Steven Morris – M10-28A (showcase)

“Turbo Mill has increased our output with
a one-man operation by approximately 65%”
Steven Morris
Tasmania. Australia.

I’ve run a timber milling business here in Tasmania, Australia for the past 7 years.
I have owned and/or operated a bandsaw mill as well as a Peterson swing blade ASM automatic. I have also had 5 Lucas sawmills and run our business employing as well as single-handed.

Currently, I have two Lucas mills for mobile jobs, and I have a Turbo Warrior automatic mill for our in-yard milling operation. To compare the various mills, I would comment in this fashion:
The cheaper bandsaw mills are a headache to keep accurate and are something that really requires a large investment to have a satisfactory result. Furthermore, the cost of replacing bands is significant.

The Peterson ASM was great when it was cutting well but it presents itself as a portable mill that has been added too many times to turn into a mill that is automated. The result is that it is flimsy and has many adjustments to try and figure out if, for instance, the carriage is bumped on a log. The sizing is run by a lot of little electric motors and wiring circuits. The ASM model is definitely not portable, in my opinion, and
I would suggest suited to a boutique operation.

The Lucas mill is hard to fault. Robust, versatile, and very portable. I have done many thousands of hrs on the Lucas mills. The downside only is that it is not automated and therefore requires a fit body and motivation to keep the output up.

The Turbo sawmill is by far the easiest mill to load logs into, having a single rail that winds out of the way of the bearers.
It is a much simpler design than the Peterson’s and yet it achieves better output, is far more accurate, and is easier to use. I am finding that the Turbo Mill has increased our output with a one-man operation by approximately 65% compared to the Lucas. Once again, it is more suited to a stationary setup. Hence why I also run the two Lucas mills for mobile on-farm jobs.

The other factors to consider when purchasing a sawmill are naturally the log handling equipment and the sawdust and mill waste side of things. The log loading and clean-up after milling a log can take as long as the sawmilling itself, if not set up well.