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A Hatton-Brown Publication

Co-Publisher: David H. Ramsey Co-Publisher: David (DK) Knight Chief Operating Officer: Dianne C. Sullivan Publishing Office Street Address: 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Telephone: 334.834.1170 FAX: 334.834.4525

Volume 42 • Number 3 • April 2017 Founded in 1976 • Our 432nd Consecutive Issue

Renew or subscribe on the web: www.timberprocessing.com

Executive Editor David (DK) Knight Editor-in-Chief: Rich Donnell Managing Editor: Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor: David Abbott Associate Editor: Jessica Johnson Associate Editor: Jay Donnell Art Director/Prod. Manager: Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator: Patti Campbell Circulation Director: Rhonda Thomas Marketing/Media: Jordan Anderson Classified Advertising: Bridget DeVane • 334.699.7837 800.669.5613 • bdevane7@hotmail.com Advertising Sales Representatives: Southern USA Randy Reagor P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 904.393.7968 • FAX: 334.834.4525 E-mail: reagor@bellsouth.net

6 12 18 26 34

NEWSFEED

Fery, Whelan Were Industry Leaders

BATTLE LUMBER PART II

More Work At New Georgia Sawmill

SOFTWOOD LUMBER INDUSTRY

How The Industry Has Rebuilt Itself

MICHIGAN’S MAEDER BROS.

Devastating Fire Doesn’t Deter Hardwood Sawmiller

VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY

When Paul Ehinger Talked, People Listened

COLLABORATION

MACHINERY ROW

Vaagen Says There’s Always Room At The Table

Baxley-LogPro Form Timber Automation

Midwest USA, Eastern Canada John Simmons 32 Foster Cres. Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 905.666.0258 • FAX: 905.666.0778 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com

COVER: Battle Lumber continues to build efficiencies and product versatility into its new sawmill in Wadley, Ga. Story begins on PAGE 12. (Dan Shell photo) VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.timberprocessing.com

Western USA, Western Canada Tim Shaddick 4056 West 10th Avenue Vancouver BC Canada V6L 1Z1 604.910.1826 • FAX: 604.264.1367 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca

Member Verified Audit Circulation

Kevin Cook 604.619.1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com

International Murray Brett Aldea de las Cuevas 66, Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain Tel: +34 96 640 4165 • FAX: +34 96 640 4022 E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net

Timber Processing (ISSN 0885-906X, USPS 395-850) is published 10 times annually (January/February and July/August issues are combined) by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Subscription Information—TP is free to qualified owners, operators, managers, purchasing agents, supervisors, foremen and other key personnel at sawmills, pallet plants, chip mills, treating plants, specialty plants, lumber finishing operations, corporate industrial woodlands officials and machinery manufacturers and distributors in the U.S. All non-qualified U.S. Subscriptions are $55 annually: $65 in Canada; $95 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. Funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries— TOLL-FREE: 800-669-5613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.timberprocessing.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe/renew via the web. All advertisements for Timber Processing magazine are accepted and published by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. neither endorse nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Timber Processing. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2017. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Ala. and at additional mailing offices. Printed in U.S.A.

Postmaster: Please send address changes to Timber Processing, P.O. Box 2419, Montgomery, Alabama 36102-2419 Other Hatton-Brown publications: Timber Harvesting • Southern Loggin’ Times Wood Bioenergy • Panel World • Power Equipment Trade

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THEISSUES

Rich Donnell Editor-in-Chief

EHINGER, FERY, WHELAN LEFT THEIR MARKS 12

he last time I spoke with Paul Ehinger was four years ago. He called and wanted to know how he could get a copy of a book my small company, The Donnell Group, had published a couple of years earlier on the former Coe Manufacturing owner, Fred Fields. I was also the ghostwriter for the book, which was told in Fields’ words. By the time Ehinger called, Fields had since passed away and before that had given away all of his books. I had given away most of the books I had, and was down to two copies. As a publisher of books, you always like to maintain at least two copies for posterity’s sake. I sent Ehinger one of my books. And now I’m glad that I did. It was the least I could do, having for many years scrutinized and published Ehinger’s data on mill operations, closures and employment, related to the declining timber sales on national forests in the Northwest U.S. During our brief conversation, Ehinger told me he was still active as a consultant. “Kind of like journalists,” I said. “Retirement isn’t in our vocabulary.” He had a good chuckle. Ehinger died in February at age 93 in Eugene, Ore., a consultant to the end. His was one of three recent deaths in the Northwest that caught my attention. The other two men, like Ehinger, experienced the post-war rise of the Northwest forest products industry that continued into the 1970s, and saw the beginning of its consolidation in the 1980s. The name John Fery was synonymous with Boise Cascade, since he was the man responsible for saving the company in the early 1970s and transforming it into a great paper and wood products manufacturer. Fery died in February at age 86 in California, though his heart was always in Idaho, where he has long been admired for his philanthrophy. Fery was especially smitten with the YMCA, which he had discovered and clung to as a boy. When you think of Bill Whelan, if you’re old enough to remember him, you might have difficulty placing him with one particular company. That’s because he led many different companies—U.S. Plywood, Champion International, Roseburg Lumber, Pope & Talbot, Timber Products Company. Whelan died at age 95 in January in Lake Oswego, Ore. I had the privilege of speaking with Whelan a few times as I did research for various articles. He was always very cooperative. He was savvy, too, such as the time he installed new x-y scanning and positioning technology at the U.S. Plywood/Champion International sawmill in McCloud, Calif., when Sun Studs’ owner Fred Sohn thought he owned all the patents to it and had installed it at his sawmill in Roseburg. Whelan apparently simply called up the computer programmer who did the work for Sun Studs and had him do the same for the McCloud mill. Sun Studs didn’t sue Whelan, but rather the computer programmer’s company. The case and appeals went on for decades. I hesitated to devote this space in this issue to the passing of three figures, which many of you haven’t heard of. But when you hear people refer to the rich history of the forest products industry, it’s not just idle chatter. These were three men who helped to write the post-war chapters. TP

Contact Rich Donnell, ph: 334-834-1170; fax 334-834-4525; e-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com TIMBER PROCESSING

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NEWSFEED WHELAN PLAYED MAJOR ROLE William Whelan, who held top leadership positions with several significant wood products industry companies in the 1970s and ’80s, died January 23 at his home in Lake Oswego, Ore. He was 95. During a period of tremendous growth, transition and contraction in the Northwest forest products industry, Whelan was in the middle of it all. “Bill was a great man and legend in our industry,” comments Joe Gonyea III, partner in Timber Products Company. Whelan was born in Brooklyn, raised in San Diego, and graduWilliam Whelan ated from the University of California Berkeley with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1943. He enlisted in WWII, fought in Okinawa and rose to the rank of Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He married his wife, Marcia, in 1948 and moved to Klamath Falls, Ore. and operated Klamath Machine. He began his prominent career in the wood products manufacturing industry in plant and district management positions for U.S. Plywood, and then as vice president of West Coast operations for Champion International from 1968-1974. He served as executive vice president at Roseburg Lumber from 1974-1978 and then joined Pope & Talbot and became president and chief operating officer from 19791984, at which point he became vice chairman. He then consulted for Timber Products Company and became VP of Manufacturing and part of the executive team for two years. After retiring, Whelan joined the Ford Family Foun6

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and focusing on wood products manufacturing, paper and paper products manufacturing and office products distribution. Fery became Chairman of the Board in 1978. He remained at the helm until his retirement in 1995. Fery also became one of Idaho’s philanthropical leaders, donating millions of dollars to many Idaho charities and was especially fond of the YMCA. “He had a zest for life and a work ethic that was incomparable,” according to a family statement. Fery was born in Bellingham, Wash. and as a youth while living in Seattle became attached to the YMCA. To this day, young Idahoans are living a dream each summer at the Y Horsethief camp in Cascade, Idaho, thanks largely to Fery’s generosity. Fery graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle and from the University of FERY REBUILT Washington where he met Delores (Dee) Carlo. After BOISE CASCADE Fery returned from service in John Fery, who led the the Navy during the Korean transformation of Boise Cas- War, they married in 1953 cade into a major global and set off for California, wood products business dur- where Fery attended Staning the 1970s and ford University for 1980s, died February his MBA. Upon 11 in Rancho Micompletion, Fery rage, Calif. from joined the Oregon acute leukemia. He paper company, was 86. Western Kraft, beFery joined Boise fore joining Boise. Payette Lumber Co. Fery’s business in Boise, Idaho in acumen was highly 1957 as it merged regarded. He served John Fery with Cascade Lumber on the board of diCo. of Yakima, Wash to form rectors for Boeing, HewlettBoise Cascade. His first asPackard, U.S. Bank, Albertsignment was to establish the son’s and Union Pacific company in the paper busiRailroad and was a member ness. He became a vice presiof the Business Council, a dent in 1960 and an executive prestigious national organivice president in 1967 zation of CEOs. He received Fery became president and honorary doctorate degrees CEO in 1972 with the charge from Gonzaga University to bring the company back and the University of Idaho. from financial distress. He re- In 1980, he received the esstored profitability by selling teemed Stanford University off obscure businesses the Graduate School of Business company had ventured into Arbuckle Award. dation as a trustee. "Bill was a successful leader and manager because he was a fierce competitor that hired and promoted good people and let them do their jobs,” Gonyea adds. “He was keen to use processes such as monthly reviews and short interval scheduling to drive in constant incremental improvement—in all manufacturing. He also had a good sense of humor!" Whelan served in many leadership roles with Western Wood Products Assn. and National Forest Products Assn. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Marcia; and their children, Greer Gooding (Skip), Daniel Whelan, and Annie Atkinson (Monte); his sister, Patricia; and numerous grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. A private service was held for the family in February.

In his final days Fery said that of all of his accomplishments, he was most proud of his three sons (Brent, Bruce and Michael) and their respective families. A funeral mass was held February 18 at St. John’s Cathedral in Boise, followed by a graveside service at Morris Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the YMCA Horsethief Reservoir Camp, John B. Fery Fund, 1050 W. State Street, Boise, ID 83702.

NEW BILL SUPPORTS TALL WOOD The U.S. Senate and House introduced the Timber Innovation Act, which would establish a performance driven research and development program for advancing tall wood building construction in the United States. The measure would also authorize the Tall Wood Building Prize Competition through the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) annually for the next five years; create federal grants to support state, local, university and private sector education, outreach, research and development, including education and assistance for architects and builders; authorize technical assistance from USDA, in cooperation with state foresters and state extension directors (or equivalent state officials), to implement a program of education and technical assistance for mass timber applications; and incentivize the retrofitting of existing facilities located in areas with high unemployment rates to spur job creation in rural areas. American Wood Council (AWC), American Forest Foundation (AFF), Binational Softwood Lumber Council (BSLC), National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO)

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NEWSFEED and Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. support the act. “Building construction using wood and mass timber products directly supports jobs in areas of rural America that have yet to recover from the recession and would lessen our dependence on fossil-fuel intensive alternatives, so having the federal government encourage further development of this emerging construction technology stands to benefit and enhance both infrastructure development and putting people to work,” comments AWC President and CEO Robert Glowinski. Cees de Jager, BSLC General Manager, adds, “Mass timber technology is revolutionizing and disrupting the way buildings are being built around the world. Unfortunately, the United States has

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been trailing other markets in this regard. The Timber Innovation Act will significantly contribute to enhancing our industry’s ability to close the knowledge gap and stimulate private sector investment that supports manufacturing and job growth in rural communities, optimizes the construction process and regains our leadership position.”

DELTIC NAMES ENLOW PRESIDENT Deltic Timber Corp. appointed John Enlow as President and Chief Executive Officer. Enlow joins Deltic having most recently served as vice president, Real Estate and Southern Timberlands, at Weyerhaeuser from 2014 to 2016, after serving 16 years in roles of increasing responsibility at Rayonier Inc.

“We are pleased to welcome a proven leader of John’s caliber and experience to the Deltic team,” says Robert Nolan, Chairman of the Board. “John’s broad industry expertise in forestry, real estate development, finance and operations will be invaluable as the company continues to capitalize on momentum in the housing and wood products markets.” Before joining Rayonier, Enlow held roles in sales, finance and forestry at Union Camp Corp. Enlow holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State University and an MBA from Brenau University. He also is a graduate of Wharton’s Executive Strategy program and serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Forestry Assn., & Wood Supply Research Institute and Forest Resources Assn.

Deltic Timber, based in El Dorado, Ark., owns 530,000 acres of timberland, operates two sawmills and a medium density fiberboard plant, and is engaged in real estate. The company recently installed a new small log line at its sawmill in Ola, La.

MARY’S RIVER PARCELS OFF Patrick Lumber Co. has acquired a portion of Mary’s River Lumber Co. in Philomath, Ore. The eight acre purchase encompasses five dry kilns and the reman plant. McCool Millworks Inc., based in Sweet Home, Ore., will run the operation, which will begin by processing primarily high grade Douglas fir and hemlock lumber. Established in 1915, Patrick Lumber is a sec-

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NEWSFEED ondary manufacturer and exporter of niche high grade softwood products sold to distributors throughout the world. This acquisition is expected to add approximately 20% to Patrick Lumber’s processing capacity. • Fox Lumber of Hamilton, Mont. has signed a lease for the Montesano (Wash.) property known as the “Mary’s River property” at the south end of the city.

LUOMA WILL LEAD WESTERVELT The Westervelt Co. named Brian Luoma as President and CEO, succeeding Mike Case, who announced his retirement after more than 32 years with the company. Luoma will oversee Westervelt Lumber, Westervelt Renewable Energy, Westervelt Forest Resources,

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Westervelt Communities, Westervelt Ecological Services and Westervelt New Zealand. Luoma most recently served as executive vice president and general manager, Siding, with Louisiana-Pacific Corp. Jon Warner, Chairman of the Board at The Westervelt Co., based in Tuscaloosa, Ala., comments, “Brian’s proven leadership and vision will be essential in leading our company.” “I am thrilled to join the Westervelt team,” Luoma says. “The company’s commitment to excellence and focus on sustainability are the driving forces behind 133 years of success.” Since 1987, Luoma held roles of increasing responsibility with LP. Luoma graduated in Forestry from Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif. He worked for LP while attending college first as

an assistant log scaler at the LP stud mill in Fort Bragg, Calif. and then in the woods as a forestry technician. After graduating he worked for Simpson Timber in Korbel for a year before rejoining LP as timberlands manager in northern California. He then became wood procurement manager for LP’s Western Region. He later led LP’s Northern operations OSB Group in Hayward, Wis., before moving to LP headquarters as head of forestry, wood procurement and logistics. He advanced to LP’s vice president of Engineered Wood Products before becoming executive vice president and GM over LP Siding, based at headquarters in Nashville, Tenn. Westervelt operates a high production, modernized southern yellow pine sawmill at Moundville, Ala., a large industrial wood pellet plant in

Aliceville, Ala., and owns/manages 500,000 acres of timberland.

DRY SHAVINGS WILL BENEFIT DRAX Drax Biomass is beginning capital expenditure projects at each of its industrial wood pellet mills in the Southeast U.S. Drax wants to increase production capacity at its Morehouse Bioenergy mill in Bastrop, La. and at its Amite Bioenegy facility in Gloster, Miss. from 450,000 metric tons annually to 525,000 metric tons at each plant. Drax Biomass is adding a second truck dump at both the Bastrop and Gloster mills to handle dry mill shavings, and installing dedicated delivery systems to move the dry material to existing dry hammermills.

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By Dan Shell

Battle Lumber follows up on its successful timbers mill project with new trimmer and sorter line.

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WADLEY, Ga. lanned as “phase 2” to a major project that featured a greenfield small log-timbers mill with innovative sharp chain system starting up in 2014, a new sorter and trimmer line that complements the timbers mill now has Battle Lumber Co. reaping even more benefits from the expansion. The highly diverse lumber company produces hardwood lumber mostly, in

grades ranging from pallet lumber to upper end premium hardwoods, but also targets pine markets with timbers—and now pine lumber thanks to the additional sorting capacity. “When we first built the timbers mill we had the intention of doing it in phases, starting with the small log breakdown and then adding a trimmer and sorter line,” says Thomas Battle, who oversees operations at Battle Lumber. Adding a McDonough horizontal op-

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Up-and-over grading line, above right, handles additional grade material in timbers mill.

Boards pass under USNR scanning frame leading to trimmer. USNR trimmer optimizer shows trim solution gained from scan data.

posing twin resaw that enabled the timbers mill to handle larger diameters put even more pressure on the back end. The mill was running an existing 20-bay sorting system for timbers, with low and high grade lumber hand-stacked. “We knew we had to put in the new trimmer-sorter to handle all the extra lumber,” Battle says. In looking at equipment options, Battle Lumber came across Endurance Equipment, which was repping Piche in the Southern U.S. By the second meeting, Piche President John-Benoit Piche was closely involved in the process, Battle says. And that impressed the thirdgeneration Georgia lumberman: “That hands-on approach, working with the company owner, impressed us, and we were also impressed after touring

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McDonough resaw has boosted volume, grade production at timbers mill.

their facilities, seeing the equipment in operation—and how involved they were with how the equipment performed in the field we knew that Piche was a good fit for us,” Battle says. Piche offered to do a turnkey project while outsourcing the controls and optimization, and Battle chose to break it up a bit and handle those two items on its own. As a result, Battle Lumber personnel worked with the controls group Logitex and also worked with USNR for scanning and optimization. Battle had already purchased a Moco stacker for the project, and Piche worked with Comact on the lug loaders and trimmer fence.

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Piche provided a heavy-duty double unscrambler feeding a 1 in. saw spacing high-speed line shaft trimmer. A dual tipple section with overhead pusher lug system allows for dropouts and two separations returning to the mill. Piche also furnished two up-and-over grading stations featuring board turners, leaving room for an additional station if needed. A Cypress grade mark reader processes board grades. The Piche 60 bin drag chain style sorter with tipples and diverters keeps material compact and straight. Bins are lined with UHMW to protect grade lumber, and soft bin discharge arms also protect boards as they are dropped to the haul-out chains.

Piche also handled the cross transfer roll cases at sorter discharge, and provided a double unscrambler feeding the Moco auto stick laying stacker. Tinsley Consulting Group, which worked on the initial timbers mill project, provided some layouts on the trimmer-sorter line. Battle Lumber and Piche collaborated on the substeel: Battle handled construction under the lug loader and trimmer lines, and Piche handled everything from the sorter to stacker. Meanwhile, Piche’s crews handled everything else except the wiring, which was done by Barfield Electric.

BENEFITS The new trimmer-sorter line started up in March 2016 and has run well, Battle says. Among the performance clauses in the contract were requirements that the line had to run at least 120 LGM, with at least 95% lug fill efficiency. “The new line has met all the performance clauses in the contract,” Battle says. The existing timber-focused sorter line handles timbers from 4 in. to 8 in., while the new Piche sorter can handle up to a 4 in. timber, but mostly runs 4⁄4 and 5⁄4 lumber. What the new trimmer-sorter line has

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really done is provide more flexibility at lower cost. “This second phase is now allowing us to cut more grade production in the timbers mill, and a larger log,” Battle says. “With the new trimmer-sorter line, it’s allowing us to do it with fewer people.” The new line is also enabling more softBattle personnel installed stacker from Moco Engineering. wood production. “This has sort of opened the pine lumber pressure on other areas to keep up. market to us a little bit,” Battle says. “The timbers mill did perform better “Before, we were shooting for pine timthan we thought on hardwood logs, bers only, and now we’re recovering which sped up the phase two process to pine boards and trimming and grading be able to add more grade production,” them because we have more sorting caBattle says. The horizontal twin resaw, pacity and a board trimmer that can do especially, has led to an increase in both the job.” high- and lower grade lumber Though Battle didn’t describe it formally as “phase 3,” a round of additional FUTURE improvements to help handle the timbers While the timbers mill project was truly mill’s performance boost is about to planned as a two-phase operation, the come on line: a new Piche cant resaw mill’s performance sped up the process a line with Pendu equipment, plus a new bit, Battle says. And like many sawmill SI dry kiln with 200MBF capacity. upgrades, improvement in one area puts “The increase in low and high grade

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lumber production is the reason we’re adding the kiln and new resaw line,” Battle says, adding that the new system will take low-grade pallet cants and process them into pallet parts and cut stock. It’s expected to start up in early April. The new kiln, Battle says, will provide extra capacity to handle the additional volume coming from the timbers mill, but will also add to overall production flexibility to increase grade pine lumber production. At an operation as large and diverse as Battle Lumber Co., there is always a large or small capital project either gearing up or starting up: “Our next step is to put in a new log bucking line at the front of the mill,” Battle says. Though no single market is on fire right now, Battle says, overall business is pretty good. “As diversified as we are with grade lumber, pine, pallets, crossties and crane mats—if you put all of them together things are pretty strong TP right now.”

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BACK

ON TRACK

By David Abbott Lumber production numbers, and housing starts, have climbed gradually.

The U.S. softwood lumber industry has rebuilt itself since the recession hit home 10 years ago.

or most North American lumber producers, a large chunk of the years between 2007 and 2017 was spent going through the downturn and struggling to come back from it. At the core of that financial crisis was the dramatic bursting of the housing market bubble. By most accounts it seemed to have hit its lowest point in 2009. By general consensus, the “great recession” is agreed to have begun in 2008 or late 2007, though most admit that 18

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hints of its arrival were noticeable before that. Housing prices peaked in 2005 and started declining in 2006, following a high point annual pace of 2.3 million new housing starts in January 2006, well above the historic average. Even after the worst of it was over, the recovery has been, for most, a very gradual process, and in many cases a process that is still ongoing. “The housing recession was a traumatic event for almost everybody in the lumber manufacturing industry,” says Kevin Hancock, President and CEO of Hancock Lumber, Casco, Maine. Todd Payne, President & CEO of the Seneca Family of Companies, Eugene, Ore., points out that most were in what he calls “pure survival mode” from 2008 through 2012. “We were just trying to

get through one of the worst downturns in the last 80 years,” he says. “Housing starts were at all-time lows.” But things have been looking up, as Payne asserts, “Starting in 2012-2013, we saw a slow improvement in the general economy and in the lumber market.”

RECOVERY Opinions differ on just how strong the recovery has been. Not everyone thinks the housing market has bounced back yet. “It really hasn’t,” according to Bob Lewis, President of Columbia Vista Corp., Vancouver, Wash., “It has improved for new construction but we are a long way off from a recovery.” Housing starts have been trending upward in recent years, with most forecasts ex-

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pecting in the 1.2-1.3 million range this year, followed by continued improvement next year. One thing all can agree on: the recovery, such as it’s been, has taken its sweet time. “There was talk of a super-cycle, of housing coming back strong and not having enough lumber capacity with shuttered mills to satisfy demand, and therefore leading to high lumber prices,” comments Bryan Beck, President of The Beck Group, a forest products consulting company based in Oregon. “That was an expectation that didn’t pan out. Housing has taken much longer and still hasn’t gotten to where we were thinking it should be.” The recession in the general economy is said to have ended in 2009, but according to Richard Wallace of the Southern Forest Products Assn., there was not even a real hint of a housing recovery until 2014. “The market started heading down in 2006 and hit its lowest point in 2009, and there was fully a five-year recovery period before it even got somewhat healthy again,” Wallace notes. The reasons why are myriad: stagnant incomes have to a large extent neutered the impact of low interest rates; young people, many of them carrying student debt, are waiting longer than previous generations to buy homes; banks have stricter lending practices after the crisis. “There is limited demand at the entry level, single-family homes for first time buyers, less demand than in normal conditions,” Beck says. “Either people

are not making enough money or just aren’t getting into houses as early as they used to.” Even so, he acknowledges, housing prices are up in many areas over five years ago. Payne points out that the historical average for housing starts has been 1.5 million a year. By 2009, that had dipped to only 400,000. As of 2017, it is back to about 1.3 million, “and with a measured pace that will likely get back to the average in the next few years,” Payne says. Each year from 2014-2016 has been better than the last, with each year declared in multiple reports to be “the best since 2007.” Although perhaps frustrating, many seem to think that the slow-but-steady pace is, in a big way, a good thing. “Statistically, it is not to pre-2007 levels, but my take is that the housing market is in a sweet spot right now,” Hancock says. “The market is healthy and sustainable at its current pace.” Payne agrees, “The industry is stable but growing at a measured pace, which I think is appropriate. Our industry does not work well with quick rises as this is typically followed by a quick decrease—a challenging scenario in a commodity market. I think everybody was hoping it (housing market) would recover quicker, but the measured upward momentum is still very positive and provides stability to the recovery, industry and marketplace.” Southern pine lumber production numbers indeed show a gradual uptick

since the low in 2009, when it was 11.8 billion BF; since then: 12.4, 13.5, 14.3, 15.1, 16.1, 16.6 and 17.3 billion BF in 2016. Western lumber production also hit a low in 2009, at 10.4 billion BF. This volume has increased to 13.9 billion BF in 2016.

LESSONS LEARNED Naturally and necessarily, the industry has evolved in response to the trauma of the recession. “Pain is a powerful teacher,” Hancock asserts. “Disappointments always become opportunities. They give you a chance to learn. I think the industry today is stronger than it was 10 years ago. As painful as it was, I think that the housing market collapse sharpened the industry. Even though it was a really difficult and stressful ride that nobody would volunteer to go through, I think the industry benefitted from it. Coming out the other end of it, I think companies are more strategic and disciplined about production and are staying focused on their core customers and products.” Beck echoes that sentiment. “There were a lot of closures, and the survivors are leaner and more sophisticated in understanding who their key customers are and what they want. They’re specializing more.” Along similar lines, Hancock adds, “The industry has continued to get smarter and sharper about what it does. I think most mills realize that production volume is not a strategic goal. It’s about

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Despite several mill closures, Northwest softwood lumber production has added 3.5 billion BF a year since 2009.

making the right amount of product in the right form for the right customers.” So what were some of the lessons the industry can take from the experience? There were no new lessons, necessarily, but rather very powerful reminders, Hancock states. “I think we were all reminded of the importance of a strong balance sheet so that you can sustain yourself through the downturns that always come,” he explains. “I also think many mills have learned how to operate profitably at lower production levels. If the only way your company can be profitable is at full capacity, it will limit your potential. At the low point of the market collapse we were running at approximately 66% of capacity and we figured out how to make that work with a competitive cost structure. It isn’t all about volume. We’ve learned how to be flexible.” “You have to plan for the downturn,” Payne subscribes. “If you go into it thinking you will always be at a high point it will create some difficulties from a competitive perspective.” Payne adds that some capital investment in their facilities was delayed, but in 2015 they started a major project that is just completing. According to Wallace, the southern pine industry has learned how to compete more effectively against alternative building materials. Payne adds, “We as an industry and society saw that a lot of the growth was built on false assumptions. That largely led to the bubble bursting, which also exaggerated the downturn.” From that came addi20

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tional regulations on lending in banks, which limited funding for first-time home buyers. Payne would like to see a reduced focus on lending practices over the next few years so that first-time home buyers can have better access to capital. He cautions, “Additionally, undue and artificial influences will likely lead to another bubble type scenario. Measured recovery will invite longevity to the cycle.”

OH CANADA Arguably the second most significant event for this industry in the last decade, at least in one part of the country, has been the Canadian corporate buyout of a significant portion of the southern pine lumber industry. “We have seen a lot of mergers and Canadian companies buying a lot of mills in the South,” Beck says. “That has reduced independent operations, which is changing the landscape across the South. The mills that survived (the downturn) were leaner, better operators. Now they have Canadian companies injecting a lot of capital and expanding those operations, getting more volume, so I think there will be continued increase in productivity.” Canfor has been the most aggressive. It got a taste of southern pine operations in pre-recession 2006-2007 when it acquired the New South Companies mills in North and South Carolina and Chesterfield Lumber in Darlington, SC. In 2013 Canfor acquired Scotch Gulf Lumber, which itself had been a merger of

Scotch Lumber and Gulf Lumber in Alabama. Canfor acquired sawmills in Mobile, Jackson and Fulton, Ala. The next year Canfor bought Southern Lumber in Mississippi, then the Beadles Lumber mill in Moultrie, Ga. and Balfour Lumber in Thomasville Ga. in 2015 as well as Anthony Forest Products in El Dorado, Ark. Canfor’s commitment to the South became so deepened that it opened Canfor Southern Pine headquarters in Mobile last year. Many of the independent operations that Canfor purchased continue to be managed by some of their former ownerships. Payne believes that lower raw material prices has attracted Canadian companies to invest so heavily in sawmill operations in the Southeast. “From a domestic competition standpoint, at least these facilities stand on equal ground relative to raw material cost or labor policies and regulations,” he says. “The challenge we have had historically is in the unfair trade practices with Canadian wood coming across the border and unfairly influencing the U.S. market.” Lewis agrees, “The trade agreements bring a leveling of the playing field somewhat, but the management of these needs to be improved.” The previous softwood lumber trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada expired in 2015 and then a one-year grace period expired last year. The agreement was geared to several levels of lumber pricing, but basically as the framing lumber composite price lowered, the export charge on Cana- ➤ 22

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20 ➤ dian lumber increased; or the Canadian interests could choose a lower export charge and a quota based share of U.S. lumber consumption. A large segment of the U.S. softwood lumber industry has for decades alleged that Canadian provincial governments, which own the vast bulk of Canada’s timberlands, provide standing trees to Canadian producers for an administered fee that is far below the market value of the timber, as well as a number of other subsidies; and that Canadian lumber is being sold for less than fair value in the U.S. This has enabled Canadian softwood lumber to eat up close to a third of U.S. lumber consumption. Canada has always countered that the U.S. building industry needs the additional Canadian production, especially in robust times, and that U.S. homebuilders pay the costly consequences of restrictive measures on Canadian lumber in the U.S. market. Petitions and government trade rulings have always been a part of this debate, which has usually resulted in some kind of penalty charge on Canadian lumber related to certain criteria. The U.S. lumber coalition filed another petition in November with the U.S.

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Dept. of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging these subsidies. ITC subsequently found there was a reasonable indication that softwood lumber products from Canada materially injured American producers. The U.S Dept. of Commerce is expected to issue a countervailing duty percentage soon and an anti-dumping duty percentage soon after that. “We are disappointed that we haven’t seen a new softwood lumber agreement,” Beck admits. “That has created uncertainty and volatility in lumber prices for producers and buyers. It makes everyone more cautious and speculative.” In the past, following export or duty charge implementation, the lumber industries in the two countries have carried on, with Canada taking the hit but continuing to reap a significant share of U.S. consumption, while at the same time aggressively creating and pursuing offshore markets to lessen somewhat the sting of the export charges. Of course the likes of Canfor, West Fraser and Interfor name tags over former SYP independent operations alters the overall softwood lumber issue impact, but big SYP independents such as

Rex Lumber and Jordan Lumber remain committed to the family business as does Seneca Sawmill in the Northwest.

TECHNOLOGY Wallace points to new technology as another major impact on the industry in the last 10 years. “Greater efficiencies at sawmills with new technological improvements are allowing higher yield,” he says. Lowered demand for lumber hurt sawmills and, consequently, also those companies that supply technology to mills. Payne notes, “We saw a considerable amount of consolidation in the equipment manufacturer sector, which has caused extended lead times along with the increase in demand for new equipment.” “What we really saw with the downturn was that people weren’t doing upgrades (to sawmills) unless absolutely necessary,” says Joey Nelson, principal at JoeScan. “As soon as they were a little past the ‘are we shutting down tomorrow’ frame of mind, there was a little pick-up on those deferred maintenance projects that needed to happen. The recovery started for us in 2010, but it was slow. Since 2013 it has been pretty

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Too much byproduct is an ongoing concern in the South.

steady and continues to grow for us.” Nelson adds that his company is doing better today than it was before the recession. “We have gained market share,” he notes. “If the recession hadn’t happened we probably would have continued

growing, and would probably be ahead of where we are, but we are well ahead of where we were in 2007.” Going more and more high tech, Nelson believes, is more important than ever for sawmills in 2017. “It’s become neces-

sary, to be able to even play in the game, that you have a high level of technology and scanning,” he is convinced. “The big one we have seen is more scanning for monitoring and quality control applications, and also data sharing between machine centers. That’s something people were just talking about 10 years ago.” For Hancock, the biggest technological changes of the last decade are actually the smaller ones. “Our emphasis has been to put more and better real time information in the hands of our machinery operators, supervisors and sales team,” he says. “So if you were to walk around our facility, what you would see today that you would not have seen 10 years ago is handheld technology and data screens at most every work station. We have tried to put better, real time data in the hands of the people directly engaged in making the product. So the more valuable advancements have been the smaller ones that put more power in the hands of the people on our team.” Payne has had a similar experience. “Computing speeds and the ability of computers to analyze the process in nanoseconds, coupled with optimization and vision technology has provided some

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pretty tremendous advantages in sawmill efficiency. Automatic grading stations have helped reduce labor costs and provide consistency in output.” Automatic graders also rate as highly significant in Beck’s analysis. “The biggest thing we’ve seen is automatic grader systems at the planer, which is now in the vast majority of mills, and it was almost non-existent in 2007,” he says. “The grading technology now is much better than before. The paybacks have been really good, and allowed a lot

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of companies to turn a profit when they might not have otherwise.” Technology advancements continue to emerge across the board really, from mill wide data collection to edge profile sawing to lumber handling to continuous dry kilns.

ON THE GROUND A recent spring meeting of the Southern Forest Products Assn. and Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. re-

vealed an upbeat atmosphere as lumber prices across the board remained very healthy, project activities in the mills seemed in abundance, and mills overall were running hard. Some of them were running so well that production was getting ahead of operations and markets, making some mill managers not all that unhappy when a maintenance issue emerged to slow things down. Another issue to rear its head was excessive byproducts brought on by a combination of full blown production, reduced paper production and because of markets using low cost natural gas to heat kilns. “It’s easier to permit and gas is cheap,” comments Steve Singleton, president of the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau, and for many years a sawmill plant manager and vice president of the New South (and then Canfor) sawmill operations in North Carolina. Singleton adds, “Nobody wants to run a wood waste boiler these days because of boiler MACT. All this is getting worse as sawmill production goes up and consumption of byproducts—bark, chips, sawdust, shavings—is trending down.” Some mills are considering getting a landfill permit. One sawmill in Alabama was packing its dry shavings down on the wood yard. A resurgence of particleboard and MDF production would be nice to open the door wider for wood residues, such as Arauco’s new particleboard plant that is being built in Grayling, Mich., or Kronospan’s expansion of its particleboard operation in Oxford, Ala., or Swiss Krono’s plan to build a new MDF plant in Barnwell, SC. A newer byproducts market has emerged in recent years—large production industrial wood pellet plants. Drax, for example, is expanding production at its plants in Gloster, Miss. and Bastrop, La. by installing a second truck drump and dedicated conveying system for planer mill shavings that will feed into its dry hammermills. Another challenge for the sawmill industry is replacing veteran supervisory personnel who are retiring. David Richbourg, plant manager at HW Culp Lumber in New London, NC, is dealing with several such position changes including one that might mean having to go with two personnel with specific areas of expertise to replace one long-timer who could do it all so to speak. And Richbourg, like many other veteran plant managers who may have their own exit plan a few years down the road, has to keep in the back of his mind who will reTP place him when the time comes.

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AFTER

THE FIRE By Jessica Johnson

Maeder Bros.’ green sawmill burned to the ground in 2014 and within one year was back sawing hardwood.

WEIDMAN, Mich. im Maeder is a third generation hardwood sawmiller in Michigan, and he loves his family business. So on a late April day in 2014, when he walked around his family’s sawmill after a fire earlier that morning burned it completely to the ground, with the oil, saw-

dust and chips doing nothing but acting as an accelerant causing fire crews to be unable to salvage the building, he was understandably speechless. It was a total loss. But then, as he walked the charred remains with a local reporter, he shed a light on what would become a motto of sorts for Maeder Bros. Lumber over the next year. He told the reporter, “We’ve got a yard full of wood to take care of and the show must go on, so we’ll keep going. Just a tough thing to see, everything you’ve worked for laying here smoking, but we will go on.” Exactly one year to the day of that April 22 blaze, Maeder Bros. began sawing hardwood lumber again. There are still a few things to be done, Maeder says, like the build out of a traditional employee break room and more attention to the office, which he says became the dumping ground for everything, but the mill is back up to

sawing at nearly full capacity. Fortunately, Maeder had plans to upgrade one of its existing circle saw headrigs for primary breakdown right before the fire, and had actually purchased a Cleereman from another mill at auction in 2011. During the time of the fire it was at Cleereman receiving a few upgrades for use at Maeder. Already having that one piece of the puzzle helped, Maeder says, because he was basically looking at building an entire green sawmill from nothing but a Morbark 648 debarker (the only piece that was spared as it sits away from the main mill building and is closer to the log yard.)

REBUILD Maeder Bros. knew what they liked, and got creative when it came to sourcing the mill’s equipment. Everything was purchased used, some at

Maeder likes the cut on Brewco 1600 horizontal resaws, making use of two—one older style, one newer. 26

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The Morbark 648 debarker is the only thing that survived the fire in 2014.

auction, some directly from other mills in the surrounding northern states. Maeder says that most everything in the mill is the same as it was, machinery-wise. Primary breakdown is still focused on two circle saw headrigs and two band resaws. The two larger circle saw headrigs run only when larger timber comes through. Maeder says this is all related to kerf. “Kerf on the bands is .052, which is not very big, versus the circles which is 5/16ths; just the nature of the beast in terms of difference,” he elaborates. Because of the logs the mill buys (hardwoods, with varying diameters from 10 in. to as big as 40 in.), the different lines are needed. Maeder says they prefer this setup as they’ve found it to be the most flexible. Circle line one runs the Cleereman; circle line two runs an HMC headrig. The two band resaws at primary breakdown are Brewco machines—one purchased brand new after

Jim Maeder

Large diameter hardwood is broken down using circle saw headrigs.

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Maeder Bros. Lumber is in its third generation of Maeder men at the helm in Weidman.

the fire. Once cants are broken down with a slab taken off each side, they are fed to the same two conveyors, which travel to an HMC resaw and then to an HMC trimmer. Following the fire, all connecting equipment was built in-house. From the trimmer, lumber is carried to one of two Brewco B1600 horizontal resaws. One is the older style, and one is the newer style, both sourced from other mills in the area. Maeder says he absolutely loves these machines because they are very low maintenance, citing manageable saw cost. Each machine runs a 2 in. wide band, and Maeder reports at roughly $50 a band, the mill can typically get 60-80 hours of run time on each. He says they exclusively run TimberWolf bands, purchased from Suffolk Machinery. “You don’t have to spend a million dollars on a filing room. We buy the bands and can sharpen them with some relatively simple equipment,” he says. Edger is a Cornell. Maeder does have a saw filing room, staffed by one filer, who was trained in-house. The room runs Wood-Mizer filing equipment. “We can saw faster and get more accurate lumber with these blades over any other we’ve tried. Suffolk has been great to deal with—if we have a problem, and the majority of the time we have problems with frozen logs, they will walk through what to try (like change the set, change hooking). Normally it is just a different way of dressing the saw to make it cut,” Maeder explains. Maeder Bros. Lumber employs seven operators, four of which have passed NHLA inspection school. Maeder says one focuses on grading exclusively, while the other two operate the bandmills, where primarily all of the lumber is sawn. Product mix is mainly grade hardwood from 4/4 to 10/4, and a variety of pallet cants and timbers for timber mats. “Really, anything anybody wants,” Maeder says, “We do custom cut but not as much as we used to.” Annual production is between 5 and 6MMBF. Main markets for Maeder Bros. include concentration yards as far as North Carolina but mainly in the Lake States region. All dust and chips from the sawmill are car28

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ried over to the company’s pelleting operation, which is used to make wood pellets for the domestic heating market under the brand name Maeder Brothers Pellets.

RISING The mill carries a large log inventory, and because of that, it must stay moving. This was part of the motivation for the rebuild, Maeder says. “We were in a hurry to get back into production mode. The optimum thing to do would have been to purchase all brand new,” he comments. “But at the time the economy was going well, markets were strong and manufacturers were backlogged on new equipment. There was no way possible to get all new.” Instead, Maeder Bros. Lumber just took 12 months to rebuild from the debarker, sourcing machinery the company knew, liked and understood how to operate. Ww Construction out of nearby Mt. Pleasant, Mich. served as Maeder’s construction firm during the rebuilding process. Maeder says the rebuild went without issues. The biggest

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All chips and dust are carried to the company's pelleting facility, Maeder Bros. Pellets.

headache was related to sourcing equipment that would be ready at the same time as the mill was. “It is a family business, my name, our name, is on everything we produce. Quality is a huge factor in what

we do. We may not be the biggest, the parking lot might not be paved, but we produce a quality product with a very long-standing customer base. We work through good times and bad,” Maeder TP emphasizes.

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‘ACCORDING TO PAUL EHINGER’ The late consultant always had his finger on the pulse of the industry. EDITOR’S NOTE: Paul Fisher Northwest forest products industry, Ehinger, who became known for his acEhinger, 67, laughs when asked what excurate compilation of lists of mill cloactly his company, Paul F. Ehinger & sures, but whose career in the wood Associates, does for a living. “Anything products industry as a forester, mill man- legal,” he says with a smile. ager and consultant spanned 70 years, “No, we’re involved in everything from died February 27 in Eugene, Ore. He was A to Z in this business, 93. Ehinger (pronounced except sales,” he exing-er), who had formed his plains. “We deal with the consulting firm, Paul F. business of the business Ehinger & Associates in is the way I like to put it.” 1983, began keeping and Ehinger discloses that distributing detailed lists of his well-known mill sawmill and plywood mill closure and employment closures in the Northwest as reports are only a sidethe industry contracted due line business, albeit a to reduced access to nationtime-consuming pursuit. al forest timber caused by Ehinger’s consulting environmental group lawcompany relies heavily suits, wilderness setasides on his personal knowland protection of the northedge of the industry and Paul Ehinger in 1991 ern spotted owl. National contacts within it. His and regional media regularcompany consists of ly cited Ehinger’s mill closure and emonly three people—Ehinger, a secretary ployment statistics, which served to and one other employee. As projects bring the tragic consolidation of the are tackled, Ehinger works with other Northwest wood products industry clear- groups in joint ventures, or goes out ly into focus during the 1980s and 1990s. and hires whoever and whatever is Ehinger was also nearly always right in needed to get the job done. his observations of how industry was A native Oregonian whose family trending, and he was approached for his moved to Delaware when he was four, insights nearly until his death. Ehinger first tapped into the industry In February 1991, Timber Processing through a University of Michigan Western Editor Dan Shell interviewed forestry professor whose lectures on forEhinger at Ehinger’s Eugene office and est-based management, economics and wrote an article for Expo Daily News, a analyses fired the young student’s interpublication distributed at the Portland est, causing him to change his previously machinery show. More than 25 years chosen wildlife management major. later, we republish an edited version of “Those wildlife management guys it here. were nice,” Ehinger remembers, “but dull with a capital D. They’d put you to s the numerous newspaper articles sleep again right after class started in referring to or quoting “respected the morning.” industry consultant Paul Ehinger” Ehinger finished college in 1946 and will attest, any journalist attempting to took a job with the Forest Service in cover the complexities of the Northwest Kentucky, getting his first exposure to forest products industry in these swiftly sawmills and moonshine in the southern changing times undoubtedly has Paul Appalachians. He worked for the agency Ehinger’s name on his or her list of top in Ohio and Missouri for almost two sources. years, all the while keeping his eye out However, while Ehinger’s much for a job in private industry. chronicled and accurate mill closure talHe was soon offered a forester’s job in lies and industry employment statistics the South, but before he could take it he are the way most journalists and the gen- received another offer from a firm in eral public know him, those within inOregon—at almost twice the salary of dustry know a different man, one whose the first job. “I had a hard time figuring knowledge, opinions and expertise are some things, but I could figure the differsought by many when it comes to decience between $130 and $250 a month sion or risk taking time. real easily,” Ehinger recalls. “Plus, I had Continuing a 44-year career in the always wanted to come back out West.”

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Working almost two years for K.B Wood Forest Engineers in Portland, Ehinger cruised timber, surveyed, performed road layouts and got involved in some of the first aerial mapping performed with timberlands. However, an on-the-job disagreement one day led to Ehinger’s quitting. He didn’t work regularly for almost five months, before Edward Hines Lumber Co. hired him in the spring of 1949. Barring a quick timeout for the Korean War (“I wasn’t smart enough to get out of the Marine Corps Reserves when World War II ended, but I was lucky enough to be in Korea during one of the quiet times of the war,” he says.), Ehinger was to spend the next 31 years with Edward Hines Lumber. Starting as a forester in 1949, Ehinger worked his way up to logging manager and then general manager of Edward Hines’ Westfir woodland operations by 1965, when he moved to the manufacturing side of the business after a promotion to vice president of western operations based in Lane County, Ore. Ehinger says he simply worked his way through the transition from woods to mills (Hines operated sawmills and plywood mills). “Whether you’re a mill man, accountant or forester, all you do is take your expertise, bring it along, have an interest and be willing to adapt,” he believes. “There’s nothing so foreign about the business that it can’t be learned.” Regardless, Ehinger says his responsibility was to manage mills, not know everything about the industry. “I tell people today that I didn’t know all the answers, but I sure as hell over my career had to learn how to find them.” Ehinger must have proved his mettle in finding answers for the company, for in 1973 he was named senior vice president of western operations, a post he held for seven years. He was directly responsible for mills in six states, including responsibility for all activities from timber acquisition and mill works to end product sales. During his career with Hines, Ehinger represented his industry well, serving as president and chairman of the board for the American Plywood Assn. from 1971-73, as vice president of the National Forest Producdts Assn. from 1971-72 and on the board of directors and executive committee of the Western

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Wood Products Assn. throughout the ’60s and ’70s (these are only his highest profile positions among dozens of association affiliations). Ehinger has also been a member of the Society of American Foresters since 1946, a board member of the Oregon Logging Conference since 1958 and a board member of Keep Oregon Green since 1970. Leaving Hines in 1980, Ehinger consulted for a year, then served as executive vice president of the now defunct Western Resource Alliance (WRA) from 1981-83, where he chaired the first coalition to fight, albeit unsuccessfully, for a countervailing duty on Canadian lumber imports. After the WRA was phased out in 1983, Ehinger formed his current company in Eugene.

BUSINESS AT HAND Today, Ehinger bills himself as a problem solver and analyzer of all facets of almost any operation in the solid wood end of the industry. For example, he finds timber cruisers, helps with litigation, settles timber contract disputes, analyzes mill expansions, among other duties. “I do a lot of work in the less tangible parts of the business, although I do get into mill work some,” he says. “Mainly, I’ll take a problem and analyze it broadly, then go get the right people who are able to zero in on specific areas and who may have more expertise in those areas than I do.” Ehinger recounts a recent call he received from an operation in trouble. “It sounded typical of some mills I hear from—the people who had the problem were busy shifting it to someone else. I always get nervous when those in charge start blaming other people because I don’t care if it’s an accountant or whoever ultimately may have caused a problem—if you’re in charge, it’s your responsibility.” No matter the market or timber supply conditions, Ehinger says most of the business problems he sees consist of an owner’s or manager’s inability to manage a business properly. Failure to do the simple things like having good financial controls, good financial information and a clear understanding of an operation’s role and direction within the industry bring many operators to their knees, he says. “One failure many people have—and I’ve been guilty of this myself—is to make their own operation the sole mea-

surement of what’s good and bad in terms of manufacturing or operating,” Ehinger says. “If you do that, you may think nobody else is doing it right, when in reality they may be doing it a whole lot better than you are.” A more devastating problem, he believes, is that some mill owners let their egos take control of their businesses. “For those, I say you better be damn good, because otherwise it’ll kill you.” In these depressing times for the Northwest industry, Ehinger says mill owners need to keep an open mind and keep thinking and looking for new opportunities. “Of the survivors, 95% will be those who are smart, work hard and understand what the hell they are doing.” The Northwest’s timber supply situation, Ehinger says, “is far worse than anybody could’ve dreamed—and it’s only halfway here as far as hitting us fully. The minute the market comes back, and it probably will to an extent later this year, the timber problem is going to be worse and it’s going to have a bigger impact. It’s a Catch-22 situation.” But defining the Northwest industry’s current outlook requires a glance at its past. “To ride the good wave, you don’t have to be too damn smart to win,” Ehinger says, claiming that in the ’70s many operators were successful in spite of themselves, benefitting from inflation, not efficient operations. Especially in buying timber, Ehinger says, “All you had to do was believe in inflation and that took care of everything. No matter what you paid for it, if you could hold it for about three years, it almost always proved to be a good deal.” In the early ’80s markets fell off in both price and volume, but there was plenty of timber still being offered for sale. The biggest hit industry is taking in the current recession, Ehinger says, is that now, especially with public timber, much more cash is required to purchase it. Increased down payments, higher periodic payments and a host of other costs mean that on a given timber sale what a mill owner could’ve bid and held for $100,000 cash in 1980 will now cost as much as $5 million. Making matters worse is that the region’s environmental woes mean almost no timber is being offered for sale. Ehinger points to a recent conversation with a Forest Service official who stated that awarded timber sales in Washington and Oregon this year would be lucky to reach 60% of their allowable level—an allowable level representing a 36% reduction from past harvests. Ehinger doesn’t see a significant

change in the pace of environmental activism against the timber industry in the near future. “There’s no guarantee the spotted owl has to have old-growth or that it will go extinct. Preservationists have got a lot of two plus two equals three conclusions out there. But very few people will look analytically at what preservationists say.” Though many believe it is the large, timber-owning corporations that will come through these hard times in the best shape, Ehinger says the independents’ prospects are just as good—if not better. “If you look at industry’s history in Oregon and Washington, the greatest attrition, in terms of production capacity, has always been with the large corporations,” he says, citing the greatly reduced roles of Georgia-Pacific, Champion International and Crown Zellerbach, for example, and even his old company, Hines Lumber, which completely disappeared. “One, if the financial returns aren’t there, a corporation is quick to cut a mill off. Two, in many companies the managers on the ground don’t have the authority to do the things that are necessary to make the operation successful.” The owner of a solid, small to medium-sized family operation that has its affairs in order is usually more involved day in and out than his counterpart in a large corporation, Ehinger states. However, Ehinger cites Willamette Industries as one large corporation that’s done an outstanding job maintaining competitive conversion facilities, along with Simpson Timber and Roseburg Forest Products. Ehinger confesses that while working for Hines Lumber as an operations manager, any problem with the mills would “really wrench my gut.” While he approaches his current role as a consultant with the same intensity he had as a manager, he’s relieved to find the gutwrenching is now gone. A resident of Oregon’s timber-rich Lane County since 1949, Ehinger has a wife, two sons and a daughter (another daughter recently passed away with leukemia). In his spare time, Ehinger says he plays golf poorly and collects old books and postcards about the industry as well as Paul Bunyan memorabilia. “I just enjoy life,” Ehinger says. “The secret is you have to enjoy working along the way.” Many people in the forest products industry have made their own careers more enjoyable thanks to Paul Ehinger’s TP knowledge. TIMBER PROCESSING

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COLLABORATION WANT TO BE INVOLVED? HERE’S HOW YOU CAN

By Russ Vaagen

s a “timber processor” should you engage in forest collaboration? And if you should, why? As someone who has been engaged in forest collaboration for more than 15 years, my answer should be self-evident. I think we need to be engaged as individual companies and as a forest industry. I understand that is easy for me to say, but how does that help someone who hasn’t been involved and doesn’t know where to start? The first step I would take is to identify the most local collaborative group that you know of. If there is one near you, either plan to attend and listen in or identify the appropriate person in your organization to attend on your behalf and report back. If you think to yourself, “We don’t get our logs from federal sources,” or “Our business doesn’t depend on this stuff,” consider yourself fortunate. I would ven-

ture to guess that many people reading this have something to do with supplying logs to a facility producing a valueadded forest product. In that case, you may choose to read on even if this isn’t 100% in your wheelhouse. Why should we collaborate? Collaboration has a bad name in some circles, but this certainly isn’t a process of working with the enemy to destroy your own side. Trust me, plenty of people have brought this to the attention of collaborative groups. I look at collaboration as a public input and comment funnel. Getting individuals and groups together to identify common concerns, interests and the like allows us to create more specific direction to the Forest Service. When we started all this, each group came to the collaborative meetings with their company or organizational positions. We had to go through the process of setting our positions aside to get to our foundational interests. Let me provide an example. A timber company representative comes to the meeting with the positions of wanting more harvest volume and having a “no new wilderness” position. A member of a conservation group shows up touting their position of a new wilderness area they want protected and used to be known as a “zero-cut group.” A motorized recreation group representative says that their position is open access to federal lands as well as favoring a “no new wilderness” position. From the start this looks like a disaster, doesn’t it? If these groups stand their ground and stick to their positions there is no room for agreement, let alone compromise or consensus. However, if you take each group and distil the interests down to their basic level you will find that all share

common interests. The timber company has an interest in creating healthy forests that live on for future generations. That is shared by conservation and recreation. The conservation group believes there should be land that should stay wild and protected. This doesn’t go against the interests of timber or recreation as there should be plenty of areas to protect, manage and recreate. The recreation group wants designated access to enjoy recreation where and when appropriate. Depending on the area, this can easily be in concert with the interests of all the parties. Now we have the foundation to have good conversations about what can and should go on within the forest. The natural tendency is to think about the area your group knows and cares about the most. When a timber company talks about management, the conservation group thinks about the land they want protected. This automatically starts conflict. As a forest industry (in the West specifically) we know the best and most cost-effective timber is typically located somewhere between the low lands and the base of the high country. The areas that are typically recognized for wilderness or other protection are in the high country or areas where we haven’t built extensive road systems. The areas of most cost-effective management have the least conflict and the most potential for common ground. If you do not want to engage, but you still want to know what’s going on with collaborative groups in your area, you should consider an alternative. Find a consulting forester or someone who has the time and interest to participate in the group. Set up a consulting agreement

The areas of most cost-effective management have the least conflict and the most potential for common ground.

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COLLABORATION where they can attend the meetings on your behalf. Ask them to bring back a report so you can understand what is being talked about. You can even provide input through this independent agent that the group can use to create more consensus. This gets you into the process without spending all your time in meetings. You need to be transparent about your company’s involvement. Have your agent make it clear that your company has an interest in learning about the process, and with more knowledge and understanding you may become more involved and supportive of the process. Two organizations in the West that are very good are Sustainable Northwest and the National Forest Foundation. SNW is based in Portland, Ore. and supports collaborative groups throughout Washington, Oregon and other parts of the Northwest. NFF is based in Missoula, Mont. and supports collaborative groups in the Intermountain West. If you are just getting started and want to know more, both groups are a wealth of knowledge and experience. They can certainly help focus your efforts in the right direction. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a board member and supporter of Sustainable Northwest, but get no compensation from either group. American Forest Resource Council is the western forest industry association that Vaagen Bros. Lumber is an active member of. AFRC has taken an active role in collaboration in the West and is also a great resource. As an industry, we need active participation in federal land management through collaboration. The alternative is the Forest Service system of collecting comments from as many organizations and businesses as possible as a method to drive decision making. Comments are

riddled with positions that result in the agency doing far less than it should. Using collaboration as a funnel for comments that can create clear direction to federal land managers will help create better projects and result in more logs available for our facilities. Visit Resources: Sustainable Northwest – www.sustainablenorthwest.org; National Forest Foundation – www.na-

tionalforests.org; American Forest Resource Council – www.amforest.org.

Russ Vaagen is a third generation sawmiller with his family’s company, Vaagen Bros. Lumber, in Colville, Wash. He is also the founder of www.theforestblog.com that specializes in topics focused on collaboration and the state of forests and industry. E-mail him at: rvaagen@ vaagenbros.com

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MANAGING CHIPPING HEADS Professional tips on getting the most value out of your chip heads.

atching chipping heads at work is flat out cool. It is mesmerizing watching log after log buzz through a canter at blazing speeds. The heads are relatively small compared to the machinery, but they have an enormous impact on mill productivity, product value, and ultimately the bottom line. Here are a few pro tips mills can put into action immediately to ensure they extract the most value from their chipping heads. l Establish a preventative maintenance program. Checking chipping heads for impact damage, cracks, excessive wear and packing during knife changes is ideal, but time may be limited. Be proactive and schedule time weekly, monthly and quarterly to evaluate components. Staying on top of PM will significantly reduce the risk of unscheduled downtime and ensure the heads perform to spec. Check with your chipping head supplier; chances are they already have a formal PM program with supporting documents that you can have for free. l During a scheduled PM service make sure to also check chipping head settings. Critical settings such as knife extension, knife run-out, and anvil clearance must be checked frequently to ensure the chipping heads are set up to yield the best possible board finish and chip quality. l Additional opportunities to increase the value of your chipping heads include reducing consumable costs. Make sure to explore the option of rehoning your used knives. Often times reversible/disposable knives can be rehoned one to three times. Knife honers can be purchased for under $3000, and a set of knives can be rehoned in a few minutes—a rather small investment when considering the potential of cutting your knife cost in half. l To extend the operating life of your clamps and counterknives, you may be able to rotate the parts that are close to “end of operating life” out of the primary cut zone to an outside zone of the chipping head where the wear rate is much slower due to reduced contact with wood. l Another area of opportunity to reduce costs that is often overlooked is spare parts stock. Team up with your supplier to evaluate parts consumption and establish a scheduled deliveries pro38

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Key Knife High Yield 2 indexable knife chipping system

Key Knife Pro-Honer II rehoner

gram. The benefits include having a balanced quantity of spare parts on the shelf and reduced transaction costs. Industry leading suppliers, such as Key Knife, Andritz-Iggesund, and Lindsay Forest Products, have a wealth of information and free tools that can aid in your efforts to maximize performance and minimize operating costs. It is also worth mentioning Key Knife has created a library of training videos on basic chipping head maintenance that you may find helpful. You can access the library of videos at www.keyknife.com; click on TP the resources page.

Key Knife High Recovery Solid Head

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MACHINERYROW Baxley-LogPro Form Timber Automation, LLC Baxley Equipment Co., LLC and Price LogPro, LLC (Baxley-LogPro) announced the formation of Timber Automation, LLC. Subsequently Timber Automation announced the launch of Timber Automation Construction, a provider of complete end-to-end solutions. Timber Automation will provide Baxley Equipment and LogPro products alongside turnkey solutions. John Steck has been named President of Timber Automation. Steck rose through the ranks by exceeding expectations at Danaher Corp. He received his education at University of Virginia, first with a BS in engineering and later, at the Darden School, where he earned his MBA. “John has the full support of an incredibly strong organization. Founding partners Chris Raybon, Russell Kennedy, Pat Conry and Jim Krauss will remain committed and active in operations,” according to a company statement. “With our combined resources, our increased inve-

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stments in engineering, technology, quality and production, we will continue to exceed our customer expectations.”

Mid-South Engineering Adds Office In Maine Mid-South Engineering Co., an Arkansas-based, full service consulting engineering firm, has oppened its fourth office, this one in Orono, Maine. The new office, led by Walter Goodine, Director of Operations, allows Mid-South to better respond to its clients’ engineering needs in New England and the Maritime Provinces. Orono, the home of the University of Maine, is just north of Bangor. “The addition of this location supports our firm’s commitment to build on the success we have seen in the New England area,” states Mid-South President Jeff Stephens. “The new office location is convenient to the building products, paper and bioenergy markets we serve and provides ready access to the professional talent to grow our staff.”

Precision Husky Adds Three Dealerships Precision Husky Corp. has added several dealers to its network. Machinery Sales Co. in Portland, Ore. will be promoting the Precision line of sawmill equipment in the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and in northern California. It’s located at 9802 N. Vancouver Way, Portland, OR, 97217, 503-285-6691. Rob’s Hydraulics has been serving eastern North Carolina since 1997 with a variety of services both in shop and on site for heavy equipment. The RHI sales staff will be promoting Precision sawmill equipment throughout the state, as well as tub grinders, whole tree chippers and Husky knuckleboom loaders. Rob’s Hydraulics Inc. has two locations: 7765 Pitt Street, Grimesland, NC 27837, 252-7521500; and 7868 US Hwy. 70, Clayton, NC 27520, 919-243-0631. Albright Saw Co. in Bloomingville, Ohio will be covering Ohio and West Virginia for the Precision line of sawmill equipment. Jerry Albright has more than 40 years of experience in the sawmill

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MACHINERYROW equipment industry and carries southern Ohio’s largest inventory of sawmill supplies. Phone: 740-887-3799; e-mail: Albright@bright.net.

Heicor Promotes New HDE Dry Kilns Heicor Enterprises, LLC introduces a new generation of kilns under the brand name HDE Dry Kilns to the North

American market. HDE Kilns will supply units from 500BF to more than 170MBF in track or package loaded configurations. Container kilns as well as pallet and firewood heat treating kilns are also available. Heat sources include steam, hot water, thermal oil and indirect fired gas. Kiln chambers, fans and fan shrouds are produced by the Harbin Halei Drying Equipment Co. The kiln controls will be

supplied exclusively by Lignomat USA. Uli Heimerdinger, President of Lignomat USA LTD., says, “HDE Dry Kilns is the result of shared German and U.S. kiln design technology paired with this proven and reliable manufacturing company.” Harbin Halei Drying Equipment Co. has produced more than 5,000 kilns for operations in more than 20 countries and four continents since 1985. Sales and marketing for HDE Dry Kilns will be provided by Heicor Enterprises LLC, in Portland Ore. Heicor is owned and managed by Glen Heiner and Kevin Corder, who have more than 50 years of experience in sales, service, marketing and management in the wood processing equipment industry. Heicor Enterprises also represents MILL Industrial sawmill equipment and Reignmac industrial woodworking machinery. Contact Heicor Enterprises at 971271-8070 or e-mail info@heicor.com.

Chipping Head Boosts Feed Rates Key Knife’s high performing customer base is the driving force behind its latest product evolution, HY2 SPIRAL. The new chipping solution was developed to aid mills in their effort to increase canter feed rates to unprecedented levels, some in excess of 900 FPM. HY2 SPIRAL heads utilize a spiral knife configuration that produces a smooth cutting action, especially prominent in large depths of cuts. In addition, the SPIRAL configuration utilizes a shared high capacity gullet design that is critical when removing material at high rates. Visit keyknife.com.

LMI Announces VP Of Sales LMI Technologies has appointed Len Chamberlain vice president of sales. Chamberlain has been with LMI for the three years and has been instrumental in the growth of its global sales team. He has more than a decade of experience working in senior roles in the 3D machine vision industry. 42

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ATLARGE Grading Agencies Join Forces Effective January 1 the Northern Softwood Lumber Bureau (NSLB) has merged into the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. (NELMA). The NELMA name will remain in place to represent mills and associate members located in both regions. The merger marks the first time two grade rules writing agencies have merged in North America leaving a total of six grade rules writing agencies overall. Grade rules and species specific to NSLB’s Grade Book were approved by the ALSC Board of Review to be incorporated within NELMA’s Standard Grading Rules as a new supplement until a new book is reprinted at a future date. “We are very excited to join forces with the Northern Softwood Lumber Bureau and welcome their members into NELMA,” says Jeff Easterling, president of NELMA. “To address specific needs of our new members, a Red Pine Subcommittee will be added to the NELMA structure.” NELMA has provided inspection services for the NSLB since 1985. NELMA’s region now includes mills in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. NSLB members produce approximately half a billion board feet of lumber production, with red pine the dominant species of the Great Lakes states region.

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“With the expanded geographic footprint provided by this merger, the influence of the wood industry on key issues is expanded and deepened, which will benefit the industry as a whole,” Easterling adds. Total shipments from NELMA’s lumber manufacturers exceeded 900MMBF in 2015, the largest volume reported since 2006, and had surpassed that by 2.5% through three quarters of 2016.

Manufacturing Institute Recognizes Monroe Manufacturing Institute announced Natalie Martin Monroe, RoyOMartin’s corporate environmental manager, as a recipient of the Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Ahead Award. STEP Ahead honors women nationally who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and represent all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory floor to the C-suite. “As an environmental engineer, Natalie has been a vital part of RoyOMartin’s operations since 2003,” states RoyOMartin President, CEO, and CFO Roy O. Martin III. “She serves as liaison between our manufacturing facilities and governmental oversight agencies to ensure that our business practices not only efficiently meet, but exceed environmental requirements. Natalie is also very in-

volved in our charitable gifting programs and university scholarship program for our employees’ children.”

Carolina Structures Plans Manufacturing Plant Carolina Structural Systems will open a manufacturing plant in Star, Montgomery County, NC that will employ 71. The maker of wooden building trusses will invest $1.3 million over the next three years. Founded in 2016, Carolina Structural Systems designs, manufactures and sells customized wood-based building materials to the residential and light-commercial construction markets. The company’s Montgomery County location provides ample access to suppliers as well as convenience to growing residential markets across the Carolinas. ‘Workers make the difference in our business and a big reason we chose North Carolina is the availability of a skilled and productive workforce,’ says Carolina Structural Systems President Ricky Dyson. Carolina Structural Systems’ expan-

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ATLARGE sion in North Carolina was made possible in part by a performance-based grant of up to $200,000 from the One North Carolina Fund.

Dates Announced For Lumber Workshops The 36th Annual Lumber Quality & Process Control Workshop will be held May 8-9 in Atlanta, Ga. followed by the 31th Annual Lumber Quality Leadership Workshop on May 10-11. The Lumber Quality & Process Control Workshop is a must for sawmills seeking to maximize board foot and grade recovery. This workshop, with newly added material, provides practical information and up-to-date techniques that will help sawmill personnel to ensure that production and quality control is in balance so that both quality and production increase; recognize and eliminate costly mistakes that rob a company of its maximum profitability; fine-tune or improve an existing quality and process control program to increase its effectiveness; reduce moisture content variability

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and drying defects in the lumber drying process; maintain an effective lumber size control program; learn about realtime lumber size control in use in mills today; learn how changes in kerf, target size, price, wane allowance, etc., interact to influence profitability. This workshop is designed for first line supervisors, graders, QC personnel, maintenance and filing supervisors. The Annual Lumber Quality Leadership Workshop focuses on leadership in quality control and management. Attendees will have the opportunity to go beyond the basics and focus on concepts and ideas that will propel QC programs to the next level. There are several key activities that must be accomplished for a lumber QC program to be successful: managing the quality function, statistical process control, involving employees in problem solving, using effective leadership skills, and finding long-term solutions to problems. Attendees will have an opportunity to work with these topics and others in a small group environment. This program is designed for man-

agers, superintendents, QC personnel and first-line supervisors. Contact Lumber Quality Institute, 3575 NW Roosevelt Dr., Corvallis, OR 97330; phone 541-752-2751; e-mail: assistance@lumberquality.com.; visit lumberquality.com.

Hatton-Brown Partners With Ligna Summit Hall 26 will once again be home to the Wood Industry Summit during Ligna 2017 in Hannover, Germany and Hatton-Brown Publishers is once again an official partner of the event. HattonBrown Publishers is affiliated with Timber Processing, Panel World and Wood Bioenergy magazines. The Summit made a very successful debut in 2015, with international customers achieving an investment volume of some €30 million. The Summit is divided into three areas: an exhibition, a forum and a matchmaking hub. Every day from Tuesday, May 23, to Friday, May 26, the forum of the Wood Industry Summit will

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ATLARGE highlight a topic of current international interest in the industry, with experts from Germany, Austria, Canada, Russia, Sweden and Spain giving presentations and fielding questions from the audience. The main themes at the Wood Industry Summit 2017 include: Tuesday, May 23: Forestry 4.0: Vision or Future? Wednesday, May 24: Development and Infrastructure to Ensure Sustainable Forestry Thursday, May 25: Forest Fires – Prevention, Detection and Firefighting Friday, May 26: Fleet Management to Optimize the Logistics Chain from the Forest to the Factory Exhibition stands located next to the forum will provide an ideal networking environment for exhibitors and visitors. Forum participation is free of charge for visitors and delegations, and advance registration is not required. Ligna will be held May 22-26 at the Hannover Exhibition Grounds. It’s organized by Deutsche Messe AG and German Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers’ Assn.

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Softwood Lumber Board Members Named Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has appointed six members to the Softwood Lumber Board to serve three-year terms of office beginning in 2017. Newly appointed manufacturer Furman Brodie, Florence, SC, and reappointed manufacturer Danny White, Brewton, Ala., represent the U.S. South. Reappointed manufacturer Charles Roady, Bonners Ferry, Idaho, represents the U.S. West and reappointed manufacturer Alden Robbins, Searsmont, Maine, represents the Northeast and Lake States. Reappointed importers are Don Kayne, BC, Canada, representing Canada West; and Francisco Figueroa, Santiago, Chile, representing all other importing countries. Board members selected by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture administer the program. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight of the Softwood Lumber Board in accordance with the Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act of 1996

and the Softwood Lumber Research, Promotion, Consumer Education and Industry Information Order.

UFP Announces Two Acquisitions Universal Forest Products, Inc. announced that one of its affiliates has closed on the purchase of certain assets of Quality Hardwood Sales, LLC, a Nappanee, Ind.-based manufacturer and supplier of hardwood products. This is Universal’s first operation devoted to hardwood products and will expand the Universal portfolio while providing Quality Hardwood with additional markets for its products and the opportunity to grow its customer base and product offering. The current management team will remain with the company. Universal Forest Products also announced that one of its affiliates closed on the purchase of a previously announced acquisition, Robbins Manufacturing Co., a Tampa, Fla.-based manufacturer of treated wood products with facilities in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

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geo@TopWoodJobs.com www.TopWoodJobs.com (360) 263-3371

3779

Specializing in confidential career opportunities in the Forest Products industry 2200

Toll Free 1-800-536-3884 www.johngandee.com Austin, Texas

Dennis Krueger 866-771-5040

1615

Recruiting Services

Management Recruiters of Houston Northeast 3220

Gates Copeland 281-359-7940 • fax 866-253-7032

gcopeland@mrihouston.com • www.mrihouston.com

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER JoeScan is seeking a sawmill-savvy Business Development Manager to take us to the next level! Learn more at www.joescan.com/careers 4918

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• Rails straightened & ground in-place at a fraction of the cost of rail replacement • No down time for the mill • Restores carriage rails to optimum sawing efficiency

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WOOD PRODUCTS marketplace NORTH AMERICA

■ Minnesota

■ Tennessee

■ United States

STACKING STICKS

FOR SALE

■ Georgia

AIR-O-FLOW profiled & FLAT sticks available Imported & Domestic

Beasley Forest Products, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Hazlehurst, GA 31539 beasleyforestproducts.com

DHM Company - Troy, TN 38260 731-538-2722 Fax: 707-982-7689 email: kelvin@kilnsticks.com www.KILNSTICKS.com

Manufactures Kiln-Dried 4/4 Red and White Oak, Poplar, Ash and Cypress Contact: Linwood Truitt Phone (912) 253-9000 / Fax: (912) 375-9541 linwood.truitt@beasleyforestproducts.com

Pallet components, X-ties, Timbers and Crane Mats Contact: Ray Turner Phone (912) 253-9001 / Fax: (912) 375-9541 ray.turner@beasleyforestproducts.com

■ North Carolina Cook Brothers Lumber Co., Inc.

■ Indiana Manufacturer of Appalachian Hardwood Lumber LEONARD COOK, Sales (828) 524-4857 • cell: (828) 342-0997 residential: (828) 369-7740 P.O. Box 699 • Frankin, NC 28744 NATIONAL HARDWOOD LUMBER ASSOCIATION

Next closing: July 6, 2017 ■ Kentucky HAROLD WHITE LUMBER, INC. MANUFACTURER OF FINE APPALACHIAN HARDWOODS

(606) 784-7573 • Fax: (606) 784-2624 www.haroldwhitelumber.com

Ray White

Domestic & Export Sales rwhite@haroldwhitelumber.com

Green & Kiln Dried, On-Site Export Prep & Loading Complete millworks facility, molding, milling & fingerjoint line

Buyers & Wholesalers We produce quality 4/4 - 8/4 Appalachian hardwoods • Red Oak, White Oak, Poplar •

Green Lumber: Air Dried, Kiln Dried Timbers & Crossties • Hickory, Sycamore, Beech, Gum & Elm • Custom Cut Timbers: Long lengths and wide widths

WANT TO GET YOUR AD IN OUR NEXT MARKETPLACE? Call or email Melissa McKenzie 334-834-1170 melissa@hattonbrown.com

Sales/Service: 336-746-5419

336-746-6177 (Fax) • www.kepleyfrank.com

02/17

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MAINEVENTS APRIL

APRIL 2018

4-6—Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org.

11-12—Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo, Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 334-834-1170; visit bioenergyshow.com.

9-11—American Wood Protection Assn. annual meeting, Encore at Wynn, Las Vegas, Nev. Call 205-733-4077; visit awpa.com.

13-14—Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE), Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 334-834-1170; visit pelice-expo.com.

18-20—American Forest Resource Council annual meeting, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, Wash. Call 503-222-9505; visit amforest.org.

MAY 5-6—Southeastern Saw Filers Educational Assn. annual meeting, Greensboro, NC. Call 803-243-6677; visit southernsawfilers.org. 19-20—Northeastern Forest Products Equipment Expo, Cross Insurance Center, Bangor, Maine. Call 315-369-3078; visit northernlogger.com. 22-26—Ligna: World Fair For The Forestry And Wood Industries, Hannover, Germany. Call +49 511 89-0; fax +49 511 8932626; visit ligna.de.

JUNE 14-16—Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Expo, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpaexpo.com.

JULY 19-22—AWFS Fair 2015, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV. Visit awfsfair.org. 23-25—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Summer Conference, Inn on Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC. Call 336-8858315; visit www.appalachianwood.org. 26-29—2017 Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. annual meeting, Omni-The Homstead, Red Oak, Va. Call 770-6316701; visit slma.org.

SEPTEMBER 15-16—Kentucky Wood Expo, Masterson Station Park, Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org.

OCTOBER 25-27—National Hardwood Lumber Assn. Annual Convention & Exhibit Showcase, Omni Hotel, Nashville, Tenn. Call 901377-1818; visit nhla.com.

NOVEMBER 1-3—South Carolina Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Hyatt Regency, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, SC. Call 803-798-4170; visit scforestry.org. 54 ■ APRIL 2017

■ TIMBER

SEPTEMBER 2018 17-19—Timber Processing & Energy Expo, Portland Expo Center, Portland, Ore. Call 334-834-1170; visit timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com. Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

●

This issue of Timber Processing is brought to you in part by the following companies, which will gladly supply additional information about their products. ADVERTISER ACS Valves Andritz Iggesund Tools BM&M Baxley Equipment Bruks Rockwood Cone Omega Corley Manufacturing Esterer Wd GmbH Expo 2017 Gilbert Products Grasche USA Heavy Machines Holtec USA James G Murphy Key Knife Linck Linden Fabricating Lonza Wood Protection Lucidyne Technologies Mebor Metal Detectors Mid-South Engineering Muhlbock Holztrocknungsanlagen Nelson Bros Engineering Oleson Saw Technology Pipers Saw Shop Samuel Packaging Systems Group Sennebogen Sering Sawmill Machinery Smith Sawmill Service Southeastern Saw Filers Edu. Assn. Springer Maschinenfabrik Sweed Machinery Team Safe Trucking Telco Sensors U S Blades U S Metal Works Union Grove Saw & Knife USNR/Soderhamn Vollmer of America Woltz & Associates Woodtech Measurement Solutions

PG.NO. 42 2 39 56 55 44 10 39 28 31 24 29 3 32,33 25 47 40,48 21 7 51 23 50 30 22 41 46 14,37 15 46 43 40 45 16 49 11 48 16 8 9 17 44 50

PH.NO. 905.765.2004 813.855.6902 800.663.0323 800.286.7803 770.849.0100 229.228.9213 423.698.0284 +49 86 71 5 03 0 504.443.4464 418.275.5041 800.472.7243 901.260.2208 800.346.5832 800.426.3008 877.403.2001 936 676 4958 250.561.1181 678.627.2000 541.753.5111 +386 4 510 3200 541.345.7454 501.321.2276 +43 7753 2296 0 888.623.2882 800.256.8259 800.845.6075 800.667.1264 704.347.4910 360.687.2667 800.598.6344 803.243.6677 +43 4268 2581 0 800.888.1352 910.733.3300 800.253.0111 800.862.4544 800.523.5287 704.539.4442 800.289.8767 412.278.0655 800.551.3588 503.720.2361

ADLINK is a free service for advertisers and readers. The publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.

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