Says Jan Vingerhoets, the Executive Director of Alternative Energy & Waste Beneficiation at Regenerative Space (R-SPACE).

Jan is describing the Rhino V2 Resaw that graces the centre of the tiny new sawmill in what passes for an industrial area on the outskirts of the picturesque village of Napier.

Napier straddles the slopes of the Klippedrif River in the Overberg Region of the Western Cape. It is surrounded by rolling hills of bright yellow canola and green wheat fields in winter. In the hot months, invasive alien plants dominate the landscape.

These alien invasive plants (IAP) form the grist of Napier’s sawmill. The R-SPACE chainsaw teams follow a well-managed plan to harvest the cluster pines, gum, myrtle, hakea and wattle trees, destroying the remnants of the protected Cape Floristic Region’s fynbos and renosterveld biomes around Napier.

The trees are cross-cut infield and transported by truck or tractor-drawn trailer to the sawmill. This is where the Rhino resaw comes into play.

The wainey sideboards are removed from the logs to produce the cant. Depending on the size of the cant, it passes through the horizontal bandsaw a few times to produce the required board dimensions for a range of value-adding products, including pallets.

Jan points to another horizontal bandsaw that is used occasionally. “There is no comparison,” he remarks. “From day one, the Rhino has been reliable and has markedly increased the sawmill’s production capacity”.

He says a huge plus point is that the machine’s parts are standardised. “When we need maintenance consumables, we can get them from the local hardware stores. It means minimal downtime because we don’t have to wait for imported blades or machine components. We are getting good returns on the investment because it is affordable to run the machine”.
Jan says, “I look forward to expanding our production with another Rhino bandsaw mill”.

The resaw is easy to adjust and has a “smart” tracking system that keeps the blade stable while making accurate cuts. It has heavy, solid steel band-wheels rather than traditional cast-iron wheels. If the operators have issues, a WhatsApp call to the Rhinoband technicians quickly sorts it out.

When you include the four post-head support and heavy-duty bearing hubs, it is a machine made by South Africans for Africa. Jan says, “I look forward to expanding our production with another Rhino bandsaw mill”.