Portable sawmill

Claim 1

A portable sawmill system comprising at least three elongate vehicular modules having length dimensions relatively larger than their width dimensions and adpated to be moved independently to a predetermined land site and located adjacent one another and a source of logs in a preselected geometric configuration so that a first of said modules partially overlaps a portion of a second of said modules and a third of the modules is located end to end with said second module in order that the modules in combination provide a sawmill, the first said module carrying a debarker for removing bark from a log passed axially therethrough, said debarker being intermediate the ends of said first module, a loader located upstream of said debarker on said first module for feeding logs axially along the first module toward the end of the first module overlapping the second module through the debarker, conveyor means located downstream of said debarker for receiving logs having the bark removed from the debarker, and mechanical means for moving the received logs transversely from the receiving means on said first module to a preselected position superimposed over the second module and dropping said logs individually onto said second module, said second module carrying means for engaging and securing the logs dropped individually onto the second module and setting the engaged logs in position for sawing, a saw carriage adapted to move reciprocally on said second module along an elongate path parallel to the set log adjacent the setting means, a saw mounted to the saw carriage and adapted to saw off a section of the log as the log carriage moves along the elongate path, means mounted on said second module for conveying each log section axially along the length of the second module toward the third module, and means at the end of said second module adjacent the third module for edging each log section individually to form a board, said third module carrying conveyor means at the end of said third module proximate the second module for receiving each board from the edging means and conveying said log sections individually along the third module to a preselected position, means on said third module at said preselected position for trimming any substantial taper from the board, and means for unloading the trimmed board from the trimming means transversely and off the side of said third module.