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Sawmill Mounts On Fifth Wheel Trailer
"I dreamed about it for a long time so I had the design worked out in my head before I built it," says Larry Hens, Palmer, Kan., about the portable sawmill he built over a period of about 5 months with help from family and friends.
The bandsaw-equipped mill mounts on a tandem axle 5th wheel trailer equipped for
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Sawmill mounts on fifth wheel trailer WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Saws 13-1-29 "I dreamed about it for a long time so I had the design worked out in my head before I built it," says Larry Hens, Palmer, Kan., about the portable sawmill he built over a period of about 5 months with help from family and friends.
The bandsaw-equipped mill mounts on a tandem axle 5th wheel trailer equipped for over-the-road travel. It'll handle logs up to 40 in. dia. and 19 ft. long. Herrs, who runs a welding and repair shop, plans to custom-cut lumber for area farmers.
The saw is powered by a 4-cyl. Chevy truck engine and transmission that mounts on the saw carriage. A right angle gearbox, salvaged from a junked forage harvester, mounts on the output shaft from the trans-mission and drives a pair of car hubs that carry the bandsaw blade. The original tie rods are used to loosen and tighten the hubs. The blade is water-cooled by water that drips onto it from a 5-gal. container mounted above the engine.
"The tranmission is set in 4th gear and the engine runs at a constant idle speed. It also drives a hydraulic pump and motor that moves the saw carriage back and forth along the table, pulling itself along a chain on the back side of the trailer. A steering wheel which controls the hydraulic motor makes it easy to control back and forth movement of the saw," says Hens, noting that an electric winch raises and lowers the saw carriage. "Building the sawmill was more difficult than I thought it would be because the blade must be in perfect alignment when moving up and down or back and forth. Otherwise it will bind and break."
Herrs says using a bandsaw creates much less waste than a conventional buzz saw blade. "These blades remove only 1/16-in. of wood versus 1/4-in. for a conventional blade. That means you get a free 1-in. board every four or five cuts."
The sawmill is fitted with a heavy-duty walking beam tandem axle designed to handle a maximum weight load. The saw-mill itself weighs 5,000 lbs. and when it's working on a large log the weight can double or more.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Herrs, Rt. 1, Box 20, Palmer, Kan. 66962 (ph 913 692-4289).
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