In our small rural farming community the main sawmill was sited permanently from the 1930s to the late 1950s. There was no burner, resulting in huge piles of sawdust that was periodically shoved downhill behind the mill. A Planer Mill with a shaving exhaust duct was finally installed during the late 1940s but prior to that the rough-sawn lumber was stacked and separated by strips to enable air drying before being shipped out via train or truck [horse and wagon to local users of rough-sawn] to be sized and dressed at another Mill.
A smaller sawmill operation behind the local Flour and Feedmill was powered by a steam tractor [as was the Feedmill] during the 1930s. The same tractor was once used to run threshers on several nearby farms.
So far my Sawmill site planning only includes a rough-sawn Mill util I can find or fabricate a Planer to sit under a four-pole shed.
Seems many of us favor Sawmills
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