Why aren't there any PTO sawmills?

N80 · Aug 3, 2014

I know the old tractors with the belt wheel on the side were used to drive saw mills, but why nothing now for modern tractors? (Maybe there is but I did a quick Google search and came up with nothing.) It seems to me that a large part of the price of a small portable saw mill is the engine. I'm sure a PTO driven band saw mill would need some method to increase RPMs over the PTO output and that a gearbox might make the price just as high as a gas engine powered mill. But, a belt drive would be pretty cheap. So I must be missing something obvious. What is it?

newbury · Aug 3, 2014

I'm thinking that the "old ones" you moved the log THRU the mill and blade, with my 10HP Woodmizer LT10 I move the mill head. And that's the normal approach up to 70HP mills.

N80 · Aug 3, 2014

Ah, that's it.

TnAndy · Aug 3, 2014

Belsaw used to make a small circle mill, the M-14, that ran off a PTO ( or any source of power ). You see them for sale from time to time. They were really lightweight setups, and the carriage was limited to 14' logs.

As Newbury said......with a circle mill, you generally move the log on a carriage into the blade, which is in a fixed position. Most small band mills, the log sits stationary, and the head takes the band thru the log.

N80 · Aug 3, 2014

I suspect there are safety issues for mills in which one would have to push the log. A mill that moved the log itself would be super expensive.

Piston · Aug 3, 2014

Even if there were, I could not see owning one. I use the tractor to load the logs and sort the lumber after I mill it.

I would not want to use my mill without having my tractor available to use.

Gator6x4 · Aug 3, 2014

Some of the old saw mills can still be found. They are rare finds today though. People who purchased old farms and found one in the barn usually gave them away or sold them as scrap metal.

In my youth I used to help a neighbor move his and set it up. Watching him sharpen and set the teeth on the huge circular blade was better than going to a Roy Rogers Movie. I think what he actually wanted me for was to man the mattock and dig a saw dust pit under the saw box for the chain drag to drag the saw dust out and carry the slabs when was sawing logs into lumber.

smstonypoint · Aug 3, 2014

I seem to remember that older Fords could be equipped with a 3pt "flywheel" attachment that allowed the PTO to power belt-driven equipment, including saws. Is my memory failing me?

Steve

N80 · Aug 3, 2014

Piston said:
Even if there were, I could not see owning one. I use the tractor to load the logs and sort the lumber after I mill it.

I would not want to use my mill without having my tractor available to use.

I thought about that, but I'm not talking serious mill operations. And if it were designed properly there shouldn't be any more to it than hooking up a PTO shaft. Besides, how much of an excuse do you need to have TWO tractors?:laughing: