Demand rising among arborists for portable sawmills

A distributor for brands such as Bandit, Jo Beau, and Pronar, Global (previously known as Global Recycling Solutions) was keen to show off its many different products, all of which service the needs of tree-care professionals. 

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But it was Norwood’s HD36V2 portable mill that stole the show, and while it may traditionally be more closely associated with foresters, demand is rising among the arb community. 

Andy Dudley and Louise Bradshaw-Black, Global Machinery Solutions (Image: EA)

“Arborists are getting more into it,” Andy Dudley, Global’s technical sales consultant, said. “We saw this through lockdown that our sales increased dramatically because people had more time to look at the profit streams they had coming in.

“The arborists who were sitting with nice pieces of timber were sending it away for biomass, but it clicked that they could get more money by milling their own material.” 

Launched last autumn, it can mill logs up to 36 inches in diameter and surpasses its predecessor (the HD36) in almost every department.

“The widest plank you can mill off that is 30 inches,” said Andy. “It has an eight-inch depth of cut. It has been the most popular mill that we sell. 

Global's offering also includes the Pronar MR15 woodchipper (Image: EA)

“We do go one larger than that - the HD38 - but the HD36 is the one contractors tend to buy. It will last them a lifetime. 

“There are still mills that were built in the 1990s that are out working now. It is a simple to use machine, simple to put together and a whole range of options you can add on.”