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A Hatton-Brown Publication
Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. 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 46 • Number 4 • May 2021 Founded in 1976 • Our 473rd Consecutive Issue
Publisher: David H. Ramsey Chief Operating Officer: Dianne C. Sullivan Editor-in-Chief: Rich Donnell Senior Editor: Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor: David Abbott Senior Associate Editor: Jessica Johnson Associate Editor: Patrick Dunning Publisher/Editor Emeritus: David (DK) Knight Art Director/Prod. Manager: Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator: Patti Campbell Circulation Director: Rhonda Thomas Online Content/Marketing: Jacqlyn Kirkland 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
Renew or subscribe on the web: www.timberprocessing.com
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NEWSFEED
Northern Spotted Owl Causes Lawsuits
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DEMPSEY WOOD PRODUCTS
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HMA EXPO
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PLANER MILL BONANZA
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The Improvements Keep Coming First Face-To-Face Gathering
Technology Keeps Getting Better
HARDWOOD LOG PROCUREMENT
Recent Survey Tells Interesting Story
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MACHINERY ROW
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AT LARGE
Smith Sawmill Expands Into East Coast Good Earth Names Leadership
COVER: From the log yard through the planer mill, Dempsey Wood
Midwest USA, Eastern Canada
Products is going gangbusters with new technology. Story begins on PAGE 14. (Jessica Johnson photo)
John Simmons 32 Foster Cres. Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 905.666.0258 • FAX: 905.666.0778 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com
VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.timberprocessing.com Member Verified Audit Circulation
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 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 11 times annually (monthly except Jan./Feb.) 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: 800-6695613; 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 ® 2021. 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
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Rich Donnell Editor-In-Chief
IT’S NEXT UP FOR MANY INDEPENDENT SAWMILLS
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he cover story for this issue, on Dempsey Wood Products in Orangeburg, SC, provides further evidence that I am aging quickly. But in a good way. What I mean is, is that the current patriarch of the company, Ronald Dempsey, who is roughly my age, has passed along leadership of the company to his son, Parker, who is roughly the age of our editor, Jessica Johnson, who recently visited the mill and wrote the article. I’m seeing this pattern with more and more stories that we do—the guy I knew back in the day is now in the background, while his son (or daughter) is taking charge; so why shouldn’t I send an editor who is the next generation as well, and they can communicate in the 30something way that the next generation communicates. The important thing is, is that another great article on their company appears in our magazine. The first time we visited them, in 1989, Ronald only several months previous had started up a combination chip mill/scragg mill mostly hardwood production operation near Orangeburg. He had left his employment at Stone Container late the previous year. He had stayed with Stone when Stone had purchased his family’s lumber business, Dean-Dempsey Lumber, in 1983 which included two grade hardwood mills, a pine sawmill and several satellite chip mills. Dempsey Wood Products, meanwhile, under Ronald and Parker’s guidance, has transformed into a high production, high technology southern pine sawmill, especially since Parker entered the picture. Perhaps the bigger picture I want to get across is that the U.S. lumber industry is in the middle of a changing of the guard. I’m not referring to the dozens and dozens of former independent sawmill operations now owned by Canadian corporations. I’m referring to the existing independent, family owned sawmill operations whose leadership is transitioning from dads like Ronald Dempsey to sons like Parker Dempsey. This has showed up in some of the articles we’ve done in recent years on Jordan Lumber, Burt Lumber, Vaagen Bros., Rex Lumber and the list goes on. Of course many of these independents have been through several “changing of the guards,” because they’re in their third or even fourth generation. And for some the “changing” happens sooner than for others. In a way they’re always preparing for this moment. From the outside looking in, as one who has known most of the older guard, it’s pretty cool to observe when this transition kicks in. For sure, the new breed is experiencing two things their dads didn’t: the pandemic and unprecedented lumber prices. Mostly likely, both of those phenomena will go away. I would imagine there was some regret for the independents who sold their businesses to Canadian corporations. Certainly each of them had their own set of circumstances that enticed them to sell. Perhaps the next generation wasn’t interested. But based on what we’ve read and heard, it was well worth it, financially; though I’m sure several are wondering what it would have been like to still be in business with these lumber prices. Though we lost many independents to Canada, I’m not sure we’ve reached the point of calling those who remain a dying breed. There seems to be a healthy number of them still going strong, under the leadership of younger and, let’s face it, TP smarter men and women than their elders were. Our industry is better for it.
Contact Rich Donnell, ph: 334-834-1170; fax 334-834-4525; e-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com TIMBER PROCESSING
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NEWSFEED SPOTTED OWL IS BACK IN COURT Preservationist groups and timber industry interests have filed lawsuits against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service over developments concerning critical habitat acreage designation for the Northern Spotted Owl, which has been listed as a “threatened” species (not endangered) since 1990 under the Endangered Species Act. Federal acreage set aside for the owl, and related reductions in national forest timber sales caused a major disruption to the Northwest forest products industry in the 1990s that lingers to this day. Preservationists filed a lawsuit March 23 in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division, claiming USFWS bypassed procedures, laws and all reasonable
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discretion when in January the USFWS ruling published in the Federal Register eliminated 3.472 million acres of federal land from the owl’s critical habitat designation in Washington, Oregon and California counties—an amount that was increased from 204,000 acres in 15 Oregon counties in a preliminary proposal by USFWS in 2020. Preservationists are asking that the USFWS ruling be totally struck. Some of the preservationist groups acting as plaintiffs include Wilderness Society, Sierra Club, Audubon Society, Environmental Protection Information Center and others. Meanwhile USFWS delayed the effective date of its ruling through the end of April and possibly beyond, calling for more public comment. One of the reasons for the delay, according to USFWS, was that the incoming presidential ad-
ministration recommended that all rules published in the Federal Register but that had not taken effect should undergo further review. USFWS stated, “We are delaying the effective date of the final rule to give us time to consider questions of law, policy and fact in regard to that final rule,” adding that “in light of the litigation history of northern spotted owl critical habitat designation, we are reviewing whether the rulemaking was procedurally adequate.” Subsequently, American Forest Resource Council joined the Assn. of O&C (Oregon & California) Counties and other counties in Washington, Oregon and California in a lawsuit challenging the USFWS delay in implementing its January ruling. The January 2021 critical habitat designation removed areas that are not habitat for
the owl and have been set aside for timber production under the Northwest Forest Plan and federal law, according to AFRC, adding that acreage setasides for the owl this century have cost Pacific Northwest communities more than a billion dollars and over a thousand family-wage jobs, while providing little benefit for species conservation. “The 2021 designation aligns NSO critical habitat with federal law, modern forest science, and common sense at a time when unprecedented and severe wildfires threaten both owls and people from northern California to Washington state,” AFRC stated. “We are challenging the delay because it violates federal laws and wrongfully restricts timber harvests on non-NSO habitat.” The delay also restricts the use of active forest management tools that help reduce the
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NEWSFEED risks of severe wildfires—the kind that burned more than 560 square miles of suitable nesting and roosting spotted owl habitat in Oregon last year, AFRC stated. The AFRC lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges USFWS failed to provide a lawful justification for the delay, nor did it provide the public with notice or opportunity to comment. Critical habitat acreage designation for the owl has hovered around 6.8 million acres of federal land, not including national parks, national wildlife refuges, and congressionally designated Wilderness areas where logging is largely prohibited, since the original USFWS designation in 1992. The AFRC lawsuit argues the USFWS critical habitat designation was the product of extensive public comments and is consistent with the
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agency’s obligations under the Endangered Species Act and the O&C Act. The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court to vacate the USFWS delay and declare the 2021 critical habitat designation as immediately effective.
NEIMAN CLOSES HILL CITY MILL Neiman Enterprises, Inc. announced the shutdown of its sawmill, Rushmore Forest Products, in Hill City, SD, citing a lack of timber sales in the Black Hills National Forest. “This decision does not come easily and our hearts are with those affected,” the company states. The Hill City location directly employed 120, ran 12 contract crews and indirectly supported countless other local businesses. Hill City has a pop-
ulation of approximately 1,000. Jim D. Neiman, President of Neiman Enterprises, Inc., comments, “I never thought I would see the day when we would be out of options to keep all our facilities running. Lumber markets have been exceptionally high for the past year and have broken all-time record highs. The problem here is purely a lack of timber available for purchase in the Black Hills and we rely on the Forest Service for approximately 80 percent of our supply.” The announcement comes as some groups push for continued and even further reductions in available timber. “Unfortunately, there are severe consequences associated with that push and this announcement illustrates what is at stake in the Black Hills—our very ability to care for and manage our forests, and to support our communities,” Neiman says.
Ben Wudtke, Executive Director of Black Hills Forest Resource Assn., recalls the successes in fighting the mountain pine beetle in the Black Hills, but adds, “Waging those battles took all the forest products companies in the Black Hills to help save our forests. We have just lost some of our ability to win those battles.” Neiman Enterprises is based in Hulett, Wyo. and operates a sawmill there, along with a sawmill and pellet mill in Spearfish, SD, and sawmills in Montrose, Colo. and Gilchrist, Ore. Neiman acquired the Hill City sawmill in 1998 from Continental Lumber.
RUSSIA OPENS CLT FACILITY Segezha Group President Mikhail Shamolin visited
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NEWSFEED Sokol in Vologda Oblast to oversee the grand opening of Segezha Group’s cross-laminated timber (CLT) plant. The plant is the first industrial-scale production facility to manufacture the innovative building construction material in Russia. The factory is located at Sokol Woodworking Plant, a leading producer of laminated wooden structures. Segezha Group, a Sistema company, has invested more than RUB 3 billion in the new manufacturing facility. The production capacity of the new line is 50,000 m3 and the line is equipped with machinery from Ledinek, Imeas and SCM Group. The plant has created 50 jobs. In June 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia included the construction of Sokol CLT in the list of priority investment projects in the field of forestry development. In December 2019, the Invest-
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ment Council under the Governor of Vologda Oblast assigned the project regional priority status. The first CLT panel was delivered in autumn 2019 and the product certification procedure commenced. The company is launching the production of CLT moldings and custom panels with a thickness of 8 to 40 cm, width up to 3.6 m and length up to 16 m. Each panel consists of three to nine layers. Even though part of Sokol CLT’s production is being reserved for foreign partners, Segezha Group intends to take an active role in developing the domestic market in Russia. Next year, the company plans to start the construction of Russia’s first multi-storey building using CLT together with Etalon Group (also a Sistema company) in Moscow. Segezha Group is a Rus-
sian vertically integrated wood processing and pulp and paper holding with facilities in 11 countries and more than 13,000 employees. Segezha Group holds leased forest resources totaling 7.42 million hectares, of which 81% (6.36 million hectares) has achieved forest management certification from FSC. Segezha Group published this information on its web site, segezha-group.com.
OSU PREDICTS LOG PRICES Researchers at Oregon State University say they have found a new way to predict the future price of logs that uses readily accessible economic information. “Log prices are really variable,” says Jeff Reimer, a professor of applied economics at Oregon State. “That makes
this a difficult business, whether you are a land manager, mill owner, timberland investor or, as we are seeing now, a home builder.” The health of the timber industry can be measured in various ways, including harvest levels, employment in timber harvesting and at mills, and lumber demand. Yet the prices of cut and delivered logs may be the most direct way to monitor the condition of timber markets, Reimer says. Reimer’s study, recently published in the journal Forest Policy and Economics, focused on Douglas fir, the most commercially important timber species in the Pacific Northwest. He found that simply knowing the number of housing permits issued in a month can explain about 46.8% of the variation in log prices over time. Adding additional information—including the monthly
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NEWSFEED inventory of homes, mortgage rates, the exchange rate with Canada (also a big timber supplier) and the Case-Shiller home price index—explains about three-fourths (74.3%) of the price variation. “These variables are readily observable and thus can be used by industry decision-makers to make better predictions about future values of logs and timberland,” says Reimer, who cites data that shows the average price of Douglas fir logs between 2005 and 2020 was $631 per MBF in southern Oregon. Yet this average disguises a great deal of variation in price. From 2005 to 2020, the price ranged from $346 per MBF to $924 per MBF. The difference between the minimum and maximum was $578, nearly as large as the 15-year average price itself. Since the paper was written, lumber prices
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have increased more, reaching the $1,000 per MBF range. “Right now log prices are phenomenally high,” Reimer says. “It can feel like feast or famine in this industry but there is a logic that underlies the changes. The benefit of this paper is that we have identified a few pieces of readily observable information that allow people in the timber industry to make solid predictions about what will be happening in the next six months or so.”
OLD GP SITE STIRS AGAIN Fifteen years after GeorgiaPacific closed its Gaylord, Mich particleboard plant, Michigan Lumber and Wood Fiber Inc. of Comins, Mich. bought the 850-acre parcel and is now working to build a new sawmill and fiber yard. The
company hopes to begin construction in May and begin mill operations early in 2022, starting with stock lumber used to make pallets and crates for shipping products. The company looks to expand into higher grades of hardwood lumber in the future. Michigan Lumber & Wood Fiber was founded in 2008 as a trucking firm that expanded into lumber and wood products under owner Tim Bills. Over a 10-year period Bills was able to grow the sawmill in Comins into a major hardwood lumber concern in the Great Lakes region. Then came a devastating fire in June 2019 that destroyed the mill.
OREGON MILL HAS NEW LIFE Following a disastrous 2019 fire that threatened a decade of
progress, a group of investors has purchased the assets of Integrated Biomass Resources (IBR) in Wallowa, Ore. to continue operating the small log processing facility as Heartwood Biomass LLC. According to Heartwood CEO David Schmidt, who founded the facility with his wife, Jesse, in 2009, the operation benefits from community support for Heartwood’s goal to create niche products from small diameter timber coming off forest restoration projects. Schmidt believes the facility is scalable and similar ventures could operate in key forest restoration across the U.S. West. In addition to chips and biomass, the facility has produced wood products like bundled firewood for grocery stores; agricultural poles for hops, vineyard and orchard structures; and fence posts for ranches.
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PROJECT
EXPERT By Jessica Johnson
South Carolina SYP timbers producer, Dempsey Wood Products, keeps lighting up the scoreboard.
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ORANGEBURG, SC n a time when greenfield southern yellow pine sawmills are popping up like seedlings, Dempsey Wood Products (DWP) has been standing strong in South Carolina at its 32-year-old site. DWP, led by Ronald Dempsey, son Parker Dempsey and project (and mill) manager Michael Gulley, has been moving about the mill the last few years, implementing major projects from one corner to the next. It’s not greenfield, but they’ve nearly built a complete new mill.
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For Parker and Gulley, the greenfield designs aren’t as fun. The challenge, and fun, comes in putting together the puzzle pieces. For Gulley, who isn’t family but is pretty close having grown up alongside the younger Dempsey and been nosing around the mill since high school, having owners who want to invest in the mill keeps it exciting. But also, he says, looking forward to the projects helps keep him, and the staff of more than 100, always on their toes. Dempsey credits the constant project mode to his father, Ronny: “He’s the true visionary behind it all. He’s the one that thought it all through and was the inspiration behind it all.” A common joke between Gulley and Dempsey is what is the next project on Ronnie’s mind. The pair laughs and agrees, “He keeps us busy.” Like most mills, a challenge at DWP is real estate. There is only so much area to put in new machines. “Most of the time we’re challenged in what we have available because we weren’t a greenfield mill,” Dempsey says. They don’t mind it. “Seems like each project has inspired another project and opened the door to new visions and new opportunities,” Dempsey says. As of late, those visions and opportunities have been non-stop. First in 2016 was the addition of a Cone-Omega tru-position sharp chain two-sided canter system, with optimized log rotation and positioning. DWP was kind enough to let Timber Processing in the door in November 2016 to show it off. The next year DWP installed a USNR 68 ft. natural gas batch drying double track kiln to bring drying in-house. But for the Dempseys, this was just the beginning. “It sometimes seems as though we do things a little backwards and by doing that we can create bottlenecks,” Dempsey admits with a grin. In 2019 DWP started up an entire BID Comact sawmill line that picked up where the Cone-Omega line stopped at the primary breakdown, and a Wellons 84 ft. natural gas drying double track kiln. Dempsey explains, “We chose to focus on the sawmill first to see what our production could actually be. Once we knew that, we moved on to the rest of the projects.” “The rest” Dempsey references is new log yard equipment, converting one of the batch kilns to a continuous kiln, extending the other kiln and a two-phase planer mill upgrade that they’re in the middle of now. The Comact project was a major project that basically created a new facility, Dempsey says. “That drastically changed the footprint of our operation. We went from 65MMBF on a single 60 hour weekly shift to 100MMBF on a single 50 hour weekly shift. This year with the additions, we’re hoping to get to 120MMBF; operating on the same 50
Dempsey Wood Products was FiberPro’s first full line, multi-saw merchandising line installation. Logs are kicked on a Cone-Omega tru-positioning sharp chain for primary breakdown.
Installing a new BID Comact sawmill line was a major jumping off point for DWP.
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With the latest round of improvements in the sawmill and planer mill, DWP now cuts 120MMBF annually.
planing, and once again Dempsey says he feels like they may have done things a little backwards. At the same time the Comact sawmill line was being installed, DWP added a Wellons 84 ft. batch dry kiln. This helped alleviate some of the pressure, but didn’t completely remove the bottleneck. Dempsey and the team decided to add on to the Wellons, extending it 42 more feet in 2021, but keeping it a batch kiln, while the USNR installation from 2017 was converted to a continuous dry kiln in 2020. Dempsey liked how the Wellons dried 6x6s especially as a batch kiln so instead of converting it to a CDK it was left alone.
LOG YARD
From left, Parker Dempsey, Ronald Dempsey and Michael Gulley
hour single shift,” he adds. “What’s impressive is we've done all the work with very minimal downtime.”
NEW LINE The Comact installation included a primary breakdown profiler and quad saw box to get sideboards, as well as a TBL3 shape saw and gang with profiling. It finishes with a Comact trim line (double unscrambler, revolving tong lug loader, infinite fencing system, trim saw and smart gate tipple); Comact 50 bay sorter with sorter manager and auto bundle tracking; Moco lumber stacker with automatic stick laying. All controls and optimization were provided by Comact. At quick glance, this Comact system seems fairly typical of the newer mills in U.S. South. But what makes DWP different is its product mix—shying away from dimension lumber in favor of timbers. Dempsey explains that while most Comact mills are geared up towards mainly dimension lumber production, DWP’s focus is 4x4, 6x6, 5/4x6 decking and 2x4 16
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prime. However, the mill has the option and is set up to run dimension lumber. Scanners were placed on the sawmill line and trim line to see knots, something new for DWP. “Vision was important to us,” he adds, as the mill tries not to push grades and instead pushes quality. “We try to make a good product hoping that through the dry and planing process we don’t have a lot of downfall and don’t have to push the grade, because we grade harder than we have to at the planer.” As with all startups, there were things that had to be struggled through, but Dempsey and Gulley have no complaints about the support received from Comact. “Things are not going to be perfect,” Dempsey says. “As long as we get the support on the back end, I can’t complain. And, they are 45 minutes down the road—that was a big reason we went with them, being right there, for parts and service,” he adds, referring to Comact’s facility at St. George, SC. Adding the Comact upgrade and increasing production capacity in the sawmill meant a bottleneck at drying and
A log yard project has been on the Dempseys minds since before the ConeOmega project in 2016, knowing that at some point this would need to be done. That time finally took priority: The November 2020 shutdown to replace the 32 year old Fulghum 87 ft. radius crane with a new electric crane and 25 ton Mack rotating grapple, an almost identical crane to the old one with the exception of the hydraulics. It was the smoothest upgrade and install Dempsey says he’s ever been a part of. “It was almost like flipping a switch,” he says. The old crane was down and new one running in under three weeks. The sawmill never missed a beat with the help of a knuckleboom and wheel loader. As with many projects at DWP one thing usually serves as a jumping off point, and for the log yard the crane was it. Next came an updated Valon Kone 22 in. ring debarker, supported by an MDI metal detector, USNR Bio-Luma optimization and UNSR controls (with Mill Track) on a FiberPro multi-saw merchandising log bucking system. This was among the first full-line installations for Josh Krauss’ new venture, FiberPro. Dempsey was pleased with USNR’s controls work on the line: It was close coupled in areas, which can make controls work a challenge, but after a challenging start USNR rose to the occasion and “did a really great job overcoming the challenge and getting everything to click.” Because of the FiberPro equipment design and USNR controls, DWP is able to operate the complete merchandiser line with only one operator. DWP had a good relationship with Krauss before he began FiberPro, and Dempsey says all involved at DWP were impressed by the how fast and smooth the system, from the clockwork stem singulator through the five saw merchandiser to the electric pinball kickers, was. DWP stepped
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First installed in 2017, DWP’s dry kiln from USNR was converted to a CDK in 2020.
A new USNR trim line in the planer mill kicked off phase one of DWP projects in 2021.
A new Samuel strapper was also part of planer mill phase one.
out a little on faith in selecting the first screw feeder and cam loader Krauss (and his team at FiberPro) ever built. Dempsey says what sold him was that the system even ends the log and loads it in a forward motion onto the Cone-Omega saw line. “It gives us a precise gap between the logs going into the saw line, which we put a lot of attention towards, because if you’re not cutting fiber out of the log, you’re cutting air,” he explains. “A lot of mills may focus more on feed speed,
which is great too and we push that as well. But, if you run 600 feet a minute with a 20 foot gap, you’d be better off running 500 feet a minute with a 10 foot gap. There’s definitely a relation there between feed speed and gap.”
they better be looking at increasing the planer mill capacity, so it was time to dive into the two-phase planer mill project slated for 2021. In January, a new USNR trim saw, USNR stacker, Samuel strapper and Carter Machine planer feed table were added to the existing planer mill. Phase two will be completed during the second part of the year and includes a USNR Transverse High Grader (THG), lug loader, infinite fence system feeding into the trimmer and sorter, as well as adding a
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PLANER MILL Because of the expected increased production and efficiency from the log yard and dry kiln production, Dempsey knew
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bridge to the existing Yates A20 planer, and a USNR semi-continuous double stack tilt hoist installed on the infeed. Dempsey admits that the planer is beyond need of replacing and is a bottleneck. Several planers are quoted, but the team wants to get through phase two first, getting the flow handled better, before increasing feed speed at the planer itself. Instead of going with a single vendor in the facility, Dempsey says each new project is a new opportunity, and the team sets out to build relationships with a variety of equipment vendors, from Cone-Omega to FiberPro to Comact to USNR and onward. He says, “We try not to judge it on price, but try to judge it on who has the best design for our applications. Most always we are not a cookie cuter design. It takes creative thinking and who’s willing to come up with the best plan. Both the cutting and the handling of our variety of products are unique.” Of course, lead time is a factor as mills and equipment companies have been incredibly busy lately. Dempsey does concede that one single vendor would be easier at times, before adding, “At the same time it’s probably good we have it spread out a little bit too. We’ve been treated very well by every one—always been treated like we’re a huge customer even though we’re not a multi-mill, huge corporation.”
heads. From there cants are further processed using the new Comact sawmill line, by profiling at the primary and running the two-sided cant through Comact’s TBL3 shape sawing gang on the secondary. From the saw line, pieces flow through the Comact trim line, past the unscrambler, to the sorter, and the Moco stacker in preparation for drying and finishing. Once dried, either in the batch kiln or the CDK, pieces move to the planer mill, planed using the Yates A20 and then trimmed, stacked and strapped for ship-
ping. Industrial markets and applications are also a part of what DWP manufactures and sells.
HINDSIGHT Many have toured through DWP over the years as the mill continues to put in new equipment, and to Dempsey those tours offer opportunities to look back on the projects—what he would have tweaked and what he’s been impressed by. He says most times, he looks back in hindsight and sees one or two little things
MILL FLOW After all phases of the planer mill project are done, Dempsey says his goal to focus on day-to-day operations and efficiencies. Then again, he says every year he and Gulley laugh, wondering what the elder Dempsey might have on his mind: “We’re always kicking around other options, never know how serious we will get.” DWP processes logs from a 60 mile radius in sizes no bigger than 18 in. “It’s important for us to target our ideal log size,” Dempsey says, “which is around 12 in. DBH.” Overall, log availability is good. “We are blessed with quality wood suppliers,” he says. Logs are trucked in and purchased at the gate. Unloading happens with the new Fulghum crane, and then is either processed using the new FiberPro merchandising line, or put into storage. From the Valon Kone debarker to the FiberPro line, logs are kicked onto a Comact scan chain with Comact scanning, then to the Cone-Omega tru-position sharp chain primary breakdown line, which produces two-sided cants, using Key Knife chip TIMBER PROCESSING
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DWP’s Dry End Division is the latest area of the mill to receive significant capital expenditure.
he would have done differently, but does point specifically to getting the Comact lug loader on the trim line dialed in as a great success, especially considering the variety of products DWP focuses on. None of it would be possible without the key employees. Dempsey says he wants to develop a good culture around the mill, and continuously works at doing so, but most of how DWP operates
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on a daily basis has just happened naturally, thanks to the people. He credits their “whatever it takes” attitude to the successes of the projects over the years, while also still being able to keep moving production upward. Dempsey makes notice of the large group of veteran employees, many that have been with the family operation for 20-30 years. Dempsey is also excited
about the group of young talent that has taken on major key roles, all of which are under the age of 40, including Dempsey himself and Gulley. They’ve had time to listen to (and learn from) the DWP veterans. "Sawmilling isn’t the same every day,” Ronny Dempsey says. “But, best we can tell this group is here to stay and we’re excited about the future.” His sentiments are echoed by Gulley who says that without the great people willing to work hard, the new equipment would be almost an insurmountable hurdle. “With something new comes new problems and new challenges,” Gulley says. But those startup mode challenges aren’t used as a crutch at DWP. “You’ve got to push on through. I don’t care what vendor you go with, you’ve got to work through those challenges,” Dempsey says. For Gulley, he can always look back and see areas where things could have been done differently. “At the time you think you have all your bases covered on a project, but that is rarely the case. Always learn after the fact and then use it on the next one.” And with DWP, it’s clear there will be TP a next one.
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SAWMILLERS MEET IN-PERSON Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. holds 2021 annual meeting in Texas
Seven learning sessions were held during the HMA annual meeting.
AUSTIN, Tex. ardwood lumbermen from across the U.S. gathered in Austin for the Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. annual meeting, March 23-26. The meeting, held at the Hyatt Regency overlooking the beautiful Colorado River, drew more than 100 under the theme of “resilience.” The program included seven learning sessions, the Board of Directors business meeting and annual elections for HMA and a meeting of HMA NextGen—formerly known as the HMA Millennial Council. The census among attendees was that everyone, while perhaps a little apprehensive at first to gather, definitely still needs the networking and information sharing that happens at annual meetings and conferences. “It was great reconnecting with
H
HMA members and having the opportunity to share new product information,” Stacy Mellott, Mellott Mfg., remarks. Anderson-Tully’s Geoff Henderson had similar sentiments, saying it is easy to just stay home, as everyone has gotten used to it with the pandemic, but stepping out and sharing information also has its place in the world and mingling with others in the industry does nothing but good. HMA Board of Directors elected Troy Brown, Kretz Lumber Co., Inc., Antigo, Wis., as President. Other HMA officers for 2021 are Vice President Tommy Petzoldt, East Perry Lumber Co., Frohna, Mo.; and Executive Vice President Linda Jovanovich, HMA, Pittsburgh. Additionally, HMA Board of Direc-
tors elected members to the Executive Committee. They are Geoff Henderson, Anderson-Tully Co., Vicksburg, Miss.; Hal Mitchell, Atlanta Hardwood Corp., Mableton, Ga.; Craig Miller, Battle Lumber Co., Inc., Wadley, Ga.; Wayne Law, New River Hardwoods, Mountain City, Tenn.; and Tom Gerow, Wagner Millwork, LLC, Owego, New York. Bob Miller, Frank Miller Lumber Co., Union City, Ind., will serve on the Executive Committee as the immediate past president. During the Conference’s Thursday Business Meeting, HMA members elected Directors Hal Mitchell, Atlanta Hardwood Corp., Mableton, Ga.; Richard Buchanan, Granite Hardwoods, Inc., Granite Falls, NC; Bruce Dahn, HHP, Inc.,
The Vendor Expo and Café were incredibly popular during the three-day event. 24
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Henniker, NH; Kirby Kendrick, Kendrick Forest Products, Inc., Edgewood, Ia.; and Bucky Pescaglia, MO PAC Lumber, Fayette, Mo. Newly appointed to the HMA NextGen Leaders Council are: Kaitlyn Wood, Gates Milling, Inc., Gatesville, NC; Lindsey DiGangi, Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co., Philadelphia; and Patrick Cullinan, Stella-Jones Corp., Pittsburgh. Bob Miller, Frank Miller Lumber Co., Union City, Ind., continues to serve as the Council Coordinator.
SEMINARS The HMA learning sessions provided essential information on industry hot topics such as pathways to resilience; the scary truth about cyber crimes; and global market trends from Michael Snow, the American Hardwood Export Council Executive Director. Hardwood Federation Executive Director Dana Cole offered an update on their advocacy and representation work; while committee representatives from the Real American Hardwood Coalition provided an update on their work as well. Chris Fehr with UC Coatings says he was happy to be a part of the group that
Each day provided a chance to catch up.
TP’s booth had plenty of candy!
broke the ice and networked, and the Real American Hardwood Coalition (RAHC), which appears to have widespread support among the industry, gave him hope that through this program the industry will finally have a voice to combat some of the misinformation being spread by those products offered as wood substitutes. Mellott echoed Fehr saying, “The Real American Hardwood Coalition presentation was fascinating and showed many exciting possibilities towards promoting natural hardwoods.”
Many attendees remarked on the importance of educating the industry on topics like cyber crimes, as the industry gets more and more digitized. For Nyle’s Jeremy Pitts, the HMA event served as a good jumping off point—showing that people were ready to be together again, as the country opens up more and more. “The learning sessions were absolutely great,” Pitts said. “I truly enjoyed the session on cyber crime because I think it’s something that typically gets ignored in an ‘older’ industry like ours.” TP
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PLANERMILLBONANZA EDITOR’S NOTE: The following companies submitted these editorial profiles and images to complement their advertisements placed elsewhere in this issue. Please refer to those advertisements for web site and contact information. All statements and claims are attributable to the companies.
AUTOLOG Autolog’s ProGrader Linear Planer Optimizer has been quoted by mill personnel as one of the easiest grading systems to work with. What does easy to use mean exactly? It means you can quickly leverage the knowledge and the experience of your key graders. At many locations, graders with limited computer knowledge can learn and delve into the system in order to extract the most value out of every piece. Easy to use means that your resources will be autonomous. Autolog’s ProGrader is a linear optimizer designed to fully automate the grading process of dressed lumber at the planer. Being positioned just after the planer, its group of sensors (geometric, vision and tracheid), which face each side of the board at 90 degrees, provide an unobstructed reading as well as stop any major planer mechanical production issue. It is a reliable and fast system that can be installed closed coupled or Autolog ProGrader is built with mill personnel in mind. not, processing all dimensions between 1x3 to 6x12, 6 ft. and up. The 3D geometric sensors measure dimensions, skip, wane, holes and warp; the 2D vision sensors measure knots, rot, splits and shakes, bark, etc.; and the tracheid sensors measure slope of grain and detect knots and unsound wood. The ProGrader LTS (Linear Tracking System) control module provides information on all data that is collected and how it is trending. It integrates the analysis of detailed and precise data on the tracking and synchronization of boards, keeps track of the board gap and synchronizes its speed with your electrical planer. It monitors and leverages information from all sensors, moisture reader and MSR to maximize the board value. The ProGrader Linear Planer Optimizer offers the best price-performance ratio with less than one-year payback. Autolog’s automation solution can seamlessly integrate your selection of equipment from the tilt hoist to the stacker.
BID GROUP What happens when an experienced planerman decides to design and manufacture the most reliable high-speed planer? BID Group’s Miller Planer. The design of the Miller planer is based on an in-depth knowledge of the needs and problems in the planer mill. The result is innovative design and top-quality material and technology used to facilitate operation, BID Group’s Miller Planer is designed for maximum efficiency and uptime. maintenance and ensure maximum uptime. The planer is mounted on the heaviest frame and sub-base in the industry to handle the most demanding applications and ensure durability. All planer parts are manufactured with materials that reduce wear and metal fatigue, no matter the price or the complexity. The objective is to ensure maximum uptime, the fastest speed and absolute accuracy. The planer can process pieces that are 8 ft. + in length (there is no length limit) and 1x3 to 6x12 in. width, with speeds up to 3,000 FPM. The Miller planer offers many automated functions, and several adjustments can be performed easily on the outside of the machine. The new Integrated Force Position (IFP) technology allows the feed of thick, thin and wavy lumber even when it is partially covered with snow or ice. The planer has industry leading setworks that ensure repeatability, anti-backlash jacks, hydraulic locks and it is servo driven. The planer dashboard user interface was recently improved to facilitate interaction and usability. The dashboard panel displays data to provide visibility of all operating conditions, which facilitates troubleshooting and maintenance. Recent features include the machine asset health as well as the vibration and temperature analysis. The new Profile Splitter module can be installed after the planer to execute the splitting of pieces. It can split the whole range of board sizes and finish the edges and corners. For example, if you split 2x8 in two 2x4s you can process up to 1,200 FPM, so it is actually a production of 2,400 FPM of 2x4.
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PLANERMILLBONANZA
CARBOTECH
Over the past few years, Carbotech has undertaken many planer mill projects that have put our board handling expertise to the test. Whether it was for normal production or a high-speed production line, standard or custom projects, our customers have been very impressed by our savoir-faire in lumber handling. Now, with our new range of high-performance products like the dual-action electric tilt hoist, high-speed lug loader, new high-speed low-inertia trimmer and dual fork stacker, Carbotech has the perfect competitive solution for any production speed, with any wood species, and in any conditions. In fact, we at Carbotech have always enjoyed working on custom design projects. Companies are always welcome to come to us with their unique needs. For instance, our lug loader has the ca- The Carbotech team: meeting each customer’s needs. pacity to handle big sections of wood (like 4x4, 6x6 and 4x12 products) that other equipment manufacturers may not be interested in supporting. We know larger sizes can be challenging, but we’re more than comfortable dealing with them. Our trimmer saw box is equally versatile—whether you have a sawmill, a planer mill, or even a hardwood mill, we can design the perfect saw configuration to make clean, precise trims for softwood and hardwood lumber alike. Finally, we have many options available to handle your end products: vertical bin sorters, regular- and high-speed tray sorters, special stackers for hardwood and pine with special stacking features, and more. Our mission is to meet our customers’ needs perfectly!
GILBERT PRODUCTS For 30 years, Gilbert Products has been a leader in the design and manufacturing of sawmilling, construction and forestry equipment. At Gilbert, understanding our customers’ needs, and adapting our planer accordingly, has always been a priority. From smaller operations to high speed planer mills, Gilbert presents five different models of planers: l Gilbert S Series planer for smaller operations and slower speeds from 100 FPM up to 1800 FPM, l Gilbert 6 Roll planer for mid-size operations up to 2800 FPM, l Gilbert High Speed planer, the fastest and biggest model up to 4000 FPM, l Gilbert Moulder for special patterns and profiles Gilbert’s line of planers suits every mill’s needs. l Gilbert Mass Timber planer for big glulam and CLT operations. One of Gilbert’s valuable customers, Andrew James at Red Stag Timber in Rotorua, New Zealand, explains the benefits of Gilbert’s Pull-Through technology. “Gilbert’s 8 Roll planer has been a big improvement on the previous planer we had. The pull-through technology has meant we are able to run boards through the planer that would otherwise have to be trimmed or removed from the production line, improving recovery and throughput. “The control over so many axes and functions like jointing, skip adjust, pressures/guides, with the use of servo motors, which allows fine adjustments to be made remotely, is a game changer in terms of safety as it allows true hands-free operation of the planer, at a safe distance for our planermen/operators.” How does Andrew rate Gilbert’s after-sales service, even from the other side of the globe? “I would rate Gilbert’s service very highly; we asked for things that had never been done on a Gilbert planer before. They had to develop not only the hardware but the software to go with it.”
LEDINEK Ledinek successfully installed its first 3300 FPM heavy duty multi-spindle planing and molding machine, Stratoplan, for the Swedish company Setra. Ledinek developed this high-performance system for robust use in big sawmills that are looking to upgrade operations with planing/sorting lines. It is particularly suitable for processing planed timber and construction timber or as pre-planing in combination with a scanner for processing laminated timber lamellas and for splitting. The machine at Setra has 10 spindles: The first two are a thickness-thickness planer combination (top-bottom). Spindles 3-4 and 5-6 are double vertical pairs. With associated tools, these two pairs allow switching to any board thickness without the machine having to stop for tool change. Spindles 7-8 are final planing shafts and ensure a perfect surface. The last two spindles 9-10 are a saw combination for splitting with a radius cutter. Ledinek calls this Stratoplan a “revolutionary evolution.” The engineers redesigned the Stratoplan model at all important points TIMBER PROCESSING
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PLANERMILLBONANZA especially with regard to the feeding of the individual boards. Progressive damping was implemented in the upper pressure units and kickback dampening feed rollers were built in, which are lighter but at the same time stronger. The splitting saw combination is also new: The planing machine can accommodate saw blades with a diameter of up to 500 mm. Special system with water mist cools the saw blades. The combined motor power of the two saw units is 235 kW. Splitting tools are clamped on a Ledinek interchangeable shaft and can be exchanged within a short period of time. Ledinek also supplied Setra with the infeed and outfeed systems. The infeed device “Powerfeed” is designed for an output of 220 boards per minute. When acceleratGapless high-quality planing and molding at 3300 FPM ing, the boards reach speeds of up to 5000 FPM over a distance of 10.5 m to the planing machine. The Stratoplan processes the pieces of wood piece by piece—without gaps at 3300 FPM. The system can also be set to operate with micro gaps for better processing of some woods species. “With this machine we have achieved a new milestone in planing. The new planing system delivers superior finish of wood surface never seen at such processing speeds before. We are looking forward to introducing the system also to North American sawmills and operators of planing lines,” comments Andrej Holc, sales engineer at Ledinek. Family owned Ledinek has a decades long tradition and know-how in development and implementation of industrial scale wood planers and molders as well as in planing and sorting lines. In last two decades they additionally focused on providing complete solutions in fields of straight and curved glulam, CLT and solid constructional timber. Their best-known patent is one of the IWF 1994 Challengers Award Winners: a calibrating milling system for wood (also known as the rotary planing machine) known under the name Rotoles in Europe and as Rotoplane in North America.
MELLOTT MANUFACTURING Mellott Manufacturing Co. Inc. introduces its redesigned tilt hoist that incorporates some major improvements since first designed in 1992. The simple design keeps maintenance and downtime to a minimum. Mellott offers standard machine designs in a 7-ton tilt hoist and a 15-ton tilt hoist. Both models can be customized as required. The Mellott tilt hoist design features a base frame constructed in two pieces so that the forks are able to be assembled onto the columns for shipping and ease of installation. The steel columns are welded to a 10 in. diameter pivot tube on the 7-ton tilt hoist and a 16 in. diameter pivot tube on the 15-ton tilt hoist, with flame cut plates that completely wrap the tube. At the top is a 3 in. square tube to tie all the columns together for extra strength. Steel rollers are used in each of the Mellott’s redesigned tilt hoist keeps downtime to a minimum. forks in order to distribute the load to all of the columns. The lift cylinders, lift chains and leveling chains are protected behind removable steel plates. This prevents kiln sticks from sliding into this area, limiting damaged and broken sticks. The tilt hoist is hydraulically powered by dual lift and dual tilt cylinders, cushioned and rated at 3,000 psi. Dual heavy leaf chains are used in an ‘X’ arrangement for load leveling. Packages are lifted using RC240 roller chains on the 15-ton tilt hoist and RC160 roller chains on the 7-ton tilt hoist. The tilt hoist can be operated with manual or automatic PLC controls. Complete control systems including the main disconnect, and all motor controls can be provided and fully tested at the factory. The tilt hoist can be a stand-alone machine or can be supplied with conveyors and controls systems to meet production demands. Mellott manufactures equipment for throughout the mill from log handling and merchandising systems, to band headrigs, linebars, resaw breakdown systems, drop saw trimmers, grading and lumber sorting and conveyors to efficiently handle waste wood material. Mellott also offers a line of tie handling equipment, which includes stackers, sorters, a newly redesigned tie dapper and mat drilling machine. Motor controls packages are offered for Mellott systems. Mellott systems are custom designed as required. Customers benefit by having manufacturing along with in-house engineering and design capabilities and a willingness to work together to provide the best options for each project.
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PLANERMILLBONANZA
MURRAY LATTA/PROGRESSIVE MACHINE
The Pro Edge-Tec III fully automatic cutterhead grinder is the result of our own “in house” design and engineering department. We have gone to great lengths to listen to our customers in terms of what they would like to see in a fully automated multi purposed grinding machine. User and ergonomically friendly are two terms used very often these days when describing machinery. The Pro Edge-Tec III not only addresses these two issues, it has been designed and built with quality and durability in mind. Specifications include: l Compact footprint l Proven high reliability l Touch screen set up panel l Simple, intuitive, user-friendly controls l Ethernet access via standard Ethernet switch l Automatic traversing, indexing and downfeed l Fully automatic top, bottom or sidehead grinding l Grinds up to 15 in. length knives to within .002 in. tolerance Automatic sidehead grinder grinds flat knives as well. l Allows Murray Latta service technicians to provide off-site troubleshooting Murray Latta/Progressive Machine is the official 2009 merger of two very established companies: Progressive Mill Supplies (est. 1954) and Murray Latta Machine (est. 1918). What hasn’t changed is our pride in workmanship and dedication to providing the highest customer service experience; this has been the key to our longevity. We hire skilled, experienced and certified tradespersons, and we make sure all equipment and materials we use are fit for optimal performance. We do this because we believe in putting quality and safety first—because it isn’t just our reputation on the line, it’s yours as well. We stand behind our work, every time. Guaranteed.
PICHÉ Piché’s tilt hoist is heavy duty in design, durable and has low mechanical complexity, which requires minimal maintenance. It is 100% electric to ensure a clean work environment. Its automated lubrication system makes sure the cams roll smoothly to minimize wear and maintenance. It offers the possibility of producing single or double packs no matter the length of wood used. The technology uses two individually chained servo-motors which means you can make precise row adjustments even on crooked packs. The tilt hoist also offers the possibility to save precious time by combining it to a secondary hoist so the operator does not have to wait while the next bundle is being picked up. The speed of operation, durability and minimal downtime makes the Piché tilt hoist fast enough to supply any planer in the industry.
Piché electric tilt hoist: versatility and a clean environment
SAMUEL CODING & LABELING Samuel Coding and Labeling Div. is an industry leader in custom and off-theshelf solutions for the wood products industry. With years of experience in the wood products industry, we are uniquely suited to provide you with solutions that are tailor made to suit your facilities. We provide a full system solution with design, fabrication, installation and ongoing support. With hundreds of installations across North America we offer unparalleled industry experience. Samuel Coding & Labeling systems for wood products include ink jet grade mark systems, ink jet printers for marketing information, ink jet stencil machines for sawmills and planer mills, automatic board bar coding for retail sales, automatic package tag systems to print labels and staple them to finished packages, and product tracking by integrating printers and scanners utilizing 2D bar codes. Samuel Coding sends a clear message. 30
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PLANERMILLBONANZA TIMBER AUTOMATION Timber Automation provides engineered equipment, control systems, optimization technology and turnkey construction services for wood yards and sawmills that maximize yield, increase uptime and reduce production costs. Baxley’s planer mill lineshaft trimmer has features you are more likely to see under the hood of your car: l 75 HP line shaft drive assembly l Rigid couplings for easy belt change and vibration reduction l Airlift saw ladders, belt driven l Heavy-duty piloted flange bearings l Airlift via cushion stroke airlift cylinders l Base mounted air valves and air cylinders plumbed with hydraulic hoses l All air hoses pre-plumbed to trimmer frame plenum pipe Baxley planer mill trimmer provides mechanical efficiencies. l All solenoid valves pre-wired to terminal strips in an electrical junction box on the near end l Configured for 20 in. diameter saws l Anti-kickback fingers l Heavy-duty single pivot hold-down shoes with airbags l Folding maintenance platform l Integral door and maintenance platform HPU l Precision end trim available
TS MANUFACTURING TS Manufacturing designs and manufactures all equipment in the planing mill, except for the planer itself. At the front end, our tilt hoists have great features such as high speed servo lift, automatic leveling sensors and a continuous tilt hoist design with secondary hoist arms for high speed applications. After the planer, lumber is put into lugs with our high speed Versacam lug loader with speeds up to 120 pcs/min. Bin sorters hold the wood that is sorted by the TS AccuTally software program. Developed a year ago to meet all the demands our customers needed in a tally program, TS now has more than 40 installed and operating. TS Manufacturing tilt hoist secondary arms Singulating unscramblers feed lumber onto TS’s electric servo stacker with servo fork control, servo lift control, servo pull back to skew layers for stability until banded and air gapping in green applications. A recent installation has our new secondary hoist arm design allowing the customer to start making the next pack while the hoist arms finish lowering the pack and while it exits out of the way. Next on the list is the end bump and side squeeze before strapping and exiting rollcase and transfer chains. Other than our great machinery, in house controls and second-to-none after sales support help us stand out as industry leaders in in planing mill equipment.
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A SPECIAL REPORT U.S. SAWMILL OPERATIONS & CAPITAL EXPENDITURE SURVEY
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PLANERMILLBONANZA USNR “The new planer mill from USNR has improved our overall efficiency and relieved our bottleneck, resulting in a reduction of over 20% in planer mill run hours. Our packages also look better and neater.” —Mike Kusar, Mill Manager, Montrose Forest Products, Montrose, Colo. USNR planer mill designs feature proven products that deliver efficient, high-speed productivity to lumber manufacturing operations. Montrose Forest Products has experienced the benefits. Their new planer mill line is designed to run at speeds of 180 lpm and above, depending on product size. The supply begins with the planer infeed featuring a continuous tilt hoist, stick and dunnage collection, planer, Quad Cam lug loader, Multi-Track fence, back-to-back lineshaft multi-saw trimmer with P.E.T. saws on a second shaft downstream from the trim saws, 30-bin pusher lug sorter, high-speed Low-Profile stacker with magazine lath USNR equipment installation at Montrose Forest Products planer placer, and quad paper feeder and cutter. The Low-Profile stacker mill before the building was finished. operates around 23 tiers per minute. Included in the project is USNR’s Transverse High Grader (THG) with Deep Learning technology for the best automated grading capability. THG features an end grain scanner used to locate a board relative to its parental log. This provides the optimizer with data for use in knot projection and pith location. The THG integrates USNR’s WinTally system to manage sorts for targeted products the mill wishes to produce. USNR’s MillTrak machine vision-based system manages the flow of boards at the planer infeed, and the MyMill mobile sorter control monitors and controls the sorter from any location within the mill’s network. THG shares the same Deep Learning optimization platform with all other USNR vision grade scanning products: Lineal High Grader, BioVision for green mill grade scanning, and AddVantage chop and rip scanners for the secondary manufacturing sector. Kusar sums up the project: “With this new technology we look forward to being able to offer more products to our customers than previously. It also contributes to a safer, more efficient, and more profitable operation.”
VECOPLAN Woodgrain Lumber in Emmet, Idaho has purchased its first Vecoplan shredder to process planer end cuts. The only scrap Woodgrain does not use in-house, the planer end cuts are shredded before sold to a composite building materials manufacturer. The selection of the VHZ 1600 model, a heavy-duty large wood shredder, was based on two main reasons. Vecoplan produces uniform pieces, which will help a Woodgrain key customer feed better quality material into its production line. Prior experience at another facility is another reason that drove Woodgrain to choose a Vecoplan shredder. “I was put in charge of improving our planer end cut waste process so we could serve a major customer,” says Ryan Skinner, Emmet’s production manager. “We chose the Vecoplan machine because of the quality and consistency in the material output.” Vecoplan Midwest, LLC is a subsidiary of North CarolinaVecoplan VHZ 1600 wood scrap shredder based Vecoplan, LLC, both of which are part of Vecoplan AG located in Germany. The companies manufacture industrial and mobile shredders for size reduction of virtually any material, selling into plastics, wood, biomass, paper, recycling, and waste-to-energy markets. Vecoplan Midwest focuses on the wood and biomass business, and sells pelletizing equipment in addition to shredders.
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SECOND LOOK
ALBANY The cover story of the March issue was the startup of the new Georgia-Pacific greenfield sawmill in Albany, Ga. The Albany mill fulfilled the “hat trick” of an amazing series of new mill startups by GP that occurred in under three years. The Albany mill followed startups at Talladega, Ala. and Warrenton, Ga. GP worked closely with BID Group on all three projects, which combined added another 900MMBF of lumber production capacity to GP’s portfolio. “A big part of what made this possible was our ability to leverage talent, knowledge and skills from across all of Georgia-Pacific and Koch Industries,” commented Fritz Mason, GP Lumber President. (Photos courtesy of GP and Todd Stone Photography)
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Inconsistent procurement practices can make log buying and selling less efficient.
APPALACHIAN HARDWOOD PROCUREMENT Gauging regional log-buying practices
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is the second of a two-part series on hardwood mill practices in the Appalachian region, based on studies by the West Virginia University Appalachian Hardwood Center.
By Curt Hassler, Joe McNeel, Jordan Thompson
S
eeking insights into log-buying in the region, researchers with the West Virginia University Appalachian Hardwood Center surveyed hardwood lumber mills across the Appalachian region to determine procurement strategies and identify common grading and scaling measurement protocols. Part 1 of this series focused on how the hardwood industry, in the absence of a standardized industry-wide log grading system, conducts grading and scaling operations for hardwood logs in the Appalachian region. Part 2 focuses on the procurement strategies being utilized by these hardwood mills. A total of 110 useable survey responses was received, out of an estimated 961 primary wood product producers that were sent surveys. Of the nine states surveyed, Pennsylvania had the greatest number of completed surveys (19) and represented 17% of the total number of responses. A total of 14 responses (13%) were provided by mills in Virginia, followed closely by Kentucky and West Virginia with 13 responses each (12%). Mills from these four states provided almost 60% of the total survey response (Fig. 1). Responding mills provided annual production levels, ranging from 0.04 to 150MMBF with a mean of 9.9MMBF of production. Annual production information was classified into three 38
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Figure 1: Number and percent of useable survey responses by state. (NA refers to 12 survey responses (10.9%) that did not identify a state location.)
groups to produce a uniform distribution of responses over three production levels for statistical analysis (Table 1). Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of mills by size and state. Statistical analysis was used to determine if size of mill (production level) had any significance in grading, scaling or operational decisions. Where a statistically significant difference was determined the results are noted and briefly explained. For the remainder of this article, the term total number of responses will refer to the number of useable responses to the survey question under discussion. While the 110 mill responses
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Table 1. Annual production levels (in million board feet) defined for the statistical analyses.
that provided annual production levels were the basis for the analysis, certain questions were not answered by some respondents, therefore analyses were performed on the available responses to those questions.
Figure 2: Distribution of survey responses from sawmills by state and annual production category.
PROCUREMENT STRATEGIES Mills were asked if they purchase gatewood, which is defined as logs purchased from an independent logger or wood broker where the seller is responsible for the logging and transportation of the logs to the mill. Of the 108 responding mills, 94 (87%) indicated that buying gatewood is a normal log acquisition process across all production level classes. However, more small mills and fewer than expected large mills responded they did not purchase gatewood and fewer than expected large mills responded they did not purchase gatewood. Additionally, 44% of the responding sawmills reported they get 025% of their annual log supply in gatewood, while 56% reported that between 25% and 100% of their annual log supply came from gatewood. Mills were asked if they grade logs harvested from their own stumpage tracts. The results suggest that just under 60% of responding mills do grade logs from their stumpage tracts, while 40% indicate that they do not grade logs harvested off their own tracts. Most mills use contract loggers to harvest their stumpage tracts and since these loggers are paid based on volume (and not value), there is less incentive to scale and grade these logs, as illustrated by the 40% that do not grade logs from their stumpage tracts. In some cases, sawmills prefer to control the merchandising of logs, so they will purchase raw material as treelength stems, where the logs are hauled as treelength pieces (usually to a top diameter that reflects the minimum diameter accepted by the mill for sawing) and then bucked and merchandised at the mill. Of the mills responding, 82% indicated they did not purchase treelength stems. Of the 19 mills that reported purchasing treelength stems, 13 were from three states—Pennsylvania (6), Ohio (3) and Virginia (4). Twelve of the 19 mills purchasing treelength logs purchased less than 50% of their raw material in
treelength form and the other seven mills purchased 50% or more, with two mills purchasing 100% of their logs as treelength stems. When mills were asked if they had difficulty getting longer length logs, 77% of the 107 responding mills reported having no issues getting logs 14-16 ft. in length. The respondents were also asked if they were paying any premium for longer length logs. Of the 78 responding mills, almost 62% indicated that no premiums were being paid for long length logs, while the remaining 38% did pay a premium. Traditionally, mills have differentiated between butt logs and upper logs when assigning prices. Of the mills sampled, over 50% indicated they do not pay differently for butts and upper logs with the same diameter and the same number of clear faces, even though butt logs generally contain a higher proportion of clear lumber than upper logs. Just over 49% of the responding mills indicated that they pay more for butt logs. Straight through pricing is used by mills providing a set price per thousand board feet of logs delivered to the mill, based on a minimum scaling diameter and a minimum number of clear faces. For instance, the mill would pay the same price per MBF for logs with a 12 in. scaling diameter and up and having at least two clear faces. The mills were asked to indicate if they offer straight through pricing to loggers and 53% of the 107 responding mills indicated they did not, while almost 47% said they did. The advantage of straight-through pricing is that the log inspection process is expedited at the mill and is much easier for a logger to implement at the logging site. The downside is that pricing the logs is much more difficult because the mill must estimate the proportion of each grade of log (which can vary from tract to tract) and then base pricing on those proportions, which can have potential negative impacts on mill economics.
SPEC SHEET ANALYSIS Specification sheets are used by mills to show how they assess sawlog value, particularly to potential log suppliers. Mills often make specification sheets available to the public, detailing their log grades and associated pricing. Respondents were asked if their log specification sheets are publicly available, with the most common response being “No” with 63 responses. A statistically significant relationship existed between level of production and whether wood product producers have a publicly available specification sheet, with more of the high production mills likely to have a publicly available written specification sheet. With each survey, participants were asked to provide specification sheets that described their current log grading and pricing matrix, by log grade and species. A total of 26 specification sheets were returned with the survey. These documents generally specified log grade based on clear faces/sides and scaling diameter. An analysis of these specification sheets was made to determine if there was any consistency among and between the responding mills relative to the actual grading processes defined in each specification sheet. The analysis focused on the highest and second highest log grades, excluding veneer grades. The individual mill log grades were used to populate a matrix based on the number of clear faces and scaling diameter. The matrix was constructed for five clear faces (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4) and 11 scaling diameter classes (eight inches to 18+ inches in 1 in. increments). For example, if the highest log grade specified by a mill included four clear faces and a scaling diameter of 17+ inches, then two cells of the matrix received one frequency count (four clear faces and 17 inches scaling diTIMBER PROCESSING
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ameter and four clear faces and 18+ inches scaling diameter). In this way, the variability in how the two highest log grades were categorized by responding mills could be evaluated. This process was completed for each specification sheet and the results are presented in Tables 2 and 3. Table 2 illustrates the range of scaling diameters and clear faces for the highest log grade, as defined on the specification sheets. The highest log grade can start at 12 inches diameter with four clear faces or 14 inches diameter with three clear faces. Thus, any log with a small end diameter greater than 12 inches and four clear faces or 14 inches and three clear faces was valued the same per MBF as a log with a diameter of 18 inches and four clear faces, even though the yield of high quality boards is generally greater in larger diameter classes and with Grade variability and overlap between grades contributes to uncertainty of overall log value. increasing number of clear faces. Interestingly, all 26 specification sheets indicated that logs 18+ and four clear faces fit into their highest log grade. Also, high proportions of the 26 sheets showed that 17 in., four clear face (77%) and 16 in., four clear face (69%) logs also qualified for the highest log grade. The same process was applied to the second highest grade as detailed in the individual mill specification sheets, with the results displayed in Table 3. The most common combination of diameters and clear faces is 15 inches and four clear faces. The second highest log grade has a large diameter range and can contain a wide range of clear faces, from two to four. This second highest log grade is quite variable and makes the possibility for fair and consistent pricing impossible due to the variability of the log characteristics that qualify. Where a grade could start at 13 in. diameter and only have two clear faces, the exact same grade at another mill could apply to a log 17 in. diameter and four clear faces. This analysis of these specification sheets revealed a significant degree of variability in how mills categorize their two Table 2. Distribution of the highest log grade across scaling diamehighest log grades, with substantial overlap between those log ter and clear faces, based on specification sheets provided by survey grades. respondents (26 mills responding). There are at least two perspectives to this variability and overlapping grades. First, from the mill’s perspective of maximizing the production of the highest grade lumber (i.e., Selects & Better) at the lowest possible price, it does not make sense to assign their highest grade log (and their highest price per MBF) to smaller diameter logs with four clear faces (12 inches to 15 inches in Table 2) or logs with three clear faces (14 inches to 18+ inches in Figure 3). Those logs will not produce the volume of high-grade lumber that large, four clear-sided logs will. From the log supplier perspective, there is an obvious advantage to supplying a mill that will accept a 12 in. log with 4 clear faces for the same price as an 18+ in. log with four clear faces. On the other hand, the log supplier is at a disadvantage if the mill is buying 17 in., four clear face logs as a second level sawlog and paying a lower price. This variability in defining log grade and subsequently log value inevitably produces uncertainty when trying to develop consistent values for hardwood logs and creates confusion for log sellers as they try to maximize the value of their logs. On the other end, this situation creates profitability issues for the mill in its quest to maximize production of higher grade lumber. Such variability also indicates a lack of thorough knowledge Table 3. Distribution of the second highest log grade across scaling diameter and clear faces, based on specification sheets provide by about the lumber grade yields that a mill can expect to produce from logs of a given size and quality. Most importantly, it illus- survey respondents (26 mills responding). 40
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trates why a standardized system for log grading and scaling is needed by the hardwood industry.
MILLING COSTS As the price of raw material fluctuates, it has become more important to understand the real cost to operate sawmills. When respondents were asked if they knew the cost to operate their mill per hour, 75% of the 105 responding mills reported they did. Respondents were then asked if they
A cornucopia of grading, scaling and procurement protocols among hardwood sawmills is not serving the overall best interests of the hardwood industry.
knew the sawing cost per MBF by species. Of the 103 responding mills, 65% responded they knew the sawing cost per MBF by species. Interestingly, 22 responding mills—more than 20%— stated that they did not know either their hourly costs or costs per MBF by species and presumably are not currently tracking those costs. One must assume these mills at least know their overall cost per MBF, since that should be readily calculated from total annual mill costs and total annual production. Not knowing cost per hour and cost per MBF by species places a mill at a competitive disadvantage with mills that do know these costs, particularly when establishing log prices.
SUMMARY The factors reported and analyzed from this survey confirm that the art and science of hardwood log grading and scaling, as well as log procurement strategies, are as variable as there are mills engaged in the manufacture of hardwood lumber. This has led sawmills to purchase raw material on a variety of platforms, leaving the industry and log suppliers in an environment where it is difficult or nearly impossible to make intelligent, economic decisions about where to sell their logs. A cornucopia of grading, scaling and procurement protocols among hardwood sawmills is not serving the overall best interests of the hardwood industry. The specification sheet analysis suggests that there is little consistency in the prices received for logs of the same diameter and clear faces across, among and between hardwood mills, in part due to a limited understanding of the yield of grade lumber from various sizes and grades of logs by the sawmills buying those logs. Without this information, sawmills can’t define the yield for a specific log and thus can’t ascertain an accurate value or purchase price. Based on survey responses, more than 65% of surveyed mills would support a standardized hardwood log grading and scaling system. A standardized log grading and scaling system could eliminate much of the uncertainty about hardwood log pricing and procurement practices, as well as accrue benefits and transparency to TP landowners, loggers, and mills. Joe McNeel is Director of the West Virginia University Appalachian Hardwood Center (WVU AHC); Curt Hassler is a research professor at WVU AHC; and Jordan Thompson is a procurement forester for Millwood Lumber in Gnadenhutten, Ohio. 42
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NEWSFEED EACOM PLANS CDK INSTALLATION EACOM Timber Corp. announced an investment of $8.9 million to equip its Elk Lake, Ontario sawmill with a new, state-of-the art continuous dry kiln (CDK). EACOM didn’t reveal the supplier, though in 2017 EACOM installed a Wellons CDK at its Timmins sawmill. The new CDK is expected to be fully operational by early fall. “This significant investment in Elk Lake is a testament not only to EACOM’s commitment to technological innovation and being best-inclass, but also to our longterm vision for this region. Built over 50 years ago, this mill has thrived alongside the community thanks to sustainable forestry practices, and now, with this latest addition,
we are confident it will be an important partner for many more years to come,” comments EACOM President and CEO Kevin Edgson. In addition to being more energy efficient, the new system will eliminate the use of both diesel fuel and propane, which are currently being used as part of the energy mix for heating the buildings onsite and two kilns. Going forward, all building heat and the new CDK will be exclusively powered by direct fired natural gas. The Elk Lake sawmill is an economic driver for the town and surrounding area, supporting more than 140 workers directly, a further 210 jobs in woodlands operations, and hundreds more via vendors, contractors and transporters. Since 2016, EACOM has invested nearly $100 million across its nine facilities.
GREENFIRST BUYS RAYONIER MILLS GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. reports it has entered into an agreement to acquire a portfolio of sawmills and a paper mill from Rayonier A.M. Canada G.P. and Rayonier A.M. Canada Industries Inc., each a subsidiary of Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. GreenFirst is acquiring the asssets for US$140 million plus the value of the inventory on hand at the time of closing, reflecting an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$214 million. The properties include six lumber mills—which are located in Chapleau, Cochrane, Hearst and Kapuskasing in Ontario and in Béarn and La Sarre in Québec—as well as a newsprint mill in Kapuskasing. The sawmills have a combined
annual production capacity of 755MMBF. The newsprint mill has an annual production capacity of 205,000 MT/year. Collectively, the purchased assets rank as a top 10 producer of lumber in Canada, the company reports. GreenFirst states it will have rights to access approximately 3.29 million m3 of guaranteed fiber supply across Ontario and Québec as part of the deal. The acquired operations will be led by Rick Doman, one of GreenFirst’s newly appointed directors and an industry veteran with more than 40 years of experience in the lumber industry, who was the founder and previously the president and CEO of Eacom Timber. GreenFirst believes this acquisition will substantially increase its footprint in the lumber industry following its purchase and investment ➤ 46
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NEWSFEED 43 ➤ in a sawmill in Kenora, Ontario. GreenFirst, previously known as Itasca, purchased the idled Kenora sawmill in October 2020 Doman, incoming CEO of GreenFirst, comments, “As we have done previously with EACOM on the carve-out of sawmill assets of Domtar, our experienced team looks forward to working with the dedicated employees of RYAM to optimize the sawmill assets with a singular focus on maximizing lumber production.” Closing is anticipated to occur in the second half of 2021.
HOMAG ANNOUNCES IN-HOUSE EXPANSION The HOMAG Group has launched the largest investment program in its corporate history. Over the next three years, 60-80 million Euro will be invested in the modernization of the main location in Schopfloch, Germany. HOMAG is investing a further 15 million Euro in a new plant in Poland. A customer center, modern office buildings, a modern dining hall and a logistics center are to be built in Schopfloch. There are also plans to build a new logistics center connected to the site. The goals are a high availability of spare parts as well as lean and efficient logistics processes for supplying the plant and customers. New buildings are also to be constructed in Poland, where the HOMAG Group already employs 700. The HOMAG Group is a world leading provider of integrated solutions for production in the woodworking industry and woodworking shops. Its 14 production sites, 20 Group-owned sales and service companies and 60 exclusive sales partners worldwide are supported by a workforce of 7,000 employees. The HOMAG Group has been majorityowned by the Dürr Group since 2014.
MARCH HOUSING HIT HIGH NOTE U.S. housing starts soared in March 2021, with both single-family and multifamily starts contributing to the boom,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development monthly new residential construction report. Combined starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.739 million, a whopping 19.4% above February and 37% above March a year ago when the pandemic struck. Single-family starts in March were at an annual rate of 1.238 million, 15.3% above February and nearly 41% above March 2020. Multi-family starts were 477,000 in March, a 30% jump over February and 27% above March 2020. Housing starts had dipped in January and February, following four consecutive months of growth to round out 2020. U.S. housing building permits were 1.766 million in March, 2.7% above February and 30.2% over March 2020. Single-family permits were 1.199 in March, 4.6% above February and 35.6% over March 2020.
LOGGERS WORK FOR LOG A LOAD Earlier this year, Minnesota loggers and others worked a timber sale north of Duluth that’s expected to net roughly $25,000 for the Log A Load for Kids program and Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare through the Children’s Miracle Network. The harvest was organized by Tom McCabe of McCabe Forest Products and aided by multiple other companies in January and February. “It was a team effort,” McCabe says. “It’s been fun organizing the whole thing. It’s a great cause and we’re glad to help out the kids.” The sale included 250 cords of aspen, pine, birch, maple, balsam and spruce. Waste Wood Recyclers handled felling and slashing, Watters Excavating provided delimbing, and Rick Olson did the skidding. Several companies hauled the wood, including Demenge Trucking and Forest Products, Al’s Excavating, Kimball’s Enterprise, Shermer Logging, Rieger Trucking, McCabe Forest Products, Jerry Donek and Chuck Van Dorn. Mills taking the timber included Hedstrom Lumber, Louisiana Pacific, Sappi, UPM Blandin and Lester River Sawmill.
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MACHINERYROW Smith Sawmill Service Expands Operations
ardship of Michael and Dustin, Smith Sawmill Service will continue to remain cutting-edge, “never forgetting the past, but with an eye always on the future.” Precision Saw Works, Inc. will be named Smith Sawmill Service—North Carolina, and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smith Sawmill Service.
cludes a standard tilt hoist, Revolver lug loader and Multi-Track positioning fence.
Full Tilt Timber Finds Quick Answer
IFG Mill Updating Log Turning System Left to right, Frank Curran, Michael Smith, Dustin Norris
Smith Sawmill Service, based in Timpson, Texas, announced the acquisition of Precision Saw Works, Inc. located in Polkton, NC. Founded in 1986 by Frank Curran, Precision has specialized in the repair and manufacturing of band and circle saws, and is known for exemplary service during the past 35 years. This addition will enhance Smith Sawmill Service’s footprint on the East Coast, and will allow the company to better serve current and new customers in that region and beyond. Smith Sawmill Service will use Precision Saw Works’ existing facility, including retention of current management and employees, to provide services for repairing and sharpening, as well as the manufacture of circle saws, band saws, and custom sawmill parts. Frank Curran, and his son, Travis, will continue to act as managers and help lead this location. The goal is to achieve a seamless integration of both companies over the next several weeks, with no service interruption, and during that time “our customers will continue to receive the same high quality products and service that they have come to expect,” states Paul Smith, President of Smith Sawmill Service. Paul & Debra Smith laid the foundation for this family owned company in 1990, which has been providing quality products and exemplary customer service for more than 30 years. Smith Sawmill Service is an innovator of sawmill technology, with multiple industry-related patents, always striving to increase efficiency and productivity of the wood production industry. With the help of their son Michael Smith and General Manager Dustin Norris, the company has continued to grow and build upon the legacy of Paul and Debra Smith. The addition of an East Coast location was a natural next-step in the evolution of this company, and under the stew50
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Idaho Forest Group in Athol, ID is updating its log turn technology to USNR’s Precision Geometric Log Rotation (PGLR) system. The existing log turn measuring system is USNR’s predecessor to the PGLR. While it has improved the recovery it’s now time to move to the latest technology with an advanced scanning and optimization platform. PGLR is a real-time rotation verification and correction system that significantly improves cutting accuracy and increases uplift and recovery. PGLR uses the log rotation solution and a lineal scan zone placed upstream or downstream of the turning rolls to actively monitor and correct the precise degree of turn during and after actuation. PGLR utilizes USNR’s BioLuma 3900L sensor that delivers the highest speed UHD laser profiling for the most demanding lineal applications, perfect for bucking, log lines, shape sawing gangs and lineal edgers. The new PGLR system is scheduled to be installed in the third quarter.
Nix Will Install Automated Grader Nix Forest Products at Timpson, Texas is updating its planer mill with advanced technology from USNR. The mill has been relying on manual grading and is looking to improve grade recovery from its products. It is also investing to increase the efficiency of its process. The order features USNR’s Transverse High Grader (THG) automated grading system with Deep Learning technology. This technology increases the speed and accuracy of THG’s defect detection; significantly reduces the time required for startup and commissioning of the autograding systems; and enables accurate identification of defects unique to a species, region or grade that would otherwise be difficult and time-consuming to identify using conventional methods. In addition to the THG, the order in-
Walt and Nate Schuele are very satisfied with their Serra SL 130i, which was immediately ready for action after a demonstration in Nashville.
Nate Schuele, 22 years old and a fourth generation sawyer, has a new best friend: the SL130i Serra mobile sawmill. The previous one (of another brand) had to be replaced due to a motor damage. Schuele got his first impression of Serra and the sawmills by YouTube videos. He found the videos hugely impressive and especially liked the receivers for offloading sawn lumber. For the decision he explains: “We were looking at multiple alternatives but the Serra seemed to have so many good features: larger band, thinner kerf, receivers for sawn lumber, better band wheel technology, etc.” The availability of the Serra demo machine in Nashville convinced them, too, because it was already stateside and built. Nate and Walt Schuele, the two owners of Full Tilt Timber Framing in Clancy, Mont., produce dimensional lumber and timbers for timber frames (around 150-200MBF annually). The Serra mill has fit into their process perfectly. Nate Schuele comments on the mobile sawmill: “The independent loading arms are a huge improvement. The computer is actually worth using. The power toe board for moving cants back and forth, the increased number of bed rails, the band wheels that are light years ahead of anything other portable manufactures are using, the toe boards with dogs for pull-
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MACHINERYROW ing cants into the bed for the mill. The dogs have a steep learning curve but once we learned how to use them, they are also much better than anything we’ve had. The operators station is also a huge improvement to walking with the head or the exposed remote operating stations we had before.” The switch to the new machine was easy for him. Nate learned the computer and calibrating the joystick. He had no major changes, just re-learning the setup. The employees get along with the machine very well, too, and also the clients are impressed. Nate is also happy with the Serra customer service and says: “The best customer service I’ve ever received. We are very satisfied and we want to tour the factory and thank everyone.”
CTO at Hasslacher Group, which has seven sawmills in three countries. Five years ago Hasslacher Group became the first company in Austria to use Valutec’s OTC (optimized two stage) continuous kiln technology, when they invested in two OTC continuous kilns for their sawmill in Sachsenburg. The following year yet another order for the same type of continuous kiln for their sawmill followed.
“We are attracted by Valutec’s continuous kiln technology. It is superior from a capacity perspective. Adding to that, it delivers high quality and requires less material handling than traditional batch kilns, at the same time as its continuous operation is gentler on the boiler,” Fercher adds. During the past year, the new generation TC kilns from Valutec have been sold to sawmills around the world and
Lecours Focuses On Trimmer Line Close on the heels of investing to increase sorting capacity in its sawmill, Lecours Lumber in Calstock, Ont. is making further investments in its trimmer line. This latest order will advance the mill’s focus on high speed processing. The order begins with a radius back unscrambler fitted with speed-up chains to smooth the flow at the top of the unscrambler, ElectraTong lug loader with MillTrak lumber flow control, Multi-Track fence, Dual Articulating Smart Gate, BioLuma 2900L sensors mounted in the existing scan frame, updated USNR optimization platform with the latest version release, USNR’s WinTally sorter management system, and a completely updated trim line PLC controls package. The existing lineshaft trimmer will be updated with eccentric spacers, new saw ladders and a new lineshaft designed for higher speed performance.
Hasslacher Purchases Valutec TC Kilns Hasslacher Group, a leading producer of glulam and cross-laminated timber, is investing in TC (cross circulation) continuous kilns from Valutec. Hasslacher becomes the first in Austria to own the Valutec TC kiln. “We want to increase the drying capacity at our sawmills in Preding and Sachsenburg and saw that TC kilns were right for us. They offer a combination of high capacity and flexibility, without compromising on quality,” says Michael Fercher, TIMBER PROCESSING
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MACHINERYROW the company has reached new markets. The TC continuous kilns for delivery to Hasslacher Group have eight drying zones and will solely be used to dry siding boards. Maximum annual capacity is approximately 75,000 m3 (31.8MMBF) per kiln. The kilns are built from stainless steel and are equipped with pressure frames for minimal deformation of the uppermost layer of lumber, heat recovery system and the Valmatics 4.0 control system.
The new kilns and the control system upgrades are planned to begin in the fall.
Smart Mill Names Regional Director Smart Mill has named Mike Morris as the new Regional Director for the U.S. market. Morris will be responsible for supporting Smart Mill’s business partners for all sales & services and con-
tribute to product development. Morris counts more than 25 years of experience in the lumber industry where he has served as a field director and in product sales and technical services. Morris will be based in the Texas office and can be reached at 1-903-2770877 or mike.morris@smartmill.ca
WMF Shanghai Stays On Schedule
WMF will stay the course September 3-6.
Despite the worldwide pandemic and travel restrictions, Shanghai International Furniture Machinery & Woodworking Machinery Fair (WMF) will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Hongqiao, Shanghai on this September 3-6 as scheduled. Along with CNFMA (China National Forestry Machinery Assn.) as one of the organizers of WMF, China’s leading woodworking machinery associations Qingdao Woodworking Machinery Assn. and Foshan Shunde Lunjiao Woodworking Machinery Chamber of Commerce are long-term partners. WMF states it is the only woodworking machinery fair of its kind in China supported by EUMABOIS (European Federation of Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers). Since 2018, WMF has been collocating with CIFF (Shanghai) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center every year. A large variety of items including finished furniture products, woodworking machinery and components will be displayed, demonstrating the strength of a one-stop exhibiting and trading platform connecting upstream and downstream in the industry chain. In 2021, WMF further upgrades its online and offline services and allows visitors to access exhibitors . Facing the dramatic market changes in the post-pandemic era with the growth of digitalization and innovation, WMF also 52
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MACHINERYROW advances with the times by promoting intelligent development and application of the industry, advocating the industry to grasp the new market demand and seize new opportunities. In response to the rising needs of “industrial automation,” “going green” and “upgrading & transformation,” WMF provides multiple theme zones connecting the industry chain, which covers a full range of manufacturing solutions from first processing to finishing technology. There will be a wide spectrum of concurrent events covering the latest hot topics and trends in the industry. Many of the last year’s premium exhibitors are planning to participate in this year’s show such as Homag China Golden Field, Biesse Trading, Nanxing Machinery, China Foma Group, Yalian Machinery, Qingdao Godn Mechanical, Shang Gong Group, Leuco Precision Tooling and Tianjin Laminuo Woodworking. Visit woodworkfair.com/WMF21/idx/eng/home
Doosan Announces Top 2020 Dealers Doosan Infracore North America, LLC announced its topperforming dealers of 2020. The top 10 dealers are among more than 160 Doosan equipment dealers in North America. Doosan annually recognizes its heavy equipment dealers that have excelled in providing top-level performance in sales, parts and service to the customers in their respective markets. The top 10 Doosan dealers of 2020 include the following enterprises (headquarters in parenthesis): —Barry Equipment Co. (Webster, Mass.), fourth consecutive year —Bobcat of Mandan Inc (Mandan, ND), third consecutive year —Brown’s Industrial Sales (Lloydminster, Alberta) —CG Equipment (Guelph, Ontario), second consecutive year —Coastal Machinery (Pensacola, Fla.), second consecutive year —Equipment East, LLC. (Dracut, Mass.) fourth consecutive year —G. Stone Commercial Div. (Middlebury, Vermont) —Hartington Farm Services Ltd. (Hartington, Ontario) —Theco Inc. (Big Lake, Minn.) —Wilson Equipment (Central Point, Ore.), third consecutive year “There are four dealers joining this list for the first time, which is reflective of their hard work growing the Doosan brand in their regions,” says Todd Roecker, Doosan Director of Dealer Management and Marketing. Top-performing dealers are offered a selection of several incentives that they may choose from, which will improve their profitability when selling and servicing Doosan equipment. In addition, Doosan North American leadership may look to these dealers for valuable input regarding Doosan initiatives and direction as they represent the dealer network. 54
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MACHINERYROW Kepley-Frank Installs Carriage System Cleereman Industries and Cleereman Controls recently installed a new Cleereman LP-42 linear carriage with Cleereman optimized carriage controls and a Cleereman sawyer booth at Kepley-Frank Hardwood Co., Inc. in Lexington, NC. KepleyFrank also installed a new Cleereman 100 HP hydrostatic carriage drive and a Cleere-
man dual cable tensioner Kepley-Frank has a second Cleereman LP-42 linear carriage and Cleereman optimized carriage controls on order that will be installed in August. This second line will include a new modular track frame with carriage drive and sawyer’s cab. Kepley-Frank, in its three sawmills, cuts more than 15MMBF a year of fine Appalachian hardwood lumber in 4⁄4 through 8⁄4 thicknesses in mostly red and white oak
K-F mill manager Tracy Smith with Cleereman setup.
and poplar as well as ash and maple. The company is also a significant crossties producer. Also, through its concentration yard business, Kepley-Frank processes millions of board feet of lumber per year. Cleereman Controls has now sold more than 50 controls systems in its first two years of existence. Vice President Paul Cleereman states, “As always we would like to thank all our loyal customers for their continued support in both Cleereman Industries and Cleereman Controls.”
BID Will Upgrade Carolina Facility BID Group will invest more than $2.5 million in technology at its South Carolina operations in St. George. The acquisition of a Correa Axia-70, a large-sized computer numerical control (CNC) traveling column milling machine, will allow the facility to perform various machining operations on large mechanical parts (up to 20 ft. long and 8 ft. high). “This investment will enable us to meet our client needs for large mechanical parts and significantly reduce and control delivery lead time,” comments Simon Grondin, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, BID Group. “The recent addition of a welding robot and the upcoming installation of the Axia-70 is possible thanks to the recent expansion of the building in St. George.” In connection with a recently announced investment in Vanderhoof (British Columbia), this project is part of BID Group’s global investment plan to modernize and enhance production capabilities at its manufacturing facilities. The Axia-70 is expected to be in operation this September. This model is also equipped with a rotary table that allows boring operations and the execution of work on different sides of the part by indexing the rotary table. In addition, there is a 120 tools magazine, with an automatic tool changer, to increase the manufacturing speed of the parts. The acquisition of the Axia-70 will create three jobs. 56
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ATLARGE Good Earth Names Management Team Arizona-based Good Earth Power AZ and its operating entity, NewLife Forest Products, have formed a new senior management team to expand its forestry management and lumber manufacturing operations. Adam Cooley has been appointed as Vice President, Corporate Development.
His responsibilities include supporting the company’s strategic planning processes and building relationships with key stakeholders. As a fourth generation lumberman in the Arizona forest products industry, Cooley is proficient in sales, purchasing, operations, production, transportation, credit management and USDA procedures for international lumber shipments. He was previously director of Sales & Manufacturing at NewLife and has been with
the company since its inception. Josh Ray has been named Manager of Finance & Administration and oversees all accounting, finance and administration. He is skilled in financial analysis, planning, forecasting, budgeting and finance modeling. He was previously senior manager of Financial Planning and Analysis at NewLife and has been with the company for more than two years. Kevin Ordean has been appointed as Forest Operations Manager. Ordean is responsible for overseeing all forest related operations from planning to harvesting and ensuring that NewLife is in compliance with the U.S. Forest Service regulations. His background is in sustainability and he has been working on NewLife’s forest restoration efforts since 2015. Mark Chamberlin has been appointed as Mill Operations Manager overseeing mill operations at NewLife’s Heber and Williams facilities in addition to planning and building of the new sawmill in Bellemont. Chamberlin previously served as plant superintendent at NewLife and has been with the company for three years. A 425,000 sq. ft. facility in Bellemont will house a new high-capacity sawmill and GEPAZ has plans to employ 200 from the local area. The facility will produce 120MMBF annually as well as produce engineered wood products. GEPAZ is managing Phase I of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) contract with the U.S. Forest Service. The mission of the 4FRI program is to restore the health of 2.4 million acres of Arizona forestland.
SLB Numbers Show CLT Growth Potential Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) has added a new tool to the industry’s effort to quantify and capture market opportunities for mass timber with the publication of an updated Mass Timber Outlook, which charts potential incremental softwood lumber opportunity in the U.S. through 2035. SLB developed the Mass Timber Outlook in partnership with FPInnovations and Ben Romanchych Consulting. The outlook uses a combination of current and historical market shares, wood building construction trends, and longterm outlooks to identify a potential 3.7 billion BF to 6.7 billion BF of incremental opportunity by 2035. 65% of es58
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ATLARGE timated volume opportunity is projected to occur in non-residential construction; 78% in the one- to six-story range (in both residential and non-residential segments, with one-to-four stories accounting for 44% of the total volume opportunity); and 20% is composed of wood cores. Mass Timber Outlook provides regional forecasts and estimates how the overall market opportunity will mani-
fest in total building numbers and their carbon impact. SLB is also working to quantify market opportunity specific to mass timber’s use in hybrid construction. Analysis to date indicates that the majority of the opportunity for hybrid construction by 2035 lies in non-residential projects, with an overall potential gain of 600MMBF. Visit softwoodlumberboard.org.
Rickman Elected Cypress President Southern Cypress Manufacturers Assn. (SCMA) elected officers for 2021 at the association’s annual meeting in Austin, Tex. Zack Rickman, Atlanta Hardwood Corp. (AHC), Mableton, Ga., was elected SCMA President. He joined AHC in 2005 and currently serves as vice president of operations at AHC Hardwood Group, north Georgia—responsible for production at four lumberyards, including remanufacturing and millwork facilities; distribution; production personnel, and capital expansions. Cassie Lewis, Turn Bull Lumber Co., Elizabethtown, NC, was elected SCMA Vice President. Lewis joined Turn Bull Lumber in 2011 and now serves as the company’s account manager—responsible for all sales, as well as managing the green and kiln-dried inventories.
Hood Appoints Mann To Drive Culture Hood Industries, Inc. announced the promotion of April Mann to Vice President of People Operations and Culture. She replaces Terry Lawhead, who earlier this year was named the Vice President of Human Resources for Hood Companies. Mann joined Hood Industries in August 2018 after a six-year tenure as the Finance & Human Resources manager for BAE Systems in Hattiesburg, Miss. She began her career at Hood as the employment manager before being promoted to corporate manager of Employment & HR Services. She earned her BBA from Georgia State University, as well as an MBA from Mississippi State University. The Vice President of People Operations and Culture plays an important role throughout Hood Industries to help create concepts and systems to make sure the company has the internal leadership, talent and culture in place to achieve its vision. In this role, Mann is part of the senior executive team reporting directly to the president of the company. Hood Industries President Jay Galloway comments, “I look forward to working with April and her team on building the culture we desire for Hood Industries. I am confident in her ability to lead and guide the People Operations function. I know everyone in the organization will provide the necessary support so we can achieve our potential as an organization.” 60
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ATLARGE Rural Schools Gain USDA Funding USDA Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen announced the issuance of more than $193 million to support public schools, roads and other municipal services through the agency’s Secure Rural Schools program. The funding will be delivered as payments to more than 700 eligible counties in 41 states and Puerto Rico. In addition to payments for schools and roads, the Secure Rural Schools program supports Firewise Communities programs, reimburses counties for emergency services on national forests, and funds development of community wildfire protection plans. The Forest Service retains a portion of Secure Rural Schools program funds to support projects that improve forest conditions and support jobs in rural communities. Resource advisory committees, made up of local residents representing varied areas of interest and expertise, re-
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view and recommend projects that meet their local needs. Beginning in 1908, the Secure Rural Schools program allowed the Forest Service to share 25% of its revenues from timber sales, mineral leases, livestock grazing, recreation fees and other sources with counties in and around national forests. By the 1980s, largely because of diminished timber sales volume, Forest Service revenues from these sources began to decline. The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 replaced the revenue sharing model with a guaranteed level of payments, giving forest-dependent rural communities a more reliable set of funding, while protecting forest resources that provide clean water, recreation opportunities and other benefits. These payments were most recently reauthorized for fiscal years 2019 and 2020 by the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. Payment amounts are determined by a number of factors set in the law, includ-
ing acres of federal land within an eligible county, an income adjustment based on the per capita personal income for each county, and the 5% reduction in the overall payments each year.
Book Teaches Kids About Logging Stephanie Fuller, who works for the Forest Workforce Training Institute (ForestryWorks), has authored an illustrated book for children about the logging profession. Fuller is the daughter of Todd and Shelia Fuller, owners of Fuller’s Logging in Chambers County, Alabama. Stephanie’s upbringing and passion about ➤ 69
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PRODUCTSCANNER10 BANDMILL RESAW
In the late 1890s, Frank McDonough invented the Travelling Bed Feed, now known as the linebar resaw, that revolutionized the sawmill industry. More than 120 years later, McDonough is once again re-imagining what the resaw can be. Available as a new installation or as an upgrade to any existing resaw, the McDonough AutoMAXX resaw system combines physical controls with a visual operator interface, high-quality digital imaging and vision optimization to maximize yield of grade and throughput. Using vision optimization to suggest the best face to the operator, the AutoMAXX AI framework will build a database of decision making processes based on operator decisions that will decrease dependency on the operator and allow the machine to run in “automode” without pause, in turn improving operator decisions and reducing responsibility on the operator for productivity. Allowing the operator to see four faces simultaneously, and identifying white spots, blond knots, low contrast color variation, etc., system overrides will be
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rare. As the AI framework processes and stores information over time, the AutoMAXX will begin to utilize max available grade estimates to influence cutting solutions several cuts ahead. Providing a significant increase in grade/value recovery, as well as reducing operator responsibility, error, injury and fatigue, the AutoMAXX optimizer provides estimated “max grade,” SM and value of each face with high accuracy. Visit mcdonoughmfg.com.
GRADING STATION
selected to convey onto a set of live belted tipple arms, either air or hydraulically operated, and then transfer to a storage deck in line with the grading station. From the grading station platform, the grader controls the live stops to release the board down the grading slope lined with scale measuring strips. The grader has a clear view for grading and can easily flip the board if needed. The board can then be transferred to possibly a belt conveyor for rework or onto a green chain for final sorting. To provide a smooth flowing system, Mellott provides in-house controls engineering and PLC programing. The grading station can be a standalone machine or can be supplied with conveyors and controls systems to meet production demands. Visit mellottmfg.com.
KEEN SAFETY BOOT The Mellott Grading Station System shown is in operation at Stoltzfus Forest Products, Peach Bottom, Pa. Each system is custom designed to fit the customer’s operation and space requirements. In what Mellott considers a standard system, the material exits the drop saw trimmer onto a set of 81X lugged even-ending rolls. At that time the destination of the material is predetermined by the drop saw trimmer operator. The timbers will convey down a lugged let down conveyor to continue to the green chain and then to a timber or tie sorting system. The grade boards will be
The number of tools and tasks required to navigate the work day can be many. Today’s contractors and skilled trades professionals face a variety of challenges that demand versatility and ingenuity, both in the skills that they develop and the resources that they rely on. KEEN Utility offers the Chicago Utility packed with a number of modern features.
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PRODUCTSCANNER10 Its value-forward construction makes it a versatile tool for a variety of work environments. Built to offer rugged protection with a classic appeal, these non-metallic work boots offer all-day comfort and superior traction for a variety of industries and applications. The 6" work boot features a non-marring waterproof leather upper, non-metallic eyelets and lace hooks as well as weight-saving carbon fiber safety toes that are 15% lighter than steel and deliver ASTM-rated toe protection with a roomy, more unobtrusive fit. The KEEN.ReGEN midsole offers superior compression-resistance and provides 50% more energy return for longdays walking and standing. Other performance and safety enhancements include a KEEN.DRY breathable, waterproof membrane, heat-resistant, rubber outsoles rated up to 572° F that satisfy Mark II and Satra non-slip testing standards, 90°, 5⁄8" heel for added stability and an antimicrobial lining delivering natural odor protection free of chemicals and dyes. The Chicago boot is available in several safety silhouettes in both men’s and women’s specific fits. The Chicago 6" for women is built for the biomechanics of a woman’s foot and made to fit with optimal safety and comfort, as well as providing the same durable performance features found in the men’s versions. Visit keenutility.com.
HORIZONTAL GRINDER Convert large diameter stumps, roundwood, branches, storm debris, land clearing, and other wood residuals into biomass feedstock. WSM’s 5472 Titan Horizontal Grinding System processes rubberwood and wood stumps at rates up to 50 metric tons per hour to an approximate 4"-6"
minus biomass feedstock. The Titan grinding system starts with a heavy-duty chain infeed conveyor to meter the material to the powered feedroll. The 40" diameter pivoting powered feedroll provides superior climbing ability to feed material to the Titan horizontal grinder. The massive grinder’s 54" diameter x 72" wide rotor assembly includes hammers that weigh 195 lbs. each and have replaceable tips. The pivoting grinder housing allows for easy maintenance access to the rotor and screens. Visit westsalem.com.
DUST SUPPRESSION Terex, a global manufacturer of lifting and materials processing solutions, offers ‘Aquamist by Terex’—a dust suppression system that is now available across its materials processing brands: EvoQuip, Fuchs, Powerscreen, Terex Ecotec, Terex Finlay, Terex MPS and Terex Washing Systems. The ‘Aquamist by Terex’ dust suppression system offers an improvement over conventional jets or water-sprays to man-
age the buildup of dust and better protect workers on jobsites by using a high capacity misting fan that produces finely divided water droplets in the size range 10150 micron diameter. At this size, they easily combine themselves with dust particles of similar dimensions and precipitate them out of the air and, because water-mists “float” more than a conventional spray, they cover and envelop the dust cloud more effectively. Paul Kearney, Vice-President of Parts and Solutions for Terex Materials Processing, explains, “It is globally accepted now that airborne dust that is formed on jobsites can significantly contribute to respiratory illnesses. As increased legislation comes into place globally to mitigate this, more effective control of dust is needed. Our Aquamist system will better support worksite operations and strengthen our commitment to making the workplace a safe and healthy environment.” Visit terex.com.
SLASHER BAR
The Blue Line slasher bar series from Iggesund Forest (Olofsfors) continues to change the forest industry. Now it includes the company’s most powerful ¾ in. bar to the lineup—the Blue Line Vyking Slasher Bar. Specially designed for ground saws, the Vyking slasher bar has proven to be a reliable and productive saw bar in all condi-
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PRODUCTSCANNER10 tions. It encompasses proprietary advanced metal alloy and specific tempering technique. Vyking Slasher Bar can handle any tree species, length, diameter and operation. State-of-the-art endurance rails with 60° rail angle minimizes the chain wear on the bar. No more unscheduled stops to grind off ruffed up edges. This small but ingenious change in the rail cut angle ensures less maintenance and longer life span. Visit iggesundforest.com.
LEVEL SWITCH Dynatrol DJ Level Switch for bulk solids provides high, intermediate or low point level detection of sawdust ranging from wood chips and coarse shavings to wood flour. It’s approved for Class I, Group D; Class II, Groups E, F & G; and Class III Services. When the probe is uncovered, it is free to vibrate and produces an output signal.
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This signal operates a relay that indicates the probe is uncovered or that a low level exists. When the probe is covered a dampening of the oscillations occurs, the output signal is no longer present and the relay indicates that a high level exists. The level detector is mounted through a ¾" half-coupling at the point of desired level detection. The vibrating probe tolerates considerable buildup and caking, resulting in extended capability of detection. Constructed for a long operating life, Dynatrol detectors require no adjustments and have no moving parts. Visit dynatrolusa.com.
AIR CLEANING BLOWERS Air Cleaning Blowers, LLC offers ACBs that ventilate, pressurize and clean particles from even exceedingly dusty air without using any filter elements. ACBs help reduce the costs and complications of
providing ventilation in industrial, commercial and residential buildings. Stateof-the-art technologies make them simpler to size and use than systems with ordinary air filters and air purifiers because they have no filter elements to clog. NIOSH (the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) is using them to develop systems to produce clean air to surround and protect coal miners in underground mines. As ACBs pull the ambient air through their housings, they use the particles’ own momentums to separate them from the clean air in a multi-patented, novel way. They then eject the debris back into the atmosphere from where it came, usually outdoors. They remove large or small quantities of sand, dust and other particles, big and small. Applications range from 50 to 3500 CFM. ACBs can also serve as prefilters for specialized downstream filters such as HEPA, activated carbon, and the media in swamp coolers, to increase their lives and to decrease their costs of operation, as well as to blow the air to the application. Visit aircleaningblowers.com
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WOOD PRODUCTS MARKETPLACE NORTH AMERICA
■ Minnesota
■ North Carolina
■ Canada ■ Ontario 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
Sales/Service: 336-746-5419
336-746-6177 (Fax) • www.kepleyfrank.us
■ Tennessee
STACKING STICKS
FOR SALE
Next closing: July 6, 2021
AIR-O-FLOW profiled & FLAT sticks available Imported & Domestic
■ United States
DHM Company - Troy, TN 38260 731-446-4069 Fax: 707-982-7689 email: kelvin@kilnsticks.com www.KILNSTICKS.com
■ Georgia Beasley Forest Products, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Hazlehurst, GA 31539
beasleyforestproducts.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
■ Kentucky HAROLD WHITE LUMBER, INC. MANUFACTURER OF FINE APPALACHIAN HARDWOODS
(606) 784-7573 • Fax: (606) 784-2624 www.haroldwhitelumber.com
Ray White
Domestic & Export Sales rwhite@haroldwhitelumber.com Cell: (606) 462-0318
Green & Kiln Dried, On-Site Export Prep & Loading Complete millworks facility, molding, milling & fingerjoint line
WANT TO GET YOUR AD IN OUR NEXT MARKETPLACE? Call or email Melissa McKenzie 334-834-1170 melissa@hattonbrown.com 08/20
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Call Toll-Free: 1-800-669-5613
EMPLOYMENTOPPORTUNITIES Recruiting Services
1615
LUMBERWORKS GREENWOOD KILN STICKS
JOHN GANDEE
& ASSOCIATES, INC
“The lowest cost per cycle”
Contingency or Retained Search
GW Industries www.gwi.us.com
Depending on Circumstances / Needs
“Your Success Is Our Business” Serving the Wood Products and Building Materials Industries For more than 26 years.
512-795-4244
Dennis Krueger 866-771-5040
Jackie Paolo 866-504-9095
greenwoodimportsllc@gmail.com
jackie@gwi.us.com
Top Wood Jobs Recruiting and Staffing George Meek
Call or Email me anytime! john@johngandee.com www.johngandee.com
Austin, Texas
127
Importers and Distributors of Tropical Hardwood Kiln Sticks
Executive – Managerial – Technical - Sales
3220
geo@TopWoodJobs.com www.TopWoodJobs.com (360) 263-3371
3779
ATLARGE 62 ➤ forestry led her into a career of advocating and working for the good of those in the industry. The experiences gained from being a child in the industry inspired Fuller to write Lucy Meets a Logger, a children’s book about logging. The book’s purpose is to educate young students about the opportunities and benefits of timber harvesting. Lucy Meets a Logger follows the main character, Lucy, as she ventures into the woods and meets Mr. Logger, who explains to her why logging is good for society and the environment. Alabama Forestry Assn. and Forest Workforce Training Institute have begun touring Alabama with legislators on the “Lucy Tour.” This tour allows legislators
to visit schools in their area to read Lucy Meets a Logger and educate the next generation about the importance of the forest products industry. ForestryWorks is the jobs promotion initiative of the Forest Workforce Training Institute. The mission of FWTI is to create a pipeline of workers for the forest products industry through education, career promotion and training. This pipeline creates a sustainable source of forestry professionals for generations to come. Traditionally, ForestryWorks’ educational component focused mainly on grades 8-12 to encourage students to consider the forest products industry as a future career path. However, the team began to realize that by the time students
reached grade eight, they had their perception about the industry and the people working in it. This perception was normally not positive due to misinformation provided to young students from different sources. Lucy Meets a Logger gives FWTI staff, as well as forestry professionals, a tool to take into local schools and tell the story of one component of the forest products industry through the eyes of a child. All profits from Lucy Meets a Logger are put back into ForestryWorks in order to continue creating educational tools for the forest products industry. Go to lucymeetsalogger.com if you are interested in purchasing a copy of Lucy Meets a Logger. TIMBER PROCESSING
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MAINEVENTS MAY 21-22—Expo Richmond 2021, Richmond Raceway Complex, Richmond, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit exporichmond.com.
JUNE 4-5—PA Timber Show, Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center, Pennsylvania Furnace, Penn. Call 814-8632873; visit agsci.psu.edu/timber.
14-17—2021 Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. Annual Conference, JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, Marco Island, Fla. Call 770-631-6701; visit slma.org. 15-17—West Virginia Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Cannan Valley Resort & Conference Center, Davis, W.Va. Call 681265-5019; visit wvfa.org. 20-23—AWFS Fair 2021, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV. Visit awfsfair.org. 25-28—Walnut Council annual meeting, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill. Call 765-583-3501; visit walnutcouncil.org.
AUGUST 1-3—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Summer Conference, The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, WV. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianhardwood.org. 2-4—American Forest Resource Council annual meeting, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, Wash. Call 503-222-9505; visit amforest.org. 11-13—Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Expo, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpaexpo.com. 24-26—Louisiana Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino Resort, Lake Charles, La. Call 318443-2558; visit laforestry.com. 31-September 2—Florida Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Sheraton Panama City Beach Golf & Spa Resort, Panama City Beach, Fla. Call 850-222-5646; visit floridaforest.org.
SEPTEMBER 8-10—Tennessee Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Westin Hotel, Chattanooga, Tenn. Call 615-883-3832; visit tnforestry.com. 9-11—Great Lakes Logging & Heavy Equipment Expo, UP State Fairground, Escanaba, Mich. Call 715-282-5828; visit gltpa.org. 15-17—National Wooden Pallet & Container Assn. Annual Leadership Conference, Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, Orlando, Fla. Call 703-519-6104; visit palletcentral.com. ■
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21-23—Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. D.C. Summit, Yotel Washington DC, Washington DC. Call 504-443-4464; visit slma.org. Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.
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This issue of Timber Processing is brought to you in part by the following companies, which will gladly supply additional information about their products.
JULY
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17-18—Kentucky Wood Expo, Masterson Station Park, Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org.
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ADVERTISER A W Stiles Contractors Andritz Iggesund Tools Autolog BID Group Biolube Brunette Machinery Brunner Hildebrand Calibre Equipment Carbotech International Cleereman Industries Cone Omega Ernst Reiner GmbH EXPO 2021 G F Smith Gilbert Products Halco Software Systems Holtec USA Hurdle Machine Works ISK Biocides Johnson & Pace Ledinek Engineering Les Aciers J.P. Linck Linden Fabricating Lonza Wood Protection Lucidyne-Microtec McDonough Manufacturing Mebor Mellott Manufacturing Metal Detectors Mid-South Engineering Muhlbock Holztrocknungsanlagen Murray-Latta Progressive Machine Nelson Bros Engineering Oleson Saw Technology Opticom Tech Piche Premier Bandwheel Progress Engineering Redwood Plastics and Rubber Samuel Coding & Labeling Group Samuel Packaging Systems Group Saw Add Sennebogen Sering Sawmill Machinery Serra/Wintersteiger Signode SII Dry Kilns Smith Sawmill Services T S Manufacturing Telco Sensors Timber Automation UC Coatings Ultra Air Systems USNR Vecoplan West Coast Industrial Systems Wood-Mizer
PG.NO. 67 2 21 7 43 46 44 63 12 51 59 55 55 10 71 66 72 6 13 66 49 56 53 43,67 11 29 52 57 62 8 67 48 33 59 31 65 45 66 67 18 58 19 62 17 54 61 25 41 22 42 47 3 60 54 9 64 35 20
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