Frick OO pad size

[marcusb]

I have recently inherited an older OO Frick mill. Been mostly under shed, needs a few beams under track but the husk is solid. I have a Hudson Oscar 36 mill on loan that i'm setting up to saw with now which I would like to set on concrete while using. What i am thinking is go ahead and pour a pad large enough for the Frick, set up the band mill on it for now until I get a saw shed built, etc, then return the bandsaw mill once I have the work done and repair wood complete and set up the Frick permanent on the pad. I was hoping to get some input on how much extra room I should allow around the mill beyond its dimensions, extra for loading logs etc. Thanks for the input.

[sealark37]

For working space, more solid level surface is better.  You should keep in mind that the saw on your Frick extends a good ways below the husk and track, so you must make a hole for it or stack the rest of the mill up to give the saw clearance.  Regards, Clark

[Kbeitz]

You also need a trough for the sawdust. It helps to make an Agricultural chain sawdust drag.

[Ron Wenrich]

I think a lot will depend on how much you plan to use the mill and how much money you want to put into a pad.  I've seen mills where the  log deck was exposed to the weather and the back end of the track was left outside.  There really isn't much need for concrete, unless you want to sweep under it.  Those mills always parked the carriage under the roof. 

You will also need a pit for dust.  You can figure out if you want to use a blower or a drag system.  I would also make the pad big enough to accommodate the motor and an edger.  Figure out how you want to stack your lumber.  If you're using dead rolls, you might want a pad that is another 40' beyond the edger.  I've seen a lot of board floors in the stacking areas that worked well, and were a lot cheaper.  Under roof, they last a long time, and aren't very slippy. 

If you are planning to use any type of electricity, you might want to run some conduit under your pad to pull wiring.   If you want to improve any anchoring of equipment, you can put in I beam to tack to before you pour.  A little planning goes a long way. 

If I recall, our mill pad was about 25' wide.  That gave us room to keep all the equipment under roof and room to work.  I'm thinking we were about 75' long, but the log deck was under roof, as we had a debarker.  We also stacked most things under roof, and had a chipper.  We were a daily operation.  That's a pretty big pad for a part time operation.