I know it's no piece of cake but..... Build your own mill. Here's why....

[Wise]

.....after looking into purchasing a slatmill I found only three options which were The Dog Trotter, RP Millmaker, and Ghostrider. In respect to the hardwork & craftsmanship these guys put in there stuff I'd like to start off by saying all three are very good mills. Now personally, I won't buy any of them.
Starting with the Trotter, the gambler has crossed into a new market to sell his mills to, because of that his prices are simply too high for a working dogman. The new design is cool but unnecessary. Those plastic slats bow in the middle, you don't need a damn speedometer,due to laziness he switched to the aluminum frame which is is too light for my taste, he even gives slightly off specs over the phone in fear of a copycat. "Uh hello dipshit if I really wanted to copy you that bad I can simply buy the damn thing and reverse engineer it, you sell the plan every time you sell the mill genius.
On to the RP Millmaker, only three things keep me from this purchase, first of all the slats are too skinny and not beveled, second thing is some people receive them brand new but damaged from shipping, which brings up my last point, he's too far away to go through all that shit.
Ghostrider mills are solid but the guy is too lazy to take that extra step and put a bar on it for chain hook up, & his logistics are somewhat of a mystery to him! (Smh) quality comes first.
Now look at my argument, when walking or running a dog outdoors how many of you have a damn speedometer, heart rate monitor, or a fucking brake handy??? Bells and whistles only mean repairs to me. If you are fully focused on your dog and know how to work it on a good solid basic mill all you need is dedication and hard work. I guarantee the dog don't know how much you paid for it, don't care how many mph he runs. Basically His body language, pads, breathing, and the look in his eyes will tell you what you need to know.
If you could take gamblers willingness to research how to upgrade, ghost riders fair price, and RP's dedication to purpose you can have exactly what YOU want a fraction of the price and hassle.

I am currently building my own mill with the help of a welder for my steel frame, a cnc fabricator for my return wheels and track railing, a woodworker for my slats, and a powder coater incase I decide not to candy paint it. Carefully making sure everything was level I'm starting with a good and simple frame, after I get my parts from the fabricator I'll bolt it all on and if need be make the necessary adjustments to ensure proper function, after that's out the way then I will finish it off with some style all the while keeping it basic and free turning. If a fail, which I doubt will happen, then hey I tried. If I pull it off, then I will have saved a ton of money, learned something new and give my dogs a solid safe piece of equipment to use! I understand it's not a piece of cake but it ain't rocket science either!
PS. The Curious mill was my fav one of all but he's not around so....

[erik440]

Pit pro has some for sale at reasonable prices

[R2L]

dont buy from rp millmaker

he is a liar, mills are not shipped on time, or will never be. his mills are put together by idiots, holes and parts can be crooked. also you mill could be damaged due to the lame box where its shipped in.

iv pursued a dogtrotter as well a couple of years ago. i didnt like it, it ren heavier then your average carpet mil.

[AmberLamps]

I'm not sure what's happened to RPMillmaker as I keep hearing horror stories from people who've dealt with him. But having dealt with him myself and having friends that dealt with him, I can only say he was a pleasure to deal with, was always available to speak with and he supplied a good slat mill, although I didn't think much of the carpet mills I'v seen from him.

Maybe he made his money and stopped giving a damn ? I don't know .. but when we dealt with him when he first started out, he was a pleasure to deal with.

I'v not seen one but i'v heard the same as what R2L states in regards to the Gambler mills.

The HF-Mills in Holland are supposed to be fantastic mills, although he doesn't ship outside of the EU.. I'm waiting on a friend to receive his so I can have a hands on look before I purchase one for myself.

[Wise]

Well nothing is perfect, but when you have to toss the type of cash around they're asking one deserves to be picky. I will post vids & pics of my mill as soon as I am done with it.

[EWO]

I am a big fan of doing things yourself. The slat mill is not an easy project to take on. It can be done but it is one of those things where an 1/8th of an inch here and there is the difference between great success and total failure. With that said, it can be done. And I agree Randy's C.'s mills were as nice as they get. He was not the most dependable guy in the world but the mills were nice. I had one years back. EWO

[abc]

The Curious mill was my favorite mill also, when done post some picts, keep us updated

[projectx]

.....after looking into purchasing a slatmill I found only three options which were The Dog Trotter, RP Millmaker, and Ghostrider. In respect to the hardwork & craftsmanship these guys put in there stuff I'd like to start off by saying all three are very good mills. Now personally, I won't buy any of them.
Starting with the Trotter, the gambler has crossed into a new market to sell his mills to, because of that his prices are simply too high for a working dogman. The new design is cool but unnecessary. Those plastic slats bow in the middle, you don't need a damn speedometer,due to laziness he switched to the aluminum frame which is is too light for my taste, he even gives slightly off specs over the phone in fear of a copycat. "Uh hello dipshit if I really wanted to copy you that bad I can simply buy the damn thing and reverse engineer it, you sell the plan every time you sell the mill genius.
On to the RP Millmaker, only three things keep me from this purchase, first of all the slats are too skinny and not beveled, second thing is some people receive them brand new but damaged from shipping, which brings up my last point, he's too far away to go through all that shit.
Ghostrider mills are solid but the guy is too lazy to take that extra step and put a bar on it for chain hook up, & his logistics are somewhat of a mystery to him! (Smh) quality comes first.
Now look at my argument, when walking or running a dog outdoors how many of you have a damn speedometer, heart rate monitor, or a fucking brake handy??? Bells and whistles only mean repairs to me. If you are fully focused on your dog and know how to work it on a good solid basic mill all you need is dedication and hard work. I guarantee the dog don't know how much you paid for it, don't care how many mph he runs. Basically His body language, pads, breathing, and the look in his eyes will tell you what you need to know.
If you could take gamblers willingness to research how to upgrade, ghost riders fair price, and RP's dedication to purpose you can have exactly what YOU want a fraction of the price and hassle.

I am currently building my own mill with the help of a welder for my steel frame, a cnc fabricator for my return wheels and track railing, a woodworker for my slats, and a powder coater incase I decide not to candy paint it. Carefully making sure everything was level I'm starting with a good and simple frame, after I get my parts from the fabricator I'll bolt it all on and if need be make the necessary adjustments to ensure proper function, after that's out the way then I will finish it off with some style all the while keeping it basic and free turning. If a fail, which I doubt will happen, then hey I tried. If I pull it off, then I will have saved a ton of money, learned something new and give my dogs a solid safe piece of equipment to use! I understand it's not a piece of cake but it ain't rocket science either!
PS. The Curious mill was my fav one of all but he's not around so....

Hi wise , im will agre that dogtroterrs are expensive ,but thereis an old saying , ( you get what you pay for)and he does make nice mills , as does rp and hf mills etc , but you seem to have your backup with gambler for not telling you his exact specs , and why should he, thats his living ,and hes spent years and time developing his product ,and he knows that if someone buys one they can back engineer it , but then if they buy it they have a right to try ,like hf mills seem to have done with their latest aluminium mill which is not identical , but pretty damn near, so instead of asking on another thread if anyone has the specs for his mills , and then post this thread bashing him ,why dont you buy one ? and if you dont like them why are you asking for the specs on another thread?By the why your comment about the alu being to lightweight is bullcrap, their good and strong thats why hf mills copied gamblers design and use the same alu for the frame.
Another thing you say your building your own mill , but normally when anyone has built their own , they mean just that , they built it, you on the other hand have a steel welder to build the frame ,a cnc fabricator for your return wheels and track railing, a powder coater and a woodworker for your slats , wow your really handson arent you lol and then you go on to say that by doing this your gonna save a ton of money lol well any tradesman worth his salt should want paying , or are you mooching free labour for your mill , and if you are paying them as they deserve , how much do you think a mans time is worth? well theirs is worth as much as gamblers ,so stop crying about other well made mills that you want but dont want to pay for and just man up and do it and stop bitching about the others who make mils that people like enough for them to make a living from,otherwsie they wouldnt make them doooooooooooo, now whos a genius .

[Wise]

Ha haaa project x! You seem pretty upset about my lil post. The bulk of what I said about gamblers mills is just my personal preference which I'm entitled to, the rest is just plain fact. For marketing purposes He added lots of shit to the mill that's not needed. His craftsmanship is where you have me misunderstood as well, use common sense, if I didn't like it I wouldn't be pulling from it period. I simply put the millmakers on a spectrum with one end being a builder that does a lil too much and the other end a builder that doesn't do enough. And yes if I can save money and time on shipping and waiting I will do just that.
Gambler told me outta his own mouth the reason he switched to aluminum frames was because it was easier for him to do it versus welding. And the specs I asked him for were to an old model that he doesn't build anymore. And I'm pretty sure these people DO NOT make a living off of selling mills, they aren't as common as you may think although they've been around forever.
WHEN GUYS LIKE CORVINO BUILT MILLS, THEY BUILT THEM TO LAST "FOREVER". THEY DON'T BUILD THEM SO YOU HAVE TO KEEP CALLING THE BUILDER FOR REPLACEMENTS/PARTS.

[EWO]

There is a lot of personal satisfaction of doing something yourself. That may be worth more than the $$$ saved. I am like that on a lot of things. Post your finished project. I am interested. EWO