a chainsaw mill and a Wood-Mizer type bandsaw mill." The Lumber Smith weighs only 105 lbs., including the 5 1/2 hp Honda that drives it. A three-wheeled carriage rolls on a track that Bowman made himself. It can cut boards as thin as 1/4 in. The 93 1/4-in. blade has a maximum capacity of a 24-in. log, plenty big enough for Bowman's immediate goal of producing 6 by 6-in. timbers for a post and beam building. Six months of use has confirmed his decision. "I've worked it hard and am satisfied with the sawmill," says Bowman. "The company has been wonderful about troubleshooting. They also share problems that other owners have had and how to fix them. Lots of companies won't talk about things that don't work, but if Lumber Smith finds something that works better, they share it." Once he had the sawmill operating, Bowman started working on how he would use it. Designed for carrying into the woods, the company provides plans for tracks the saw can run on. They suggest tracks be 3 to 4 ft. longer than the log to be cut. Bowman wanted to set up a stationary unit that could handle larger logs that he would bring to the saw. When his employer gave him a roller/conveyor track, he made adjustable stops to hold the logs in place. A set of stops at the end of the conveyor are simple brackets fixed to the side rails. Long bolts with the ends sharpened turn through the brackets to anchor the log end. Getting a log to the conveyor is made easier with two other homemade devices. One is a carrier plate designed for a 3-pt. hitch. Bowman backs up to the middle of a log to be moved, slides the plate underneath, and lifts. For short distances, he doesn't even need to secure the log. Using the carrier he is able to position the log with one end on the conveyor. He then uses a log caddy to move the log forward and down the conveyor length. "The caddy is simply two wheels with a length of pipe between them," explains Bowman. "To help hold the log in place and away from the wheels, I welded a section of 12-in. channel iron to sleeves on the pipe." The carrier, caddy and conveyor make it easy for Bowman to handle his large logs, sawn beams and boards. "Most of my logs are 22 to 24 ft. long and 15 to 16 in. in diameter," says Bowman. "I don't get a lot of excess when I cut out a 6 by 6 beam, but whatever is excess is just icing on the cake. I may get four to six 1-in. boards." The sawmill cost Bowman $2,100 (with lift assembly; $1,950 without). His add-ons were dirt cheap. His employer let him have the unwanted conveyor. A neighbor who deals in tires gave him the wheels, and most everything else came out of the scrap pile. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kenny Bowman, 1314 Hammonsville School Rd., Magnolia, Ky. 42757 (ph 270 324-2947; kentbowman@hotmail.com).

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