On the Road: Mobile Sawmill in Operation

If you can’t take the tree to the sawmill, you have to take the sawmill to the tree. For three years now, Christian Sindlhauser has been doing just that, on the road in Lower Bavaria with his mobile saw. We joined him on one of his jobs.

It’s almost impossible to pass this plot of land on the edge of the village of Haundorf without at least an inquisitive glance. Many people stop to take a closer look, and some even get out their cellphones to take pictures, or, even better: make a video. Because only a video will capture the movement of the saw blade as it cuts its way steadily and with the highest precision through the log - Christian Sindlhauser is in action with his mobile saw.

For three years now, as a full-time venture, he has been on the road – mainly within a radius of about 50 km from his home town of Rohrbach (in the district of Passau). “I’ve never regretted it. I really enjoy what I do,” he says. “But I have to be honest. If my wife didn’t work, I’d have to raise my prices. Instead of 33 euros per cubic meter, I’d have to charge at least 40. And it’s doubtful whether my business would survive, because there are many other sawmills in our area.”
They are Christian Sindlhauser’s direct competitors. However, he has one decisive advantage: he travels to his customers’ farms and cuts the boards and beams on-site. All he needs is a high-power current connection. Today’s job is for the Schon family in Haundorf (district Freyung Grafenau).
Roswitha and Helmut Schon plan to build a balcony. They already have the timber at home, but in rather hilly terrain – no problem for Sindlhauser and his saw: with the help of hydraulic supports, he can adjust his machine to suit the terrain. However, it does take a little longer for him to set up: around 20 minutes after uncoupling the saw from his pickup, he’s ready to tackle the first log. With the ease born of routine, he rolls it onto the mount of the saw, measures its length and diameter and enters the data in the computer at the control console. Then, using the hydraulic mounts, he places the log in the sawing bed. If it hasn’t already happened, this is where things start moving so fast that the layman loses track: with rapid, fluid movements, Sindlhauser makes the necessary entries at his control console, pushes and turns the log, fixes it in position, sets the saw and, just a few seconds later, the blade is already cutting the first – outer – board. “It took me almost a year to become really proficient at operating the saw,” he says.

 

Actually, Christian Sindlhauser is a carpenter by trade, but was no longer able to work in his profession due to health problems. Completely by coincidence, he came across the mobile saws on the Internet. After doing a little research, it was completely clear to him: “That’s what I want to do.” He got down to business right away and purchased a saw from Serra. “It’s a pity I didn’t find out about mobile saws earlier. Being a carpenter will always be my dream job, but this is definitely the best alternative,” he enthuses while turning the log in the sawing table through 90 degrees and repositioning it. And then the saw is already making the next cut.

Highest precision

Sindlhauser doesn’t only work for private individuals: his customers include carpenter’s and joiner’s workshops and town councils. Whereas, joiners usually need squared timber, private individuals and town councils almost always want cut lumber. “The cutting thickness computer is particularly important for me. You can’t do without it if you’re custom-cutting. I need the highest possible precision, especially when I’m sawing for carpenter’s workshops, and thanks to the computer, I get just that. At the moment, I have a tolerance of 0.3 mm set, but even 0 mm is possible.”

Today and in the last year, Sindlhauser has been cutting almost exclusively pinewood. The storm damage in August has not had any impact on his order books yet. “They need to clear and sort all the wood first. Then we’ll see how much can be processed to lumber. Many trees snapped, and the wood splinters when that happens. I would say that if such a log is, say, 8 m long, you have to cut off at least 3 m.”

This summer, Sindlhauser bought a new saw, the larger Serra Bavaria SL 130i, in order to be able to cut even thicker logs. And it was a foregone conclusion for him that his second saw would be from Serra, like the first. He is absolutely happy with the technology and the service offered by the company:

The company’s own hotline is available to deal with any problems, and spare parts are delivered quickly.

 

He had the new saw customized to meet his specific requirements. It is equipped with hydraulic support legs and various tools that enable him to position and fix the log on the sawing table better. Altogether, with the special equipment, he paid around 100,000 euros for his saw. The investment seems to have paid off, because when we asked him what changes he would make to the saw if he was a product developer at Serra, he couldn’t think of anything at first. After a while, however, he did find one improvement he would like to see: “An integrated double resaw would be nice. I have a separate resaw I leave
with the customers on request. It would be easier if everything was all in one. But that’s really only one very small point.”

With his new saw, Sindlhauser can now cut logs with a diameter of up to 1.30 m – the logs he’s sawing for the Schon family today are not that thick, but nevertheless, the saw makes a big impression. Not only on Roswitha and Helmut Schon, who take the boards and beams from the machine and stack them, but also on numerous passers-by and neighbors. “I’m completely satisfied,” says Helmut Schon, “Everything is going quicker than I thought, and the beams are so nicely cut that they hardly need any planing.” It’s difficult to give an hourly output for the saw, as it
depends heavily on the wood to be cut. As a rough guideline, an output of between one and three cubic meters an hour can be assumed. “If the logs are big and I only need squared timber, I can cut three cubic meters an hour,” Sindlhauser explains.

By 11 o’clock, he has finished his job for the Schon family: in three and a half hours, Sindlhauser has cut 14 logs – a total of six cubic meters of wood – into beams and boards. Now Sindlhauser expertly cleans his machine, raises the supports, folds everything away and gets his saw ready for the road. Then he hitches it to his pickup, says goodbye and sets off for the next job – always on the move.