Wood-Mizer Launches Industry’s First Battery-Powered Portable Sawmill

OCTOBER 2023 - Capturing the robust interest of battery-powered outdoor equipment and electric vehicles (EV), Wood-Mizer, a globally renowned leader in the sawmill industry, introduces the industry’s first battery-powered portable sawmill. The lithium-ion battery-powered sawmill provides sawmill owners an alternative power choice which is environmentally friendly and delivers consistent, reliable, and high-quality sawing performance. The battery power option is now available on the popular Wood-Mizer LT15WIDE portable sawmill that enables woodworking hobbyists and forestry professionals to safely and efficiently saw logs into lumber.

Industry-First Battery-Powered Portable Sawmill

With feedback from several large community-driven and passionate sawmilling groups, Wood-Mizer’s strong commitment to answer their requests and interests led to developing a battery option on the popular LT15WIDE portable sawmill. The Wood-Mizer LT15WIDE sawmill currently offers a wide range of gas, diesel and electric power options with battery-power being the latest addition. 100% of the sawmill’s functions are powered by lithium-ion batteries which are the leading-edge technology in the automotive and outdoor power equipment industries. In addition to reducing carbon emissions, lithium-ion batteries are convenient, lightweight, easy to store, safe, and rechargeable. 

“Wood-Mizer strives to provide the sawing industry with the most choices to accommodate various applications and preferences,” says John Smith, Wood-Mizer CEO. “We take pride in closely listening to our customers and the industry and willingly invest in research and development in new products. Most importantly, we are committed to pushing the industry to the next level.” 

Features of the Wood-Mizer LT15WIDE Battery-Powered Portable Sawmill

The LT15WIDE battery-powered portable sawmill frees sawyers from relying on fluctuating fuel prices, reduces costs and time associated with fuel engine maintenance, and provides a more comfortable operation with reduced noise and odor. Offering the same optional trailer package and 36” log diameter sawing capacity as the LT15WIDE portable sawmill, the battery version comes with additional technological enhancements including:

• Patent-pending “Smart Feed” technology continuously monitors the amperage while sawing and will speed up or slow down the feed rate to optimize sawing performance.

• Powered saw head up/down raises and lowers the sawmill blade quickly and accurately for the next cut with servo driven power.

• On-board computer includes 3 independent libraries within the setworks that allow the sawyer to hold up to 13 board thicknesses within each library for creating custom cutting programs.

• Advanced saw head return includes bump return or stack return options depending on the sawyer’s needs. The “bump return” brings the head back for off bearing an individual board while production sawyers will opt for the “stack return” which returns the head and positions the blade for the next cut while the sawn boards remain in place.

Tested and Proven Lithium-Ion Battery Technology

Rigorous field testing in locations throughout the world has proven the LT15WIDE battery-powered portable sawmill can saw constantly and consistently for up to eight hours on six batteries depending on wood species, sawing conditions, and amount of time spent in the cut. As the State of Charge (SoC) of the batteries reduced, sawyers reported that the sawmill continued to perform at peak levels throughout the eight hours without losing power or performance. In addition, the patent-pending “Smart Feed” technology ensures the sawmill automatically adjusts to wood species, log size, and blade conditions to provide optimal sawing feed rates and overall performance. 

The lithium-ion batteries for the sawmill are derived from proven technology established in the automotive industry and governed by multiple safety standards. The batteries have passed internationally recognized design and testing requirements that cover compliance with vibration, thermal shock, drop test, mechanical shock, external short circuit, overcharge protection, overdischarge protection, over temperature protection and altitude. 

The base model LT15WIDE battery-powered portable sawmill comes standard with four rechargeable lithium-ion batteries but can run on up to five or six batteries. Each battery weighs approximately 20pounds, includes a 1.4 kWh capacity, and is covered by a 5-year warranty. The included six-battery charging base allows sawyers to charge all four batteries in under four hours, five batteries in under five hours, six batteries in under six hours, and is compatible with a standard single-phase (15 amp) 110 AC wall outlet connection.

Market Availability and Pre-Orders

European sawyers who are interested in using an alternative power source for sawmilling can preorder Wood-Mizer’s LT15WIDE battery-powered portable sawmill for an estimated end of year 2023 delivery. For those in the United States, pre-orders are being taken with an anticipated Spring 2024 delivery. Customers in the United States can also take advantage of new tax credits which became available in January 2023 with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA tax credit is available for US customers who purchase battery operated mobile machinery that operates at 7 KwH which is equivalent to a minimum of 5 batteries. For more information, pricing, and availability, visit woodmizer.com or contact your local Wood-Mizer representative.

About Wood-Mizer

Since 1982, Wood-Mizer has earned the reputation as a world-leading wood processing equipment manufacturer with a strong legacy from its innovative sawmilling products. Serving more than 100,000 customers throughout the world From Forest to Final Form®, Wood-Mizer offers an extensive line of equipment including narrowband portable and industrial sawmills, wideband sawmilling equipment, band resaws, board edgers, wood kilns, planer/moulders, firewood processing equipment, pallet recycling equipment, material handling equipment, sawmill blades, and blade maintenance equipment for woodworking and forestry hobbyists and professionals all over the world. Visit woodmizer.com for more information.

100% of the sawmill’s functions are powered by lithium-ion batteries which are the leading-edge technology in the automotive and outdoor power equipment industries

The LT15WIDE battery-powered portable sawmill can saw constantly and consistently for up to eight hours on six batteries depending on wood species, sawing conditions, and amount of time spent in the c