Moisture Meters for
Portable Sawmill and
Lumber Drying Operations

When it comes to operating a portable sawmill and then drying your own wood, you know as well as anyone how the moisture content (MC) of your lumber can impact the overall quality. Whether you are just air-drying, or actually using a dry kiln, you need reliable and accurate sawmill moisture measurement equipment to make sure your lumber is at the correct MC for your projects and any of your lumber customers. Otherwise, you could jeopardize your projects and your reputation.

Even if you closely maintain and control the relative humidity (RH) and temperatures in your lumber drying process, you still must continuously measure and monitor the changes in the wood’s MC to eliminate over-drying or under-drying the wood.

That’s why a quality, accurate moisture meter is your best insurance to prevent cracking, warping, or splitting in the finished product. As one mill operator told us, “Not having a moisture meter is like cooking without a thermometer on your oven.”

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Superior Accuracy, Remarkable Versatility: Orion® Moisture Meters

When it comes to selecting a reliable moisture meter for your portable sawmill, many owners of portable sawmill businesses and lumber drying operations like yours have depended on Wagner Meters for their moisture measurement tools. Throughout our company’s 50-plus years, we’ve listened to our forestry customers’ needs and developed more accurate innovative measurement devices.

Orion pinless moisture meters are the most accurate, technologically advanced, and versatile sawmill accessories we’ve ever developed. And with Orion, as with all of our generations of sawmill moisture meters, our technology scans into the wood, not just on the surface, giving you a much better picture of the true moisture condition of your wood. And Wagner’s IntelliSense™ technology minimizes the effect of light surface moisture when taking moisture measurements.

Wagner’s Orion moisture meters have numerous user-friendly features. We’ve listed some of them below for you to check out.

Superior Accuracy, On-Demand Calibration

If you’re drying your lumber, you absolutely need to keep track of the lumber’s moisture content with a rugged, reliable and accurate sawmill moisture meter. Wagner’s Orion line of moisture meters utilizes Wagner’s long-proven non-pin technology to provide superior accuracy, but all measurement instruments need to be periodically checked for calibration, and, if necessary, recalibrated back to factory standards. This process is critical. And, like many other measurement instruments, moisture meters are electronic devices that could lose calibration when dropped or used in a rough environment.

With competitive moisture meters, you may be able to verify when they are out of calibration, but not actually recalibrate them yourself. If they do need recalibration, you have to send it to the manufacturer – an inconvenience costing you time and money.

Not with Orion. It’s the only sawmill moisture meter that allows you, the user, to recalibrate your own meter back to factory standards. No shipping to the factory, no waiting and no downtime because of it. And with Orion meters, calibration is a breeze. Using our On-Demand Calibrator, it takes you less than a minute and you’re back in business.

Easy, Fast Species Adjustment

With Orion moisture meters, you can easily and quickly set the wood species you need to measure using the Fast Selection Species Setting capability. A quick reference species settings guide comes with the Orion moisture meter to help you quickly set the right value. Choose from a comprehensive worldwide list of hardwoods, softwoods, and exotic tropical species. And Wagner has an extensive online species database.

Data Collection

If you need to keep track of and document moisture measurement statistics, you can use the data collection function of our Orion 950 model to help you improve the quality of your lumber drying. It allows you to record and store stats like high/low/average moisture content readings of your wood. And with our 950 model, equipped to connect to our free Woodshop MC app via Bluetooth®, you can send and save data on your mobile device into separate job categories, and more.

Pinless

For decades, Wagner’s pinless moisture measurement technology has provided huge time savings for our customers, and Orion is no different. You can accurately measure boards in a tenth of the time that it would take with a pin meter. And with Orion’s pinless technology, you don’t have unsightly holes or the hassle of dealing with broken pins.

Rubber Boot and Hard Case

In a rugged sawmill environment, protecting your moisture meter is paramount. All Orion meters come with a rugged protective rubber boot and come standard with a rugged, foam-lined hard case.

7-Year Warranty

Your Orion meter is protected by our industry-best 7-year warranty. That – along with our exceptional customer service and application support – makes owning an Orion worry-free.

Select the Orion® Meter
Right for Your Operation

Orion Moisture Meter 950

Orion 950, great for sawmills with multiple employees, offers all of the above and lets you know when your wood has reached its equilibrium moisture content (EMC) with the environment. It’s also Bluetooth® app-enabled for receiving/recording data and setting specifications for separate jobs.

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Orion 910, ideal for single-person sawmills, Wood-Mizer equipment, and kiln drying, features deep depth readings (up to 1.5-inches or 38.1mm) for wood you’re planning to use or sell as an end product.

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Orion 910

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