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A Hatton-Brown Publication
Co-Publisher: David H. Ramsey Co-Publisher: David (DK) Knight Chief Operating Officer: Dianne C. Sullivan Publishing Office Street Address: 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Telephone: 334.834.1170 FAX: 334.834.4525
Volume 43 • Number 7 • September 2018 Founded in 1976 • Our 446th Consecutive Issue
Renew or subscribe on the web: www.timberprocessing.com
Executive Editor David (DK) Knight Editor-in-Chief: Rich Donnell Managing Editor: Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor: David Abbott Associate Editor: Jessica Johnson Associate Editor: Jay Donnell Art Director/Prod. Manager: Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator: Patti Campbell Circulation Director: Rhonda Thomas Marketing/Media: Jordan Anderson Classified Advertising: Bridget DeVane • 334.699.7837 800.669.5613 • bdevane7@hotmail.com Advertising Sales Representatives: Southern USA Randy Reagor P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 904.393.7968 • FAX: 334.834.4525 E-mail: reagor@bellsouth.net
Midwest USA, Eastern Canada
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TP&EE WORKSHOPS
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NEWSFEED
Mass Timber, Lumber Sessions Announced GP Announces Yet Another Sawmill
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ASHTON-LEWIS LUMBER
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OREGON FORESTS
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MACHINERY ROW
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AT LARGE
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BANDMILLS
North Carolina Mill Still Makes The Grade
Recent HS Grad Writes About Forest Health We’re Talking Huge Wood Yard Here Seneca Sends Message In New Logo Outstanding Lineup To Choose From
COVER: Ashton-Lewis Lumber fine-tunes its high grade SYP sawmill in Gatesville, NC. Story begins on PAGE 18. (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
Western USA, Western Canada Tim Shaddick 4056 West 10th Avenue Vancouver BC Canada V6L 1Z1 604.910.1826 • FAX: 604.264.1367 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca
Member Verified Audit Circulation
Kevin Cook 604.619.1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com
International Murray Brett 58 Aldea de las Cuevas, Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain Tel: +34 96 640 4165 • + 34 96 640 4048 E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net
Timber Processing (ISSN 0885-906X, USPS 395-850) is published 10 times annually (January/February and July/August issues are combined) by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Subscription Information—TP is free to qualified owners, operators, managers, purchasing agents, supervisors, foremen and other key personnel at sawmills, pallet plants, chip mills, treating plants, specialty plants, lumber finishing operations, corporate industrial woodlands officials and machinery manufacturers and distributors in the U.S. All non-qualified U.S. Subscriptions are $55 annually: $65 in Canada; $95 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. Funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries— TOLL-FREE: 800-669-5613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.timberprocessing.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe/renew via the web. All advertisements for Timber Processing magazine are accepted and published by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. neither endorse nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Timber Processing. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2018. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Ala. and at additional mailing offices. Printed in U.S.A.
Postmaster: Please send address changes to Timber Processing, P.O. Box 2419, Montgomery, Alabama 36102-2419 Other Hatton-Brown publications: Timber Harvesting • Southern Loggin’ Times Wood Bioenergy • Panel World • Power Equipment Trade
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THEISSUES
Rich Donnell Editor-in-Chief
INNER WORKINGS 6
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ur affiliate, Hatton-Brown Expositions, LLC, produces the Timber Processing & Energy Expo, which will be held October 17-19 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. publishes Timber Processing and other wood products industry magazines, and of course we always have a booth at the biennial event in Portland. We’ve always had a fairly large booth, but it never felt large enough. Recently, H-B Expositions informed H-B Publishers that we now have a very large booth indeed—some 3,500 SF. It’s located front and center when you walk into Hall E at the Portland Expo. Our first reaction was, “All right, now we’ve got some space to play with.” Our second reaction was, “So what are we going to put in the space?” Funny how things work out but this has given us the opportunity to do something at the Portland show we’ve been wanting to do since we started the event in 2012— make the presentation of our annual Person of the Year. Duane Vaagen was TP’s first This will be mark the 31st year of the award. The first award was in 1989 and went Man of the Year in 1989. to our friend Duane Vaagen, president of Vaagen Bros. Lumber in Colville, Wash. The last award, number 30, went to Tommy Battle, president of Battle Lumber in Wadley, Ga. The 28 recipients in between those two were equally outstanding. The winner of the 31st award that we will present at TP&EE is…sorry, I can’t tell you yet. We know the winner, and that person knows it, and we do intend to announce it in the near future, before the show, but just not yet. Meanwhile, a significant part of our booth display in Portland will be devoted to past winners of the award, with all 30 covers of the Timber Processing magazines that had them on it on display. We’re also hosting a short reception following the presentation on Thursday afternoon, October 18. Basically anybody who is on the show floor at the time of the presentation can mosey on over to our booth and take part. Our “large” booth will also have on display a series of meter boards that depict some of the sawmill projects and startups that were featured in Timber Processing in the past two years. These were mills throughout the U.S. that our editors visited and subsequently wrote articles about. And our booth will also have an actual “booth” where our people will be stationed and at your service. It’s always fun for us to hang out at our booth because we see so many people we haven’t seen in such a long while. Many of them worked at sawmills we did an article on many years ago, and they remember when our editors came to visit. Great stuff. We think TP&EE will be “great stuff” and in addition to providing a venue for you to conduct some serious business, it will offer some fun and relaxation away from the mill. TP Contact Rich Donnell, ph: 334-834-1170; fax 334-834-4525; e-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com TIMBER PROCESSING
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TP&EE PORTLAND SHOW GEARS UP Lumber, mass timber workshops complement the big expo.
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Brian Fehr
Patrick Freeman
Mario Godbout
Two of the speakers will be from BCbased BID Group, which is the company building and installing much of the equipment in many of those SYP mills. BID Group Chairman and Managing Director Brian Fehr along with Ron McGehee, R&D New Product Development for BID Group, will speak on “Unlocking the Turnkey Strategy.” Timber Automation VP and GM Seth Vance will address sawmill profitability and how mills can uncover unrealized value. He’ll also address the evolvement of Timber Automation, parent to Baxley Equipment and LogPro. Here’s the Thursday, October 18 schedule: 10:00 a.m.—Increase Your Bottom Line (OR: Don’t Leave Dollars on the Table)—Seth Vance, Vice President and General Manager, Timber Automation Norvin Loudon
Laurie McCabe
Ron McGehee
Peter Nachtwey
Seth Vance
wo-hundred exhibitors using up 60,000 square feet of booth space will attract lumber and panel producers from around the globe during the Timber Processing & Energy Expo to be held October 17-19 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore. If attendees want to do more than comb the aisles and talk business with exhibitors, they can also sign up for one or both of the workshops that are scheduled. The Lumber Manufacturing Workshop will be held on Thursday, October 18,
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and the Mass Timber, EWP and Plywood Workshop will be held on Wednesday, October 17, the first day of the event. “We always like to have an educational segment as part of the expo,” comments Rich Donnell, Show Director and Editorin-Chief of Hatton-Brown Publishers. One of the hottest topics in the sawmill industry is the large number of turnkey southern pine sawmills recently constructed, currently in construction, or about to be in construction. Is a similar wave bound for the Northwest?
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Richard Vetter
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Money Does Grow On SYP Trees
10:30 a.m.—Unlocking the Turnkey Strategy—Ron McGehee, R&D New Product Development, BID Group; Brian Fehr, Chairman and Managing Director, BID Group 11:00 a.m.—Maintaining a Modern Sawmill: Embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution by Leveraging the IoT and Generate ROI—Laurie McCabe, Sales and Marketing Manager, TradeTec Computer Systems 11:30 a.m.—Advances in Hydraulic Power Unit Design—Richard Vetter, Vice-President, AMS Solutions 1:00 p.m.—Control Your Product Output with the Latest in Artificial Intelligence—Patrick Freeman, Chief Technology Officer, Lucidyne Technologies, Inc. 1:30 p.m.—Bringing Multi-View XRay Technology to the Planer Mill— Norvin Laudon, Chief Technology Officer, Springer Microtec 2:00 p.m.— Log Optimization New Development—Mario Godbout, Chief Technology Officer, Autolog 2:30 p.m.—Practical Solutions to Difficult Hydraulic System Design Problems—Peter Nachtwey, President, Delta Computer Systems The Mass Timber movement has begun in North America. Russ Vaagen, from well known Vaagen Bros. Lumber in Colville, Wash., will speak about Vaagen Timbers, his new venture that is currently constructing a CLT and glulam plant adjacent the Vaagen sawmill. That’s part of the mass timber and plywood workshop on Wednesday, October 17.
Tyler Freres
Russ Vaagen
Tyler Freres, VP of Sales for Freres Lumber, will speak about the company’s new MPP (Mass Plywood Panel) plant in operation at Lyons, Ore. and he’ll address new technical and market developments and also the recent certification achieved for MPP through APA—The Engineered Wood Assn. Here’s the Wednesday, October 17, schedule: 9:10 a.m.—The Mass Timber and CLT Movement—Charles Gale, principal, Doug Fir Consulting 9:30 a.m.—Developing a CLT and Glulam Business and Facility—Russ Vaagen, CEO, Vaagen Timbers 10:00 a.m.—Mass Timber Buildings—Ethan Martin, Regional Director, WoodWorks 10:30 a.m.—Global Breakthrough of CLT—Markets and Technologies—Dominik Wolfschuetz, German Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers Assn. (VDMA); Gerhard Binder, Projecting and Sales, MINDA 11:00 a.m.—Mass Timber Partnerships—Evan Schmidt, Outreach Coordinator, TallWood Design Institute 11:30 a.m.—The Making of Mass Plywood Panel—Tyler Freres, VP of Sales, Freres Lumber 1:10 p.m.—Rising from the Ashes: Update on Swanson Group’s New Plywood Plant with Meinan Automated Green End—Steve Swanson, president and CEO, Swanson Group; Anna McCann, president, Merritt Machinery 2:00 p.m.—High-Performance Combustion Plants—Miguel Martinez, key account manager, Sugimat 2:30 p.m.—Always Survival of the Fittest: Veneer and Plywood Operations and Technologies—Moderator Dick Baldwin, managing partner, Oak Creek Investment Combined, the two workshops will feature more than 20 speakers. Each workshop costs $75, which also includes admittance to the expo floor for three days and a beer and brat ticket.
Organizers of the Timber Processing & Energy Expo have launched a money giveaway for southern pine sawmills. “We recognize it’s not always convenient to fly across the country to a trade show, so we’re providing a little incentive,” comments Rich Donnell, director of TP&EE. TP&EE will give away $3,000 to the one southern pine sawmill site that registers and sends the most employees to the show. “We’re talking about number of personnel from a single sawmill,” Donnell explains. “This way the contest is fair to those companies that only operate a single mill as compared to companies that may operate multiple mills.” All the mill compamy and/or their personnel have to do is go to the show web site and register as normal, and the show will know which mill they’re coming from by noting the company name and location of the registrant. Or somebody from the mill can contact a show representative and provide the names of the personnel from the mill and the representative will get them registered. “And remember, the company’s people have to actually attend at least one day of the show,” Donnell adds. For mills that prefer to call in and register their personnel, contact Jessica Johnson at Hatton-Brown Publishers: Jessica@hattonbrown.com; 800-669-5613. To read more about the presentations, go to the show web site—timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com—and go to the Attendee Info tab. You can register for the workshops and/or the expo also at timberprocessinTP gandenergyexpo.com.
Look For Next Issue Of Timber Processing The October issue of Timber Processing is officially the TP&EE show issue and will feature the exhibitor floorplan, exhibitors’ list, an exhibitor-advertiser preview section and other details. TIMBER PROCESSING
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NEWSFEED GP IS ROLLING IN SAWMILLS Georgia-Pacific announced it is building a southern yellow pine sawmill in Albany, Ga.—GP’s third new softwood lumber mill announcement in 12 months, following investments at Talladega, Ala. and Warrenton, Ga. Construction on the $150 million, 320,000 square foot facility is scheduled to begin by the end of this year with an anticipated startup in late 2019. Once it is fully operational, the plant will employ more than 130. Fritz Mason, vice president and general manager, Georgia-Pacific Lumber, comments, “Albany was an attractive fit for this facility because of the talented workforce in the region; the cost of doing business; proximity to
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raw materials; and access to rail and highways, plus we have received a very warm reception from the leadership in Albany, Dougherty County, and the state of Georgia. Once in production, the facility expects to receive approximately 180 log trucks a day and produce 300MMBF of lumber a year. Governor Nathan Deal adds, “We are proud that Georgia-Pacific will expand upon its significant presence in Georgia. As one of the nation’s most successful brands, Georgia-Pacific recognizes the benefits of operating in the top state for business.” GP says it will continue to evaluate similar investments in the U.S. as the demand for lumber continues to improve as the housing market strengthens. “Our confidence in our building products business is
strong,” Mason says. Through GP’s packaging business, it has also owned and operated a corrugated box plant in Albany since 1981 that serves customers throughout the Southeast.
LUMBER BOARD MOVES FORWARD With a super-majority mandate from 94% of industry production representing 78% of companies voting in the referendum, the Softwood Lumber Board of Directors met to launch an initiative to establish softwood lumber as the preferred choice for the built environment by 2024. “We will move from rethink wood when we started, to think wood today, to of course wood in five years,” says SLB Chairman Marc Brinkmeyer. To achieve this
ambitious goal, SLB will review and refine its strategy, tactics and funded initiatives to ensure all are optimized and aligned given the changing dynamics in the market. The conditions in 2018 are very different and more advantageous for lumber than they were when the SLB was established in 2011, and approach to delivering on its objectives will also need to evolve. SLB also announced Steve Lovett’s plan to step down as Chief Executive Officer at the end of November 2018, and the appointment of Cees de Jager to take his place as CEO. “Steve has led a very successful startup of the SLB with the goal of seeing the organization through a successful re-vote, and has designed a transition to transform the SLB from a startup to a mature organization,” Brinkmeyer says. “Steve and
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NEWSFEED Cees have worked closely for 10 years and both have demonstrated tremendous leadership in executing the SLB’s vision of making softwood lumber the building material of choice.” Recognizing the opportunities to increase market share and the SLB’s need for expanded market development skill sets, the Board announced that Ryan Flom has been appointed to fill the new VP of Market Promotion & Research position. He brings more than 20 years of marketing, sales and business development experience to the SLB, most recently at Hanley Wood. To round out future staffing the Board announced a search for a new Vice President of Operations that will begin immediately. Contact Steve Lovett: Lovett@softwoodlumberboard.org.
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HAMPTON CEO TALKS TRADE “Having access to international markets, whether to sell product or import materials, is critical to many domestic manufacturers. The trade war that the U.S. began earlier this year by imposing tariffs on Chinese goods threatens that access,” writes Steve Zika, CEO of Hampton Lumber, on the company web site. “Prolonged uncertainty due to trade wars and hostile relations with important allies and trading partners is fundamentally bad for business.” Zika writes that international trade helped Hampton weather the Great Recession during which time the company’s lumber exports to Asia increased from 5% of total sales to 20%. “Building working relationships with customers in
Asia took time,” Zika says. “Disrupting those relationships could affect business for years to come. In addition, the trade war has already increased the cost of steel and aluminum, which will drive up inflation and hurt the entire American economy.” Zika says he is an accountant by training, not an economist, and that he can’t pinpoint what the long-term effects of a trade war with China might be nor which countries or sectors, if any, are likely to come out ahead in the end. “But with the world’s two largest economies engaged in a game of chicken, the stakes are high and the implications global. If nothing else, this trade war should reveal how interconnected our economy is with those of other nations. Perhaps that realization will bring the powers that be back to the negotiating table.”
IFG ACQUIRES MERRITT MILL Idaho Forest Group (IFG) has acquired the Merritt Brothers Finger Joint mill located in Athol, Idaho. Erol Deren, IFG VP of Sales and Marketing, comments, “This acquisition gives us the opportunity to learn the value-added fingerjoint manufacturing process. It will enable further utilization of the fiber resource and complements our other facilities making the most of the logs that we procure for our mills. We will carefully evaluate the capital needs of this site and invest accordingly.” Buck and Wayne Merritt started Merritt Brothers Lumber in 1968 when they purchased an old sawmill in Priest River, Idaho. In 1990 they bought the Athol site and
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NEWSFEED eventually sold off their Priest River location. Herb Janhsen, VP of Merritt Brothers, congratulates IFG and states, “We wish IFG a prosperous future. We are happy to see the mill continue to move forward and offer employment opportunities to our valued team members. We are thankful for the hard work our employees have put in over the years.”
RUSSIA COMPANIES SEE SLOW GROWTH In 2017, the total revenue of the 10 biggest forest products companies in Russia amounted to 339.4 billion rubles ($5.1 billion), according to the annual Top 50 Russian forest-based sector companies rating published by Lesnaya Industriya magazine. The top three leaders of the rating have not
changed: Ilim Group, Mondi Syktyvkar and Segezha Group. The Ilim Group reported 2017 revenues decreased by 1.1% to 110.4 billion rubles, net profit down 27.7% to 18.956 billion rubles. Mondi Syktyvkar’s revenues were flat compared to the previous year—54.944 billion rubles (+ 0.03%).
ROYOMARTIN PLANS CHOPIN UPGRADE RoyOMartin will invest $8 million at its Chopin, La. operation to install a new dry kiln designed to increase timber production. Additionally, the company will connect to natural gas pipelines and expand the facility’s shipping and finishing area. With the new investment, the company will create 14 direct jobs. The company will retain 680 existing
jobs at the site of the plywood mill and timbers sawmill. The investment will also include upgrades to scanning software and hardware, and upgrades to automated systems, including programmable linear controls and motor variable-frequency drives.
MAIBEC SELLS MILLS TO GROUPE LEBEL Maibec has sold its sawmills in St-Pamphile, Quebec and Masardis, Maine to Groupe Lebel of Riviere-du-Loup. The 315 employees of Maibec will maintain their employment with Groupe Lebel. Maibec will now focus on growing its pre-stained exterior sidings systems based on lap sidings and shingles manufactured with solid wood or woodbased engineered material. Maibec recently announced the
launching of the Maibec Resistech siding systems manufactured on LP SmartSide from Louisiana-Pacific.
KATERRA PLANS COMPONENTS PLANT Katerra, a technology company that claims it is redefining the construction industry, announced plans to open a new advanced manufacturing factory in Tracy, Calif., where it will produce building components including wall panels, floor systems, roof truss assemblies, windows, cabinets and finishes. Katerra reports it is expanding its U.S. operations to support $3.7 billion in new build project bookings With its new 577,000 sq. ft. factory, Katerra’s manufacturing presence in Tracy will add more than 500 jobs. This fa-
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NEWSFEED cility will complement Katerra’s existing California operations, including its headquarters in Menlo Park and office in San Francisco. “Establishing a manufacturing presence in the Central Valley made sense to efficiently serve the West Coast market while gaining access to talent to operate advanced robotic equipment,” says Michael Marks, chairman and cofounder of Katerra. Katerra says it’s integrated factory model seamlessly connects building design to the factory floor and job site. Compared to its first and existing factory located in Phoenix, Ariz., Katerra’s next generation plant will be an advanced manufacturing facility with significantly more automation. The operation will include fully automated wood frame wall production lines, automated floor lines, automated cabi-
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net and finish areas, automated roof truss lines, an automated window line and a light gauge steel production line. The factory will be able to produce, on an annual basis, the equivalent of 12,500 multifamily units. Production is scheduled to begin in 2019. Katerra is also currently constructing a mass timber manufacturing facility in Spokane, Wash., which will produce cross-laminated timber wall panels and floor systems when it comes online in 2019. Katerra’s near-term manufacturing expansion plans for the U.S. includes three more building components factories to serve the South and East Coast markets, as well as another mass timber production facility to be located in the Southeast. ● Barely a week after announcing the acquisition of
North American pioneering mass timber design firm Michael Green Architecture (MGA) in the Pacific Northwest, Katerra has now acquired Atlanta-based architectural firm Lord Aeck Sargent (LAS). While LAS doesn’t have the mass timber experience that MGA does, it counts sustainable urban projects in its portfolio. More importantly, the two acquisitions give Katerra architect licenses in 31 states plus in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada while doubling Katerra’s overall design staff.
TRIMMER UPGRADE ENHANCES HANCOCK Over the course of each year Hancock Lumber organizes a wish list of capital improvement projects across its entire business—from the re-
tail lumberyard division to sawmill manufacturing, and now its truss manufacturing facility. The company believes strongly in reinvesting in its business and puts a significant amount of money directly back in the operations. When evaluating capital projects and deciding what to do, one of the most important aspects is how the project will impact the team. Estimated payback and profitability are part of the conversation, but not the only priorities. How will the potential upgrades improve the lives of the people that work at Hancock Lumber? How will this create a safer workplace for its people? How will a bottleneck that affects the entire process be alleviated, help employees and provide a better product to its customers? Hancock’s Pittsfield,
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NEWSFEED Maine eastern white pine manufacturing facility produces 24MMBF annually. The company recently upgraded the back half of the mill, installing an optimized trimmer and overhauling the entire back end. Prior to this investment the trimmer was a manual one, so an employee would look at each board manually and decide what the trimming solution was at a very high rate of speed—45 to 50 lugs a minute. Both ends would have to be inspected and the boards would have to be evaluated for wane and other defects. The operator had to position each board by hand then choose a trimming solution by hitting a button or series of buttons to drop the saws—a job nearly impossible for a human. The new, optimized system scans the board, top and bottom, to determine the best so-
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lution, and automatically feeds the board through the trimmer. State-of-the-art lasers measure every quarter of an inch. Additionally, Hancock Lumber rebuilt all the mechanical parts of the drop sorter. While the project improves Pittsfield’s productivity, most importantly it creates a better work environment for the employees. Rodney Williams, sawmill manager at Pittsfield, comments, “This investment in the new trimmer brings us consistency. Instead of trying to balance an operator that can keep pace and try to make the correct decision, it doesn’t matter who feeds the trimmer. The same decision is made at the same pace, providing a level of consistency that our Pittsfield sawmill team has never had. The biggest win with this project, however, is remov-
ing physically demanding jobs—this has changed the atmosphere in the sawmill in a very positive way.” General Manager Dennis Verrill considers the upgraded sawmill a “dream come true. Safety, quality, and engagement is what this technology is all about. Our employees are safer and in a more ergonomically friendly environment not having to handle lumber manually. The system reads every one-quarter inch with an infinite fence resulting in improved quality. Top of the line technology helps output consistent results, along with multiple screens that tell you if you have any quality issues that send emails/text to alert you. Downtime from human error and mechanical issues have been greatly reduced. We love everything about this upgrade.”
Eliminating downtime at the trimmer helps predict daily production more accurately, helping smooth out the work flow. Baxley Equipment (Timber Automation) handled all the upgrades, delivering state-of-the-art equipment and customer support. Kevin Hynes, Sawmill COO, adds. “Efficiency has gone up tremendously, sawmill yield has improved, planer mill shrinkage has been reduced, and grade recovery has improved. But, the real meaningful impact has been on our employees. Hearing from our team how much better their work is makes this all worthwhile— every employee in the mill has been a beneficiary of this project.” This is an edited version of an article that appeared on the Hancock Lumber web site, hancocklumber.com.
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NEWSFEED U.S. COALITION HAS BUSY SUMMER U.S. Lumber Coalition, which is an alliance of softwood lumber producers that has led the imposition of tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber entering the U.S., responded to a claim from the National Assn. of Home Builders that the duties imposed a year ago cause a $9,000 jump in U.S. housing prices. The U.S. Lumber Coalition calls the claim “blatantly false” and says duties to offset Canadian lumber subsidies have not harmed U.S. homebuyers. An average new home in 2018 cost $368,500 and about 16,000 board feet of lumber is required to build a home, the coalition states. If lumber cost is $515 per MBF, the total cost for lumber is an average home is $8,240. “A $9,000 cost in-
crease for lumber would suggest that lumber used to be free in the construction of a home. Such false claims are unfortunate and harmful to U.S. companies, their workers and the thousands of communities they support,” the coalition states. The coalition notes that single-family housing starts increased 8% in the 11 months since the duties began (May 2017-March 2018) as compared to the previous year. “This means that there were about 67,000 more single-family homes built after the duties were implemented,” the coalition says. The coalition also pointed to the NAHB “confidence index” of its members for present and future homebuilding, noting that when the U.S. industry filed its trade case in November 2016, the index was 63. As of this past June, it stood at 68—any number above 50
shows that the industry is optimistic for growth. Also this summer the coalition took to task a letter written by House members Kenny Marchant (R-TX) and Brian Higgins (D-NY) to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer, calling for renewed negotiations with Canada for a softwood lumber trade agreement. The letter states that antidumping and countervailing duties imposed by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce on Canadian softwood lumber are the chief driver of current lumber prices. The coalition called the statement inaccurate. “The price of lumber, like all commodities, fluctuates due to market forces,” the coalition responded. The coalition says it stands ready to negotiate an effective and durable U.S.-Canada trade
agreement on softwood lumber imports that uses a quantitative metric for Canada’s maximum participation in the U.S. market. But as of yet, according to the coalition, the Canadian government and industry have made no indication that it is prepared to engage in meaningful discussions. In November 2016 the U.S. coalition petitioned the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to restore conditions of fair trade in softwood lumber between the U.S. and Canada. In November 2017, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce levied antidumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber and the U.S. ITC agreed that the U.S. lumber industry was materially injured. The combined duty rates vary with the Canadian companies, but range roughly from 10% to 24%
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PROJECTS
ABOUND By Jessica Johnson
Ashton-Lewis Lumber has been in upgrade mode as of late and it’s paying off.
M
GATESVILLE, NC ichael Lancaster, the General Manager of Ashton-Lewis Lumber, has been around sawmills his entire adult life. He’s racked up quite the impressive resume with stops at Georgia18
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Pacific and Bibler Bros., to name a couple. Originally built in 1952, the sawmill here was rebuilt in 2006, so when Lancaster made the move to Gatesville, NC almost four years ago, he had a few things on his mind in seeking to improve both the performance and efficiency of this specialty pine mill. “It was built new,” he explains, “and it’s well-designed, but we just had to start replacing some things.” In his new position, he didn’t dive head first into any projects. Instead, Lancaster says he took a year to watch how the mill ran, learn the people and then see about using his experience to make tweaks. A handful of things have been done in specific areas in the facility, like adding all LED lighting to the property, but Lancaster says the biggest investment has been in a continuous kiln. The first large project the mill con-
sidered was replacing the double track kiln and package kilns with a continuous kiln. After a period of testing on some 1 in. lumber, and Ashton-Lewis’ Controller Conner Good crunching some numbers, they decided to pull the trigger. Before the upgrade, AshtonLewis was drying between 20 and 22MMBF annually using up to six package kilns at one time, including single track and double track models. With the upgrade, one Stiles continuous kiln with ARS controls replaced the six package models, doubling drying capacity to 40MMBF. Though drying capacity has doubled with the new kiln, Lancaster says AshtonLewis won’t double its production at this point. “We dry our lumber at a lower temperature than other mills” he says. “We’ve had to do some experimenting. We get a little better standard deviation and grade out of it.”
Above, Ashton-Lewis has made a big transition in its drying operations.
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It’s bandmills galore in the Ashton-Lewis green end, including a tilted headrig, horizontal resaw, linebar resaw and center split resaw.
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TECH FOCUS
New Armstrong and Vollmer equipment has enhanced filing room operations.
For Lancaster, replacing computers and controls that had become obsolete over the years was his second biggest investment and priority after the kiln. Ashton-Lewis had been making use of an aging Inovec system mill-wide. Lancaster leaned heavily on USNR to provide MillExpert optimization in many areas. The mill’s original lineal edger was replaced with a McDonough slew and skew shifting saw box with MillExpert and new laser heads. Lancaster says this gave Ashton-Lewis the ability to enter in some export markets in the European Union, North Africa and the Middle East previously not open to them. MillExpert from USNR was also upgraded on an existing Newnes trimmer, and an order for MillExpert on the Cleereman carriage was signed in April of this year and was due for installment in August. Good and Lancaster are in the testing and “let’s see” stage of adding an autograder to the mill. “We don’t have a lot of volume, obviously, but we grade in the rough a lot so we need accuracy for our molders,” Lancaster explains. While not quite ready to make the decision, the pair has met with suppliers VAB Solutions and Lucidyne Technologies about the idea. On the wood yard, the knuckleboom was replaced a year ago, and they are in the process of replacing the debarker, having purchased a used Nicholson from a mill in Montana the maintenance team plans to rebuild. Rolling stock and log loaders are being constantly rotated. “We’re always working on something,” Good says.
McDonough edger fits neatly into the flow on the sawmill floor.
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MILL FLOW Ashton-Lewis processes 16 trucks per day. Log supply is 60/40 mix of gatewood and company tracts. With tight specs required for the needed grade lumber Ashton-Lewis produces, the two logging contractors are kept busy with timber bought up to 18 months ahead. Majority of the gatewood comes from a core group of six to eight contractors. All pine comes in either 12 ft. or 16 ft. lengths. Once trucks enter the wood yard, all logs are measured, graded and inputted into a lumber tracker. To help the headrig sawyer, wood yard graders paint a blue dot or red stripe on logs before they are entered into inventory and loaded onto one of two decks. Of the two decks feeding the mill, one makes use of a butt reducer. Logs are sawn by a tilted Cleereman carriage and McDonough bandmill with to-be-upgraded optimization. According to Lancaster, this is where the blue dot/red stripe marking helps the carriage operator: “The way it’s set up now, if it’s a blue dot log, he literally has a blue dot button to push and we have a set pattern to go with.” Of course, the operator can override it, but it helps production to have these patterns programmed into the carriage system. Flitches go to a McDonough horizontal bandmill to make either 4⁄4 or 6⁄4 for export before edging, though some flitches bypass the horizontal and go straight to the edger— it just depends on the piece, Lancaster says. Logs coming off the carriage are broken down to cant size before hitting a McDonough linebar resaw. “We’re a McDonough showcase,” Lancaster laughs as he describes breakdown machinery. Since Ashton-Lewis cuts strictly for grade, there is a grader looking at lumber as it comes off the McDonough resaw who makes secondary cutting decisions by making grade marks. A 4⁄4 double piece is processed using a McDonough center bust saw, which takes pressure off the linebar. Cants that are taken down to 6 in. are sawn through the new McDonough 6 in. gang. If pieces have wane, they go to the McDonough edger. Lancaster estimates 50% to 60% of pieces go through the edger eventually. At the Newnes trimmer, graders sort knots from clear, to help the molder operation. Following the trimmer, lumber is sorted into a Newnes J-bar sorter and stacked using a Newnes stacker, with an operator hand laying sticks. ➤ 22
Connor Good, left, and Michael Lancaster credit their team at Ashton-Lewis for the many successes the plant has seen in the last few years.
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operators. Packs are manually strapped. Inside the molding operation, AshtonLewis makes knotty and clear flooring, as well as beaded board products on two Weinig molders. Of the sawmill’s 22MMBF production, Lancaster estimates 11MMBF went through the molders last year. The remaining production runs the gamut: 4⁄4 in 1x3, 1x4, 1x5, 1x8, 1x10, and 5 ⁄4 x 12 for steps. Export products account for about 15% of production and are 6⁄4 in 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 in. widths, with some vertical grain as well. Most lumber is graded to in-house grades, though a fair amount of production is sap, clear 1, D, #2 and #3; prime, merch and select covers export grades. Wood yard rolling stock includes two Cat 966s as well as a Hyundai HL975 scheduled for September 2018 delivery.
FILING, SAFETY Specialty and high-grade items come into focus in the planer and molding lines.
21 ➤ Lumber rests in the green yard before being dried in the continuous kiln, powered by one of two wood-fired Hurst boilers. A dry shed holds lumber before it’s processed in the planer mill where it
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is graded rough to make molder stock, or run through the Yates A-20 planer to make S4S depending on current orders and pack grades. Inside the planer mill, a vintage Hi-Tech sorter and stacker aids
Ashton-Lewis does almost all its own filing work, with the exception of a few circles. Recent additions to the extensive filing room include an Armstrong grinder and a Vollmer CHC 840 for circles, which has helped bring a lot of circle work back in-house. Filers also use
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two Armstrong and one Wright side grinders. All benching is done in-house. The addition of a saw control system from Saw Control Systems has helped gain a line a minute, Lancaster says as it watches for the deviation of the saw, at the carriage. Since the instillation two years ago, Ashton-Lewis went from saw deviation between 5 and 6 thousandths to 4 thousandths. Four people staff the filing room right now, with one being trained ahead of a retirement.
According to Lancaster, the company keeps a constant focus on safety. “If you don’t see safety as a moral issue, if you are doing it just to please people, you’ll never improve,” he believes. The entire program has been revamped in the last few years, and the sawmill participates in North Carolina’s voluntary SHARP inspection program, which audits the health and safety of the mill. The safety committee, composed of personnel from each key area, meets monthly. Good says the purpose of the commit-
tee is to put safety back in the hands of the employees. In turn, the safety committee meetings have evolved into more open-forum type discussions on areas that can be improved upon centered around a mill checklist Lancaster created. “Safety is something you’ve got to fight for every day,” Lancaster says. “If you ever think you’ve got it, it will bite you later on.” Fortunately, Good reports the mill is below the industry standard for recordables. That’s still not good enough for Lancaster, though. “I’m never satisfied,” he says, “and we preach safety every day. No board foot is worth someone getting hurt. It’s not easy and takes a total commitment to do it well.”
PEOPLE POWER Lancaster and Good agree without the staff of Ashton-Lewis the sawmill is nothing. Caring about their employees is part of why Lancaster pushes so hard for a safe work environment. As the largest employer in the county, Ashton-Lewis keeps about 95 on the payroll, mainly to stay ahead of retirees with a solid succession plan in place for key positions. L.T. Downs serves as Plant Manager, supporting Lancaster in daily operations. His staff is lead by Kenney Cowper, log scaler; Dwight Everette, sawmill supervisor; Jim Brown, planer supervisor; Ricky Page, molder supervisor; David Whitley, kiln supervisor; and Pat Floyd, trucking and rolling stock manager. “I’m the General Manager,” Lancaster jokes, “but Patty runs the place.” Patty Ballard is transportation manager with Lindsey Elstrodt as office staff. Veteran Bill O’Berry serves as sales manager. David Spence oversees wood procurement. “We do such a special product. If we don’t saw it right or grade it right—that’s on our people. I can buy the equipment. You’ve got to have people who know how to operate it,” Lancaster says of his team. Each person in the mill has the authority to throw away any board they deem to be subpar quality. Lancaster estimates that at least seven people in the mill know grades well enough to grade any piece. He continues, “The carriage operator needs to understand the knot structure, so that can help the linebar resaw. When you talk about molding it’s down to the thousandths, we’re not worrying about if it is an inch and a half. Everything has to look good. Tongue and groove has to all fit. You’re not just nailing it like a 2x4. It TP takes people to do all that.” 24
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MISMANAGED WITHOUT MANAGEMENT Oregon forests thrive under right conditions.
By Aiden Stephan
“H
ealthy forests provide the vital environmental services communities rely on. They maintain ecosystem functions and give the environmental, social and economic benefits that people value” (oregon.gov, 2018). Everyone agrees that a healthy forest is essential, but there is great debate about what exactly a healthy forest is and on how to go about protecting, maintaining and/or cultivating Oregon forestlands. This reveals one of the most developed and disputed philosophies in the state of Oregon. What defines a healthy forest? Does economy have to be sacrificed for sustainability and conservation? Or can they coexist or even aid each other? Oregon forests are mismanaged without management and well-managed forests have the ability to fulfill many different objectives from sustainability and conservation, to generation of alternative power, to recreation and economic profit. According to the article, “Forest Health from Different Perspectives,” by Kolb, Wagner, and Covington, “Forest health is an increasingly important concept in natural resource management. However, definition of forest health is difficult and dependent on human perspective. From a utilitarian perspective, forest health has been defined by the production of forest conditions which directly satisfy human needs; and from an ecosystem-centered perspective, forest health has been defined by resilience, recurrence, persistence and biophysical processes which lead to sustainable ecological conditions” (fs.fed.us, 2018). Oregon is known for the large role it has played in the forest products industry over the course of many decades. The state’s climate is ideal for rapid timber growth and the rolling, expansive topography provides a home for 30.5 million acres of forest. In fact, forests ranging from Douglas fir to ponderosa pine cover nearly half of 26
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Forest thinnings reduce chances of severe pest and fire influx.
Oregon (Oregon.gov, 2018). These forests have served as a home and source of income for people throughout history. Well known tribes such as the Modocs, Umpquas, and Nez Perce all once lived in or near these woodlands and many depended upon them for shelter, building materials, trade items and food. As history progressed, the people changed, but the importance of timber’s role in supporting
the people of Oregon has not. From the opening of the first sawmill on the Willamette River by John McLoughlin in 1829, to Oregon’s statehood in 1859, to large burns like the Tillamook Burn in 1933, to the Wilderness Act of 1964, to the Oregon Forest Practices Act of 1971, the use and management of Oregon’s abundant natural resources has been the focus of many disputes, policy wars, and misun-
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derstandings. As harvest and forest usage increased over time, in both the private and public sectors, so did the efforts of those regulating or even opposing it, and although a relative balance has been achieved, many issues with roots in events sometimes over a century old still give cause for extensive debate. These debates vary in intensity and relativity, but most can be traced to one key factor: the set of practices, laws, philosophies and regulations coined “active forest management.” Active forest management is the practice of human intervention in the natural development of land to increase timber yields, restore areas previously devastated by non-sustainable practices, and reduce hazards, such as excessive fire danger, under-utilized resources and forest overgrowth presented by an untouched ecosystem. Active forest management may utilize a variety of techniques that include but are not limited to: thinning, selective and clear-cut logging, targeted spraying of fertilizer and pesticides, restoration, replanting (up to as many as 400 new seedling trees per acre), use of heavy equipment, road building and conservation efforts. Additionally, many landowners and companies rely upon independent, third-party verification to ensure sustainable forest management practices.
sition to LeGue, that the only way to protect and preserve our Oregon forests is through forest management practices that include controlled burns, thinning, selective and clear-cut timber harvests, replanting and using herbicides and pesticides to control invasive plant and animal species. He states, “The Association of Oregon Loggers helps to manage forests so as to ensure resources are being used in a sustainable manner and that they may be harvested and used for decades to come. It is important that Oregon be self-sufficient and although it may be offensive to some people, we consider forests to be a renewable crop. From this perspective, it is imperative that the lands be used in such a manner that the harvests can take place again and again. It is also important that other factors be carefully considered and thrive uncompromised. These include
does not need saving and secondly, he states that if Oregon is unable and or unwilling to meet its own demands for forestry products that they will need to be outsourced, possibly from other areas that are not using sound ecological practices as Oregon does. “Many would be surprised to know that Oregon forest product harvest has been nearly halved since 1983 and current output could be increased by large proportions without any negative impacts or loss of sustainability. Furthermore, there are many states in the U.S. with abundant woodlands and yet only five, including Oregon, have protection acts, rendering Oregon extremely progressive in its management and conservation efforts” (Storm, 2017). The amount of timber harvested in Oregon is declining, as is Asian demand for Northwest logs with approximately 10%
EXPERTS WEIGH IN To learn more about the techniques used and some of their benefits as well as shortcomings, I interviewed three people with jobs related to the regulation of Oregon forestlands: Chandra LeGue, Western Field Manager with Oregon Wild; Rex Storm, Forest Policy Manager with Associated Oregon Loggers; and Seth Barnes, Director of Forest Policy at Oregon Forests and Industries Council (OFIC). LeGue at Oregon Wild works to protect old-growth forests, limit public access and educate the public on the potential hazards of poor and improper forest management techniques. She claims that Oregon forests are best left untouched by humans. “Do not take for granted the beautiful state we live in. We must keep Oregon as it is and make sure future generations have a clean, untouched state with pristine watersheds and virgin forests for all to enjoy” (LeGue, 2017). At Oregon Wild, they work to implement and pass more laws, legislation and restrictions on human use of forestlands. She claims that human interference in the forest ecosystem disrupts the natural balance and causes irreparable damages and the only way to protect and preserve our forests is not to interfere with them. Storm with AOL argues in direct oppo-
Proper forest management serves a robust forest industry economy.
wildlife, fresh water, hydroelectric power, quarries, forest crops and many others. “One important factor to consider when contemplating this take on handling resources is if Oregon forest product production was reduced, the demand would need to be met by other means. This might result in having to import materials from countries employing less effective or no natural asset sustainability practices” (Storm, 2017). Storm believes that the greatest threat to Oregon forests is a misinformed public given control over forest management policies without being first accurately educated. He makes two valid points. In his first point he illustrates how many people are misinformed about forestry practices and are determined to “save” a forest that
of old-growth forests still remaining uncut, virtually all of which are located on federal land (opb.org, 2018). And according to fs.fed.us, growth of trees in western Oregon exceeds the amount removed by harvest and mortality (fs.fed.us, 2018). Without management our forests face habitat endangerment, loss of diversity, threatened animal populations, overgrowth, increased fire hazards, negative economic repercussions and increased chance for disease. Seth Barnes, Director of Forest Policy at Oregon Forest Industries Council, states that, “The driving philosophy behind our company is ‘Protecting Oregon’s Work Force.’ A large emphasis is placed upon scientifically supported stewardship and innovation and OFIC relies upon and invests heavily in science as a means for TIMBER PROCESSING
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both supporting their actions as well as constantly self-checking to ensure that the practices they promote are sustainable socially, economically, and environmentally” (Barnes, 2017). Barnes has observed that rural and public populations often have contrasting opinions and information about forest management and that all too often they are involved in misinformed policy and law making. He is an advocate for Oregon forestry businesses and has witnessed firsthand how a well managed forest is key to economic stability and forest preservation in Oregon. He encourages those who want to protect our forests to purchase local forestry based products and support active forest management. Oregon’s forests are an amazing resource, multi-faceted in their uses and vast; so are the challenges, conflicts and issues that arise around ensuring their health, safety, preservation and productivity for generations to come. It is a popular belief that our forestlands must be “protected” and that human management causes “irreversible and negative impacts” upon the forestlands. Evidence proves otherwise. Our forestlands require management which in turn provides protection, conservation and productivity.
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In spite of approaching the controversial issue of forest management from differing perspectives, LeGue, Storm and Barnes all share a common concern and objective: the need for and increase of public awareness and education in regard to forest management. Each of their companies actively supports and engages in increasing public education and awareness. Another organization that supplies information to the public is the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI). It was created in 1991 by Oregon Legislature, funded in part by state forest products harvest tax, to provide third party, objective information about responsible forest management and to encourage people from all sides of the issue to work together more productively (oregonforests.org, 2018).
FOREST ECONOMY Oregon forests, which cover more than 47% of the land in the state of Oregon, fall into three different categories of ownership. With more than 17 million acres of forested lands in western Oregon, “52 percent of western Oregon forestland is managed by the Forest Service, BLM, and other federal agencies; about 41 percent is privately owned; and the remaining 7 per-
cent is managed by the Oregon Department of Forestry and other non-federal public agencies” (fs.fed.us, 2018). Though all of these lands fall under the protection of the Oregon Forestry Practices Act, each manages their land with differing objectives, policies and regulations (oregonforests.org, 2018). “Today, almost 90 percent of non-federal and 95 percent of federal land in western Oregon remains in forest and agricultural uses, with about 80% of all land remaining forested. Oregon’s loss of forest land between 1974 and 2014 was less than half the loss seen in neighboring Washington State over the same time period” (Oregon.gov, 2018). This conservation has taken place because of Oregon’s land-use and forest-practices laws and the cooperation of forest landowners, businesses, and conservationists through investing in Oregon’s forestlands to produce vibrant forests utilizing sustainable forest management techniques that maintain, protect and restore forest health. Timber harvests are an essential aspect of Oregon’s economy and how the forestlands are managed has a substantial impact on both people and the environment. Oregon forests produce lumber and wood products like plywood, engi-
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neered wood products, alternative electrical energy like the Seneca Sustainable Biomass facility outside of Eugene, and paper products. They are even used in making ice cream, toothpaste, alternative automobile fuel and artificial bones. They produce oxygen, provide carbon banking, reduce greenhouse gases, and provide critical habitat for numerous plants and animal species. Many rural communities in Oregon depend upon our forestlands to provide employment encompassing transportation, harvest, habitat preservation and restora-
tion, supportive industries and governmental agencies and the process and production of lumber and wood products. Companies and forestry related businesses are closely governed by the Oregon Forest Practices Act to responsibly manage Oregon’s forestlands. They are required to notify the Dept. of Forestry and outline conservation and harvest plans, and they use up-to-date equipment, including balloon-type tires, longer reach cranes, cable harvesting, and helicopters to minimize their impact upon the land. Management produces a balanced forest ecosystem and
animal habitat with varied growth and diversity which in turn builds a forest’s immunity to disease, fire and overgrowth. Through a commitment to careful and responsible forest management techniques, Oregon has not only maintained the forest ecosystems but has increased both their sustainability and productivity as well as achieved a strong balance between conservation and economic demand for forest products and employment. It is our responsibility as citizens of Oregon to make informed decisions regarding forest management and to support forest management techniques to ensure that future generations have access to the same benefits that we do. Did you know that buying Oregon forest products supports conservation efforts, saves resources by buying local and supports Oregon’s forest industry economy that provides income for thousands of Oregon families? Did you know that Oregon forest products range from pine boughs, to mushrooms, to lumber, to engineered wood products, to electricity to fish and game animals? Did you know that Wood from Oregon forestland regulated by the state’s forest protection laws can count toward the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for green building projects? We must work together to support Oregon forest industries: buy Oregon forest products and support active forest management policies. Oregon’s forests are an invaluable, renewable and sustainable resource. Properly managed forests supply us with renewable and recyclable resources, that include lumber, plant products, food, and much more and they are a part of thousands of products that we use and consume each day. Though every person I interviewed offered a variety of perspectives, job positions and opinions, they all shared one common goal: Keep Oregon’s lands healthy and prosperous into the future. Therefore, it is vital that those involved in Oregon forest policy and forest management seek to recognize their common goals and strive to achieve greater unity in their actions and efforts across our state. We, as the public, as landowners, as business and industry, and legislature must continue to work together closely to align in our goals for forest management to ensure that Oregon’s heritage of pristine and productive forests are here for many more generations to come. TP Aiden Stephan, a recent graduate of Winter Lakes High School in Coquille, Ore., was the $10,000 Seneca Scholarship winner for this essay. See more details on page 52.
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XYLEXPO 2018 REAFFIRMS ROLE “We have never seen so much automation and so many advanced systems.” This was a recurring statement in the aisles of Xylexpo, the biennial international exhibition of technology and systems for the wood and furniture industry, held at FieraMilano-Rho, Italy May 8-12. Nearly 18,000 visitors attended, 2% more than the previous edition; among them 5,030 came from abroad. Dario Corbetta, director of the exhibition, commented, “We have made a clear choice to be a stage for high technology, and this approach has increased the participation of an even more selected and qualified audience, with decision-making power and adequate expertise.” Xylexpo 2018 featured 425 exhibitors (116 from 27 countries). The next Xylexpo will be held May 25-29, 2020. (Photos by Timber Processing international correspondent Murray Brett)
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JORDAN LUMBER
SECONDLOOK Jordan Lumber & Supply’s new sawmill line in Mt. Gilead, NC, which was featured in the June issue, certainly deserves another look; especially since its complements two other lines on site—the three sides combining to produce more than 330MMBF annually, probably the largest production from a single site SYP lumber producer. Jordan hired Bid Group to do the brunt of the work, though Jordan added a few tweaks of its own such as twin band profiling and an off-shoot four saw edger-gang. (Photos by Jessica Johnson)
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MACHINERYROW
CAMERON RIVER MEETS UPTIME GOALS Versatile log handler keeps transload station moving 16 ft. logs.
W
hen an engine fire destroyed a log handler at Cameron River Logistics (CRL) in Taylor, BC, Andrew Moore and his team decided it was a chance to rethink their original purchase decision. “It had about 10,000 hours on it and it was able to load wood at the pace we wanted,” Moore explains. “However, we had issues with parts availability. Wire harnesses were taking four to five months to deliver; a steering knuckle failed in January and we were told it would be April before they’d have one to ship from the factory.” Parts availability became a key factor in the decision to replace the damaged machine with a new Sennebogen 830 MT. “With Sennebogen, you’re not reinventing the wheel,” Moore continues. “It’s got a Cummins engine, BoschRexroth hydraulics; all industry-standard components easily sourced nearby or available at the local Sennebogen dealer.” Cameron River’s local Sennebogen distributor, Great West Equipment, inventories a large supply of common service parts, as well as providing factory-trained service technicians. Uptime is critical to the CRL operation. Located in northern British Columbia,
A sea of logs: Cameron River Logistics can’t afford to have a log handling bottleneck.
CRL is a transload station moving 16 ft. CTL logs from truck to rail for the Dunkley Lumber mill, five hours to the south. CRL is one of several stations that collect and ship logs to feed the big mill.
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“We’re doing close to 200,000 m3 of spruce pine logs a year,” Moore says. “That’s about 2,500 rail cars. We also unload about 40 trucks per day from the forests of Fort St. John and Dawson Creek.” Moore says that parts availability already had the yard leaning toward Sennebogen, but the ready availability of a purpose-built 830 M-T trailer puller clinched the decision. The 830 M-T is a 91,000 lb., 225 HP (41,400 kg, 168 kW) machine built specifically for log handling and trailer pulling applications. It features a hydraulically elevating cab and a unique undercarriage designed by Sennebogen to handle the stresses of pulling heavy log trailers through difficult yard conditions. The 830’s dual transmissions, providing 4-wheel traction, were especially appealing to CRL. “We have a really small yard here and haven’t had to pull the trailer yet,” Moore admits. Most of Moore’s yard is packed clay with a gravel top. But Moore expects that, with the new machine, operations will be able to access undeveloped areas that, previously, they TP were unable to reach. Article and photos supplied by Sennebogen.
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MACHINERYROW
CUSTOMER SERVICE + GREAT PRODUCTS BoiFor grows with product offerings, including Wagner.
Marc LePage with Wagner MC4000 In-Kiln moisture measurement system
By Ron Smith
W
hen a young Marc LePage left the banking business in 1993 and started working for Maritonex, an Eastern Canadian distributor in the forest products industry, he admits he didn’t have a clue about sawmills and their equipment needs. But over the next several years he made every effort to learn as much as he could. He also treated his customers with a personalized, human touch, paying close attention to their needs—behavior that won him staunch loyalty and trust that have lasted for more than two decades. “Customers were asking me questions when I started. I didn’t initially know the answers, but I said I would get back to them. And I did,” LePage states. When the owner of Maritonex, Jacques Marion, retired in 2009, LePage and Marion’s son David purchased the company from him. They renamed it BoiFor, French for “wood forest.” LePage now is president of BoiFor, located in McMasterville, Quebec, while David is vice president. BoiFor has a three-fold mission. First, 40
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it manufactures parts for the debarking industry using two subcontracting machine shops to actually make the parts. Second, it represents U.S. and Canadian companies in Eastern Canada, which includes the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. These companies include Edem, Rawlings Manufacturing, and MDI metal detectors. And, third, BoiFor buys products from U.S. and Canadian companies such as Wagner Meters and resells them exclusively in Eastern Canada. In its efforts to better serve the forest industry, BoiFor’s Research & Development department has a patent pending for an improved debarking/harvesting spike. BioFor reports it will save each mill roughly $400,000/annually by reducing debarking fiber damage. BoiFor studied the feedrolls that were used on the harvesting machines and decided to change the design of the spikes. The improved design can save mills nearly 8% in fiber damage, according to LePage. To put that into perspective, 1% costs a mill $50,000/annually.
For the past two years, BoiFor has worked with two companies to test the new spike design. When all the tests are completed, BoiFor plans to sell its new technology.
CUSTOMER SERVICE The combined length of doing business for Maritonex and now BoiFor is nearing 40 years. LePage says the company’s strategy for success can be boiled down to two key things: close personal contact with the customer and providing excellent supplier products. “Customers like to work with people they can rely on,” LePage says. “When they buy from me, they know I’ll still be representing the same products and the same company in two, three, five years or more.” In several instances they’ve represented or sold the same products from these companies for 25, 30 or more years. A perfect example is Wagner Meters from Rogue River, Ore., a leader in moisture measurement systems. Boifor offers all of Wagner’s handheld
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wood moisture meters, including the L620 and L622, the L722 stack probe sensor, the MMI1100 and MMC series. They also sell their MC4000 In-Kiln Moisture Measurement System and the Omega In-Line Moisture Measurement System. The relationship between Maritonex/BoiFor and Wagner began more than 30 years ago. Maritonex got to sell highly reliable, non-invasive moisture meters to its customers at a time when mills and companies in secondary markets could only guess the exact moisture content (MC) of wood based on differences in weight. On the other hand, by signing an exclusive distributorship agreement with Maritonex, Wagner got a company that could help them communicate with Frenchspeaking Canadians in Eastern Canada, and that knew the pulse and needs of Canadian customers. “With Wagner, we have a company that offers our customers a needed product. And we’re also offering our customers a well-built, quality product,” LePage says. Throughout the years, BoiFor has worked with Wagner Meters to make several product improvements for the betterment of both companies. For example, BoiFor prompted Wagner to change their meter technology from analog to digital, change the L722 stack probe from plastic to aluminum to eliminate breakage, and correct battery casing problems with the L612 meters. They also had Wagner improve their temperature compensation probe to better measure the wood’s temperature when temperatures are very high or very low. Because Wagner is responsive to BoiFor’s feedback, it continues to produce better, more innovative products— ultimately providing a more positive experience for BoiFor’s customers. The same can be said for all of the companies with whom BoiFor does business “While we can attribute much of our success to providing consistently excellent customer service and support, the other half of the equation is providing superior products for our customers. This happens because of our collaborative partnerships with outstanding companies,” TP LePage says. Ron Smith is a sales manager for Wagner Meters, and has more than 30 years of experience in instrumentation and measurement systems Reach him at Wagner Meters, 800634-9961.
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MACHINERYROW
Wintersteiger Expands Saw Factory
Vistors toured the saw blade operations.
Wintersteiger has invested 3 million euros in buildings and equipment to enlarge the production plant in Arnstadt, Thüringen, Germany. The new facilities were formally opened on June 15. Along with expanding the machine park, processes in both saw production and support services are being optimized. The result for customers is that lead times are being reduced. Covering a total area of 6,800 m², the newly enlarged produc-
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tion facility can now produce more than 20,000 m of saw blades per day. With 60 employees, the Arnstadt site manufactures blades for Wintersteiger thin-cutting sawing machines, for joineries and mobile sawmills, resawing band and log band saws, as well as for the food industry. 85% of the factory's blades are exported to more than 50 countries. Matthias Hengelhaupt, CEO of Wintersteiger Sägen GmbH, emphasizes the need for the highest level of quality: “Our focus is on producing premiumquality saws and we want to add more value to our products. Our goal is to be the market leader in many of our various product groups. There is still 4000 m2 of land that could also be developed on our premises, so there’s nothing holding us back on that front.” Saw manufacturing has been part of the Wintersteiger group since 2004. The relationship began in the eighties under the company's earlier guise of Banholzer GmbH, which produced saw blades for Wintersteiger frame saw machines. The ability to offer both machine and sawing
tool from a single source is still a unique selling point and has enormous quality benefits for the customers.
USNR Supplies CLT Press To Katerra USNR entered the CLT (cross-laminated timber) press business in 2015. While the market for mass timber, including cross-laminated timber. is still very new in North America, it is growing rapidly and is expected to triple its 2016 production volumes by 2020. Though USNR’s design for its CLT press is new, its roots stem from its vast experience with the Washington Iron Works and Mann-Russell lines. For many decades these brands operated under the Coe name (now USNR), producing equipment for engineered wood products like LVL and OSB panels, and beam and fingerjoint stock. USNR’s CLT press design is a natural extension of that technology. In addition to the press, USNR provides complete layup and material handling lines, as well as radio-frequency genera-
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MACHINERYROW tors for press applications. In 2015 USNR designed, manufactured and installed its first CLT press for Riddle Laminators at Riddle, Ore. Owned and operated by D.R. Johnson Lumber, the plant was the first in North America that was certified to manufacture CLT panels under a new standard approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and its products were tested and certified by
APA—The Engineered Wood Assn. Certification paved the way for the company to market its 3-lam, 5-lam, and 7-lam CLT panels to the U.S. wood construction market. At initial installation, the maximum panel size produced was 10 ft. x 24 ft. in 3, 5 or 7 layers. Since then the plant has installed three 6 ft. extensions to the press. USNR offers both pneumatic and hy-
draulic presses in a variety of sizes. In addition to the vertical forces placed on the panels, these presses also apply side and end forces. USNR’s design is unique in that its press is modular, with the capability to be easily expanded to manufacture longer panels. After its successful installation of the CLT press design at Riddle, USNR fielded many inquiries and is in the process of delivering a new CLT press line for the Katerra plant near Spokane, Wash. In addition to the press, USNR will supply a complete planer mill and all the material handling equipment to complement the press line. About a year ago Katerra approached a group at Washington State University (WSU) to undertake research and testing for its new CLT plant planned for Spokane. USNR Account Manager Eric Ortquist, an alumnus of WSU, has been involved with the Katerra project and WSU’s research. He explains: “Katerra ordered a press with ten 6 ft. sections for production (60 ft.), and an additional 6 ft. section for research and development. The 6 ft. R&D section was shipped to WSU for the testing.” This article has been edited from the original version that appeared in the USNR publication, MillWide Insider.
BID Group Adds Travis McDonald BID Group announced that Travis McDonald is now Senior Vice-President, U.S. Construction. McDonald is well known in the sawmill industry, having worked for southern pine sawmill companies since 1997. For the past three years he was director, strategic capital for Canfor Southern Pine; for nine years before that he was chief engineer for Canfor New South; for six years previous he was senior engineer New South Lumber; and he started his sawmill career as project engineer at J.L. Sizemore and Sons Lumber in Graham, NC. He worked as a design engineer for USNR for four years after graduating from the University of Arkansas. “Travis has broad and deep experience in design engineering and capital program management with a proven track record of initiating, designing and executing large technical projects on time and under budget,” the Bid Group states. “Travis’ relationships will be invaluable as we continue to develop and execute across North America. Travis will be responsible 44
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MACHINERYROW for leading the turnkey experience with our highly valued customers and become part of the executive team as we continue our pursuit of being the North American leader in the sawmilling sector.” l BID Group also named Crystal McDonald as Director of Finance, U.S. Operations. For the past 18 years she was employed in various financial roles of increasing responsibilities including corporate controller for Canfor Southern Pine. She is a graduate of Francis Marion University with a degree in Accounting. “Crystal is a common sensed financial executive that will effectively direct or help coordinate the efforts of accounting, finance, human resource and information systems personnel to improve our service efforts and efficiency in the U.S.,” Bid Group states.
Horcones I Updates With USNR Vision Aserraderos Arauco’s mill in Chile— Horcones I—is updating its sawmill trimmer system to add vision technology. The
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mill's existing scanning frame was installed in 2011 with USNR BioLuma 2900L laser profile sensors, and the new BioLuma 2900LVG vision sensors are a direct replacement. The BioLuma 2900LVG sensors provide advanced sawmill grade scanning with integrated HD laser profile measurements, HD color resolution at 0.5 mm, and integrated GrainMap grain gradient measurements for more comprehensive defect analysis. Using an enhanced Image Processing Application (IPA), this system delivers far more detail. USNR has more than 20 vision scanning installations in sawmills processing Radiata Pine, and more than 120 vision scanning installations worldwide.
Doosan Celebrates Production Milestone Doosan Infracore North America, LLC, is celebrating the milestone of producing more than 400,000 excavators and wheel loaders for markets worldwide, since the company entered the construction equip-
ment market in 1978. In 1978, Doosan began producing and shipping crawler excavators—the DH series—from its excavator production plant in Incheon, South Korea, which opened a year earlier. The company continued to enhance its excavators and launched the new Solar series in 1985. Just two years later, the company had already produced more than 10,000 units. At the start of the 1990s, the company began production of its wheel loaders— the DL series. In 1992, Doosan introduced its Mega series wheel loaders, and a year later the company launched the Solar-III series excavators. In 1994, Doosan entered the North American market. The company continued its excavator and wheel loader developments in the mid-1990s. At the turn of the century, Doosan introduced the new Mega-V series wheel loaders. In 2005, Doosan renamed its construction equipment division as Doosan Infracore, Ltd., and launched its DX excavator series and DL wheel loader series. In 2007, Doosan successfully completed the merger and acqui-
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MACHINERYROW sition of three Ingersoll Rand brands (including Bobcat and Doosan Portable Power). Today, Doosan Infracore continues to manufacture its excavators and wheel loaders at Doosan plants in Incheon and Gunsan, South Korea. Doosan manufactures 13 crawler excavator models, three wheel excavator models and 11 wheel loader models. The company also builds log loaders and material handlers for use in forestry and recycling applications.
BID Announces Three Acquisitions BID Group has acquired TriDelta Systems Automation, LLC, Tracer Electrical Contractors, Inc. and Striker Bilt, LLC. Founded in 2001, TriDelta specializes in design, build, installation and integration of programming and control systems. TriDelta is located in Dothan, Ala.. Founded in 1994, Tracer specializes in construction installation services and has focused its expertise on providing world class services to the wood products indus-
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try. Tracer is located in Abbeville, Ala. Founded in 2014, Striker Bilt specializes in providing custom equipment for a diverse customer base. Striker is located in Greenville, Ky.
DuClos Was Raised In Cutting Tools
three children and eight grandchildren. He and Pam were also foster parents to several children through the years. He was very active in his church, led the men’s organization and made a difference to many in his church and community.
Paul DuClos, 58, of Milwaukie, Ore., died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest on May 26 in Longview, Wash. For the last 21 plus years, DuClos represented the Peerless Saw Company of Groveport, Ohio. He was raised in the cutting tool business by his father and grandfather who also made their careers in the saw and tool industry. Peerless customers from saw shop owners to sawmill filers from southern California to northern British Columbia will miss Paul’s knowledgeable, sincere assistance, as well as his contagious sense of humor. He was a true Road Warrior in a big territory, who showed true dedication to his customers and his company. DuClos is survived by his wife, Pam,
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ATLARGE Seneca Updates Logo After 65 Years
The logo was unveiled at the Seneca company picnic attended by more than 750 Seneca employees and their family members.
Lumber Quality Workshops Set After 65 years of using what was originally a handwritten script for their logo, Seneca unveiled its new logo marking the most dramatic change in its visual identity since 1953. Keeping the company’s signature green and tagline, they added a graphic representing nature and used clear and bold lettering. The new logo speaks to the future while still honoring the past. “We have created a logo that both represents what we do and the importance and respect we have for the environment with which we work and live,” says CoOwner Jody Jones. Holding more than 25 patents, Seneca has always had a culture of innovation in lumber manufacturing and biomass power production, and the Seneca tree farm is managed sustainably and currently has 92% more stock than it had 25 years ago.
The 41thth Annual Lumber Quality & Process Control Workshop will be held September 10-11 at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore., followed by the 31th Annual Lumber Quality Leadership Workshop on September 12-13 also at OSU. The workshops are presented by the Lumber Quality Institute in cooperation with the Wood Science and Engineering Dept., Oregon State University. The Lumber Quality and Process Control workshop has a proven track record and is a must for sawmills seeking to maximize board foot and grade recovery. This workshop, with newly added material, provides practical information and up-to-date techniques. This workshop is designed for supervisors of all departments, graders, QC personnel. The Lumber Quality Leadership
SFPA Announces Sawmill Safety Awards Six southern pine sawmills and members of Southern Forest Products Assn. (SFPA) are recent recipients of the 2017 Sawmill Safety Award. SFPA lumber manufacturer members are considered for the award based on information submitted regarding occupational injuries and illnesses. A total of 52 sawmills participated in SFPA’s annu- Left to right, SFPA Executive Director Tami Kessler, Weyerhaeuser’s Jerry Nix, Unit Managers Steve Higdon, al survey of safety Lenora Whittington and Benji Herrin records, representing nearly 19 million employee hours. Safety performance is judged by how each mill’s safety record stacks up against facilities with comparable lumber output throughout the year. Division I includes sawmills that produce 50MMBF or less; Division II covers facilities that produce 51-150MMBF; and Division III includes mills that produce more than 150MMBF annually. The six sawmills honored for outstanding safety records during 2017 are: Division I: Weyerhaeuser Co., Zwolle, La. Division II: Canfor Southern Pine, Urbana, Ark. and Graham, NC; Weyerhaeuser Co., Millport, Ala. and Holden, La. Division III: Weyerhaeuser Co., Bruce, Miss. 50
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ATLARGE Workshop describes new concepts in quality control and management. Attendees will have the opportunity to go beyond the basics and focus on concepts and ideas that will propel QC programs to the next level. This program is designed for managers, superintendents, QC personnel, and supervisors. Contact OSU Conference Services: Lumber Quality Institute Workshops 2017, Oregon State University, 200 LaSells Stewart Center, Corvallis, OR 97331-3102, 800-678-6311. Registration Website: http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/ lumberquality2018/ or visit lumber quality.com.
FPS Introduction Course Offered Forest Products Society (FPS), in conjunction with Mississippi State University (MSU), is once again offering its popular Introduction to Wood Science and Forest Products course, September 11-13 at MSU’s Dept. of Sustainable Bioproducts in Starkville, Miss. The comprehensive, three-day course was created specifically for people in wood products manufacturing who are either new to the industry, or without formal education in the field, as well as suppliers, consultants, claims agents and anyone seeking to understand trees, their harvesting, and how wood is processed into today’s products. The course also covers current issues in the forest products industry, such as green building and product testing. Participants will also tour the Southeastern Timber Products sawmill operation in Ackerman, Miss. Contact FPS Member Connection at memberconnect@forestprod.org, or call +1 855 475 0291.
West Fraser Plans For Ferris As CEO West Fraser announced Ted Seraphim’s plan to retire as Chief Executive Officer at the end of the second quarter of 2019, and the appointment of Ray Ferris, current executive vice-president and chief operating officer, as President and Chief Operating Officer effective immediately. Ferris will be appointed CEO upon Seraphim’s retirement next year. Ferris has been with the company since 1997 and has progressed through a series of key leadership roles.
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ATLARGE Seneca Scholarship Winner Announced Aiden Stephan of Winter Lakes High School in Coquille, Ore. was awarded the $10,000 Seneca Scholarship during his high school graduation. The Seneca Scholarship is awarded based on an essay contest. 553 high school seniors from around the state started the process of applying. 68 applicants com-
pleted the process. The selection committee worked for two months reviewing essays to narrow it down to one winner. Stephan’s essay was chosen, and Ashley Jones, the Special Projects Coordinator at Seneca, went to work orchestrating with the high school to deliver a surprise announcement during his graduation ceremony so that Stephan, his family and the community of Coquille could all learn of the Ashley Jones, left, special projects coordinator at Seneca, presents the big check to essay winner Aiden Stephan.
$10,000 award at the same time and celebrate his accomplishment. The Seneca Scholarship is open to all high school seniors in Oregon. The winner is chosen based on a 5-10-page essay on the benefits of forest management. Students must hold three in-person interviews with people who are connected or involved with natural resources to start their research process and use information from the interviews as well as other research in their essays. Seneca does not exclude any student from applying and does not choose a recipient based on GPA, community service or athletic talent. “We only give out one scholarship, but the process has affected so many people in such a positive way,” Jones comments. “The essays reflect such ambition. I am so proud of all of the students. Aiden’s essay was very on point, smart, clever and it had a little bit of edge.” Read the essay on page 26 of this issue.
Timber Products Names Avery As COO Timber Products Company appointed Mark Avery as Chief Operating Officer. “We are excited to have Mark join the team,” says Steve Killgore, CEO of Timber Products. “His strong history of leadership in the wood products industry will allow our company to be well positioned going forward.” Avery has more than 20 years of management experience in the industry. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of Industrial Products and National Accounts at Roseburg Forest Products. Avery received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alabama, Huntsville. 52
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BANDMILLS
Cooper Machine
Cooper Machine Co., Inc. offers a variety of resaws for all types of applications in your mill. We are a representative of MIT S.A. located in Santiago, Chile and have been supplying their equipment in the U.S. and Canada for more than 25 years. MIT is best known for supplying heavy duty equipment at fair prices. Our customers with MIT equipment see lower maintenance costs and long usage life out of their equipment.
We offer resaws as small as 2 in. all the way up to 12 in. depending on your requirements. MIT offers a 700 or 1000 model horizontal resaw with 2 or 4 in. bands for our pallet customers. Adding a 4 in. 1000 horizontal resaw system in behind an overhead will help to pick up quite a bit more yield. We can add chipping heads to our overheads with twin bands to save one pass on every cut and reCooper reps for Chile-based MIT. duce waste from your resaw. We offer this machine with our scanning and controls or Lewis 3D scanning. To get more yield out of cants and slabs, we also offer larger horizontal or vertical resaws. Most popular are the 6 or 8 in. band models. This can be offered as a single or double as well as an over/under to save space in your mill. We can also supply these with runaround systems.
FINEGA ● EW-GILLET, member of the French leader FINEGA Group, has been producing heavy duty bandmills and carriages since 1880 with a strong worldwide experience for cutting softwood, hardwood and tropical timber. Single cut or double-cut bandmill is offered with 55 in., 63 in. or 71 in. diameter wheels. ● MEM, member of FINEGA Group, has a long experience in producing automatic end-doggers all over the world. The last generation of MasterTwin includes canter and profiler. The innovative 360° rotary scanner controls the 3D robotized log infeed as well as the complete sawing line including resawing and edger without any operator.
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BANDMILLS
EW-GILLET primary breakdown bandmills and carriages
MEM produces high quality twin and quad resawing bandmills as well as horizontal. These are fully automatic with pin-stop infeed table controlled by 3D scanner or semi-automatic for increasing the grade value. The MEM twin resaw is offered with 55 in., 63 in. or 71 in. diameter wheels and full automation.
Wood-Mizer
Wood-Mizer’s newest industrial bandmill WM4500
Wood-Mizer introduces the WM4500 industrial sawmill featuring several structural and performance enhancements to the sawmill head and bed for improved sawing productivity. As Wood-Mizer’s next generation flagship industrial sawmill, the all-new WM4500 continues a long tradition of providing commercial sawmilling equipment solutions throughout the world. Featuring many benefits of Wood-Mizer’s world renowned industrial sawmill range, the WM4500 can be used to break down logs for further processing or to saw boards, grade or dimensional lumber. Alongside the complete line of Wood-Mizer sawmills, the WM4500 capitalizes on thin-kerf blade technology to produce accurate lumber while reducing capital, material, labor, energy and maintenance costs. The WM4500 features 30 HP electric; 40 in. log diameter cutting capacity, 22 ft. 6 in. length of cut, 32 ¼ in. width of cut and 16 in. depth of cut; 2 in. blade width with balanced steel band wheels and 3 in. diameter blade guide rollers. Key innovations of the WM4500 sawmill bed include stronger angled bed rails, reinforced dual-rod side supports, enhanced material drag back, off-feed conveyor and roller with suspension, pull down cant clamps, modular toeboards, and a longer cutting length. TIMBER PROCESSING
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BANDMILLS McDonough
accuracy to perfectly sawn lumber. Only the highest components are provided for our Air Strain system, which remains the simplest and most effective strain in the industry. Due to how a McDonough band mill is designed, the hand of each mill can easily be switched. All McDonough band mills have cast iron wheels that keep saw blades running cool to maintain tension in the saw blade for faster, more accurate sawing. Our pressure guides also allow for increased feed rates and ensure accurate sawn lumber. Heavy duty railroad car bearings are used for maintenance-free and extremely long life. McDonough band mills come in sizes from 44 in. up to 8 ft., 17° slant or vertical, and in twin and quad configurations. Call McDonough today to find out how our band mills can increase your production and lower your maintenance costs. The bandmill releases on pages 54-56 were submitted by bandmill manufacturers who also advertised in this issue and all statements are attributable to the manufacturers.
McDonough slanted bandmill
When many sawmills think of a band mill, they think McDonough, and for good reason. With a focus on quality, simplicity and reliability more sawmills turn to McDonough than any other brand. For 130 years, the band mill has been the focus of our company. We continually improved our band mill to keep McDonough the leader in band mills. The latest improvement is our Linear Bearing Top Guide, which increases the life of the top guide and offers the highest
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Call Toll-Free: 1-800-669-5613
EMPLOYMENTOPPORTUNITIES 2200
Specializing in confidential career opportunities in the Forest Products industry
Management Recruiters of Houston Northeast
Gates Copeland 281-359-7940 • fax 866-253-7032
gcopeland@mrihouston.com • www.mrihouston.com SEARCH NORTH AMERICA, INC. FOREST PRODUCTS RECRUITING SINCE 1978
The Jobs You Want — The People You Need
1615
IT'S YOUR MOVE...
WWW.SEARCHNA.COM
CONTACT CARL JANSEN AT 541-593-2777 OR Carlj@SearchNA.com
Top Wood Jobs Recruiting and Staffing George Meek geo@TopWoodJobs.com www.TopWoodJobs.com (360) 263-3371
LUMBERWORKS
13534
PROFESSIONALSERVICES WORN OR MISALIGNED CARRIAGE RAILS? A Proven Process
Contact Us Office 541.760.5086 Cell 541.760.7173 Fax 971.216.4994 www.acculine-rails.com george@acculine-rails.com
• Rails straightened & ground in-place at a fraction of the cost of rail replacement • No down time for the mill • Restores carriage rails to optimum sawing efficiency •Precision Laser Alignment • Machining and Grinding • Carriage and Bandmill Alignment 489
LUMBERWORKS Importers and Distributors of Tropical Hardwood Kiln Sticks 127
Dennis Krueger 866-771-5040
Jackie Paolo 866-504-9095
greenwoodimportsllc@gmail.com
jackie@gwi.us.com
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NEW BUILD OR REPLACEMENT
Send dimensioned sketch for quick price quote
TREECO, Inc.
“The lowest cost per cycle” GW Industries www.gwi.us.com
CYCLONES 334-283-8381 Tallassee, AL 36078
13502
GREENWOOD KILN STICKS
60
3779
hwcopelandjr@bellsouth.net
Visit us online: timberprocessing.com
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WOOD PRODUCTS marketplace NORTH AMERICA
■ Minnesota
■ Ohio
■ United States
Shoreline Machine Products
19301 St. Clair Ave. Cleveland, OH 44117 800-875-7637 • Fax: 800-875-6866 www.shorelineproducts.com
■ Georgia Beasley Forest Products, Inc.
Manufacturer of Quality, American Made Crane Mat Bolts
P.O. Box 788 Hazlehurst, GA 31539
Stock bolts – 7/8"-9, 1"-8, 1/4"-7 x 47 1/2
beasleyforestproducts.com
Custom Lengths upon request
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
Larry Arth–Sales Contact us for a free quote today! 50 Years In Business
■ North Carolina Cook Brothers Lumber Co., Inc.
■ Tennessee
STACKING STICKS Manufacturer of Appalachian Hardwood Lumber LEONARD COOK, Sales (828) 524-4857 • cell: (828) 342-0997 residential: (828) 369-7740 P.O. Box 699 • Frankin, NC 28744 NATIONAL HARDWOOD LUMBER ASSOCIATION
Next closing: January 5, 2019
■ Kentucky HAROLD WHITE LUMBER, INC. MANUFACTURER OF FINE APPALACHIAN HARDWOODS
(606) 784-7573 • Fax: (606) 784-2624 www.haroldwhitelumber.com
Ray White
Domestic & Export Sales rwhite@haroldwhitelumber.com
Green & Kiln Dried, On-Site Export Prep & Loading Complete millworks facility, molding, milling & fingerjoint line
Buyers & Wholesalers We produce quality 4/4 - 8/4 Appalachian hardwoods • Red Oak, White Oak, Poplar •
Green Lumber: Air Dried, Kiln Dried Timbers & Crossties • Hickory, Sycamore, Beech, Gum & Elm • Custom Cut Timbers: Long lengths and wide widths
Sales/Service: 336-746-5419
336-746-6177 (Fax) • www.kepleyfrank.com
FOR SALE
AIR-O-FLOW profiled & FLAT sticks available Imported & Domestic DHM Company - Troy, TN 38260 731-538-2722 Fax: 707-982-7689 email: kelvin@kilnsticks.com www.KILNSTICKS.com
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MAINEVENTS SEPTEMBER 6-8—Great Lakes Logging & Heavy Equipment Expo, Sunnyview Expo Center, Oshkosh, Wis. Call 715-282-5828; visit gltpa.org. 7-8—Virginia Forest Products Assn. annual meeting, Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel, Virginia Beach, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit vfpa.net. 9-11—Alabama Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Perdido Beach Resort, Orange Beach, Ala. Call 334-265-8733; visit alaforestry.org. 9-13—American Wood Protection Assn. Technical Committee meeting, Marriott Copley Place, Boston, Mass. Call 205-7334077; visit awpa.com. 10-11—41st Annual Lumber Quality & Process Control Workshop, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore. Call 800678-6311; visit blogs.oregonstate.edu/lumberquality. 10-13—WMF: China (Shanghai) International Furniture Machinery & Woodworking Machinery Fair, National Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai, China. Call (852) 2516 3518; visit woodworkfair.com. 11-13—2018 Introduction to Wood Science and Forest Products Course, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Miss. Call 855-475-0291; visit woodintro.forestprod.org. 11-14—FMC China 2018: Furniture Manufacturing & Supply, Shanghai New International Expo Center, Pudong, Shanghai, China. Call +86-21-64371178; visit furniturechina.cn/en-us/fmc. 12-13—31st Annual Lumber Quality Leadership Workshop, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore. Call 800-678-6311; visit blogs.oregonstate.edu/lumberquality. 26-28—Tennessee Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Carnegie Hotel, Johnson City, Tenn. Call 615-883-3832; visit tnforestry.com. 19-21—Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. annual meeting, Chatham Bars Inn, Chatham, Mass. Visit nelma.org. 19-21—2018 Western Hardwood Association Annual Convention, World Forestry Center, Portland, Ore. Call 360-835-1600; visit westernhardwood.org. 25—Pennsylvania Forest Products Assn. annual meeting, Toftrees Resort & Conference Center, State College, Pa. Call 717-901-0420; visit paforestproducts.org.
OCTOBER 17-19—Timber Processing & Energy Expo, Portland Expo Center, Portland, Ore. Call 334-834-1170; visit timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com.
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2-4—Arkansas Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Hot Springs Convention Center, Hot Springs, Ark. Call 501-374-2441; visit arkforests.org. 2-4—National Hardwood Lumber Assn. Annual Convention & Exhibit Showcase, Sheraton Centre Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Call 901-377-1818; visit nhla.com. 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. ADVERTISER Automation & Electronics BM&M Biolube Carbotech International Chaco Claussen All-Mark International Cone Omega Cooper Machine Esterer WD GmbH Finega Group Grasche USA Holtec USA Hurdle Machine Works Itipack Systems JoeScan John King Chains Johnson & Pace Kanefusa USA Ledinek Engineering Linck Linden Fabricating Lucidyne Technologies McDonough Manufacturing Mebor Metal Detectors Microtec SLR GMBH Mid-South Engineering Muhlbock Holztrocknungsanlagen Nelson Bros Engineering Oleson Saw Technology Opticom Technologies Pantron Automation Peninsular Cylinder Piche Premier Bandwheel Rea Jet Marking Schrader Real Estate & Auction Select Sawmill Sennebogen Sering Sawmill Machinery Sharp Tool Signode Packaging Systems Simonds-Burton-BGR Saws-CutTech Smith Sawmill Services T S Manufacturing Team Safe Trucking Telco Sensors U S Blades USNR Vollmer of America Wood-Mizer Woodtech Measurement Solutions
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