Why aren't there any PTO sawmills?

[Ed of all trades]

back your tractor up and start sawing

Note, you better bring about 70hp of tractor or better else your in for a long slow day of sawing. Circle mills like the above fell out of favor for band mills due to kerf waste. (quote)


There is an old Frick 0 sawmill near here that is run by an old 15 or 20 horse steam engine and it might not be as fast as a production mill it is about as fast as the new band mills I have seen.

 

[mjstef]

Found one of these for sale in EXCELLENT condition for 4K. Still debating on it...... Dixon Circle Saw Mill - YouTube

 

[N80]

That's the type of thing I was wondering about when I made the original post. Would have liked to see more angles of the mill at work on the video.

 

[TnAndy]

found this PTO driven band saw on Youtube. This guy has several videos of his mills they build. MAQUINA SERRA FITA VENTURA #7 - YouTube

Basically his design has the same problem the old circle mills had....in order to saw a 12' long log, you need a 24' carriage, plus space for the saw, so in the case of the bandmill, say 25' or so, because the saw head is stationary.

My Woodmizer LT40 is about 22' long, and I can saw a 20'6" log on it, because the log doesn't move....the saw head does.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I see a few pto powered sawmills around here... Last year I attended an antique tractor show and a guy was milling logs's at the show with one.

SR