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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 43 • Number 4 • May 2018 Founded in 1976 • Our 443rd 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
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NEWSFEED
CLT Shows Up In Atlanta
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STANFILL HARDWOOD LBR
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TWO RIVERS LUMBER
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PLANER MILL TECHNOLOGY
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FRERES LUMBER
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SECOND LOOK
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MAIN EVENTS
Sawing Tennessee Hardwoods
Logger, Trucker Come Together
Technology Comes Of Age In Dry End
Traditional Producer Goes Unconventional Louisiana’s Almond Brothers
TP&EE Portland, October 17-19
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: Tennessee’s Stanfill Hardwood Lumber starts up a Corley linebar resaw system to enhance production and efficiency. Story begins on PAGE 18. (Jay Donnell 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 58 Aldea de las Cuevas, Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain Tel: +34 96 640 4165 • + 34 96 640 4048 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 ® 2018. 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
CLT MOVEMENT SPREADS TO EASTERN HALF OF U.S. 18
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s written up on page six of this issue, the recent Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo in Atlanta included in its extensive agenda several talks on mass timber construction, including one on cross-laminated timber, another on mass plywood panel and another on adhesives used for such products. Much has been written about the two existing CLT production plants in the Northwest, and the mass plywood panel plant that recently started up in Oregon (see page 50), but representatives with IB X-LAM gave excellent talks in Atlanta on the development of a southern yellow pine CLT and glulam facility in Dothan, Ala. In fact, the equipment is shipping in as we speak and startup should happen in the fall. In other words, CLT comes to the South. The operation is looking to procure kiln dried southern pine lumber from facilities willing to dry it down below the normal construction lumber moisture content— down to the 12% range. Any takers? And CLT is coming to the Northeast, too. As the conference was going on, word came in that SmartLam, the first U.S. manufacturer of CLT at its plant in Montana, is expanding its operations to the East Coast where it plans to open a manufacturing facility in Maine. SmartLam received $3 million from The Maine Technology Institute to assist with this expansion. The total cost of the project will be $23.5 million. Site selection for the facility is in process. The decision to expand to the East Coast comes just several months after the company announced its plan to open another facility in Columbia Falls, Mont. Then we heard yet another announcement of more CLT coming to Maine. LignaCLT Maine announced it will open a CLT and glulam facility at the Millinocket mill site owned by Our Katahdin. This will encompass a facility comprising up to 300,000 sq. ft. on a 35-acre parcel. It’s expected to be operational within 12 months. The news comes 10 years after the announcement to permanently close the Millinocket paper mill. Our Katahdin, an organization focused on community and economic development in the region, had purchased the Millinocket mill site in January 2017. And don’t think new mass timber production plant announcements are exclusive to the U.S. these days. Hello Australia. Hermal Group is building a $190 million hardwood sawmill and hardwood CLT complex in Burnie in northwest Tasmania, Australia. It will be called Tasmanian Amalgamated Renewable Timbers. The Hermal Group is a private family group run by the Goldschlager family in Melbourne, Australia. For three years the Hermal Group has invested in research and development on developing methods to use plantation hardwood timbers, specifically the species eucalyptus nitens, as a kiln dried lumber in value-added products manufacturing such as CLT. E.Nitens is a predominant plantation species in Tasmania due to it being able to attain a higher fiber content in a short period of time. Currently there is a substantial amount of holdings across the state of 15-to-25-year-old plantation timbers. It will be interesting to see how CLT and mass timber moves forward, and if it does so in volume, what will be the impact on traditional lumber manufacTP turer markets? Contact Rich Donnell, ph: 334-834-1170; fax 334-834-4525; e-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com TIMBER PROCESSING
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NEWSFEED
ATLANTA EVENT HITS ON CLT MOVEMENT By Dan Shell
Key to the effort is gaining support from local building and fire code officials and making sure they understand mass timber construction is completely different than traditional stick frame homebuilding. “We really need to differentiate mass timber as being different,” Glowinski said, adding that the best mass timber prospects are in commercial and institutional building, not homebuilding.
ATLANTA, Ga. umbermen across North America are interested in the potential for cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturers to develop into a new set of customers and markets, and recent presentations in Atlanta show how CLT products and mass timber and beam building techniques have the potential to create real growth for Presentation showed comparison between CLT, traditional building techniques. the forest products industry in markets that wood prod- in buildings up to 12 stories He pointed to the five-year ucts have never penetrated. high would make wood avail- “Tall Wood Project” led by CLT SYP PLANT The presentations were part able for more than 90% of all the AWC, Softwood Lumber of the Panel & Engineered PELICE also included mass construction. Board and U.S. Endowment Lumber International ConferGaining code acceptance for Forestry and Communities timber presentations from ence & Expo (PELICE) April for mass timber products for Steve Lieberman, senior prodthat initially aimed to have at 13-14 held at the Omni Hotel uct engineer, and Karl Aicher, such building heights would least 12 story mass timber at CNN Center. operations manager, both with open up between three and buildings allowed by code by International Beam X-Lam, Bob Glowinski, President five billion BF annually in 2021. which is currently building a and CEO of the American new market opportunities, However, during initial Wood Council (AWC), deGlowinski said. talks with regulators, CLT ad- CLT plant in Dothan, Ala. that’s scheduled to start up tailed ongoing efforts to gain AWC is aiming for the vocates proposed up to 18 later this year—the world’s more recognition and ap2021 update edition of the stories to see how officials first southern yellow pine CLT proval for CLT and other U.S. Building Code to see would react and the objecoperation. mass timber products and mass timber products and tions they might have—and building techniques in U.S. construction types fully incor- regulators surprisingly agreed building codes. porated and approved for to work with it. “So now Currently, builders can use buildings up to 18 stories. we’re going for 18 (stories) wood for buildings up to six Right now, any buildings by ’21 instead of 12,” stories, Glowinski said. And higher than six stories means Glowinski said. while that covers most U.S. special permitting and higher Code work includes workbuildings, being able to use lead times for CLT projects in ing with the International primarily wood construction the U.S., Glowinski added. Building Council that develops model U.S. building codes that have been adopted to varying degrees in all 50 states. The codes are revised every three years, including Lieberman detailed CLT benefits. 2018 and 2021. Gaining acceptance means Lieberman noted the CLT preparing a technical case for plant is the company’s first, CLT products that includes as it already produces pre-fab all structural and fire testing I-joists, LVL and glulam. IB and working with state and X-Lam has also fostered an local building and fire code advisory partnership with exofficials. This includes satisperienced European CLT profying the requirements of up to 8,000 jurisdictions or agen- ducer KLH to smooth the company’s growth curve cies, 350 code chapters and through the project. potentially 21,000 officials Glowinski told about recent mass timber tall building advocacy effort. Lieberman debunked five across the country.
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NEWSFEED CLT myths one by one, then noted how the product not only performs just as good as concrete or steel in tall structures but also greatly reduces labor and associated construction costs. Fast assembly is a main benefit of CLT, Lieberman said, noting that panel construction allows JIT delivery to the job site, with panel application and assembly sequence determined in a planning phase. Panels are delivered, lifted by crane and set immediately. This requires less storage on the job site and means a smaller footprint. Using platform construction, once a floor is finished, electricians and others can move right in, reducing overall construction time. Mass timber construction is also quiet: no constant hammering and no saws. Lieberman noted that outputs of up to 8,000 sq. ft./day
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can be achieved with a two- to eight-person crew and one or two crane operators. He showed a comparison of a CLT-constructed Candlewood Suites four-story motel at Redstone Arsenal in north Alabama, detailing the CLT costs vs. traditional building processes. The project required 44% fewer man-hours than traditional stick-frame construction, had a 75% faster structural production rate and overall 37% shorter structural duration than traditional. As an added bonus for the lumber industry, the CLT building used 14% more wood than a traditional building style would have used. Lieberman noted that XLam USA will be producing panels up to 10x52 ft. and up to 12 in. thick, in up to nine layers of lumber in lengths of 8 and 16 ft., from .8 to 3 in. thick, and from 3.35 in. to 12 in. wide.
The plant will make a floorless than 100 miles to I-85 ceiling panel with longitudinal and I-65 in Montgomery. Actop layer and a wall panel with cess to ports in Mobile and top transverse layer. Panel apJacksonville is good, and pearance will be available in an more than 75% of the U.S. aesthetic grade, industrial population is within a twograde and hidden grade. day haul of the facility. X-Lam USA’s The building is Aicher noted the 227,000 sq. ft., plant will produce plus a main office up to 100,000 m3 of and plant office on CLT annually, and 36 acres. The inalso include a gluterior of the buildlam operation. ing features extenHe added that the sive width beDothan site was tween pillars to chosen because Alamake handling 52 bama is a business- Aicher: site fit plan. ft. panels feasible, and timber-friendly and the layout and state, and the physical facilidesign leave room for a second ty—a former, spacious GE CLT line in the future if needelectric motor plant—is ideal ed, Aicher said. for the handling needs of CLT Sales and marketing are done out of IB X-Lam’s Saraand future expansion. sota, Fla. office, and the comThe location includes rail access, direct access to three pany already has distribution major federal highways, plus agreements in 30 states and TP less than 30 miles to I-10 and four Canadian provinces.
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NEWSFEED
TP&EE IN PORTLAND IS GEARING UP
“C
ontrary to popular belief, there is still a lumber industry in the Northwest,” comments Rich Donnell, Show Director of the upcoming Timber Processing & Energy Expo (TP&EE) to be held October 17-19 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore. “Given all the announcements about new sawmills to be built in the Southern U.S., you’d think the Northwest lumber industry has become extinct,” Donnell says somewhat tongue-in-cheek. “But if you’ve looked at Northwest lumber prices in the past year, soaring to alltime record highs, and the extremely high pace of lumber production in the region, well, the only thing that’s going ex-
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The fourth Timber Processing & Energy Expo will be held October 17-19 in Portland, Oregon.
tinct might be the northern spotted owl, which we know isn’t true either.” TP&EE, held every other year, will be the fourth one produced by Hatton-Brown Expositions, an affiliate of Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., which produces Timber Processing, Panel World and other magazines in the woodbased industries. “Just like the economy, the TP&EE events have gotten better every time,” Donnell says. “2012, 2014, 2016 and I believe 2018 will have the most buzz yet.” Donnell, who is also the editor-in-chief of Timber Processing, believes that those record lumber prices, and the continuing, steady advancement of new housing starts, now pushing 1.3 million annually in the
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NEWSFEED U.S., means sawmills not only in the Northwest but throughout the U.S and Canada, have been running wide open to take advantage. “I think what we’ll see, as TP&EE hits in October, is a new wave of machinery and technology inquiries and orders as these mills upgrade their sprinted-out production systems so they can continue to be part of the building products boom. “Nobody wants to fall off, even for a moment,” Donnell adds. “They can’t allow their production lines to run out of gas, especially when the building economy is showing plenty of gas left in its tank.” What that means, Donnell says, is that the approximately 175 exhibitors—that have already sold out 60,000 square feet of booth space in Hall E at the Portland Expo Center— better come “loaded for bear.”
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OCTOBER 17-19, 2018
Donnell says the trend for TP&EE this time is that many companies have purchased more square footage than they did previously, which means more “real” machinery on site. “I love the layout of this year’s expo,” Donnell says. “And if you look at the exhibitors’ list, these are the established players in lumber, plywood and engineered wood products production machinery and technology. No Johnniescome-lately in this bunch.”
The 2016 TP&EE attracted 1,600 industry (non-exhibitor) personnel, representing 110 forest products producer companies and hundreds of individual mill site operations. Attendees came from 39 U.S. states, six Canadian provinces, and 20 countries. In 2016 the show moved into the larger Hall E from Hall D, where it had been held in 2012 and 2014. “Everyone seemed to enjoy having more room to work
with,” Donnell says. “Hall E is a third larger than Hall D was, and this allowed us to put in a large Beer Garden for people to sit down and relax in, and overall just more space to move around in between the exhibits.” The only issue now, Donnell says, is that if there’s a rush of companies in the next few months that want to exhibit, and it usually happens that way, where do you put them? “I hate ‘waiting lists,’” Donnell says. “If enough companies want in, there’s the possibility we could open the front left quadrant of Hall D, which is attached to Hall E.” The event will again include a lineup of workshop presentations related to lumber, plywood and engineered wood products manufacturing. Those schedules and presenters will be announced this TP summer.
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NEWSFEED
BAD SOFTWARE ATTACKS PYRAMID By Andi Bourne
“Y
our files have been encrypted,” were the words on a black screen for the file servers at Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake, Mont. on March 15. Pyramid’s entire network fell victim to the ransomware attack. Not willing to deal with criminals, Pyramid started rebuilding the three network servers and three workstations from scratch. It could take up to three months to get all the systems running like they were before the attack. However, all the historical records are lost. Pyramid’s Network Administrator, Mark Meissner, who is also the head filer, is a Microsoft Certified system engineer. He took on Pyramid’s computer systems. “As a certified system engineer I know a lot about networks, I know a lot of things about how to make various systems talk to each other and I know a lot of things about network protocols. However, I’m not a security expert.” About a week before the attack during his regular morning check of the system, Meissner noticed some files were completely missing and there was new software installed. Since he is the only one who deals with programming, Meissner uninstalled the pieces of software and replaced the files that were missing. The next day was a similar situation so Meissner enlisted Microsoft. They came to no real conclusions for the anomaly. “I started the laborious task of creating disk images so that I would be prepared for the day of some eventual attack,” Meissner says. “I also started to lock down our firewalls and close external connections.” Everything seemed to be working fine on the morning
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of March 15. Then, Meissner got a call from the mill that one of the computers wasn’t working properly. Around the same time someone in the office said that their computer rebooted by itself. “When the computer rebooted, there was a black screen that said, ‘Your Files are Encrypted.’ It gave me an email address to contact and it was waiting for a password to be entered. I basically panicked,” Meissner says. “I immediately ran down to the server where backups were running
ver during the attack. “Suddenly my backups (that were saved on the server) were of no value,” Meissner recalls. Ransomware is a type of malicious software from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim’s data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid. While some simple ransomware may lock the system in a way which is not difficult for a knowledgeable person to reverse, more advanced malware uses a technique called cryptoviral extortion, in which it en-
and find out how much,” adds Pyramid’s Chief Operations Officer Loren Rose, who says all he knew was the ransom was to be paid in bitcoin, untraceable currency. “Dealing with a criminal just goes totally against our grain.” Meissner says that more than 99% of the time, the virus infects the system by attaching to an email. When someone opens the attachment, it gives the perpetrators “command and control.” The perpetrators can control the machine they are on and if it is connected to
Pyramid Mountain Lumber thought it had enough on its plate in just manufacturing and marketing lumber.
and the same thing was happening to all three servers.” Three servers, the domain controller, the maintenance database and the financial server, as well as three machines that were left on overnight were compromised. Pyramid lost its entire payroll program, all the history, all accounts payable, sales and accounts receivable and all of the email that was backed up to the server. The server that runs their log program, the machine centers and the rest of the nearly 30 workstations that were powered off overnight were not affected. This is because they are either not connected to Pyramid’s domain or they were not connected to the ser-
crypts the victim’s files, making them inaccessible, and demands a ransom payment to decrypt them. Meissner explains that there are several types of ransomware. The type that attacked Pyramid encrypted the drives, the file allocation table and the master boot record. The system would not start and the drives were not visible. “Without the decryption key we were not going to be able to restore those files and, frankly, I don’t know that their decryption key would have worked. We opted not to take that risk,” he says. “We don’t know where it came from and we weren’t going to deal with the devil
a server, like in Pyramid’s case, they not only have access to the servers but can install malicious code. Meissner says that even though he locked down the firewall, they were already in the system so it made no difference. Two days prior to Pyramid’s attack, one of their vendors also had a similar attack with the same piece of ransomware. It is suspected that an employee opened an attachment from the vendor. Once the attachment was opened, as Meissner says, “The seeds of doom were sown.” “If you aren’t expecting an attachment from someone, in other words you haven’t call-
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NEWSFEED ed and requested something, then don’t open the attachment,” Meissner says. “You call the sender and verify that they in fact sent you something and ask what it is. If they didn’t, delete the email.” Rose says there has been no indication that the files or employee information were compromised. “These people aren’t interested in information, they just want to shut you down, deal with one source and get paid,” he says. “However, was any information breached? We don’t know. We’ve alerted all of our employees.” Pyramid reported the attack to the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office in case there is a liability later. However, Pyramid doesn’t suspect anyone internal. Meissner says it is possible that Pyramid’s address book could have been accessed and
malicious attachments sent from email accounts. Meissner has replaced all the drives in the servers and rebuilt them from scratch. On the three work stations that were compromised, he will strip the drives and replace the drives. On all the other computers, they were disconnected from the network and scanned with software to detect any infection. So far, Meissner has not found any sign of the virus in the machines that were powered down during the attack. “If the software I employ to detect this tells me that it is there, I’m going to treat it as an infected machine, strip the drive out and start over. I’m not going to take any chance that this infection will spread again,” he says. While Rose has no idea what the attack will cost, he estimates in the end Pyramid
will pay tens of thousands of dollars. While Meissner is not a security expert, he has learned four big lessons working through this attack. First, he recommends that anyone using computers, whether at work or home, needs to understand that email attachments should not be opened without verifying that the person who sent the email sent the attachment. User training in the work place can help mitigate this. Blocking attachments is another option. Some businesses have set up a Dropbox on the virtual cloud to exchange files. Second, Meissner recommends making frequent backups and having a backup that is not connected to the network. For businesses, this includes system images which can help rebuild the server
from scratch. Third, add layers to standard anti-virus and anti-malware software on the servers and workstations that will protect the system from a ransomware attack. Finally, make sure if firewalls are used, they can detect a ransomware attack. “This type of attack is just as likely to hit a home as it is a business,” Meissner says. “It all comes down to someone opening an attachment in an email that they shouldn’t. The biggest control is the guy behind the keyboard.” Rose adds: “The bottom line is the criminal element. They are getting smarter and smarter. Really you need to back up daily or weekly and TP get it off the machine.” (Andi Bourne writes for the Seeley Swan Pathfinder. This article appeared there, and is republished here with permission.)
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POSITIVE
IN PUT By Jay Donnell
Stanfill Hardwood Lumber continues to invest in order to be more efficient.
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CULLEOKA, Tenn. nvesting in new sawmill equipment can be a challenging thing to do when you consider the costs— whether in good hardwood lumber markets or bad. But Phil Stanfill, president of Stanfill Hardwood Lumber 18
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Company (SHLC), knows that modernizing his grade mill in middle Tennessee is the only way to move forward. Over the past two decades Stanfill has made multiple improvements as he enhances the nearly 50-year-old sawmill at the current site, which is about an hour’s drive south of Nashville. Stanfill, 48, started learning the sawmill industry at an early age, measuring logs and doing work around the mill in the evenings after he got out of school. His mother, Ruth, was married to R.T. Smith and they were always in the lumber business; in fact Ruth’s grandparents were in the lumber business in the late 1800s. R.T. Smith built a single line bandmill at the current Stanfill Hardwood location in 1969. At one time the mill had dry kilns and a planer, but in the 1980s they
quit drying lumber and started running a green mill. Stanfill graduated from ITT Technical Institute in Nashville in 1990 with an Electronics Engineering degree and worked for a biomedical repair outfit in Nashville for three years before getting into the family business in 1993. “The electronics background has helped me with all the modern equipment,” Stanfill says. “It’s been crucial that I had that background and even though I’m not sure we’re on the cusp of modern technology we’ve got a pretty modern mill.” Stanfill started up and ran the company’s nearby circle mill called Mid South Hardwoods for three years, since shut down. Then in 1996, R.T. Smith sold his interests in the company to Stanfill and today Stanfill, as president, and his
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Opposite page and above, the mill runs two right-hand Cleereman carriages and Wheland bandmills.
mother, as vice president, are co-owners of the business. In 1996 SHLC started up a second bandmill and the business has grown ever since. The next big technology move was in 2007 when they put in a Salem edger with Inovec optimization. The operation ran that way until recently, when they added a 6 ft. bandmill linebar resaw purchased from Corley Manufacturing. The new Corley linebar resaw with Salem 6 ft. vertical bandmill had been running for several weeks when TP visited and Stanfill was pleased with its performance thus far. He estimates that it could up his production from 10MMBF per year to 12-15MMBF. In addition to production, another reason for installing the resaw is to make the mill more efficient. “It costs less money to run a resaw than it does to run another complete sawmill as far as labor and energy requirements,” Stanfill explains. “We think it will be profitable just simply because we can make lumber more efficiently on it.”
PERSONNEL
Left to right, mill manager Richard Pilkinton and mom and son owners, Ruth Smith and Phil Stanfill
New bandmill and linebar resaw building
Stanfill and his mother gain a lot of satisfaction in taking care of their employees and providing a good, safe place to work for them. With Nashville and Franklin close by, Stanfill has to compete against the construction industry to find skilled and unskilled workers, and there are other hardwood sawmills in the area. But SHLC maintains a solid core of employees in the most important positions. Employees are paid by the hour and get a week’s paid vacation. They receive time off for major holidays with pay. Tony Whitworth and Jonathan Leonard are two longtime lumber inspectors for the company while Leo Cooper and David Rochelle have been working on the maintenance side for many years. Robert Griggs is the head sawyer on Mill 1 and the head sawyer on Mill 2 is Tommy Jenkins. Griggs has only been with the company for a little under a year. He started working on the green chain and Stanfill saw his potential so they started training him to be a sawyer. George Jones is the head saw filer. Mill Manager Richard Pilkinton has been with the business for three years after spending the majority of his career in the concrete industry. He has had to learn on the fly as improvements are constantly being made to the mill. “I came here having a lot to learn about the industry,” Pilkinton explains. “When I got here I spent a lot of time measuring and buying logs. Phil has been really good about helping me TIMBER PROCESSING
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TimberPro forwarder is a workhorse around the wood yard.
learn the things I need to know.” He adds, “We added the resaw since I’ve been here and some other pieces. We’ve kind of built things up since I’ve been here so I’ve been part of the expansion for the past three years. That’s how I’ve been able to figure things out.” Pilkinton is also in charge of all the mill’s health and safety programs. Ruth Smith, 88, still works in the of-
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MDI metal detector
fice every day along with her two sisters, Ester Kenney and Earline Morrow, as well as her niece, Dana Walters. Ruth’s niece, Joy Stanfill, is a log buyer at the sawmill while David Bivens is log buyer at the two satellite log yards. The mill runs five days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Safety is of the utmost importance to everybody at SHLC as safety meetings are held each week.
Stanfill and Pilkinton are always looking to see if there’s anything that could cause a potential problem. The mill employs 36.
LOG SUPPLY The log supply, procured from private land, has generally been pretty good, but this winter has been a challenge with the
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Edger optimizer came on in 2007.
constant wet weather in Tennessee and at times the mill only ran one of its headrigs. SHLC has more than 50 different logging companies at times supplying logs to the mill including Stanfill’s cousin, John Stanfill, who has been supplying logs to SHLC for more than 20 years. Stanfill believes there will be enough logs to run the mill at full speed. He’s had to put loggers on quota, but he’s
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Three bandmills mean the filers get plenty of work.
hoping that’s in the past, and the new resaw will enable the mill to ramp up production and take additional logs. All logs are brought into the mill cutto-length. Timber species includes red and white oak, walnut, cherry, poplar, hard maple and ash. The company also maintains log yards in Hickman County, Tenn. and in Town Creek, Ala. where logs are stored under sprinkler. A con-
tract truck brings in logs from the log yards.
MILL FLOW SHLC was one of the first mills in the area to purchase a TimberPro forwarder. They’ve had it for about three years and use it to unload trucks, sort logs and feed the mill. Cat wheel loaders are used on
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the log yard and Taylor forklifts are used on the lumber end. Logs are brought up to the mill with the forwarder and oversized logs go through a Precision rosserhead debarker while the primary debarker is a Nicholson R2 40 in. ring debarker. The logs flow through an MDI metal detector and if a log has metal in it the TimberPro forwarder will take it out of the production line. Logs then go to Mill 1 or down the log trough to Mill 2. Both operate optimized Cleereman carriages and Wheland 6 ft.
bandmills. The Mill 1 headrig feeds lumber to the new Corley linebar resaw and from there the boards go to the 48 in. optimized Salem edger. Once the boards are sawn and edged they go to a Mellott grading station where they’re checked out by the lumber inspector. Once they’re inspected they go down to an LSI 9 saw trimmer. They then go to the green chain where boards are sorted by length and grade and stacked. A lot of the machinery at the mill including roller beds and conveyer decks
was built in house. Maintenance work is done during the lunch hour and after the mill shuts down for the day. Occasionally some maintenance work will need to be done over the weekend. SHLC employs three full-time saw filers. The filing room consists of two Armstrong grinders and an Armstrong stretcher roll. The company hires out its circle saw work. All the waste material falls downstairs and goes into vibrating conveyors and up to a Precision bottom discharge chipper and a BM&M high volume chip screen. Screened out sawdust goes into a loading system. Chips are blown into three PeerTwo company Kenworth rigs move out a lot of lumber.
Byproducts is an ample part of the operation.
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less chip vans. SHLC produces more than 900 tons of chips per month that get hauled to Hood Container in New Johnsonville, Tenn. and WestRock in Stevenson, Ala. Roughly 30% of SHLC’s green lumber is sold to Hassell & Hughes Lumber Co. in Collinwood, Tenn., McMinnville Manufacturing Co. in McMinnville, Tenn., and Cumberland Flooring in McMinnville. The rest is sold to concentration yards that sell to furniture manufacturing plants, cabinet manufacturing plants and specialty flooring facilities. Two Kenworth trucks haul lumber for SHLC while a contract truck hauls the dust and chips.
BRIGHT FUTURE Stanfill isn’t interested in his company getting any bigger, but he does expect to build a pallet cant sorting line in the near future as he’s seeing a shortage in pallet cants and consequently higher prices. He likes the way hardwood markets are performing right now. “The housing industry in middle Tennessee is strong,” he says. “There’s good demand for finished products but there’s also a shortage of raw materials. We hope the markets will hold
up during hot weather and times when there’s more (timber) out there.” The worst Stanfill has seen it was during the last recession, though the mill never shut down. It kept one headrig running. Though it’s a grade mill, the operation took what orders it could get, and that included sawing railroad ties. “I could tell in 2012 that it was starting to build up and turn back around,” Stanfill says. “2014 was probably our best year. We feel like long-term the future looks good for the hardwood industry.” TP
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LOGGING TO
LUMBER By David Abbott
Faced with limited log markets, logging and trucking concerns joined forces to create their own market, resulting in a new $100 million sawmill at Two Rivers Lumber.
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DEMOPOLIS, Ala. ecessity may be the mother of invention, but it can also inspire entrepreneurial endeavor. Case in point: Two Rivers Lumber Co., a project that was conceived directly in response to the need loggers in the area have had for more outlets for chip-n-saw. Named for its proximity to the Tombigbee and Black Warrior rivers, Two Rivers Lumber is a state-of-the-art southern yellow pine dimension sawmill. At capacity, the mill will produce 200MMBF a year. Essentially, as various market factors shuttered a number of mills in the area, some loggers were left without enough
mills to consume their products. Rather than cry about it or wait for someone else to address the problem, one group of forward-thinking individuals decided to take action. If they didn’t have a mill, they’d build their own. It was just an idea at first, one that started in 2015, according to Roy Geiger, one of the owners of Two Rivers as well as of Sumter Timber Co., a well-known logging operation also headquartered in Demopolis. Sumter Timber has three company logging crews and 13 contract crews. Geiger started Sumter in 1984 in partnership with J.C. McElroy, Jr. McElroy had started his own pulpwood hauling business back in
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The mill operates two continuous kilns.
the ’60s, which by the ’80s had evolved into a much larger operation. In 1985, shortly after the formation of Sumter Timber, the hauling side broke off into a separate company, McElroy Truck Lines, Inc. (see sidebar). “We had been in the timber business for 35 years and the sawtimber markets in this area had been shrinking,” Geiger explains. “Volume had disappeared, mills had disappeared. At that point, with dwindling markets and increased growth, we felt like it was something we needed to look into.” The “we” he references includes his partners at Two Rivers, Jay McElroy and Sean McElroy, J.C.’s sons who now run McElroy Trucking Lines. They grew up around logging and trucking before heading off to college. Jay attended Southern
Adventist University and then the University of Alabama, where he earned a Master’s degree in business. In the early ’90s he returned home to Cuba, Ala. to work in the family trucking business, where he has remained ever since. Sean also earned a business degree, his from Southern Adventist University, and worked a couple of years in the insurance industry before making his own return to McElroy Truck Lines in the mid ’90s. With many mills shutting down or reducing production from 2007-2013, something had to give. “The end result was that timber was not cut due to the fact that landowners were unwilling to harvest trees for little or no return,” Geiger says. “This helped open the door for Two Rivers to locate a mill in an area with sub-
stantial timber supply within reasonable haul distances.” After several months of discussion, Geiger and the McElroys took the idea to Ken Muehlenfeld, director of the Forest Products Development Center for the State of Alabama. Geiger adds, “With his cooperation, we did raw material research and felt like this was a good area to develop a chip-n-saw mill.” By the fall of 2016, Geiger and the McElroys had grown comfortable with the availability of standing timber, confident that the raw material supply could support the mill they were planning. They were ready to make a move, but neither of them knew much about operating, let alone building from scratch, a modern sawmill. They needed someone possessed
Profiling line can remove two boards on either side. Opposite page, the wood yard runs two DeShazo monorail cranes. TIMBER PROCESSING
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Production capacity is 200MMBF annually.
of a more thorough and intimate knowledge of sawmill operations. Fortuitously, a mutual friend introduced them to Randell Robinson. Robinson already had years of management experience in mills, not to mention a business degree, before he became involved 18 years ago with the building of Rocky Creek Lumber Co. in Mexia, Ala. That was a project somewhat similar to what the logging and trucking businessmen hoped to undertake in Demopolis. Robinson held a management position at Rocky Creek for six years until RoyOMartin Lumber Co. bought it, after which he eventually went to work for Scotch Gulf Lumber Co. in Fulton, Ala. He was there when Geiger and the McElroys found him. He was clearly the man they needed for the job. Geiger and Robinson started looking at potential sites in the area, but found none they deemed workable, except one. Geiger was already familiar with the land where Two Rivers would soon be constructed—a little farther down the same road as the WestRock paper mill just outside Demopolis. An existing manufacturing facility was already there, but had long since been left vacant. A 200x500 ft. building, which had housed production of barges and later dumpsters, was still there when the two men settled on this site.
WINNNG BID Having determined that this was the spot, the partners knew the next step was to settle on a builder. It was Robinson who contacted Brian Fehr, chairman and managing director of the BID Group. BID 30
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MCELROY CONNECTION Father to Jay and Sean McElroy and business partner with Roy Geiger, the late J.C. McElroy, Jr., was a founder of both Sumter Timber and McElroy Trucking Lines, but logging and trucking were not his only or even his original career. The elder McElroy was chairman of the board and administrator of Rush Health Systems in Meridian, Miss., a healthcare group and hospital. McElroy grew up on a farm in Cuba, Ala., where his trucking com- J.C. McElroy, Jr. passed away in January. pany is still based today. His grandfather logged, so he had a connection to the woods as well. When he finished college he took an entry-level insurance claims job at a hospital, which eventually led to his positon at Rush Health Systems. But he had a business degree and knew he wanted to start a business on the side. Since farming and logging were the things he knew growing up, it was natural for him to start there. “He told me that one of his biggest decisions was whether to buy a tractor or mules when he got started,” Jay recalls. “He bought a tractor and he said he sure was glad he did.” That was 1964 when J.C. started his small pulpwood trucking business. It grew over the next 20 years into a hardwood logging operation, eventually becoming Sumter Timber when J.C. and Geiger got together. The trucking side continued to expand, not only hauling logs and chips into mills but hauling lumber from mills into markets in Alabama and neighboring states. By 1985, the flatbed trucking side split off and was incorporated as McElroy Truck Lines. “Today it is all over-the-road flatbed trucking, heavily weighted toward building materials, and operating throughout the eastern half of the U.S.,” Jay says. McElroy has a fleet of some 650 Navistar and Freightliner company-owned trucks, and 1,200 flatbed trailers. J.C. died on January 7 this year, only a few months after Two Rivers started production. He was 79 years old. Despite declining health, he was involved in seeing the mill idea get off the ground. As far as his sons Sean and Jay are concerned, the sawmill is simply a continuation of the family legacy. “Our family has been in this area for many generations and has always had a connection to the woods, and it just carries that on TP going forward.”
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is a group of companies (including Comact, PHL, DelTech, McGehee, MoCo and Miller Mfg.) based in British Columbia that has come on strong as a turnkey supplier of sawmills, beginning with design and construction. BID was then completing a similar project at Biewer Lumber’s new southern yellow pine mill in Newton, Miss., 89 miles west of the Two Rivers location (see cover story article in June 2017 Timber Processing). “I told him we had a site and a building and needed a sawmill layout that would fit that building,” Robinson recalls. “I told him we had a budget and needed to fit all of that into the budget. I asked him if that was possible, and his response was yes.” Jay McElroy notes that at that point they had already talked to two other engineering groups and visited mills in Canada and received several budgets, and were just not comfortable with what they had seen or heard. The others were talking too much money, according to McElroy, but more than that, there was too much uncertainty, too many loose ends. “There were questions as to would that be it or would more be tacked onto it due to unforeseen circumstances, and there was also concern
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McElroy Trucking moves out some of its own lumber.
about the timeline,” McElroy states. Ultimately, the BID Group won the order. “After several meetings and hashing over the details, we settled on a mill layout and equipment that suited our needs and what we wanted to accomplish,” Robinson says. “We had what I felt like were some very solid guarantees from BID as far as what they would do, the cost estimate, the timeline they would meet, and everything that was associated with it.”
McElroy continues, “They could make it fit in the building; no one else had told us they could do that. Their timeline to complete was a third of what others said. Their price was significantly less; this is your price, guaranteed, we will not exceed it; there are no potential disastrous scenarios that would make us increase it.” Geiger adds, “They served as engineering group, machinery manufacturer
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The site was once a barge manufacturing plant.
and installer.” Two Rivers placed the order to BID Group on September 20, 2016. Initial grubbing on the site started in December, and prep work officially began on January 1, 2017. Before construction on the concrete foundations could begin, Robinson says that there was only a minimum amount of dirt work required. The group developed a site plan that clarified drainage
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needs, traffic movement and so on. “Overall the site was an excellent fit for our operation,” Robinson says. New construction started on January 9, 2017. “Having the building allowed us to begin some fabrication work under roof even during rainy weather,” Robinson relates. “BID Group put in an all-out blitz on the site work from one end to the other at a frantic pace.” As the project moved
into its final phases, Robinson says they started testing various machines as they were completed, waiting for the log prep and sawmill equipment to be ready for startup. They tested the complete sawmill line during the week of August 21. The mill started four weeks ahead of schedule, beginning production on August 28, 2017. The kilns fired up on September 5 and the planer mill came
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on September 18, which was also the day the first load of lumber shipped. “It would have been an amazing feat to even be on time, but they built it in 246 days,” McElroy notes. “BID kept plenty of mechanical, electrical and electronics personnel on site while we were running and tuning the sawmill and log prep startup tests were being done at the kiln and planer mill,” Robinson says. Although they had both been around sawmills throughout their careers in logging and trucking, building and running one has been a whole new experience for Geiger and the McElroys. “What surprised me was the level of automation and the speed, just how high-tech it is,” Jay admits. In addition to the investments made by Geiger and the McElroy family, the only lender for the project was Alabama Ag Credit. As mentioned previously, BID had only just completed a nearly identical project in Mississippi for Biewer Lumber. Given their proximity and similarity, it was natural for Two Rivers to look to Biewer’s experience. “Tim Biewer is an outstanding person and Dan Bowen, Biewer’s manager of southern opera-
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SOME KEY PERSONNEL l Procurement Foresters: Jeffrey Holley, Andy Mason; Byproducts: Mark Geiger l Sales Manager: Dennis Drinkard; Salesman: Michael Nelson l Green End Superintendent: David Schmidt l Dry End Superintendent: Mike Cabaniss l Quality Control: Scott Robinson l Maintenance Superintendent: Ryan Jacobs l Maintenance Supervisor: Kyle Sudduth l Electrical Supervisor: Seth Thomas l Sawmill Supervisors: Randy Lee, John Wilson l Planer Supervisor: Albert Lee l Shipping Supervisor: Jimmy McCrory l Purchasing Manager: Ricky Thorn l HR/Safety Manager: Chase Courtney l Accounting: Kathy Oates l Office Clerk: Randy Duncan
tions, was very helpful,” Robinson acknowledges. “They allowed us to visit their site numerous times during the planning and construction phase.” With the help of AIDT (Alabama Industrial Development Training), Two Rivers even produced a training video for new hires, filmed at the Biewer mill. “This would not have been possible without Biewer’s approval,” Robinson states. After Two Rivers started production, the two mills have also shared spare parts for machines they have in common. “It only makes sense since we are close and share the same equipment,” Robinson says. “Sawmill people generally have an unwritten rule that we will help anyone in a jam if we possibly can. You just don’t see that a lot outside the forest products industry.”
PERSONNEL Employees were recruited from the local area with help from AIDT. “We received a great deal of support from the state of Alabama and the city of Demopolis,” Geiger says. “The city helped us with a favorable lease on the land, and from the state we received the various incentives they offer for new businesses.”
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Jay McElroy and Roy Geiger
Dennis Drinkard and Randell Robinson
Two Rivers directly provides 97 jobs in the community, and another 150 jobs indirectly with loggers, truck drivers and so on. There were very few experienced sawmill hands available, Robinson says. “Our management group has a great deal of experience, but as far as operators, we had to start from scratch with most all of them, so since we started up they have gained a great deal of experience.” To help with training and troubleshooting, BID Group and its subsidiary Comact kept personnel on site to tune equipment and train people until February 2018. With the first shift now working smoothly, the mill has already hired and is currently training the second shift, which will begin operating soon.
MILL FLOW The experience that Geiger and the McElroys bring with them in logging and hauling to mills, Robinson says, was beneficial to the layout of the mill, especially in terms of designing for trucks getting in and out quickly and efficiently. “Site traffic flow was a priority from the start, not only from a efficiency of operation standpoint but for safety as well,” Robinson says. “With their help we have been able to lay out our shipping area to accommodate quick loading times and reduce extended waits. Having the two cranes as well as inbound and outbound scales helps us handle truck traffic and unloading in a timely manner.” Log trucks come over Toledo scales, and are sent to two DeShazo monorail cranes for unloading. The cranes can store the logs or put them on the infeed deck. Logs run through a 22 in. Comact ring debarker and Metal Shark metal detector, and proceed through a Comact scanner and to a Comact multi saw merchandizer. From there they transfer via Comact wave feeders to either of two accumulation decks to feed the Comact canter line. ➤ 40 38
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One of the characteristics of these new mills is parallel green and dry trimming and sorting lines.
38 ➤ After scanning and auto-rotation, pieces enter a Comact OLI (optimized length infeed), which scans each log again as it travels down the infeed where Iggesund chip heads with disposable knives open the initial side faces. As pieces flow out the back end of the canter heads they get scanned again on the way to a dual profiler which has the capability to profile up to two boards on each side of the log. From there the piece enters a set of quad saws that will remove either one or two boards before laying the piece on its side for further scanning before entering a Comact TBL3 double arbor curve-saw. From there, boards come out the back and go onto an accumulation deck that feeds an unscrambler, which singulates the boards and sends them up to a Comact lug loader, and from there through a Comact optimizer, Comact trimmer and into a 50bin Comact sorter. When the sorting bins are full, boards transfer to a Comact stick laying stacker. Taylor 350 forklifts move stacks either to storage or to one of two DelTech continuous feed kilns. Each has an annual capacity of 100MMBF and can hold around 330MBF at a time. Dried lumber is stored under sheds to wait for a turn in the planer mill. There, a Comact tilt hoist infeed drops pieces 40
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off onto the planer accumulation chains to a Miller Mfg. planer using Key Knife knives. At the planer exit, pieces move onto an accumulation chain, through an unscrambler to a Comact lug loader, which leads to a Comact GradExpert automated grader. From there lumber flows to another Comact trimmer and then to a 48 bin Comact sorter, which empties to a dual fork stacker. The stacker in turn leads to two Signode strapper lines. The finished, banded packages are picked up by Taylor 160 forklifts to be loaded onto trucks. Two Rivers contracts its saw filing to U.S. Blades in Meridian, Miss. and Northport, Ala. Two Rivers manufactures primarily dimension products: 2x4 through 2x10, in 8-20 ft. lengths, with a very few 1x4s in the mix. They take 90 loads of logs a day now and expect to reach 130 loads daily at capacity. All of its sales are wholesale and domestic, with customers throughout the Southeast and into the Midwest.
GOOD TIMING With their successful realization of the sawmill, Geiger and McElroy are still able to run their other businesses, both of which intersect with Two Rivers, which
was of course the goal in the first place. Sumter Timber is a big supplier to the mill, along with a myriad of area loggers, mostly from within a 65-mile radius. McElroy Truck Lines provides some of the trucks that haul finished products to market. McElroy says he spends most of his time at the truck company, while Geiger is able to run back and forth between Two Rivers and Sumter Timber (their offices are only eight miles apart). Both of them trust Robinson to run the daily operations, and they all meet every morning at 8 o’clock. As it has turned out, it looks like Two Rivers came on the scene at the perfect time, with SYP prices booming and building markets soaring. “We would like to take credit for the impeccable timing of this project,” Robinson says. “However, if we are fully honest I believe that we have been blessed by God. From the initial idea that a mill should be built to the selection of the site to the assembly of an excellent team and finally, the lumber market booming at startup, it has all been divinely blessed.” Though they have no concrete plans as yet, the team is unified in its desire to expand the lumber operation in the near future. Robinson stresses, “We’re TP not done yet.”
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PLANERMILLS GILBERT
those systems to specific customer needs. Itipack’s comprehensive team of experienced mechanical, electrical and controls engineers, combined with its seasoned project management team, remain passionately driven to exceed customer expectations. From initial discussions and consultation, right through to final equipment design and drawing approvals, Itipack develops and builds quality equipment that is the most advanced for your specific application. Some of Itipack’s many innovations include mass dunnage feeders, advanced top and bottom dunnage feeders, quickchange head options, including the most advanced systems diagnostics. These innovations not only make Itipack equipment extremely user-friendly and easy to operate, but also ensures your facilities maintain the highest level of uptime available. Further innovations include a variety of advanced strapping head models/types for any application you would require, including many friction-seal and heat-seal options. Whatever your specific application requirements, Itipack will have an advanced solution that will fully meet or exceed your expectations.
Gilbert Timber Power Planer
For more than 30 years, Gilbert has been a market leader in the design and manufacturing of planer mill equipment. From molding and glulam applications to high speed planer mills, Gilbert has the right model of planer for every mill. Gilbert has helped customers worldwide reduce their mill costs by improving their productivity, wood quality, mill efficiency and safety. l The new Gilbert Timber Power Planer is built for big timbers such as glulam, CLT, log cabin beams and more! The Gilbert Timber Power Planer features state-of-the-art renowned technology, safety systems and automatic adjustments for high quality Mass Timber. The first machine is now in operation in the Southern U.S. at a glulam site. l Gilbert High Speed Planer will run at feed speeds up to 4000 FPM and more than 300 lugs per minute. This model of planer is offered to mills that want high speed production, best lumber finish and require the most heavy-duty machine. l Gilbert 6 Roll Planer is designed for mid to high planer mill speeds and production. It runs at speeds up to 3000 FPM. Its compact design fits well in an existing layout. l Gilbert S Series Planer is new generation planer, affordable and flexible, designed for mills that want to do more than conventional planing. It runs at speeds from 300 up to 1800 FPM. This model is the solution to diversified value-added products like molding, remanufacturing, fingerjointing, cedar, pine and rip saw operations. l Gilbert Moulder Planer is recognized for its strength, versatility and high quality results. It is designed to produce all profile and special products, as well as high quality construction lumber. Gilbert offers the Moulder opportunity to the S Series, 6 Roll or high speed planer models. Visit gilbert-tech.com.
ITIPACK SYSTEMS Itipack Systems is a dynamic and innovative strapping equipment manufacturer focused on providing its customers with the most advanced strapping machines in the market. Since 1970, its focus has remained the same: to design and manufacture the best and most innovative strapping equipment available in the wood products industry, and to tailor each of 42
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Itipack offers advanced custom strapping systems.
Itipack’s proactive approach to mill service-support and equipment maintenance includes many aspects, all of which are tailored to your requirements. From comprehensive and mill specific preventative maintenance programs, operator and machine maintenance training, strapping head rebuild/exchange programs, and ready-access to spare parts, Itipack works with you to develop an ongoing support plan based on your needs. Itipack’s mission is simple: reduce downtime and increase safety through advanced custom strapping systems, and unparalleled customer service-support. Visit itipacksystems.com.
LUCIDYNE TECHNOLOGIES From facial recognition to medical diagnostics to self-driving cars, artificial intelligence—and specifically the deep learning application of artificial intelligence—is becoming more prevalent in our everyday lives. Lucidyne Technologies, Inc., an industry leader in technological advances, is delivering deep learning to the lumber industry on all of its GradeScan installations. Perceptive Sight Intelligent Grading is available only on Lucidyne’s GradeScan. Perceptive Sight completely “re-thinks” the way lumber grading is done, and is a quantum leap in the process. Perceptive Sight learns to grade lumber the same way a human learns —by studying examples. Lucidyne’s team of certified graders looks at thousands of boards sent in by customers, defines the characteristics on the boards, and sends
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PLANERMILLS life out of your knives. 4) Jointer and stones can be pre-formed and set up then left in the machine so anyone with a basic knowledge can joint if required. Does not require extensive training, simplifies jointing process. 5) Time it takes clearing jam ups or changing cutter heads can be reduced by 70% or greater because you do not need to remove guarding, ducting, suction pipes or follow the same lockout procedures since you are protected from potential injury by having access doors for jointing and on the top for clearing debris or changing heads. You only get access to what you want to do, reducing potential for injury. 6) Robust heavy duty design by planermen for planermen means that the overall functionality is far superior to OEM/old style jointer in every way. Thicker and higher quality material increases service life. Redesigned hold down and hold over systems reduce jam ups, improve clearing of jam ups and also allow greater control over the wood as it travels through the side heads. Lucidyne GradeScan Perceptive Sight (PS)
them to the Perceptive Sight system. By evaluating this information, Perceptive Sight learns the attributes that define each characteristic, and is quickly able to differentiate between, for example, a bark pocket and bark encasement. The enormous leap has the advantages of unrivaled defect detection and keeping your output near perfect on-grade. Furthermore, when something new shows up in your wood basket, the process is to simply collect some samples using GradeScan’s QCAssist tablet. These samples are automatically uploaded to Lucidyne, trained on Perceptive Sight, and downloaded back to your system as an upgrade. No more waiting for a software developer to analyze the defect and write new code to integrate to the software. Lucidyne customers are seeing significant recovery with GradeScan and Perceptive Sight. Existing GradeScan customers are upgrading to Perceptive Sight, and all new GradeScans are shipped with Perceptive Sight as standard. In some cases, customers are reporting unprecedented accuracy. Lucidyne delivers an automated lumber scanner that uses deep learning artificial intelligence to grade lumber for maximum fiber and value recovery. Visit lucidyne.com.
MURRAY LATTA The Safety Plunge Jointing kit from Murray Latta Progressive Machine has been a huge success across Canada and the United States because of tightened safety standards that need to be complied with when jointing/locking out the planer. Using the old style or OEM jointer puts your staff directly in harm’s way with potentially catastrophic consequences. The Safety Plunge Jointer Kit provides many benefits: 1) It protects the user from the possibility of injury by keeping steel guards in place at all times while jointing and only allowing enough access to joint and see what you are jointing, protecting you from flying debris or broken knives. 2) Reduces the amount of time required to joint by 50% or greater in most circumstances. 3) Provides a more consistent joint every time. This means you get a higher value finished product and also get longer 44
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Murray Latta safety plunge jointing kit offers numerous efficiencies.
The Safety Plunge Jointer Kit is available on almost all make and model planers with an average payback of six weeks or less based on increased production through less overall downtime, reduced time required jointing and also time saved changing heads or removing planer jam ups. Visit mlpmachine.com.
SIGNODE Signode Industrial Group is a global leader providing load containment solutions, products and consultative services to timber processing manufacturers. The innovative design of its BPX Strapping Machine provides many safety features that make a positive difference in various production environments found in the industry. The Automatic Platen Latch, Remote Strap Feed Module and the Multiple E-Stops placements around the strapping system, control panel and hydraulic pump tank are just a few of these. As manufacturers continue to run faster and faster production times, the intuitive diagnostics features of the BPX strap-
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PLANERMILLS
Signode BPX lumber strapping machine with new guarding
ping machine helps in keeping the production line running to meet production demands. The BPX, with its modular design, creates an end of the line environment characterized by ease of operation, increased uptime, safety and one that makes it easy to do maintenance. With approximately 71 units sold in the last four years the BPX strapping machine is fast becoming the premier solution in strapping equipment in the timber processing market. Visit signode.com.
new partnership means customers have access to VAB’s technology backed by the full resources of the Timber Automation team. This includes the Lumber Grading optimizer, which offers: l Maximum Value Recovery: The automation system gives you higher grading for each board, more consistently, at a faster pace. l Consistent Accuracy: The lumber grading optimizer doesn’t have a bad day. It doesn’t get tired or distracted. It gives the maximum grade, every time. l Rapid Return on Investment: Most clients see payback of their investment within six months. Features include: l Increases the amount of Premium grades, #2 and better. l Decreases the amount of #3, Economy grade, and trim loss. l Reduces the need for labor. l Simplifies installation with its small footprint and integration into existing product lines. l Increases production by eliminating the time required by manual grades to analyze boards. Visit timberna.com.
USNR
TIMBER AUTOMATION
USNR’s THG automated grading system with WinTally sorter management tool
Timber Automation acquired VAB Solutions in April.
Timber Automation is dedicated to providing its customers with the best the market has to offer in quality, value and innovation. As a result, it is always looking for ways to improve its products and services to help customers maximize their profitability. On April 4, Timber Automation announced the acquisition of VAB Solutions. In VAB, Timber Automation has found a technology and innovation partner driven by the same beliefs. The 46
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USNR’s unique solutions to planer mill challenges have led to significant advances in high-speed lumber finishing, ensuring your end products gain and retain their value. From infeed solutions that increase throughput to match the speed of today’s planers, to USNR’s extensive trim/sort/stack innovations, your mill has no problem keeping up. l The Continuous Tilt Hoist unstacks a blanket of boards with speed and agility, delivering a smooth flow of kiln dried lumber to the planer mill infeed at up to 22 tiers per minute. l A variety of lug loaders suit any budget, product recipe, and throughput requirement. The ElectraTong’s all-electric actuation delivers superior board control at speeds up to 250+ lpm while excelling in random thickness applications and handling feather-edge material well. Whereas the Virtual Lug Loader (VLL) uses belts to efficiently fill lugs with no overhead feeding apparatus. Controlled and monitored by the MillTrak lumber flow control system, the VLL offers reliable performance with minimal user intervention. l USNR’s 4200E electric planer features all the latest function-
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PLANERMILLS ality and is capable of gap or ribbon feeding at 3,000+ FPM. Its maintenance-friendly design with shimless bedplates provides fast and adjustable alignment. The ability to change feed rolls from the operator side significantly reduces changeout time. USNR’s partnership with Kanefusa brings you planer knives coated with Advanced Material Technology to stay sharper longer. l The popular Multi-Track Fence has proven to be a top solution for high-speed mills needing super-accurate cost-effective fencing. For mills with a high percentage of cut-n-two solutions, USNR’s innovative tandem bin sorter with “no skip-a-lug” is a revolutionary concept that yields big gains in production. l The WinTally system is a sorter management solution that captures production information as boards pass into the sorter. l Factor in the renowned accuracy of the Transverse (THG) and Lineal (LHG) High Grader automated grading systems, and you’ve got an unbeatable system for diverse applications. Time-tested image analysis and optimization software combined with the most advanced sensor available today, the BioLuma 2900LVG+, accurately detects, measures and classifies bow, crook, twist, skip, wane, knots, pith, stains, decay, bark pockets, splits, shakes and worm holes. Visit usnr.com.
WOLFTEK Wolftek has been a primary supplier for the wood products industry for more than 30 years, specializing in upgrading and retrofitting planer mills. Focusing on throughput and safety, Wolftek’s systems Wolftek specializes in upgrades and retrofits in the planer mill. work to reduce the “jam-ups” caused by thin & thick boards, lower quality fiber and dry/damaged wood while at the same time making it easier to set up for jointing and clearing out by reducing the human-machine interaction. With more than 40 systems sold and running, in the largest lumber companies in the world, its DTS (Dynamic Roll Tensioning System) is a must-have in today’s market. Wolftek’s OEM offered systems can be adapted to all planers and molders currently used in the industry: Dynamic Roll Tensioning System (DTS), Electric Drives, Feedtables, Bridges, Electric Cutterhead Setworks, Live Shears plus innovations in wear parts like rolls, guides & plates. By choosing Wolftek you gain a partner who is as invested in your mill as you are, who brings knowledge, experience and various industry partners to work for you. Visit wolftek.ca.
TS MANUFACTURING TS Manufacturing has been designing, building and installing quality systems for sawmill and lumber handling industries for more than 40 years. It makes a large variety of sawmill equipment for hardwood and softwood mills. Because of this, clients benefit from the enhanced efficiency and reliability inherent in the production line of a single manufacturer. The result is always higher output and higher recovery. TS Manufacturing’s presence is found in every stage of mill production. It manufactures equipment for log handling & merchandising, primary breakdown systems, secondary breakdown systems, grading & lumber sorting and stick placing & stack48
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TS Manufacturing trimmer at Long Island Lumber in Long Island, Va.
ing. And it builds residual handling equipment too: belt, bar and screw conveyors, vibrating conveyors, screening systems, truck loaders and storage bins. All systems can be customized for a new production line, or retrofit into an existing one. TS engineers and installers dedicate themselves to a client’s request for customized equipment and fast installation. Unified sales/engineering/fabrication and installation teams—under one roof in their Lindsay, Ontario plant—can produce individual systems or whole production lines on a shorter time line than most competitors. Clients are up and running sooner, with exceptionally integrated equipment. Get detailed information on capabilities and services by visiting TS Manufacturing at EXPO Richmond (May 18-19), MLMA in Biloxi, Miss. (July 5-8), IWF in Atlanta (August 22-25), NHLA in Toronto (October 2-4), and the Timber Processing & Energy Expo in Portland (October 17-19). TS also hosts an extensive video collection at Youtube.com/tsmanufacturing. Visit tsman.com.
grader the same standard of compliance applies but because of the consistency of the process over human graders the focus falls into tuning the parameters, the defect detection, the maintenance of the system and its components to produce the desired result. l Opportunity—as lumber processes become faster and more automated, fewer people handle the lumber and due to this lack of exposure to the finished lumber fewer people have the expertise to analyze the manufactured defects they see. The pool of employees with grading knowledge is shrinking along with their understanding of how and where manufacturing defects occur in the lumber. First, ensure there’s a documented routine of performing grade checks, but if you’re rolling through thousands of pieces of lumber and only ensuring that they meet the criterion of compliance, you can miss the chance to pursue the opportunity to reduce or eliminate certain manufactured defects that may meet the standard of the grade, but either miss the chance to be upgraded to a higher value product or may degrade package appearance for the customer. Quality Control personnel need to step outside the routine and find ways to document these defects and their impact on the business. Visit Autolog’s blog page, http://www.autolog.com/en/ auto-blog.html. Visit autolog.com.
PICHÉ
AUTOLOG
Piché offers trim/sort/stack lines and transfer machinery.
The value of grade checks and analysis of manufactured defects
Autolog Process Expert Shawn Sheer provides three reasons to do grade checks whether you have an auto grader or graders on the line: l Compliance, which is meeting the standard of the grade stamp applied to the lumber and the contract of delivering on grade lumber to the customer. l Performance, which in terms of graders, holds them to a work performance standard that ties in with compliance. With an auto
Founded in 1983, Piché designs and manufactures high speed lumber handling and processing equipment. Piché’s specialty is trimming, sorting and stacking lines for any type of lumber, hardwood and softwood, green and dry, timbers and boards mixed in the same production. Piché has done it all. The company is managed by a dynamic team boasting years of experience. This team is backed by qualified professionals working in various departments such as engineering, estimating, accounting, administration, project management, manufacturing and installation. The company’s manufacturing facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. The machining department has the machine tools required to produce precision parts as well as larger size parts. Piché products in the planer mill include electric tilt hoists for single or double packages, conveyors and transfers, unscramblers, trimmers, grading stations, sorters and more. Visit Picheinc.com. TIMBER PROCESSING
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From left, Kyle, Rob and Tyler Freres, key members of the Freres’ companywide MPP effort.
MPP crane mat product panels exit press at upper left.
MASS TIMBER
FU TURE By Dan Shell
Oregon’s Freres Lumber aims at growing mass timber building market with innovative new product— Mass Plywood Panels (MPP)—and a new plant to produce it. EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is reprinted from the March 2018 issue of Panel World magazine. 50
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LYONS, Ore. ow it may be debatable whether Freres Lumber’s new $32 million mass plywood panel (MPP) plant is “the gutsiest move in industry history,” as one panel industry observer called it, but there’s no debating that Freres is breaking new ground as it seeks opportunity in the growing mass timber component building movement and market. In doing so, the 20-year panel producer and 59-year veneer supplier is taking advantage of its longtime strengths while moving in a bold new direction. Freres Lumber’s new MPP plant start-
ed up in December 2017, and its MPP product is expected to receive certification under ASTM Standard D 5456 structural composite lumber products this month, and certification as a Mass Timber Panel under APA—The Engineered Wood Assn.’s APA/ANSI PRG-320 mass timber standard soon after. Introduced to cross-laminated timber (CLT) several years ago at an Oregon State University College of Forestry event, Rob Freres, Freres Lumber Executive Vice President, says one of his first thoughts after seeing CLT was that “plywood is already cross-laminated.” Looking at the potential of CLT, Freres began thinking of ways to leverage his company’s veneer industry expertise in the developing mass timber building market. ➤ 52
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Freres: MPP will lift veneer to new heights.
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“It seemed like we could make a 50 ➤ similar product using less wood fiber,” Freres says, noting that in developing strength properties, using material of various grades, he believes it’s more efficient to accommodate lower grade material by using veneer sheets instead of 13⁄8 in. lumber. “And the benefits of using veneer increase as the product gets thicker and bigger,” he adds. Researching a possible mass plywood panel product, Freres Lumber Vice President of Sales Tyler Freres and his brother, Vice President of Operations Kyle Freres, traveled to Europe in April 2015, visited some CLT manufacturers and kicked around some ideas. Back in the U.S., Tyler began working on some test panels with longtime plywood plant manager Jim Walker, who had recently retired. Some initial testing at the Freres plywood plant, using the existing press and making some 3 in. panels, proved quite positive, showing such a product would indeed outperform CLT, Freres says. By September 2015 they were taking test panels to the TECO lab in Eugene, and had filed a patent in October. Freres Lumber began testing MPP samples at OSU in January 2016 and had substantiated performance by March. In May
2016 they began ordering test equipment. While Tyler began the company’s initial MPP product development, Kyle and Tyler began pulling together test machines to explore product development and working closely with OSU’s Advanced Wood Products Lab to prove product viability. By late 2015 going into early 2016, the Freres R&D team had ordered a used 4x17 ft. test press and Hexion cold press resin with long open time to begin developing the product and samples for testing. A big part of the process has been developing and executing the scarf joints that connect 4x8 structural composite lumber panels end-to-end. “We wanted to make sure that the means in which we joined the panels together was as strong as possible, so we settled on a structural scarf joint,” Tyler says, adding it has been a challenge since the joint can be difficult to produce in required quantities while also maintaining joint quality.
NEW PLANT When permitting issues kept Freres from locating the new MPP plant adjacent its existing plywood plant, the company
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Freres Lumber’s early MPP test press
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decided to use a former mill property it owned roughly halfway between the pressing facility and veneer plant for the MPP project. Construction began in March 2017, and though the weather didn’t cooperate much, and site prep included extensive removal of log yard material while adding 76,000 yards of rock, the facility was ready to begin equipment installation by late August. The new plant is housed in a 320x560 building, plus covered loading-unloading areas outside. In-
side, the production half of the plant features a heated floor that maintains temperatures for efficient resin handling, application and curing. In talking with equipment vendors, the Freres team decided to go with Homag Group and Stiles Machinery, which reports 15 CLT plants under its belt and extensive experience with mass panels and supplied everything from the press area robotic sorter to the CNC system. Deal Manufacturing fabricated most of the material handling and transfer equipment. Local companies CD Redding Construction and North Santiam Paving Co. were the respective building and paving contractors, with Northside Electrical doing electrical work and West Coast Industrial supplying transfer equipment for the scarf line. At infeed, 4x8 panels categorized as structural composite lumber regardless of layup configuration and certified under ASTM D 5456 are initially processed through a double-end tenoner and glue applicator (Hexion MF resin). Panels receive scarf cuts and glue, and 481⁄2 ft. segments are fed through a two-track radio frequency curing press supplied by the Ogden Group. As 481⁄2 ft. billets, the mass panels flow down a long rollcase to a flying saw, are sawn and then lifted via a crane system to a work-in-progress area. All overhead gantry cranes and lift systems were supplied by US Crane. Joulin Vacuum Handling provided the vacuum gantries. A robotic sorter system executes the final panel layup per a pre-programmed product “recipe” and feeds the press. Custom designed by Minda, the TimberPress X 337 can produce panels up to 12 ft. x 481⁄2 ft. and up to 24 in. thick. Extensions and transfers can allow production and handling of up to 60 ft. panels. Press times range up to 130 minutes, and the press can handle multiple panels of different sizes simultaneously. Minda supplied the glue gantry and glue table, while SparTek Industries designed, manufactured and installed the glue head extrusion system. Press controls and the robotic layup system controls are from Aiken Controls. Off-loaded from the press, panels move by rollcase to the finishing side of the plant, where a Weinmann WMP five-axis CNC machine makes finishing cuts such as windows, doors and conduit channels, based on pre-loaded digital files provided by the customer that spec out wall and floor dimensions. The first press load and panels made it through the plant in December. “The limiting factor in the plant is press time, and if we can keep a fast flow of 24 by ➤ 66
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ALMOND
SECONDLOOK
Almond Bros. Lumber in Coushatta, La. has been continuously operating on the same site since 1947—Timber Processing last visited the Almond family, now in its sixth generation of owner/operators, in 2008. While the world economy certainly changed a lot in 10 years, April’s cover story showed that “Almond Wood” is still as good as it gets. 58
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ATLARGE
Forest Products Society Will Host Convention As the housing industry recovers from some volatile years, it is crucial to find ways to make it more sustainable and keep costs to a minimum. The Forest Products Society’s (FPS) 72nd International Convention in Madison, Wis., June 11-14, will focus on this important topic.
In addition to the latest research on mass timber, building innovations and durability, David Fell from FPInnovations will present “Housing Reconsidered: The New Drivers of Wood Demand in North America and Asia.” His remarks will focus on how technical, social and business practice pressures are impacting housing developments, and how the trends of energy efficiency, prefabrica-
tion, carbon, and urban densification provide both challenges and opportunities. Dwayne Sperber, owner of Wudeward Urban Forest Products, will present “Full Circle Urban Forest Management,” describing how felled urban trees in the United States can make a significant impact on local economies by using renewable resources for built spaces. The FPS IC is co-located with TAPPI’s 2018 International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials, bringing together more than 500 experts, researchers and academics in forest products, nanocomposite and biocomposite technologies, mass timber, sustainability, bioenergy, housing, and urban forests. Keynoting the joint event will be Alper Kiziltas, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Sustainable Biomaterials and Plastic Research for Ford Motor Company. Dr. Kiziltas will present “Driving the Automobile Industry Using Sustainable Materials.” Nanocellulose, a sustainable material extracted from trees, is an emerging high-performance material being used to develop ultra-strong, lightweight automotive structural components. Also featured are plenary sessions on Forest Products Education and Forest Bioeconomy. In addition, the FPS IC offers conference-goers the opportunity to attend the Introduction to Wood Science Short Course for a discounted fee. Held at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), also in Madison, it provides a practical understanding of the fundamentals of wood and the processes used to convert it into solid wood products. CEU credits will be offered, as will a guided tour of the FPL. For more information on both conferences and the short course, visit http://ic. forestprod.org/ and http://ic.forestprod.org/ short-course/, or contact Scott Springmier at 404-375-0464 and scott@forest prod.org.
Hancock Named Timberlands Mgr. Roseburg named Pete Hancock as Roanoke Timberlands Manager. Hancock will oversee the day-to-day harvest and land management activities on Roseburg’s 158,000-acre fee land base in North Carolina and Virginia. A 2001 graduate of Virginia Tech where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry, Hancock has built an 62
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ATLARGE impressive 17-year consulting, industrial forest management, and supervisory career. He joins Roseburg from GFR Forestry Consultants, where he has provided clients in northeast North Carolina and southeast Virginia with high-level timber sale, forest management, strategic harvest, and land use planning services for the past 12 years. During college, Hancock spent his summer months in-
terning for International Paper. After graduation, he leveraged that experience into an Area Forester position in the Roanoke area until the properties were sold in 2006. “On the operations side, Pete adds immediate value,” says Gabe Crane, Roseburg Director of Resource Operations and Marketing. “His extensive knowledge of local log markets and existing re-
lationships with facilities and contractors in the area will seamlessly integrate our direct log and stumpage sales programs.” “On the management side, Pete’s passion for best science-based planning, loblolly pine silviculture and the Roanoke land base line up with our longterm management principles and vision,” adds Phil Adams, Roseburg Director of Timberlands. “Pete is a great fit for Roseburg, and we look forward to taking our management of the Roanoke timberlands to the next level together.” Hancock will be based in North Carolina and report to both Crane and Adams.
VAB Solutions Sold TO Timber Automation Timber Automation has acquired VAB Solutions. VAB Solutions offers a range of technology solutions designed to uncover hidden value in every piece of lumber, including its lumber grading optimizer. “We have trusted the reliability, accuracy and innovation of VAB technology for years, regularly recommending our customers use their products. Knowing they hold similar values as Timber Automation made this decision an easy one,” says John Steck, President, Timber Automation. Jean Bérubé, President and Co-founder of VAB Solutions, adds, “We have always held that our products offer the best technology solutions in the market at a fair and competitive price for maximizing lumber manufacturers profitability. Partnering with a strong brand like Timber Automation, and their well-known divisions Baxley and LogPro, will allow us to quickly bring our valuable technology to sawmills all over the U.S.” VAB Solutions will join Baxley, LogPro and Timber Automation Construction as the newest division of Timber Automation. VAB Solutions will continue to operate in Lévis on the South Shore of Québec City, while Timber Automation’s headquarters remain in Hot Springs, Ark., with a manufacturing location in Baxley, Ga.
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54 ➤ 48 that includes multiples of other sizes, it’s always in the back of our mind that we need to keep the press full,” Rob Freres says, adding he can envision various parts of a building system going into the same press load. “We expect our sophistication in using the press will grow over time.”
MPP BELIEVER Through the Freres team’s R&D efforts, Tyler Freres says, “We believe we’ve come up with an evolutionary
jump for this kind of product.” He says people who see the name and think MPP is just plywood glued together are way off track. Pointing to a product sample during the interview, Tyler says, “That six inch panel has 54 different plys with different density grades and orientation, all prescribed by a recipe, so Final layup at press infeed: Glue arbor is at left rear of photo. it’s not just a standard plywood product glued together.” He adds that in addition to being a natural evolution in the company’s veneerbased product line, MPP is also a way for Freres Lumber to diversify away from commodity markets while utilizing more of its LVL-quality veneer production in house. Like any sales manager who believes he’s offering a better alternative to other products on the market, Tyler cites the benefits MPP products have over CLT, beginning with an inherent advantage in flexibility based on each product’s basic building blocks. The basic CLT building block is a 3 layer long grain-cross-grainlong grain layup of three roughly 13⁄8 in. pieces of lumber, and any increase in strength requires adding another layer of cross- and long-grain boards, leaving CLT married to a 3-5-7-9 layer system that has to be maintained regardless of strength requirements. By using 1⁄8 in. layers of veneer in building MPP products, panel strength can be more closely engineered to match required properties, he says. “With CLT, if you want to increase the structural properties of a panel, for example, you have to go from 3-ply to 5-ply, and that’s a massive increase in the volume of wood used to gain the strength you want,” Tyler says. “With MPP, we can really tailor the thickness of the panel to the structural requirements for the job.” Less wood volume to meet the required strength values means lower cost, Tyler says: “Instead of paying for seven inches of wood to reach the same strength and values, you may pay for five inches of wood with MPP.” Freres Lumber made noise two years ago when it first announced the product would use “20% to 30% less wood” in the same applications as CLT. Tyler says the two products are more comparable in smaller thicknesses, but for applications requiring larger thicknesses MPP does get into that range of using almost 20% less wood than the same product made of CLT. ➤ 70
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Another big advantage with 66 ➤ MPP is raw material sourcing, Tyler adds, noting there are real constraints on the supply of high quality lumber that’s been going into CLT production. Meanwhile, MPP is built of veneer sheets that are all density graded, and can reach desired strength properties using a higher percentage of G3 and lower veneers, especially in thicker products, he says. The Freres team has hired a technical director, Pat Farrell, with experience in the LVL industry who’s been a valuable addition in working with engineering
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values and testing agencies, Tyler says. “We’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time, we’re coming up with new recipes all the time, and a small change in veneer composition can change engineering properties.” So far, the plant has been producing mostly crane mats as its first products. While continually refining all processes, the company is sitting on go waiting for structural certifications expected this spring, after which they can publish product values and engineering tables. That’s when the MPP venture en- ➤ 72
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70 ➤ ters a new phase in the marketplace, and Rob says the company hasn’t had to go knocking on many doors or twist any arms to draw interest in the product. “We’ve already had a lot of people approach us about using the product, and we’re seeing that the big guys who’ve been involved with CLT projects would like to do more and a lack of suppliers is holding them back. So we’re hoping to feed into that industry,” he says, adding, “We also have engineers telling us if we can get mass timber panels into the building codes they’ll use it.” Another believer in Freres Lumber’s MPP is the U.S. Forest Service: Last year a grant proposal submitted by Freres won out over 114 proposal entries as the FS identified the MPP plant as its top wood utilization project. In doing so, the company was awarded a $250,000 grant that went toward purchase of the CNC machine. Rob says it’s also satisfying to see the 95-year-old company take on a project that’s geared to the future. “Unlike a lot of other family-owned companies, we’re truly blessed with a younger generation (Tyler and Kyle are identical twins, age 42) who are solid individuals, highly capable, have a lot of experience—and are really competitive,” he says. “Once we made the decision on MPP, these young men have really run with it.” And while the younger generation may be taking the lead with MPP, Tyler says his and Kyle’s father, Freres Lumber President Ted Freres, was “a strident and early supporter” of the MPP project, which would have never gotten off the ground without Ted’s support. He was involved from the very beginning advising on equipment and installation and design of the facility, and “His fingerprints are all over the production processes on the line,” Tyler says. Tyler also cites the support of all the company’s shareholders and their willingness to deploy capital aggressively in a way that many larger companies couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do: Proof of concept by March 2016, test facility operating by end of year, break ground on new plant in March 2017 and have it completed and started up by December. “All told, from concept to production in just over two years,” Tyler muses. “Not bad for a small compaTP ny.” Not bad indeed. Special thanks to the Freres family, which sent additional photos for the article.
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NEWSFEED WTO WILL ADDRESS LUMBER DISPUTE At the request of Canada, the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) has decided to establish two panels to examine Canada’s complaints regarding anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed by the United States on imports of Canadian softwood lumber. Canada reiterated its argument that the measures at issue were inconsistent with U.S. obligations under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994. The United States countered that the measures in question were fully consistent with U.S. obligations under the WTO agreements. In November the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) determined that the U.S. softwood lumber industry is materially injured by reason of imports of softwood lumber from Canada. This determination confirmed earlier rulings by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce that Canadian softwood lumber is subsidized through Canada’s timber pricing policies and that Canadian softwood lumber is sold in the U.S. at less than fair value, otherwise known as dumping.
The combined (subsidization and dumping) duty rates that Canadian companies must now pay range from 9% to 24% depending on the Canadian lumber company. The U.S. government instructed the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits from these importers based on the final rates. In 2016, the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations (COALITION) had petitioned the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to restore the conditions of fair trade in softwood lumber between the U.S. and Canada. The COALITION brought its petition in the immediate aftermath of the expiration of the 2006-2015 U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Trade Agreement,. The previous agreement called for Canadian softwood lumber exporters to pay an export charge when the price of lumber was at or below US$355 per MBF based on the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Price. The U.S.-Canada softwood lumber dispute goes back to at least the Great Depression, and really gained steam in the early 1980s, resulting in a series of petitions, rulings and agreements, the course of which has brought in the
World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement.
WESTERVELT PLANS NEW SAWMILL The Westervelt Company plans to construct a sawmill
in the Southeast. Specific location and design of the new Westervelt lumber facility are being prepared for final approval by Westervelt’s Board of Directors. The new mill will complement the company’s flagship lumber facility in Moundville, Ala., which Westervelt re-
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NEWSFEED ports is the second largest southern yellow pine production facility in the U.S. The expansion will take advantage of the proximity of the company’s timberland and pellet facility, as well as workforce and existing customer bases. The new mill will produce 250MMBF annually and create more than 100 jobs. “The Westervelt Company has a long history in lumber manufacturing and environmental stewardship,” says President and CEO Brian Luoma. “The expansion of our lumber business will continue to build on that legacy. Our customers are growing, and we are doing our part to grow our lumber business to support them.” The Westervelt Company, a privately held company headquartered in Tuscaloosa, Ala., was founded in 1884. The company is currently under the fourth generation of family leadership. Westervelt’s announcement is the fifth announcement in recent months for construction of greenfield southern pine lumber sawmills. Rex Lumber Co. is investing $110 million to build a sawmill with a minimum 240MMBF annual production capacity near Troy, Ala. Hunt Forest Products, based in Rushton, La., and Tolko Industries of Canada are partnering to build a $115 million sawmill in Urania, La. It will produce 200MMBF annually and operate as LaSalle Lumber Company. Georgia-Pacific is building a sawmill at Warrenton, Ga. on property adjacent its existing lumber mill. The $135 million sawmill will produce 350MMBF annually. GP is currently constructing a sawmill in Talladega, Ala. Canfor Corp. announced a plan to build a sawmill in Washington, Ga. with an investment of $120 million and with a production capacity of 275MMBF annually. The mill will be located near the company’s glulam facility in Washington. More SYP sawmill announcements are expected in the near future.
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Call Toll-Free: 1-800-669-5613
LUMBERWORKS
EMPLOYMENTOPPORTUNITIES
Gates Copeland 281-359-7940 • fax 866-253-7032
gcopeland@mrihouston.com • www.mrihouston.com
FOREST PRODUCTS RECRUITING SINCE 1978
The Jobs You Want — The People You Need WWW.SEARCHNA.COM
CONTACT CARL JANSEN AT 541-593-2777 OR Carlj@SearchNA.com
Top Wood Jobs
3779
PROFESSIONALSERVICES WORN OR MISALIGNED CARRIAGE RAILS? A Proven Process
• 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 •Precision Laser Alignment • Machining and Grinding • Carriage and Bandmill Alignment 489
GW Industries www.gwi.us.com
Dennis Krueger 866-771-5040
Jackie Paolo 866-504-9095
greenwoodimportsllc@gmail.com
jackie@gwi.us.com
USED SAWMILL MACHINERY FOR SALE
- 20’ sawmill Newnes Trim Sort Stack line 72 bins, pusher lug c/w auto kiln stick handling. - 20’ planer Newnes Trim Sort Stack, 44 bins, pusher lug, stacker with auto strip placing, strapper/paper wrap system, Newnes Linear High Grader, no planer available - Milltech tilt hoist, USNR Linear High Grader - 24’ Newnes Trim Sort Stack doe planer, 60 bins - VK debarker tandem arrangement, 22” and 27” rings - VK debarker 17” with log feeder and log conveyor - Linden log feeders 20’ - Newnes Curve sawing gang 8” - Brunette Grizzly high inertia rotary hog 48”x 60” - Natural gas Wellons double track lumber dry kilns, 33’ x 104’ - Chip screens BMM various sizes, 7x10, 6x12 (2) - Sawdust screen BMM - Newnes 8” curve sawing gang - USNR SLL Canter Line VSS - Comact DLI canter, Iggesund heads c/w 6’ Twin band - 16’ Sawmill trim sort stack line 53 bins very nice Pictures/drawings on request Hugh Mackay • Mackay Sales 604 277 7046 • mackayh@telus.net 4045
Contact Us Office 541.760.5086 Cell 541.760.7173 Fax 971.216.4994 www.acculine-rails.com george@acculine-rails.com
Importers and Distributors of Tropical Hardwood Kiln Sticks “The lowest cost per cycle”
Recruiting and Staffing George Meek geo@TopWoodJobs.com www.TopWoodJobs.com (360) 263-3371
GREENWOOD KILN STICKS
127
Management Recruiters of Houston Northeast
SEARCH NORTH AMERICA, INC. IT'S YOUR MOVE...
1615
2200
Specializing in confidential career opportunities in the Forest Products industry
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WOOD PRODUCTS marketplace NORTH AMERICA
■ Minnesota
■ United States
■ Tennessee
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.
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 5, 2018
■ Kentucky HAROLD WHITE LUMBER, INC.
WANT TO GET YOUR AD IN OUR NEXT MARKETPLACE?
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
Call or email Melissa McKenzie 334-834-1170 melissa@hattonbrown.com
Sales/Service: 336-746-5419
336-746-6177 (Fax) • www.kepleyfrank.com
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MAINEVENTS 2-4—Virginia Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Omni Richmond, Richmond, Va. Call 804-278-8733; visit vaforestry.org. 8-10—Western Wood Products Assn. annual meeting, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa, Austin, Tex. Call 503-224-3930; visit wwpa.org. 8-12—Xylexpo 2018, Fiera Milano Rho Fairgrounds, Milan, Italy. Phone +39-02-89210200; Visit xylexpo.com/index.php/en. 11-12—Northeastern Forest Products Equipment Expo, Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, Vt. Call 315-3693078; visit northernlogger.com. 18-19—Expo Richmond 2018, Richmond Raceway Complex, Richmond, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit exporichmond.com.
JUNE 9-12—Assn. of Consulting Foresters of America annual meeting, Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC. Visit acf-foresters.org.
JULY 16-18—Georgia Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Westin Resort & Spa, Hilton Head, SC. Call 912-635-6400; visit gfagrow.org. 18-21—2018 Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. annual meeting, Park Hyatt, Beaver Creek, Colo. Call 770-6316701; visit slma.org. 29-31—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Summer Conference, Omni Homestead Resort, Hot Springs, Va. Call 336885-8315; visit www.appalachianwood.org. 29-August 1—Walnut Council annual meeting, Grand River Center, Dubuque, Iowa. Call 765-583-3501; visit walnutcouncil.org.
AUGUST 22-25—IWF 2018, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 404-693-8333; visit iwfatlanta.com.
OCTOBER 15-16—28th Annual WMI Workshop on Design, Operation and Maintenance of Saws and Knives, Holiday Inn Portland Airport, Portland, Ore. Call 925-943-5240; visit woodmachining.com. 17-19—Timber Processing & Energy Expo, Portland Expo Center, Portland, Ore. Call 334-834-1170; visit timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com. 22-25—Lesdrevmash 2018, 17th International Exhibition for Machinery, Equipment and Technology for Logging, Woodworking and Furniture Industries, Expocentre Fairgrounds, Moscow, Russia. Visit lesdrevmash-expo.ru/en. Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend. ■
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ADVERTISER American Wood Dryers Andritz Iggesund Tools Autolog BM&M Bandit Industries Brunner Hildebrand Claussen All-Mark International Cleereman Industries Cone Omega Corley Manufacturing Delta Computer Systems EXPO 2019 Fulghum Industries Gilbert Products Grasche USA Holtec USA Hurdle Machine Works Hurst Boiler & Welding ISK Biocides Itipack Systems James G Murphy JoeScan KDS Windsor Les Drev Mash 2018 Linck Linden Fabricating Lucidyne Technologies McDonough Manufacturing Mebor Metal Detectors Mid-South Engineering Muhlbock Holztrocknungsanlagen Murray-Latta Progressive Machine Nelson Bros Engineering Oleson Saw Technology Pantron Automation Peninsular Cylinder Piche Precision-Husky Premier Bandwheel Rawlings Manufacturing Reiter Technical Services Salem Equipment Select Sawmill Sennebogen Sering Sawmill Machinery Serra Maschinenbau Gmbh Sharp Tool Signode Packaging Systems SII Dry Kilns Simonds-Burton-BGR Saws-CutTech Smith Sawmill Services SonicAire Springer Maschinenfabrik GmbH Stringer Industries T S Manufacturing Taylor Machine Works Team Safe Trucking Telco Sensors Tigercat Industries Timber Automation Tradetec Computer Systems U S Blades U S Metal Works USNR Valutec Vollmer of America West Coast Industrial Systems West Salem Machinery WMF 2018 China Wolftek Industries Wood-Mizer Woodtech Measurement Solutions
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