Portable sawmill

A portable lumber milling machine comprising:

• mounting means designed for securement relative to a transversely cut log to be longitudinally sawn into lumber,
• a track mechanism attached to said mounting means and extending parallel to the alignment of said log,
• a carriage which rides upon said track mechanism,
• an engine mounted in fixed orientation upon said carriage,
• a saw blade driven by said engine and moveable between an elevated position for rotation in a vertical plane and a lowered position for rotation in a horizontal plane,
• support means rotatably secured to said carriage and rotatable relative to said carriage and said engine to alternatively carry said saw blade in said elevated position and in said lowered position,
• latching means for releasably holding said support means to carry said blade in said elevated position,
• latch release means for tripping said latching means at a predetermined positon along said track mechanism to change the orientation of said saw blade to allow said support means to fall in rotation under the force of gravity and to carry said saw blade from said elevated position to said lowered position, and
• a longitudinal drive mechanism operable by an operator located at one end of said track mechanism to control movement of said carriage along said track mechanism,

A portable sawmill comprising:

• track mounting means having mountings adapted to be positioned a spaced distance apart relative to a transversely cut log which is to be longitudinally cut into lumber,
• a track mounted upon said track mounting means to extend parallel to said transversely cut log,
• a carriage mounted upon said track to ride longitudinally therealong,
• an engine mounted in fixed disposition on said carriage,
• a saw blade driven by said engine,
• an arbor rotatably mounted upon said carriage to carry said saw blade alternatively at a raised position for rotation about a horizontal axis and a lowered position for rotation about a vertical axis,
• releasable latching means for holding said arbor to carry said saw blade in said raised position,
• latch tripping means located at a predetermined position on said track for releasing said releasable latching means to automatically allow said arbor to fall in rotation due to the force of gravity to carry said saw blade from said raised to said lowered position when said carriage arrives at said predetermined position,
• propulsion means on said carriage, engageable with said engine, and
• drive control means operable from one end of said track to engage and disengage said propulsion means to control movement of said carriage along said track.