Chris Browne from Pederson Sawmills. Photo/Andrew Warner.

The two portable sawmill manufacturers in Bay of Plenty were impressed by the large-scale portable sawmill battle held in Ohio, the United States at the end of last year.

In the results announced at the end of December, the shootout organizers Independent Sawmill and Woodlot Magazine confirmed that the Peterson Portable Sawmill in Rotorua created 988 board feet (bf) per hour using a manually operated winch to produce a frame. Record of the shootout.

At the same time, the Warrior AUTO of Turbo Sawmills in Tauranga cuts at a speed of 531 bf per hour, which is the record of an automatic machine in a gun battle.

The two companies are led by the daughter and son of portable swing blade pioneer Carl Peterson, an American who developed his first prototype sawmill in Fiji. After the Fiji military coup, he moved to New Zealand in 1987 and founded the Peterson Company, which developed the world's first portable commercial swing blade sawmill.

His daughter Kerris and her husband Chris Browne took over the company in 2003. In 2007, Carl's son Jake Peterson founded his own company in Tauranga.

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Both companies are mainly focused on export sales.

Mr. Brown is a sawmill expert, he runs the factory, and his wife, who grew up in the family business, serves as the chief executive officer.

Mr. Browne is a member of the Ohio team. He pointed out that Shoot-Outs is not a real game, but a demonstration in the US market.

"We participate every two years to demonstrate our capabilities," he said.

"They lined up all the portable sawmill brands that they wanted to participate in. We all got the same number of logs and cut them as quickly as possible.

"They check the sawn timber last and record your recycling rate and waste. This time we did a very good job."

He said that the salient feature of the new record is that the Peterson plant has a very high recycling rate and no miscutting.

Mrs. Browne paid tribute to her husband and Nathan Waterfield, a local sawmill in the United States, thanking them for forming "a shameless team and running our sawmill with their true ability."

Mr. Browne said that most of Petersons' sales are sold to other countries, including the United States and Pacific Islands. Recently, South Africa has renewed interest. Customers include hobbyists and woodworkers as well as farmers and commercial wood processors.

"Especially in the United States, there are many people who want to do things on their own.

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"There is a lot of wood, and cutting your own wood and using it will bring great satisfaction."

In a report by the Independent Sawmill and Woodlot Magazine, Mr. Brown pointed out that the factory used was actually sold before the shootout.

"During the shootout, the buyer looked at us very closely. He may be watching how we operate it, but I think he also made sure that we didn't use too much force before taking it home."