Foundation for Mill

[MattH11]

Hello all, Newbie here. After two years of going back and forth, I've ordered an HM130 Max, no trailer, from Woodland Mills and am now playing the waiting game. I've seen many people have different set ups, whether it be cinderblocks, 6x6s (or bigger beams) on the ground and a few people with concrete under their mills. 

My question to all is what do you use under your mill for a foundation? Do you find you are adjusting it often? Ours will have a gravel pad underneath it also. Thanks for the insight

[dgdrls]

Welcome MattH11

A set of beams, wood is fine, under the rails will help keep it stable
and spread the load.

you can also raise the mill off the ground a bit to help with the working height.

D

[mike_belben]

Start on timber skids and see where your milling adventure leads.  Over time your workflow will evolve, your equipment will evolve and the vehicles bringing logs in and lumber out will change.  





I think we all know being lagged to a concrete slab with 4 walls a roof and heat is best, but it would be stunning for a first timer to lay that all out correctly the first time.   If you can afford concrete and want to go that route, pour a slab where you think would be best, with a vision of expansion.  That may just mean a log deck and room for a tractor to get to both sides.  That may mean room for a bigger mill, a live deck,  green chain, edger, planer kiln, knuckleboom and truck turnaround.  Thats up to you, but a sawmill spells expansion like a baby spells diapers.  





If the slab ends up being located wrong for the mill in time, hopefully its located right for a kiln.  Drying on a flat surface is important and not always so easy to create.

[DDW_OR]

I had a gravel pad under my mill.
it is now a grass/weed pad

this winter/spring i am going to clean the veg out of it, then level the gravel, then put used metal roofing under the mill. would prefer concrete, but the install price, plus yearly tax = no
Liberal state = high tax.

[MattH11]

I appreciate all the advice. I should've stated that I actually have a 40'x60' gravel pad ready for the mill that's beside a large, ~35x60 building, where I work on dump trucks and tractors and heavy equipment like my grandfather and father before me. I'm leaning towards just wooden beams on a section of compacted gravel to begin with until I get the flow right, as others stated. 

I've only got 11 more weeks until the mill arrives! Can't come soon enough

[btulloh]

Mine is just on 6x6 cross ties and 6x6 sills. Cross ties are spiked down with rebar, mill feet are screwed to the 6x6's. A little higher would be nice but this has got me by for three years. 

Enjoy your new mill and Welcome to the FF.  



 

 

I added a simple log deck which really speeds up log loading. 

[btulloh]

I hope those eleven weeks go by quickly. 11 hour wait would be better, but everybody's in the wait mode on mills right now. You'll have plenty of time to get organized, build a base, make some pallets for handling lumber, order a Logrite cant hook, build some bases for air drying, and wonder when the mill is going to finally arrive. Waiting is tough, but the weather will be nice by the time it arrives. 

[MattH11]

Btulloh, Appreciate the pictures and really like the log deck set up. The building over the mill is just as nice. 

[btulloh]

Thanks.  It's functional and an interim step while waiting to build the full building for the mill. Finished lumber storage is a more pressing need at the moment, especially after I added the solar kiln a couple years ago.  In the mean time it keeps the weather off the saw head and gives me a place to store all the tools and stuff that go along with sawing. My mill is a bit over a quarter mile from the house, so I try to keep everything needed close at hand. Still have to run back and get something now and then, but only for an unplanned issue.

The saw shack is just thrown together out of miscellaneous materials. Trouble is, when I replace it I'm gonna lose all my notes and cheat sheets I've written on the inside of the siding. 



 

[MattH11]

Btulloh, how long have you had the mill? With the track exposed to the elements, has Woodland Mills paint job held up over time? The sawmill will be a hobby, side activity for us and know it will take a while to get a building up and over the mill so I purchased an engine/mill cover. 

Do you cover the track with a tarp or something equivalent?

[btulloh]

Four years I think. I don't cover the tracks. They develop a little rust where the paint is knocked off by the carriage wheels but the rest of it has held up well. Of course it would be better to cover the tracks, but . . . 

I have the cover also and it does a good job protecting the mill head. Putting it on and taking it off isn't one my favorite jobs though.  Kind of a character flaw i guess. Having the shack means I don't have to wrestle with the cover and more importantly it's a good place to keep all the peripherals handy. Of course that all depends on your specific situation. Things evolve as you get going with the mill. It's hard to anticipate all the work flow and materials handling until it happens. I enjoy that part of it. It's paid off to stop and analyze my work flow from time to time and then make changes and improvements. Lots of good input from people here on the FF, but for me it didn't all register until I got enough experience. 

[DDW_OR]

yep look at many setups. generally load logs on one side and off load boards on the other, or off the back (drag back).
also could use RR ties in place of the 6x6. I have a RR within 200 ft of the mill. lots of used ties, from near new to total rotten.
put the top-side down when you use them.

my mill will be under a lean-to on the pole barn.

[DDW_OR]

i made some rail/chain covers using this
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Advanced-Drainage-Systems-4-in-x-10-ft-Triplewall-Pipe-Solid-4550010/100135310?NCNI-5

cut it in half with an angle grinder



 

[Roundhouse]

I built mine on a pontoon boat trailer that I bought at the time I bought my mill (Woodland Mills didn't offer a trailer package at the time). I've got a build thread on here explaining all the steps I took in putting it together. As far as I know, nobody else has done it this way but I've been very pleased with this set up for a few reasons. The heavy square tube framing was just about the perfect size for both the width and three lengths of track for the HM130, once I built the track onto the frame I've never had to tweak, adjust or readjust it again. It pulls down the road very nicely on two axles. It has been in one spot for a few years now and I could remove the tires but I haven't yet since they aren't in the way. Perhaps my favorite part of this setup is how stable it is. I took the "lifting frame" off the trailer when I built the track on the main frame. I have "travelling legs" that will fold down and support the mill in any location but I also hauled the top or lifting frame to the semi-permanent location of the mill and placed it under the mill. I love the height of the mill and that the footprint of the mill is spread over an area larger (wider and longer) than the mill itself. The ground under the mill is well-drained sand and gravel.

This photo shows the two frames pretty well. The "uprights" that came on the trailer, now reach down and pin the top frame to the bottom. You can also see a stack of timbers placed between the two, this holds the height of the mill. 





A wider view showing the roof over the mill and the log deck that I added after the above pic was taken.

[mart]

When I got my LT15 I just set it up on concrete pads to get the first bit of sawing done. After I had sawed out some 6x6s I put it on those, still on the concrete pads. After a year of sawing like that and making constant adjustments, I poured a 16'x36' pad and set it up permanent on the pad. I'll build a shed around it this year.

Initial set up





On the 6x6s.





And finally on the pad.

[MattH11]

Love all the photos! Thanks. 

Roundhouse that's an awesome set up. Quite the fabrication process. You mentioned you loved the height of the mill, what it your track's height? 

Mart, I foresee the same process as you honestly. I'm hesitant to pour any concrete until I have the mill running and can organize the "flow" of things at the mill site.

I thought about a trailer a lot but decided against it for the time being since this is a hobby still and also due to my line of work I can easily bring home logs any size, whether in a dump truck or log trailer. Definitely a perk when friends are excavators and clearing lots looking to get rid of beautiful trees. 

[tamarackman]

What are the dimensions of the rectangular tube steel used on Wood-Mizer's LT40? I'm thinking of putting a rigid subframe under my mill and I figure, if it's good enough for Wood-Mizer, it should be good for my little mill.

[Nebraska]

@btulloh  I never have mentioned it but my mill shed and platform is moderately plagiarized from your setup, I saw your pictures  and remembered yes, that is where I got that, so thank you btw.  

[Roundhouse]

Love all the photos! Thanks.

Roundhouse that's an awesome set up. Quite the fabrication process. You mentioned you loved the height of the mill, what it your track's height?  

My track sits around 30" off the ground. At 5' 11" I'm walking fully upright when I push the head through the log, saves a lot of fatigue by the end of the day. I also don't have to stoop to remove boards. As I'm cutting I can lean a bit and sight along the cut as I'm making it, that allows me to keep an eye out for waves due to knots etc. 

[btulloh]

@btulloh  I never have mentioned it but my mill shed and platform is moderately plagiarized from your setup, I saw your pictures  and remembered yes, that is where I got that, so thank you btw.  

Well no need to thank me. Glad it worked out. I know mine was inspired by someone else's I saw on here, so that's the way the FF works. Good to see these other pictures get posted so there's a range of good choices. 
It's kind of interesting how this topic comes up about once a month. Seems like we just need a sticky topic or something with everybody's mill bases.  (Same is true for "how can I span a twenty foot opening on my millshed?").  Good thing there's good members here willing to share their knowledge and experience. I really believe this is a unique forum. 

[thecfarm]

I just put down at least a foot of gravel, bought those round cement things, maybe a foot across,4 inches thick? I put one under each support leg and never had a problem since. I dug out for each piece of cement, to make clean up easier.
I cut one side of some hardwood tree, to make it smooth and made a log brough. I put my logs on that and roll the logs onto the mill with a peavey. I bridge the cap with 2 pieces of metal flat stock. 
I try to keep my tractor away from the mill. 
Two words I don't know, easy and careful.  :

[MattH11]

@thecfarm I know nothing about easy or careful either! A log deck will be a necessity for that reason also