Starting from scratch - Building layout help

[alan gage]

Earlier this summer I bought a hydraulic mill (Timberking B-16) that needed a lot of fixing up. That's pretty much done and I've also bought a chunk of land to keep the sawmill and to store logs and lumber. Been cutting down a lot of dead oaks as well as collecting other logs as well. The land is 5 acres but I'll try and keep the sawmill constrained to 1-2 acres of it. The land is a gravel base (from 6-15' deep) so water and mud shouldn't be an issue. I have access to a 70hp Kubota tractor with forks that can lift a little over 2000 pounds.

I've been swamped with projects this summer so haven't really done any sawing but in the spring the plan is to fire up the mill and start cutting up those logs.  I've got a blank slate to start with and am trying to settle on a layout. Where to start? I'm thinking I should concentrate on getting a building or two up rather than sawing up a bunch boards with nowhere to put them. I'd like to use my own lumber as much as possible but hardwoods are about all that's available here so not the best framing lumber.

I'm sure the first question you all want to know is what exactly do I want to do with this sawmill. Unfortunately I don't really know yet. I've always wanted one and finally had enough projects (a couple buildings, house siding, new cabinets, trim, and maybe floors) to justify buying one. For the time being I plan to use it for my personal use but would love to have enough local interest to do some sawing for other people and/or supply them with lumber. I do a fair amount of wood working but don't get real excited about building tables and benches to sell and I know that for the next year or so I won't have any time for that either. If nothing ever comes of it I'll have no trouble making use of any buildings I build and the land I bought, which I got a fantastic deal on. There's no debt involved at this point and I don't see it getting there. No plans for an edger or kiln at this point but if things took off that could change. I think there's somewhere a little into Minnesota where I could have wood kiln dried if I needed.

Figured those of you with experience probably have lots of ideas on what you would have done differently from the get-go. Would love to hear them. Especially in terms of laying out a lot and buildings. Don't want to be kicking myself in 2 years because I either built too much or built in a way that made it a hassle to expand/change operations.

Alan

[Crusarius]

I can't help any but I am very interested in this same topic. Hopefully someone will come along with the great information that is always available here.

[DDW_OR]

this topic has been talked about a lot over the years.
log storage, log moving, sawing, lumber storage/drying, sawdust, log bark/scrap.

the key is to handle the wood, Log or board, as few times as possible.

useful sawmill mods
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,7789.msg1397352/topicseen.html#msg1397352


Drying your wood
http://www.shadecustomsawing.com/drying/Drying_your_wood.htm

sawdust blower on a bandmill
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,21322.msg354064.html#msg354064

trees and bees
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,97948.0/all.html

Building Plans
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben/buildingplans/miscellaneous

Lumber Storage Shed
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,88869.0/all.html

DO NOT FORGET CHAINSAW PROTECTION
Did something stupid
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,98807.0/all.html

Small Mill Workflow Paradigm
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,98211.msg1517069.html#top

No Thanksgiving for me
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,98768.0/all.html

[drobertson]

DDW laid out some pretty good resource reads, speaking from my own experiences and lack there of,,I would be inclined to suggest if at all possible to just visit a few mills, of all sorts of production capabilities, even if this requires travel time.  Seeing real time is a good way to see just whats involved.  With this you will pick up some ideas of whats possible, not only moving the material, but also you may pick up on available market ideas, with lumber, there is no limit to what folks want, it all varies.  The TBK's are drag back stile I'm thinking, so having a drag back staging area sounds like an area you would need to focus. The log loading is really pretty straight forward. The logs pretty much only come in one way, how you decide to stack can have many options. Moving once stacked has to be figured in, double handling is a double pain. The point I was trying to make in visiting working mills and checking out the work flow of materials, it's pretty important for making life a little easier,

[Kbeitz]

this topic has been talked about a lot over the years.
log storage, log moving, sawing, lumber storage/drying, sawdust, log bark/scrap.

the key is to handle the wood, Log or board, as few times as possible.

useful sawmill mods
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,7789.msg1397352/topicseen.html#msg1397352

Drying your wood
http://www.shadecustomsawing.com/drying/Drying_your_wood.htm

sawdust blower on a bandmill
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,21322.msg354064.html#msg354064

trees and bees
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,97948.0/all.html

Building Plans
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben/buildingplans/miscellaneous

Lumber Storage Shed
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,88869.0/all.html

DO NOT FORGET CHAINSAW PROTECTION
Did something stupid
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,98807.0/all.html

Small Mill Workflow Paradigm
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,98211.msg1517069.html#top

No Thanksgiving for me
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,98768.0/all.html

I have no idea why but none of your links seems to be working.

Edit...

Unless you copy and paste.

[DDW_OR]

useful sawmill mods

Drying your wood

sawdust blower on a bandmill

trees and bees

Building Plans

Lumber Storage Shed

DO NOT FORGET CHAINSAW PROTECTION
Did something stupid

Small Mill Workflow Paradigm

No Thanksgiving for me

[alan gage]

Thanks for the links and ideas. Some I'd seen and some I hadn't.
I realize this is probably a repetitive question but I had a hard time finding what I was looking for, which is mostly about sizing and laying out buildings. So many threads talking about sheds and drying but I had a hard time finding many that pertained to what I was looking for.

Such as:
Is running the sawmill in the same shed as the air drying lumber a good idea? Does it create too big of a mess?

Preferred size and layout of an air drying shed? I was thinking 26x60 with 18-20' between vertical posts. This would give me 3 bays on each side of the building where I can drive in pallets of lumber and stack them 3-4 high and 2-3 deep. Probably way overkill for my current needs but since I'm building anyway making it a little bigger doesn't cost much more. I can always park a tractor or truck in any empty bays

Size of separate sawmill shed: Just big enough for the mill or extra room for storage of other things? Probably a good idea to make it enough oversized in width to easily access for sawdust removal. Was thinking one open end for bringing them mill in/out. I'd like to keep one side shut (north side) to break the wind but I suppose keeping both sides open would make it easier to taking the boards out.

Good idea about touring other mill setups. I'll see what I can find around here.

Alan

[crowhill]

Alan, check out posts from FF member Peter Drouin to see his layout. Not saying it's right, wrong or whatever. He moves a lot of logs and lumber. One of the things you will come across over and again from this forum is that material handling is one of the most important means of saving a dime. Happy research!

[moodnacreek]

The mistake I made was to put the sawmill [circle mill in concrete] in the middle of a very small lot.  If you are to load logs on your log infeed  or loader arms with a machine [tractor,etc.]  Put the sawmill back in a far corner with the green lumber flowing toward the open yard. The higher the mill the better. A shed roof sloped back to unusable land for water and snow should be done over the mill. Think big , you may do more some day than you planned on.

[alan gage]

One of the things you will come across over and again from this forum is that material handling is one of the most important means of saving a dime.

I've noticed that and can see where it would. I'll be spending a lot of time over the winter thinking about the best way to do that. Since getting a set of forks for the tractor this summer lots of things have started getting stacked on pallets, starting with firewood. What a difference it makes!

The mistake I made was to put the sawmill [circle mill in concrete] in the middle of a very small lot.  If you are to load logs on your log infeed  or loader arms with a machine [tractor,etc.]  Put the sawmill back in a far corner with the green lumber flowing toward the open yard. The higher the mill the better. A shed roof sloped back to unusable land for water and snow should be done over the mill.

Good idea. I hadn't given any thought to runoff from the roofs. I like the idea of a shed roof draining away from the main yard and that's something I can definitely make happen with my lot.

Alan