What would be the best long term setup

Rusticcreations · May 11, 2016, 11:44:21 AM

I'm looking to build an area in my field specifically for my sawmill.

My question is this, what would be the best way to set everything up, in my head I'm picturing a simple Cedar pole building, open walls with the sawmill underneath and a simple log loading ramp/deck/staging area,

Any suggestions or tips for a setup? Right now it's a bare empty field and my sawmill is setup next to my log Furniture shop.

Autocar · May 11, 2016, 12:42:52 PM

Iam in western Ohio and even here we got walls on our sawmill sheds :D When that northwest wind blows in the winter a 250 gallion fuel oil drum makes for a good stove to burn slab wood in and you always put it close to the controls on the mill :D As far as the loading dock I always had mine just off the timbers that the logs laid on with a flip type hinge door . I could pick it up and roll the logs on in then close the building up a little tighter. Sounds like your furniture making is pretty cool also your have to show us some of it .

Rusticcreations · May 11, 2016, 06:35:17 PM

I'm quite poor at the moment so I'm leaning toward some nice straight Cedar logs/poles set in the ground then mill up lumber for rafters n a roof

Hackermatack · May 11, 2016, 07:06:48 PM

one of the slickest ideas I have seen was a building a friend built for his a few years ago. One of the problems with a the common shed roof sawmill shacks is that you really want to leave a good big opening to roll logs thru and onto the mill. Normally the opening is in a load bearing side wall. Unless you have a steel beam to carry the weight of the roof it always seems to sag because of the excessive span. Old Bubba solved the problem by making a building using truss rafters that was around 30' wide and 16' long and putting the mill track running in the same direction as the trusses that way the logs entered on the non load bearing gable end. It looked a little goofy but it was very practical. Even if you want to use your own lumber you should be able to find a generic truss design that will work.

I am planning to build a building at my wood lot that is just big enough to back the mill unit itself into and leave the track outside. I am pretty much a fair weather sawyer and the mill is on a trailer so I move it around some to saw for friends and neighbors.

Kbeitz · May 11, 2016, 07:41:50 PM

I don't have much room...
Thinking about a double roof. One over the carriage and the
second roof on wheels that slides over top of the carriage roof.

Rusticcreations · May 11, 2016, 07:43:07 PM

Good thing to consider that I hadn't thought of thank you.

thecfarm · May 11, 2016, 09:37:15 PM

I have gave this some thought. You could put a post in the middle of the opening and remove when bringing logs in. Kinda of a bother,but it's a cheap bother.

kelLOGg · May 12, 2016, 06:45:32 AM

Mine cost me the price of roofing and effort. The used utility poles were free.
Bob

WDH · May 12, 2016, 07:22:01 AM

You need room to air dry and store lumber, so build that into the plan.

Josh3760 · May 12, 2016, 07:56:15 AM

Like any building go big as u can afford. There will never be enough room! U didn't say what kind of mill u have. Circular saws take up more room then a band saw. I built my shed last year after milling outside for a few years that was enough for me. Think ahead I just bought an edger now I'm trying to figure out where to put it. Lighting is also an important consideration. I do most of my milling at night as that is my only free time.

Luke_Eames · May 12, 2016, 08:16:02 AM

We'll be starting our new building this weekend. The building will be 30' wide with a divider wall 1/3 from the front, so basically a 20' building with a 10' overhang on the front. We're running 4 spans of 16' LVL beams down the front, allowing us easy loading and unloading of lumber for storage and loading logs onto the mill. The mill will be enclosed in the 20x72 part of the building. Up here in western NY, we get cold wind and lots of snows so walls are a must! Also be sure to leave plenty of room on both ends of the mill to walk around. Make yourself some stakes to mark your four corners, then experiment. Once you have a good working setup, measure and build.

Rusticcreations · May 12, 2016, 08:44:40 AM

Kellogg has almost the style setep I'm thinking about, I plan on building it big enough so that I can add on for lumber storage etc.

As stated I'm pretty much poor at the moment as I just went through a divorce so cheap and simple is awesome

5quarter · May 13, 2016, 12:45:19 AM

Luke...welcome. Good advice. I've been through Holland many times. Years ago my family used to pick strawberries in a field off rt 16 in nearby Chaffee and another just north of Holland. Do they still have the Tulip festival there?

Luke_Eames · May 13, 2016, 11:11:58 AM

Quote from: 5quarter on May 13, 2016, 12:45:19 AM
Luke...welcome. Good advice. I've been through Holland many times. Years ago my family used to pick strawberries in a field off rt 16 in nearby Chaffee and another just north of Holland. Do they still have the Tulip festival there?

Hi 5quarter, it's a small world! The Tulip festival just started Wednesday. It seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year. The Strawberry fields are no longer though. I think it's turned into a golf course and tractor pulling.

I've thought more about this post and I've changed my building design many times before committing to one. I was planning on putting something up quick but looking long term, plan ahead. If you want to do something small now, go for it, but ensure the design allows you to expand later on if you want to. Watch your workflow as well. You don't want to put a pole in the wrong spot. Build the setup around your workflow and equipment, especially starting from scratch.