Skip to main content

Sawmill Material Flow from Log Yard to Planer: Handling Machines

A sawmill is a chain of handling machines with saws in between: logs are unloaded, decked, hauled, barked, and carried through the headrig, and the lumber that comes off it is transferred, sorted, stacked, dried, unstacked, and fed to the planer. UTEC Industrial designs, engineers, machines, fabricates, and installs custom material handling systems for aerospace and heavy industry from its Spokane Valley, WA facility, integrating Allen-Bradley PLC and motion control with in-house CNC machining, heat treating, and stress relief. This article maps each handling stage from the log yard to the planer, with the load it carries, the federal and Washington State rules that govern it, and the sensing and interlocks that operate it. Each machine on that map is also the product of one build chain, design → engineering → parts machining → fabrication → assembly → weld fatigue → stress relief → drives → controls → tuning → monitoring, so a decision made at the drawing board shows up years later as a stopped chain or a lumber package that will not stack square.

What are the handling stages between the log yard and the planer?​

The federal sawmill standard defines the territory. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265(a) applies to sawmill operations "including, but not limited to," log and lumber handling, sawing, trimming, and planing; waste disposal; operation of dry kilns; finishing; shipping; storage; and yard equipment, while excluding plywood, cooperage, and veneer manufacture. Washington State adopts a parallel, and in places stricter, rule set in chapter 296-78 WAC. Read in the order the wood moves, the handling stages are:

  1. Log yard: unloading trucks or rail cars, dry-deck or pond storage, and in-yard transport with log loaders and cranes.
  2. Log haul and log deck: a bull-chain haul lifts logs to the deck, where stops and kickers meter them to the barker and headrig.
  3. Barker and breakdown: ring or rotary barkers, then the headrig carriage or log infeed, with live rolls carrying cants to edgers, resaws, and trimmers.
  4. Green end: chain transfers, roll cases, the green chain, and a bin or sling sorter.
  5. Stacking: a stacker builds stickered packages, and kiln trucks or packages are staged for the kiln.
  6. Dry kiln: track-loaded kiln trucks pushed by transfer cars, or package-loaded kilns served by lift trucks.
  7. Dry end: an unstacker breaks the stickered load down course by course onto the dry chain feeding the planer.

The USDA's historic Small Sawmill Operator's Manual already treated mill layout as a handling problem for a small mill, covering the log yard and deck, carriage, edgers, trim saws, conveyors, and lumber yard; a modern high-production mill runs the same sequence faster and more automated, and adds the stacking, kiln, and dry-end stages listed above (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills, §1910.265 paragraph a; Telford 1952, Agriculture Handbook No. 27).

How heavy is green wood, and why does moisture content set the handling load?​

A sawmill's handling load is mostly water until the kiln removes it. The USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Wood Handbook lists the average moisture content (MC, water mass as a percentage of ovendry wood mass) of green coast Douglas-fir as 37% in the heartwood and 115% in the sapwood; green ponderosa pine sapwood averages 148%, and green western redcedar sapwood 249%. The basic specific gravity (ovendry mass over green volume) of coast Douglas-fir is 0.45.

A short calculation shows what that means for the equipment. The weight of wood at a given MC is:

W = ρw × Gb × Vgreen × (1 + MC/100)

where ρw = 62.43 lb/ft³ (density of water), Gb = 0.45, and Vgreen is the green volume, so ρw × Gb × Vgreen is the ovendry mass of the piece. For Vgreen = 100 ft³ of coast Douglas-fir:

  • Ovendry mass: 62.43 × 0.45 × 100 = 2,809 lb
  • Green sapwood at 115% MC: 2,809 × 2.15 = 6,040 lb
  • Green heartwood at 37% MC: 2,809 × 1.37 = 3,849 lb
  • Kiln-dried to 12% MC: 2,809 × 1.12 = 3,146 lb

Assumptions: the Wood Handbook species averages above, all sapwood or all heartwood (a real log is a mix), and no bark. The same wood that leaves the kiln at about 3,150 lb went into the mill at up to about 6,040 lb, so equipment on the green end, from the log haul to the stacker, carries up to roughly 1.9 times the load of equipment on the dry end for the same wood (the dried piece has also shrunk, so it occupies less than the original 100 ft³). Sizing green-end conveyors and stacker hoists from dry-lumber weights undersizes them, and the Wood Handbook notes that green MC varies considerably within and between trees, which is a reason to design to the wet end of the range (USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Wood Handbook FPL-GTR-282, Table 4–1, Eq. 4–14, and Table 5–3b).

What equipment unloads, decks, and stores logs in the yard?​

Log yard equipment lifts the heaviest single pieces in the mill, and the rules for it are written around load control. Under OSHA 1910.265(d)(1)(ii):

  • Machines used for hoisting, unloading, or lowering logs must have brakes capable of controlling or holding the maximum load in midair (paragraph (a)).
  • The lifting cylinders of every hydraulically operated log handling machine need a positive device that prevents uncontrolled lowering of the load or forks if the hydraulic system fails (paragraph (b)).
  • Powered log handling machines need a limit switch that keeps the lift arms from traveling too far if the control switch is not released in time (paragraph (c)).

Washington's WAC 296-78-835(16) repeats these requirements and extends the anti-drop device to machines where the load is lifted by wire rope. On the deck itself, 1910.265(d)(2)(v) requires dry-deck logs to be stored so as to minimize the chance of accidentally rolling from the deck, and WAC 296-78-56507(1)(b) requires them to be stored in stabilized piles with traffic lanes wide enough for log handling equipment. Ungrounded electric hoists with handheld remote control at log dumps or mill log lifts must run on circuits at less than 50 V to ground under 1910.265(d)(2)(ii)(a), an early example of a sawmill rule that is really a controls specification (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills, §1910.265 paragraphs d.1 and d.2; Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-835 and §296-78-56507).

How does a log haul move logs to the deck and headrig?​

The log haul is a heavy chain conveyor, and its failure modes are runaway logs and broken chain. Washington's WAC 296-78-56503(3)(a) requires log haul bull chains or cable to be designed, installed, and maintained to provide a four-to-one safety factor for the intended load, and paragraph (3)(b) requires troughs for the return strand of log haul chains where they pass over passageways. Paragraph (5) requires, where possible, an automatic stop, and in all cases a positive stop that keeps logs from traveling too far ahead into the mill; OSHA 1910.265(d)(2)(vi)(f) carries the same positive-stop requirement.

Once a log reaches the deck, it is held back until the headrig is ready for it:

  • Deck stops. OSHA 1910.265(d)(3)(ii) requires adequate stops, chains, or other safeguards to keep logs from rolling down the deck onto the carriage or its runway, and WAC 296-78-56507(4) requires jump skids to be set in grooves so they cannot work out onto the carriage way.
  • Sawyer barricade. Under 1910.265(d)(3)(iii) and WAC 296-78-56507(6), a barricade or other positive stop strong enough to stop any log must stand between the sawyer's stand and the log deck.
  • Control direction. WAC 296-78-56503(4) requires log haul controls to operate the mechanism only when moved toward the log slip or deck, and WAC 296-78-56507(8) requires canting gear levers to move away from the carriage to operate.

At the barker, 1910.265(d)(4)(v) requires holddown rolls at the infeed and outfeed of mechanical ring barkers to control the movement of logs (Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-56503 and §296-78-56507; OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills, §1910.265 paragraphs d.2 to d.4).

How is a moving log controlled on the headrig carriage?​

A headrig carriage is a rail-guided car that carries a dogged log back and forth past the saw at speed. The governing rules are specific:

  • End-of-travel energy. OSHA 1910.265(e)(1)(i) requires a substantial stop or bumper with adequate shock-absorptive qualities at each end of the carriage runway. WAC 296-78-56513(10) is more exacting: the stop or bumper must be capable of stopping the loaded carriage at operating speed.
  • Rail condition. WAC 296-78-56513(11) requires rail sweeps in front of the front wheels in the direction of travel, extending to within 1/4 in of the rail.
  • Structure. WAC 296-78-56513(14) requires weakened or broken carriage boards that will not support the load with a safety factor of 4 to be replaced immediately.
  • Holding the load. Under 1910.265(e)(1)(viii), dogging devices must be adequate to secure logs, cants, or boards during sawing.
  • Holding the carriage. Both 1910.265(e)(1)(iv) and WAC 296-78-56513(15) require a positive means to prevent unintended movement of the carriage, such as a control locking device, a carriage tie-down, or both.
  • Stopping the section. WAC 296-78-56511(5) requires an emergency control so the sawyer can stop the head rig section of the mill without leaving the operator station.

A bumper sized to stop a loaded carriage at operating speed is a structural design problem: its reaction goes into the carriage frame, the track, and the foundation on every overtravel. UTEC Industrial fabricates and machines heavy rail-guided car frames and stress-relieves the weldments before final machining, which is the build sequence that keeps wheel bores and axle seats aligned under that kind of repeated shock (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills, §1910.265 paragraph e.1; Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-56511 and §296-78-56513).

Which chain transfers, roll cases, and live rolls carry lumber through the green end?​

Between the headrig and the stacker, boards travel on chain transfers, live-roll cases, and lug and drag chains. Several ASME chain standards cover the chain families used in this service: ASME B29.200-2001 (R2021) covers welded-steel-type mill chains and drag chains with their attachments and sprocket teeth, ASME B29.15M-1997 (R2021) covers steel roller-type conveyor chains, and ASME B29.12M-1997 (R2018) covers steel bushed rollerless chains. The American Chain Association's Standard Handbook of Chains is the general reference for selecting chain for both power transmission and material handling. Drives on these transfers are typically gearmotors or enclosed reducers, rated under ANSI/AGMA 6013-B16 (R2021).

The safety rules for the green end are notably quantitative in Washington:

  • WAC 296-78-84003(2) and (3) require conveyor troughs strong enough to carry a broken chain, including a trough under any return strand that runs within 7 ft of the floor.
  • WAC 296-78-84003(7) requires an emergency panic-type stopping device that a person sitting on the conveyor can reach, located near the material entrance to each barker, chipper, hog, saw, or similar machine, unless an operator with a full view has the conveyor under constant control.
  • WAC 296-78-84001(4) limits the gradient of roll sets or roll cases carrying lumber units to 3 percent, and paragraph (17) requires power-driven rolls to be operated so as to prevent end collisions.
  • WAC 296-78-84001(12) requires every sorting chain to have a stopping device readily accessible to at least one employee working on the chain.
  • OSHA 1910.265(e)(5)(iv) requires live rolls and tailing devices behind an edger to run no slower than the edger feed rolls, and 1910.265(c)(18)(ii) requires spiked live rolls to be guarded.

OSHA 1910.265(c)(18)(i) still references ANSI B20.1-1957 for conveyor construction and maintenance; the conveyor safety standard has since been reissued, most recently as ASME B20.1-2024 (ASME B29.200-2001 R2021; ASME B29.15M-1997 R2021; ASME B29.12M-1997 R2018; American Chain Association 2005; ANSI/AGMA 6013-B16 R2021; Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-84001 and §296-78-84003; OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills; ASME B20.1-2024).

What happens at the sorter and the stacker?​

Sorting and stacking turn a stream of individual boards back into a unit load. The USDA Dry Kiln Operator's Manual describes lumber being sorted by grade and size on the green chain between the edging and stacking operations and held in slant-bin, vertical-bin, sling, or buggy sorters until it is stacked. In semiautomatic and automatic stackers, a solid package is placed on a tilting breakdown hoist, the lumber slides onto a conveyor where courses are assembled, and a hydraulic lift lowers the stack by one board thickness per course while stickers are placed; automatic stackers feed the stickers from magazines above the load. The manual notes that stacker sticker guides are typically adjustable in 1 ft increments and are commonly run at 2 ft sticker spacing for both hardwoods and softwoods.

For customer Gillingham Best, UTEC Industrial fabricated sawmill lumber stacking and material handling equipment.

A stacker combines a heavy hoist, a pit, and people working at its edge, and the rules treat it that way. Under OSHA 1910.265(c)(26), lumber lifting devices must minimize the possibility of lumber falling, the hoisting platform must be positively blocked when anyone goes beneath the hoist, main control switches must be lockable in the open position, and the lower landing area must be enclosed; entrances should have electrically interlocked gates that, when open, disconnect the power and set the hoist brakes. WAC 296-78-835 repeats these in paragraphs (19), (20), and (27) through (30), and paragraph (22) adds a stopping device on every unstacking machine that is accessible at all times to at least one employee (Simpson 1991, Agriculture Handbook No. 188, pp. 106 and 108–111; OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills, §1910.265 paragraph c.26; Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-835).

How are stickered lumber packages built to survive handling and the kiln?​

A stickered package is only as stable as its stickers and supports, and a package that sags or sheds stickers on a lift truck or kiln truck becomes a handling hazard. The Dry Kiln Operator's Manual gives the working dimensions:

  • Sticker thickness: usually 3/4 to 1 in, sometimes 1/2 in.
  • Sticker width: 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 in for hardwoods, not over 1-1/2 in; about 2 in for softwoods, up to 3 in for softer pines.
  • Load supports: usually spaced at 2 ft, directly under the tiers of stickers, since misaligned supports cause sagging and distortion in the lower courses.
  • Auxiliary stickers: short tiers above the forks or carrier bunks, usually between the bottom 6 to 10 courses, to keep lower courses from sagging and end stickers from falling out when a package is lifted.

The regulations add package rules for handling. OSHA 1910.265(c)(27)(v) requires stickers to extend the full width of the package, be uniformly spaced, and be aligned one above the other; they may be lapped at least 12 in and may not protrude more than 2 in beyond the sides. Washington's WAC 296-78-84001(1) requires units built for transport by crane, lift truck, truck, or transfer to have at least one set of stickers for each 18 in of height, and paragraph (7) limits yard storage to seven of the usual 4 ft units high, and no more than four high unless two or more stacks are tied together (Simpson 1991, Agriculture Handbook No. 188, pp. 107–109; OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills, §1910.265 paragraph c.27; Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-84001).

How do kiln trucks, tracks, and transfer cars move lumber through the dry kiln?​

Kiln handling is where a sawmill uses rail-guided transfer equipment at scale. The Dry Kiln Operator's Manual reports that the majority of softwood lumber in the United States is dried in track-loaded kilns, where stacks ride on kiln trucks rolled in and out on tracks, while most hardwood is dried in package-loaded kilns loaded by lift truck. In track kilns, the stack width per track is typically 6 to 9 ft, kiln lengths vary from about 40 to 120 ft, and holding capacity ranges from about 25,000 fbm (4/4 basis) to 220,000 fbm (8/4 basis). Package kilns commonly hold 24 ft of lumber front to back.

The track and the cars that run on it carry specific rules:

  • WAC 296-78-84005(1) limits transfer, kiln, and dolly tracks to a grade of not more than 1-1/4 percent, requires bumpers or stops at the end of every track capable of stopping a normal load, and requires a means of chocking or blocking cars; OSHA 1910.265(f)(7) also requires a means for chocking or blocking cars.
  • OSHA 1910.265(f)(1) requires kilns to be built on solid foundations so the tracks do not sag.
  • WAC 296-78-84005(3) requires at least 18 in of clearance between loaded cars and the kiln walls where the kiln requires inside inspection.
  • WAC 296-78-84005(5) and (6) prohibit moving cars until the tracks are clear and workers are out of the bight of transfer lines, and require an audible warning when loads coast through or next to a work area.

The manual also notes that kiln misalignment throws the track system out of line and creates serious problems moving kiln trucks, so track straightness is a kiln-handling design input, not only a civil one. UTEC Industrial builds rail-guided transfer cars with Allen-Bradley VFD and servo drives, so a car serving a kiln bank can ramp its heavy load to a stop at each track instead of relying on the end bumper (Simpson 1991, Agriculture Handbook No. 188, pp. 44–47 and 51; Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-84005; OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills, §1910.265 paragraph f).

How does dried lumber get from the kiln to the planer?​

At the dry end, the process runs in reverse. In one common unstacker type described in the Dry Kiln Operator's Manual, the dried load is placed on a tilting hydraulic lift that is raised and tilted so the top course slides by gravity to the dry chain while the stickers slide down a ramp to a sticker bin or conveyor; the lift then rises to the next course and repeats. The stickers are returned to the stacker for reuse, and WAC 296-78-835(23) requires the unstacker floor to be kept free of broken stickers and a bin or frame to be provided for orderly sticker storage.

The dry chain then meters boards into the planer infeed. By now sapwood lumber can weigh as little as roughly half of what it did on the green chain, but board speeds are high and the planer adds its own requirements:

  • OSHA 1910.265(e)(6)(i) requires all planer cutting heads and pressure feed rolls to be guarded, side-head hoods to be high enough to safeguard the head setscrew, and planer levers or controls to be arranged or guarded to reduce the chance of accidental operation.
  • WAC 296-78-620(2) requires planers to have exhaust fans, hoods, and dust conveyors to remove harmful dust from the operator's vicinity.
  • OSHA 1910.265(c)(20)(ii) requires a collecting system in any mill with machines that create dust, shavings, chips, or slivers for one-fourth of the working day or more.

Planer shavings and green-end chips and bark rarely leave the mill as waste; they are conveyed to boilers, biomass dryers, or pulp mills, which is where sawmill handling meets the biomass and pulp and paper industries (Simpson 1991, Agriculture Handbook No. 188, p. 111; OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills, §1910.265 paragraphs c.20 and e.6; Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-620 and §296-78-835).

What sensing, PLC control, and interlocks does a sawmill handling line need?​

The sawmill rules already describe the intelligence layer; they just describe it one device at a time. Read together, they call for:

  • Travel limits and position sensing. The lift-arm limit switch of 1910.265(d)(1)(ii)(c), the positive stops on log hauls, and the carriage bumpers are the last line of defense. Encoders on carriage, stacker hoist, and transfer-car drives, backed by photo-eyes at deck stops and chain transfers, let the PLC slow each axis before it reaches those stops.
  • Guarded-zone interlocks. The electrically interlocked stacker pit gates of 1910.265(c)(26)(viii), which disconnect power and set the hoist brakes when opened, are a textbook safety function. So are the emergency stops at chipper and saw infeeds under WAC 296-78-84003(7) and the sawyer's section stop under WAC 296-78-56511(5).
  • Lockable isolation. Stacker main control switches must be lockable in the open position under 1910.265(c)(26)(v).
  • PLC and safety logic. On an Allen-Bradley platform, for example, Logix 5000 controllers organize code into continuous, periodic, and event tasks, so interlocks can run on a fixed period. Safety functions such as gate interlocks and emergency stops run in a separate safety task on a GuardLogix 5580 controller, which Rockwell Automation rates up to SIL 3 and PL e (Cat. 4) with a safety partner and up to SIL 2 and PL d (Cat. 3) without one.
  • Drives. Servo drives such as the Kinetix 5700 close position, velocity, and current loops on encoder feedback and include safe torque-off, which suits stacker hoists and positioning axes that must stop at an exact course height.
  • Standards framework. IEC 60204-1:2016 applies to the electrical, electronic, and programmable electronic equipment of machines not portable by hand while working, including groups of machines working together. ISO 12100:2010 covers machinery risk assessment and risk reduction, and ISO 13849-1:2023 covers the design of safety-related parts of control systems.

UTEC Industrial, a Rockwell Automation Recognized System Integrator, integrates Allen-Bradley ControlLogix and CompactLogix control, in UL 508A panels, into the handling systems it builds (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills; Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-56511 and §296-78-84003; Rockwell Automation 1756-RM094N-EN-P-2025; Rockwell Automation 1756-RM012J-EN-P-2025; Rockwell Automation 2198-UM002E-EN-P, Kinetix 5700; IEC 60204-1:2016; ISO 12100:2010; ISO 13849-1:2023).

How are sawmill handling machines inspected, tuned, and monitored for wear?​

Sawmill handling runs wet, abrasive, and continuous, so the last links of the chain, tuning and monitoring, carry a lot of the reliability burden. The inspection rules set a minimum cadence:

  • OSHA 1910.265(c)(24)(ix) requires chains in load-carrying service to be inspected before initial use and weekly thereafter, and any chain with a 3 ft length stretched by one-third of a link length to be discarded.
  • OSHA 1910.265(c)(24)(v)(a) requires wire rope to be inspected when installed and weekly in use, with removal at, for example, six broken wires in one lay of 6 × 19 rope.
  • WAC 296-78-835(31) requires operators to inspect their equipment at the start of each shift for evidence of failure or incipient failure, and 1910.265(c)(26)(ix) requires every stacker and unstacker to be inspected at frequent intervals.

Stored energy is a particular hazard in this equipment. OSHA 1910.265(c)(13) requires a means to block, chain, or secure equipment normally supported by hydraulic pressure for maintenance, and Washington's lockout rule, WAC 296-78-71503, notes that the energy sources it covers include gravity. A raised stacker platform or a log held on a hydraulic arm is exactly that, and under 1910.147(d)(5)(i) all potentially hazardous stored or residual energy must be relieved, disconnected, restrained, and otherwise rendered safe after lockout or tagout devices are applied.

Drives need retuning as the mill changes. The Kinetix 5700 commissioning procedure includes a tune-the-axes step, and Rockwell Automation notes that autotuned loop bandwidths can require adjustment once the motor and load are connected, which matters on a stacker hoist whose load swings from an empty lift to a full package of green lumber. Trending motor current on chain transfers, stop counts on transfer cars, and hoist brake operations gives the inspection program measured evidence of chain stretch and drive wear between the weekly checks (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills, §1910.265 paragraphs c.13, c.24, and c.26; Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-71503 and §296-78-835; OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147-1989; Rockwell Automation 2198-UM002E-EN-P, Kinetix 5700).

Where does the build chain decide how a sawmill handling machine performs?​

Most of the failure modes in this article are set long before commissioning. A log haul's four-to-one chain safety factor, a carriage bumper that must stop a loaded carriage at speed, and a kiln track held to 1-1/4 percent grade are design inputs; whether the finished machine meets them depends on each link of the build chain:

  • Design and engineering fix the load path, using green-wood weights rather than dry ones.
  • Parts machining sets sprocket tooth form, shaft fits, and bearing bores. The ASME B29 chain standards cover sprocket teeth alongside the chains themselves, so sprockets are machined to the same designation as the chain they drive.
  • Fabrication, weld fatigue, and stress relief decide whether a stacker frame or transfer-car weldment holds alignment under millions of load cycles, or whether residual welding stress distorts it after machining.
  • Drives, controls, tuning, and monitoring turn the structure into a machine that stops where it should and reports its own wear.

UTEC Industrial performs factory acceptance testing and on-site commissioning, so these criteria can be written into the purchase order and demonstrated before a handling machine ships to a mill in the Pacific and Inland Northwest or beyond (Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026, §296-78-56503, §296-78-56513, and §296-78-84005; ASME B29.200-2001 R2021; ANSI/AGMA 6013-B16 R2021).

Related Articles

References​

  • OSHA 29 CFR 1910.265-2016: Sawmills. U.S. Department of Labor, 2016.
  • Washington L&I WAC 296-78-2026: Safety Standards for Sawmills and Woodworking Operations. Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 2026.
  • Telford, C.J. Small Sawmill Operator's Manual, USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 27. USDA Forest Service, 1952.
  • USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material, FPL-GTR-282. USDA Forest Service, 2021.
  • Simpson, W.T. (ed.). Dry Kiln Operator's Manual, USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 188. USDA Forest Service, 1991.
  • American Chain Association. Standard Handbook of Chains: Chains for Power Transmission and Material Handling, 2nd ed. CRC Press, 2005. ISBN 9781574446470.
  • ASME B29.200-2001 (R2021): Welded-Steel-Type Mill Chains, Welded-Steel-Type Drag Chains, Attachments, and Sprocket Teeth. ASME, 2001.
  • ASME B29.15M-1997 (R2021): Steel Roller Type Conveyor Chains, Attachments, and Sprocket Teeth. ASME, 1997.
  • ASME B29.12M-1997 (R2018): Steel Bushed Rollerless Chains, Attachments, and Sprocket Teeth. ASME, 1997.
  • ANSI/AGMA 6013-B16 (R2021): Standard for Industrial Enclosed Gear Drives. AGMA, 2016.
  • ASME B20.1-2024: Safety Standard for Conveyors and Related Equipment. ASME, 2024.
  • OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147-1989: The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout). Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 1989.
  • IEC 60204-1:2016 (Ed. 6.0): Safety of Machinery -- Electrical Equipment of Machines -- Part 1: General Requirements. International Electrotechnical Commission, 2016.
  • ISO 12100:2010: Safety of machinery — General principles for design — Risk assessment and risk reduction. ISO, 2010.
  • ISO 13849-1:2023: Safety of machinery — Safety-related parts of control systems — Part 1: General principles for design. International Organization for Standardization, 2023.
  • Rockwell Automation 1756-RM012J-EN-P-2025: GuardLogix 5580 and Compact GuardLogix 5380 Controllers Safety Reference Manual. Rockwell Automation, 2025.
  • Rockwell Automation 1756-RM094N-EN-P-2025: Logix 5000 Controllers Design Considerations. Rockwell Automation, 2025.
  • Rockwell Automation 2198-UM002E-EN-P (2018): Kinetix 5700 Servo Drives User Manual. Rockwell Automation, 2018.

Ready to Discuss a Material Handling System?​

UTEC Industrial designs, engineers, machines, fabricates, and installs custom material handling systems for heavy industry, from the stress-relieved structure and drives to the Allen-Bradley PLC controls, tuning, and monitoring that run them, at its Spokane Valley, WA facility. Send UTEC the application, loads, and duty cycle to start a system review.

Request a Quote →

Questions? Call (509) 922-1832 or email sales@utec.co

Last updated on