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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 39 • Number 1 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014 Founded in 1976 • Our 400th 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

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Art Director/Prod. Manager: Cindy Sparks Ad Production Coordinator: Patti Campbell Circulation Director: Rhonda Thomas Classified Advertising: Bridget DeVane • 1.800.669.5613

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BIOENERGY CONFERENCE

Wood Raw Materials, Pellets

MAN OF THE YEAR

Kevin Hancock Is A Team Player

STORIES OF NOTE

Major Developments Throughout 400 Issues

MACHINERY ROW

New Drying Technology For Canfor

SUPPLIERS STAND TALL

Always Been A Part Of Our Family

COMACT GOES SOUTH

New Facility In South Carolina

MAIN EVENTS

Diving Into The New Year

COVER: Kevin Hancock of Hancock Lumber in Casco, Maine more than meets our criteria for Man of the Year. Story begins on PAGE 12. (Jay Donnell photo)

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

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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 ® 2014. 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 Publications Mail Agreement No. 41359535 Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to PO Box 503 RPO West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4R6 Other Hatton-Brown publications: Timber Harvesting • Southern Loggin’ Times Wood Bioenergy • Panel World • Power Equipment Trade • IronWorks

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THEISSUES

Rich Donnell Editor-in-Chief

400 ISSUES AND COUNTING 12

kay, it’s obvious when you look at the accompanying photo of our current editorial team that some of these editors aren’t old enough to have made much of a dent in very many of the 400 issues of Timber Processing—the issue in your hand being number 400! The young woman in the middle, associate editor Jessica Johnson, has been on board for two years. The kid in the dark jacket second from the left, associate editor Jay Donnell, has been in the mix for all of six months, since graduating from college. The fellow with the beard second from the right, senior associate editor David Abbott, is looking at nine years. Now we’re getting somewhere. The man kneeling with the bad neck third from the left, managing editor Dan Shell, has put in 25 years. The guy on the far left wearing those awesome steel-toed low-top boots, editor-in-chief Rich Donnell, has just surpassed 30 years, which takes him back to late 1983. But the gentleman on the far right, DK Knight, beats everybody in age (or rather experience). Having joined the editorial staff at Hatton-Brown Publishers in 1968, DK was editorial director when Timber Processing Industry first appeared as a new section of the Southern Loggin’ Times tabloid in May 1975, and when Timber Processing Industry became its own regional tabloid magazine in January 1976, and when it became a standard size national magazine in January 1978. In 1981, he became the co-owner and co-publisher of the company, so the rest of us cut him a lot of slack. You may remember, or even still have, our November 1998 issue of Timber Processing. We celebrated our 250th issue with that one and devoted the entire issue to the celebration, including a listing of every sawmill we had ever visited. That difficult exercise made such an impression on the three older guys in the photo, that as issue number 400 approached us, our intent was to let it sail gracefully away in the night. But then we decided we had to do a little something in recognition of issue 400. After all, when a baseball player hits his 400th home run, people start talking about the Hall of Fame. For our 400th issue, in addition to bragging about it in this column, we’ve presented quick reviews of some of the main industry news stories and mill technology developments that received a considerable amount of attention on the pages of Timber Processing. Also, we invited advertisers in this issue to submit short articles and photos on their companies and products. Some of them took the opportunity to delve into their own company histories. Meanwhile, as you’ve probably already noticed, this issue also includes an article on our 26th annual Man of the Year, Kevin Hancock of Hancock Lumber in Casco, Maine. What’s really awesome is that his father, the late David TP Hancock, was our second Man of the Year back in 1990. Contact Rich Donnell, ph: 334-834-1170; fax 334-834-4525; e-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com

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NEWSFEED

BACK-TO-BACK CONFERENCES COMING UP Events will focus on wood energy and panel industries. pproximately 80 speakA ers will convene for two back-to-back conferences in-

volving the wood energy industry and the panel and engineered lumber industry March 18-21 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Ga. Approximately 40 speakers will participate in the Bioenergy Fuels & Products Conference & Expo to be held Tuesday-Wednesday, March 18-19, and another 40 in the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo on Thursday-Friday, March 20-21. More than 800 industry professionals from those industries are expected to attend one of the conferences or both. Meanwhile, each conference will field more than 70 exhibits, with nearly 60% of the exhibitor companies participating in both conferences. The conferences are hosted by Wood Bioenergy and Panel World magazines, both affiliate magazines of Timber Processing. Subject matters will address technologies and issues in wood pellets, biomass power, biofuels and woody feedstock and harvesting in the Bioenergy Conference, while the Panel Conference address developments in softwood plywood, oriented strandboard, particleboard, engineered

wood products and wood raw material supply. “There’s really no other setup like this in North America, with close-coupled conferences,” says Rich Donnell, co-chairman of both conferences and editor-in-chief of Wood Bioenergy, Panel World and Timber Processing magazines. “The response to this format in 2012 was so positive that we committed quickly to putting it on again in 2014. And of course you have to take into consideration its location, in Atlanta, Georgia, in a region of the country that is such a hotbed for the new generation wood energy and panel industries.” Donnell adds that while neither conference focuses on lumber production specifically, they both touch on areas that are of interest to sawmillers, ranging from wood raw material supply to cogeneration to emissions to wood pellets. “If you come, it’ll be an educational experi-

ence,” Donnell says, “with some fun thrown in.” One of the unique features of the conference is the number of keynote speakers in the morning general sessions. “We approach this perhaps with a little more workmanship mentality,” Donnell says. “We provide a diverse lineup of keynoters each morning. There’s much to be learned from them. And we emphasize to them to talk about what the attendees ‘need’ to hear, not simply what they ‘want’ to hear.” Keynoter speakers for the Bioenergy Conference include: Rick Holley, CEO, Plum Creek Timber; Steven Hall, Senior Project Manager, ReEnergy Holdings; Huey Long, Senior Principal, Mountain Creek Group; Malcolm Swanson, President, ASTEC; Alicia Cramer, President, Westervelt Renewable Energy; John Campbell, Managing Director, Rollcast Energy; Bill Gaston, Principal,

Wood Resource Recovery; and Seth Walker, Associate Bioenergy Economist, RISI. Keynoters for the Panel Conference are: Joe Andrews, General Manager; Richmond Plywood; Dick Baldwin, Principal, Oak Creek Investments; Dave Fortin, Senior Economist Wood Products, RISI; Tom Julia, President, Composite Panel Assn.; Tapani Kiiski, President and CEO, Raute Corp; Brian Luoma, Senior VP and General Manager Engineered Wood Products, LP Building Products; Dean McCraw, Principal, McCraw Energy; Kelly Shotbolt, President, Flakeboard Co.; Roger Tutterrow, Professor of Economics, Mercer University; and Alberto Goetzl, International Trade Analyst; U.S. International Trade Commission. Following the morning keynote sessions, the conferences break into individual meeting room sessions. All of the breaks between sessions

Rick Holley

Huey Long

Alberto Goetzl

Dave Fortin

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NEWSFEED and food functions will be held on the exhibitor floor in the Grand Ballroom North. “This is really the core group of equipment vendors for the wood energy and panel industries,” Donnell comments. The Bioenergy Conference & Expo has its roots in a halfday conference held in 2010 at the Omni Hotel, prior to the Panel & Engineered Lumber Conference & Expo. It became a full conference in 2012, again preceding the panel conference. “Everybody

wondered about the idea of close-coupled conferences and expos because it had never been done,” Donnell recalls. “But everybody came out of 2012 really pleased with it, so we’re back at it in 2014. Heck, maybe in 2016 we’ll do three conferences back-to-back, adding the lumber industry as the third.” You can register for one or both conferences at bioenergyshow.com and peliceexpo.com, and also view the respective timeline agendas. TP

More than 800 industry professionals are expected.

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Bill Gaston

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Dean McCraw

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NEWSFEED

NO CHARGES APPROVED AGAINST BABINE Criminal Justice Branch notes issues with investigation process. he Criminal Justice T Branch, Ministry of Justice, announced that no criminal or regulatory charges will be approved in relation to the explosions and fire that destroyed the Babine Forest Products sawmill, killed two workers and injured 20 at Burns Lake, BC on January 20, 2012. On September 4, 2013, WorkSafeBC formally submitted a Report to Crown Counsel to the Criminal Justice Branch for an assessment on whether charges under provincial legislation should be laid against Babine Forest Products arising out of the incident. Based on the evidence that would likely be available

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for presentation by Crown Counsel in court, the Criminal Justice Branch concluded that there is no substantial likelihood of conviction for any of the regulatory offenses recommended by WorkSafeBC. WSBC had publicly confirmed that its report would

only recommend that the Criminal Justice Branch consider provincial, regulatory charges; namely, offenses under the Workers Compensation Act (WCA) and the related Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (OHSR). “Based on the evidence that

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would likely be available for presentation by Crown Counsel in court, there is no substantial likelihood of conviction for any of the regulatory offenses recommended by WSBC,” Criminal Justice Branch stated. Crown Counsel also concluded that the manner in which WSBC conducted parts of its inspection/investigation would likely render significant evidence that it gathered inadmissible in court. Notwithstanding that fact, Crown Counsel was satisfied that the remainder of the available and admissible evidence provided a sufficient factual underpinning for a number of potential offenses under provincial legislation. However, ➤ 57

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OUR

MAINEMAN By Jay Donnell

Kevin Hancock is Timber Processing’s 26th Annual Man of the Year (and the second from his family).

CASCO, Maine ancock Lumber has been a staple in New England since 1848 and the sixth generation, family owned business has grown into one of America’s oldest and most distinguished lumber companies. The company owns and manages more than 12,000 acres of timberland in western Maine, operates three eastern white pine sawmills in Casco, Pittsfield and Bethel and 10 contractor-oriented lumberyards in Maine and New Hampshire. Hancock Lumber stands out as a local, independent Maine company in an age of global giants and the company takes pride in helping out the community. President Kevin Hancock, age 47, also takes pride in the business he took over after his father passed away and believes the success of Hancock Lumber is due to its ability to adapt to new ideas and technologies. “For an organization to function successfully for a long period of time, the skill that it acquires is actually the ability to change,” Hancock says. “The business model that one generation used successfully is likely not going to work or even be totally relevant a generation later and our sawmill business today is a good example of that.” Among the many changes Hancock Lumber has undergone through the years, the single biggest change is the way it sells lumber. When Kevin started in the business the company followed the conventional model of manufacturing lumber and then selling it, but that model has 12

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been turned inside out. Today, the operating model starts with the customer. “We want to be a manufacturer that customizes products for individual customers. We’re not about making products for the market, we’re about making products for specific

customers,” Hancock says. In 2012, Hancock Lumber implemented its “Every Board Counts” campaign based on feedback from a company-wide survey in which the employees expressed a desire to better understand who the cus-

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tomer is behind every board. As a part of this opportunity to learn more directly from the customers and understanding how to make every board count, Hancock Lumber invited customers to the mills and asked them to make presentations to all of the sawmill employees. This provided the employees at Hancock an opportunity to learn about customer needs directly from the customers themselves. “We might sell our products by the truck load but our customers use our products one board at a time. That’s why every board needs to count,” Hancock says. Hancock emphasizes that the part of his job that gives him the most satisfaction is interacting with the 420 people that work at the company. “I really like the people who work here and I don’t just see them as employees or workers, I see them as people. I enjoy them as people and I understand that their job doesn’t totally represent who they are,” he says. The largest of the three sawmills is the one in Bethel. About 40% of the total production comes from Bethel and around 60% from the mills in Casco and Pittsfield. Production dipped down a little bit at the beginning of the recession, but when the company opened up some export markets production picked back up and Hancock will sell about 79MMBF of eastern white pine in 2014. “We have invested a lot of time asking our customers what characteristics in a pine board would thrill them in their market and then we go back and figure out how to make that for them,” Hancock says. “We have flipped the value stream of the business completely inside out. If there is one concept that dominates our business today, it’s that we’re customer centric.” Because of his leadership at Hancock Lumber and his active social participation, Kevin Hancock is named Timber Processing’s 26th Man of the Year. The honor is not foreign to Hancock Lumber. Kevin’s dad, the late David Hancock, received the second annual award in 1990. Running three sawmills is an extremely difficult task and it is important to have a strong balance sheet according to Hancock. “You have to have a financially healthy company with a bit of a conservative orientation to be able to weather some of the things that come your way,” he says. Hancock is quick to give credit to all the people on the Hancock team including CFO Kevin Hynes, Casco Mill GM Mike Shane, Bethel Mill GM Russell Coulter and Pittsfield Mill GM Dennis Verrill. Matt Duprey and Jack Bowen are VP of Sales, Wayne Huck is in charge of scheduling & production, the HR direc-

Hancock Lumber implemented its “Every Board Counts” campaign in 2012.

Hancock Lumber will sell about 79MMBF in 2014.

tor is Wendy Scribner. Erin Plummer is the head of marketing and communications and Glen Albee is CFO.

COMMUNITY Kevin Hancock believes that functioning profitably is the single biggest contribution a company can make to its community, thus creating jobs, sustaining jobs and allowing people to grow their income. The company also gets involved with various causes, one of which is Camp Sunshine, a world renowned camp in Casco for children with life threatening illnesses. Hancock reports that his business contributed $15,000 to Camp Sunshine in 2013. “One of their big fundraisers is their annual pumpkin festival in

which they invite individuals, schools and community groups from across Maine to carve pumpkins. They’ve been close to actually setting the Guinness world record for having the most jacko’-lanterns in one place at a time,” Hancock says. Hancock Lumber, the Maine Education Assn. and the local ABC affiliate recently joined forces to co-sponsor the Rise Up Against Bullying campaign, designed to discourage bullying in schools in southern Maine. Over the last year, Hancock has been working on affordable housing issues on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the southwest corner of South Dakota, which is home to the Oglala Sioux tribe. Pine Ridge, statistically, is the poorest place in America. Over the summer, Hancock pro-

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IN THE MILLS

ancock Lumber anticipates its three eastern white pine sawmills will produce 79MMBF combined in 2014, H with the Bethel mill leading the way with 34MMBF. Nearly all of production is 1 in. x 2 in. to 12 in., x 4 ft. to 16 ft. The Bethel mill became the company’s third sawmill in 2000, when Hancock Lumber purchased it from family-owned P. H. Chadbourne, Inc. The company’s first sawmill at Casco was converted to stationary from portable in the 1930s. Hancock Lumber built the sawmill at Pittsfield in 1985.

vided all the materials necessary to build a home on the reservation and those involved there refer to it as the “Hancock House.” It was the only new home built there in 2013. The estimated housing need for the reservation is as many as 4,000 homes. “The housing needs there are dramatic and our country has kind of forgotten about the people that live there,” Hancock says. The reservation covers 2.2 million acres. “I’ve always been a lover of history. For years I have been really interested in the plains Indians and was curious about what modern day life was like on the reservations so in the fall of 2012 I went to see for myself,” Hancock says. “I’ve since become involved in helping them with housing issues and I have a lot of friends there today.” Kevin is writing a book about the history of the Oglala Sioux tribe and modern day life at Pine Ridge. Also in 2013, Hancock Lumber and its vendors donated all the building materials to the restoration efforts of the historic coastal landmark, Cuckolds Lighthouse, in Boothbay Harbor. Hancock Lumber has also made contributions to The Children’s Museum & Theater of Maine, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Friends of the Casco Community Center, Habitat for Humanity and many other groups.

COMPANY The Bethel mill is the company’s largest sawmill.

The three mills have similar setups, each running Nicholson 35 in. debarkers and Esterer sash gangs for example. All three operate Production is geared to customer needs. double cut 7 ft. headrigs, with Bethel and Pittsfield operating Cleereman carriages and Casco running a Corley carriage, all 42 in. The Bethel mill also runs a PHL rotary gang, Salem 6 ft. horizontal resaw, Newnes (USNR) edger, trimmer, sorter and stacker. In November the Bethel mill installed new edger optimization and grade scanning from Baxley Equipment and also Baxley’s cut-in-two (crosscut) technology prior to the edger infeed. The Casco and Pittsfield mills run Autolog edger optimization, and both run PHL edgers and trimmers. Casco also runs a PHL 5 ft. horizontal resaw. The mills run a mix of saw filing equipment from Wright Machine and Armstrong, as well as Simonds levelers. All three mills operate with wood-fired boilers (Hurst at Bethel, and Industrial at Casco and Pittsfield). Each mill runs Irvington-Moore (USNR) kilns, while Bethel also operate an American Wood Dryer kiln and Casco runs a Wellons kiln. USNR and Wellons provided kiln controls. The Bethel and Pittsfield mills run Coastal and PHL planers, respectively, each 20 knife at 3600 RPM, while the upgraded Casco planer mill operates a Weinig 14 knife TP planer at 6000 RPM. 14

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Growing up as the sixth generation of family members involved in one of southern Maine’s most successful businesses was not a stifling experience for Kevin or his brother, Matt. Instead, they received support from their parents to explore other interests and develop an identity separate from the lumber business. Kevin graduated from Bowdoin College in 1988 with a BA in history and he has worked for Hancock Lumber since 1991, and currently serves as president and CEO of both Hancock Lumber Company, Inc. and Hancock Land Company. Kevin began his career on the sales counter at the Yarmouth store and worked his way up, becoming president in 1999. Kevin’s father, David Hancock, died at age 54. Kevin credits his dad, his mom and all the members of the Hancock team past and present for the success of the company. “I had no real formal training in business. Most of what I have learned I learned from trial and error.” Through the years, Kevin emphasizes, he has learned that you have to work hard and treat all employees as important people and trust in them. “I learned that you have to be resilient because business is more of a marathon than it is a sprint and you have to be willing to learn from your mistakes and you have to be willing to adjust,” he says. “I also believe that you need to be yourself. It is important to be sincere and authentic because that’s what people value and appreciate.” Kevin has two daughters who both play college basketball and he played college basketball at Bowdoin College. He believes his sports background has helped him in the business world. “To be successful in sports you have to be disciplined, you have to be competitive, you have to be team oriented. You have to be able to take a deep breath and dust yourself off when you stumble. All of those things are relative in business,” Hancock says. Kevin points to three things that have allowed Hancock Lumber to remain competitive in today’s world. First, continuing to hire and retain good people who are committed to the company and its mission of creating a customer-centric culture. Second, the company relies on lots of data to make decisions. The company regularly surveys employees and customers to obtain objective third party feedback. Finally, Hancock Lumber is decentralized. The company puts a lot of power in the hands of its employees to make decisions and take responsibility.

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MEN OF THE YEAR 1989: Duane Vaagen, Vaagen Brothers Lumber, Colville, Wash. 1990: David Hancock, M.S. Hancock Lumber, Casco, Maine 1991: James Bibler, Bibler Brothers Lumber, Russellville, Ark. 1992: Galen Weaber, Weaber Inc., Lebanon, Pa. 1993: John Hampton, Hampton Lumber, Portland, Ore. 1994: Jim Seaman, Seaman Timber, Montevallo, Ala. 1995: Jim Neiman, Devil’s Tower Forest Products, Hulett, Wyo. 1996: Bud Johnson, C&D Lumber, Riddle, Ore. 1997: Don Overmyer, Linden Lumber, Linden, Ala. 1998: Jim Quinn, Collins Pine Co., Chester, Calif. 1999: Jim Hamer, Jim C. Hamer, Kenova, W. Va. 2000: Fred Stimpson, Gulf Lumber, Mobile, Ala. 2001: Larry Williams, Idaho Timber, Boise, Id. 2002: Rusty Wood, Tolleson Lumber, Perry, Ga. 2003: Dan Kretz, Kretz Lumber, Antigo, Wis. 2004: Dan Levesque, Nexfor Fraser, Ashland, Me. 2005: Harold Wayne Hankins, Hankins, Inc., Ripley, Miss. 2006: Chris Ketcham, Yakama Forest Products, White Swan, Wash. 2007: Bob Jordan, Jordan Lumber & Supply, Mt. Gilead, NC 2008: Bill Carden, Potomac Supply, Kinsale, Va. 2009: Mike Flynn, Midwest Hardwood, Maple Grove, Minn. 2010: Steve Singleton, New South, Camden, SC 2011: Bill Wilkins, WKO, Inc., Carson, Wash. 2012: Butch and Michael Cersosimo, Cersosimo Lumber, Brattleboro, Vt. 2013: Finley McRae, Rex Lumber, Graceville, Fla. 2014: Kevin Hancock, Hancock Lumber, Casco, Maine When the recession hit the United States around 2008, Hancock knew his company was going to have to do some things differently. Prior to then, almost all of Hancock Lumber’s sales were made in the U.S. When the recession kicked in they started looking more broadly at potential markets. “We ended up finding export opportunities that allowed us to maintain strong production levels and to diversify our markets in ways that not only helped us through the housing recession here in the U.S, but that we think will be helpful to us long term,” Hancock says. Hancock enjoys being able to work in all the different segments of the company. “From human resources to marketing, to finance to operation and sales, I’m really lucky because as president of the company I get to participate in all those different business segments with all those different employee groups and different customer groups. As a result there’s a lot of variety to what I end up doing on a daily basis and therefore it really never gets boring because every part of the business is constantly changing so everything’s in motion all the time,” he says. Hancock Lumber continues to thrive as the climate changes for lumber companies. As one of the largest manufacturers of eastern white pine products in

The “Hancock House” was built on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 2013.

North America, Hancock has customers throughout New England, the U.S. South, the Midwest and across Canada. Hancock believes it’s important to continue to invest in the latest technology at all three of the sawmills. The company has recently upgraded the optimizing edger in the Bethel mill. Last year, Hancock Lumber expanded its planer mill in Casco to make it bigger and to allow for more sorting, more customization and more secondary manufacturing. Six generations of continuous opera-

tions, growing trees, keeping Maine green, manufacturing eastern white pine products from renewable and sustainable forests, and creating housing for Mainers, is what Hancock Lumber does and with great success. Certainly Kevin Hancock doesn’t take it for granted. He comments: “One of my favorite business quotes is success looks easy to those who weren’t around to watch it being made. When you watch the lumber leave a mill on a truck it looks like a pretty simple scene, but it’s really complex.” TP

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THE BIGGEST STORIES EDITOR’S NOTE: A lot of big stories and developments have marked the pages of Timber Processing during its 400 issues, and on the following pages we’ve reviewed some of them, though certainly not all of them. The loose criteria we went by in picking these particular ones was mainly the volume of ink we had given over to the subject in the pages of Timber Processing. We recognize that the shift in timberland ownership, the influx of Canadian lumber companies into the deep South, or the development of continuous dry kilns are just as worthy as some of the following topics, but hey, we had to stop somewhere. We hope you enjoy the following snapshots, and for those of you older-timers, we’re sure some of these will generate good memories and not-sogood. By the way, they appear in alphabetical order.

Automated Lumber Grading s computerization and automation swept through every segment of the A sawmill—even the filing room!—from

tolog planer optimizer system in early 2001 featuring a geometric scanning and grading module that graded all board dimensions and measurements in addition to characteristics such as wane, twist, skip, crook and sweep—and also featured MSR and moisture sensor inputs.

the 1970s toward the end of the century, the last job on the mill floor that hadn’t been radically changed through scanning and optimization was the labor-intensive task of grading lumber. Suppliers had developed high speed defect detection chop saw lines in reman plants, with Lucidyne an early leader, but high-speed automated grading in dimension lumber planer mills through scanning and optimization remained in R&D mode through the 1990s. In Timber Processing, coverage of automated grading systems took off in 2001, with an article in the July-August issue on G-P at Bay Springs, Miss. The mill Automated grading in the planer mill has surged since 2000. had started up an Au18

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The same issue included ads from Paul Saws & Systems for its Woodeye defect scanning and grading system, plus Coe’s new GradeScan trimmer optimizer (Now Operational At Gulf Lumber! the ad said) that scanned for defects before green end trimming. In the following September issue, a Hi-Tech Engineering representative reported a GradeTech planer line defect scanning system based on high speed cameras sold to Ingram Lumber in South Carolina. In October, an article detailed CAE’s new Linear High Grader featuring laser, xray and microwave sensor systems to grade for both geometric and visual characteristics operating in seven mills in Australia and North America. Fast forward to 2013, where issues of Timber Processing focused on USNR’s Transverse High Grader (THG) Lucidyne’s lineal GradeScan, Comact’s transverse GradExpert, and Autolog’s linear ProGrader, all cool names we must say. TP

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Canadian Softwood Lumber

Canadian softwood lumber accounted for one-third or more of U.S. lumber consumption.

o single issue caused a divide within N the lumber industry quite like the dispute between the U.S. and Canada over Canadian softwood lumber imports. And from 1982 until about 2006 no news topic received as much attention in Timber Processing magazine as this one, and no subject attracted as much letter-writing feedback from TP readers. U.S. lumber producers fired the first shot in 1982 when they filed a countervailing duty petition with the International Trade Commission and Dept. of

Commerce and introduced the central issue in the dispute: subsidization of Canadian lumber producers through timber allocations by the Canadian government for far less than the market value of the timber. This, according to the U.S., allowed Canadian lumber companies to move their lumber into the U.S. and underprice U.S. lumber companies, causing curtailments and displacing workers. The U.S. lost that round on technical grounds, but many U.S. lumber compa-

Computerization

Sawmills have added information technology specialists to keep up.

nies regrouped as the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports and filed another petition in 1986, and won this time. The two sides negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding under which Canada had to impose a 15% export tax on shipments of softwood lumber to the U.S. “Understanding” or not, the debates raged, with Canadian producers claiming preferences of U.S. home building contractors for Canadian softwood lumber because of workability and quality. Canada withdrew from the MOU in 1991, sparking a series of international trade challenges, which ultimately led to the 1996 Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA). It established a tariff-rate quota on imports, with fees collected by the Canadian government on over-quota shipments. When Canada declined to renew the SLA in 2001, more petitions and rulings followed, now through the World Trade Organization, establishing a duty on Canadian lumber for subsidization and dumping, up to 27%. The U.S. collected these monies until the Softwood Lumber Agreement of 2006, a seven-year agreement that required Canada to impose taxes on its lumber exports to the U.S. based on volume stipulations per province and U.S. market pricing levels. Meanwhile, the U.S. returned $5 billon in duty deposits back to Canada, while keeping a billion dollars for distribution to Coalition members and for educational endeavors. In early 2012 the two countries signed a two-year extension of the SLA TP into 2015. Stay tuned.

he influence of computerization and digital techT nology on all segments of sawmilling from the stump to wholesaler has no doubt made the biggest

impact on sawmill operations and efficiency since Timber Processing emerged on its own in 1976. Since that time, TP has chronicled the evolution of computerization primarily in the area of sawing optimization, but also throughout the mill. Aside from directly improving sawing performance, perhaps the biggest impact of the digital revolution has been the ever-increasing ability to accurately measure inputs, performance and outputs at every machine, fully documenting every piece handled and giving mill managers and shift supervisors mountains of information to make better—or at least much better informed—operating decisions. The February ’78 issue featured a Tampella sawmill in Finland operating eight computers controlling two saw lines, and “mini computers” involved in controlling bucking, sorting, drying and trimming. June 1980 featured Warrenton Lumber in Oregon, which had pursued computerized sawing since 1971 and was using a ➤ 20 system supplied by Lewis Controls. TIMBER PROCESSING

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Aside from computers’ ever-in19 ➤ creasing processing speeds and memory capabilities in ever-smaller packages, a big change in sawmill computerization has been the move away from “black box” custom processors and operating systems to the use of “off the shelf” hardware systems that are lower cost and easier to replace and allow system developers to compete through software innovation and features instead of hardware capability. Continuing advances in computing power and technology at lower costs have enabled modern sawmills that are completely wired: computerized optimization at each machine center, physically monitored with vision and output detection cameras, every sawline computer-generated and documented with automatic shift production performance reports and any operational discrepancy red-flagged. And now, thanks to the on-line revolution, sawmill managers can see it all from the comfort of their living rooms as computerization advances march onward. TP

Filing Room imber Processing editors visiting T sawmills in the late 1970s routinely found saw setups more closely resem-

bling the 19th century than the 20th: circle saw headrigs running kerfs of a quarter-inch, the equivalent of burning barrels of cash to keep the mill warm. From Day One TP editors made sure to include the filing room in their mill tours, and since the early ’80s the December issue has highlighted filing rooms and equipment and advances in saws and saw maintenance. Saw specialist and researcher Ryszard Szymani contributed a key article on sawing in December ’83 that covered saw guides, maintenance and tensioning as related to thin-kerf sawing. A 1987 article from Systi Matic’s Jeff Hewitt preached the value of thin- ➤ 22

Filing rooms began to focus on thin-kerf.

Curve-Sawing

urve-sawing edgers and gangs—advancing from the EsterC er sash gang era—took the industry by storm in the 1990s, with industry veteran Ron McGehee playing a major role. In

1989, he designed an innovative curve saw while working for HEMCO: Called the “wiggle box,” the apparatus mounted circular saws around horizontal and vertical axis points to cut a curved cant along designated paths. This allowed mills to maximize lumber and grade recovery and longer lengths. (The more sweep in your log supply, the better results you get.) In 1991 HEMCO offered to sell the design to Weyerhaeuser, which declined the offer. McGehee left HEMCO in ’93 and formed McGehee Equipment Co. where he continued to refine the technology. In 1995, McGehee Equipment collaborated with Hi-Tech Engineering to successfully install the first “curve-sawing versa gang” at Pollard Lumber Co. in Appling, Ga. (Hi-Tech’s Chris Raybon appropriately called curve-sawing “the chip-n-saw of the ’90s.”) A year later, McGehee and Newnes Machine announced a partnership to develop and sell optimized curvesawing edger and gang systems, with McGehee supplying edgers and gangs while Newnes supplied optimization and control systems. According to legal briefs filed in a patent suit, at one point Newnes-McGehee had 70% of the curve-sawing market in North America. Other equipment suppliers quickly came up with their own curve-sawing systems: The Timber Processing Buyer’s Guide in 1990 had no mention of curve-sawing. Ten years later, the 2000 Buyer’s Guide—featuring a curve-sawing installation cover article—had its own “Curve-Sawing Systems” category with 22 suppliers. Curve-sawing systems evolved into two basic types: systems with stationary saws that drove cants through on a curved path, and systems that drove the cant straight through while articulating the saw box to carve the desired path. TP 20

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Curve-sawing and optimization at Chesterfield Lumber, 1998

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20 ➤ kerf sawing and the need for mill managers to view saw performance as a profit center and not just an expense. An article a year later urged mill operators to include filing supervisors in management meetings. Timber Processing chronicled the increasing use of Stellite, with Ed Williston calling Eb Kirbach and Forintek’s early Stellite research “a tremendous breakthrough.” In December 1990, then manager of Tillamook Lumber Bob Schutte noted that a mill implementing Stellite tipping and thinkerf sawing that results in a 4% recovery increase, with log costs of $400/MBF, could save $1.3 million annually. As in all other areas of the sawmill, computerization improved filing practices by delivering saws that cut more accurately and ran better thanks to tighter tolerances and more accuracy during the filing process. Today, technology advances in the filing room offset a transitional shift in filing room labor from the old guard to the new generation filers, if they can be TP found.

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Great Recession of 2008 ntil 2008, whenever there was an U economic slowdown that hit the lumber industry, sawmill insiders would re-

mind each other it still wasn’t as bad as the early ’80s recession, with its 20% interest rates. But after 2008, they don’t say that anymore. Though the forest products industry had seen dropping prices in ’06 and ’07, the big crash hit in 2008 just before the presidential election, when liquidity in the financial system froze up due to lack of confidence among banks and other financial institutions. The impact hit all segments of the U.S. economy hard, especially the housing market, and the softwood and hardwood lumber markets. After reaching an all-time high of 64.5 billion BF in 2005, demand for U.S. softwood lumber had dropped 55% by 2009—the biggest decrease in the history of the industry, worse than the Great Depression of the 1920s-30s—as annual lumber production dropped to 21.8 billion BF. And housing starts that had gone above 2 million annually in 2005 were

barely above 400,000 by 2009. Between 2006 and 2010, 76 active U.S. sawmills closed their doors, many permanently. According to a Western

A fortunate few kept their production intact.

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Wood Products Assn. report, average mill capacity utilization in 2008 was 68%. A 2009 article by longtime Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory researcher Henry Spelter noted that sawmill employment had fallen more than 30% in the past five years, from 122,100 to less than 87,000 in mid 2009. Nationwide in January 2009, average framing lumber prices were down 21% from 2008 and 58% lower than the August 2004 high point, according to industry newsletter Random Lengths. Despite unprecedented long-term low interest rates, recovery from the crash has moved slower than in the past, with unemployment remaining persistently high. Home construction activity has slowly turned the corner, as housing starts TP finished 2013 just under 1 million.

Hardwood Hard Hit he hardwood lumber industry took a T double hit in the 2000s, with a significant piece of the furniture and components manufacturing industry landing in Asia at the same time the U.S. economy went into a prolonged recession. Annual hardwood lumber production, which hovered at 13 billion BF in 1999, dropped below 6 billion during the depths of the recent recession. The amount of hard-

wood lumber going to the domestic furniture industry dwindled to less than 5% due to offshore furniture production. Two decades ago, one-third of all hardwood lumber went to furniture production. Low grade hardwood lumber for pallets dropped from 4.5 billion BF in 1999 to 3 billion in 2009. Many hardwood lumber companies transitioned into new ownership. ➤ 24

The domestic hardwood lumber industry has the challenge of rebuilding itself.

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23 ➤ American Hardwood Industries and its multiple facilities sold to Augusta Lumber, which continued to operate as American Hardwood Industries with 110MMBF of annual production. Former AHI CEO Ted Rossi surfaced from that deal as Rossi Group to operate Emporium Hardwoods and Northern Hardwoods. Weaber Inc. and Taylor Lumber became WT Industries through the equity firm Resilience Capital Partners. Meanwhile some longstanding companies such as Edwards Wood Products grew pallet and lumber production substantially and expanded product offerings. As the U.S economy recovered from the recession, domestic furniture and components manufacturing appeared to be on the uptick. Many hardwood lumber manufacturers indicated they were ready to make modest upgrades to their mill operations. Total hardwood lumber production creeped upward again. TP

Lumber Shifts South

A reliable timber base spurred southern pine production past output in the West.

Log Exports

raditionally a key source of activity for coastal towns and ports and loggers— T and big business for major Northwest

1978-88, though record shipments were set in 1988 and ’89 with more than 3.7 billion BF exported both years. At the same time, timber sale programs in Washington and Oregon were beginning to slow under the old-growth, wilderness and spotted owl controversies, with Forest Service planners warning that annual federal sales in Washington and Oregon could be reduced by as much as 40% (it

landowners—log exports can flare up into controversy most any time, depending on domestic economic concerns. This was definitely the case as log exports from Washington and Oregon to Japan, China and Korea crystallized into a major issue as public timber supplies continued to tighten in the latter 1980s. Timber Processing addressed log exports with an extensive feature article in March 1990 and snazzy fold-out cover showing a large ship loaded to the gills with logs headed overseas. In the previous decade, log exports had averaged 3.1 Log exports have again become a touchy topic. billion BF annually from 24

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rimarily due to public land management decisions that greatly reduced P timber harvests in key national forests in

Washington and Oregon, thus putting hundreds of independent sawmill operations out of business, U.S. lumber production shifted steadily southward in the late ’80 and early ’90s. In 1991 both the South and West finished with roughly 20 billion BF each in softwood lumber production out of 44.3 billion BF produced nationwide. The following year, the South finished with 21.1 billion BF to the West’s 20.3, and the gap began to widen as timber sale sanctions on national forests kicked in: By 1996 the South produced 22 billion BF and the West 16.7. The shift to the South spurred mill expansions and upgrades in the region, with an eye toward using smaller, plantation timber logs in many cases. Southern pine sawmills, especially the independent ones, implemented new technologies up and down the line, with many mills operating scanning and optimization systems at each machine center in the green end. The southern pine industry has experienced another “shift” in recent years: significant timberland ownership transitioning from traditional forest products firms to “institutional investment” TP groups.

was actually much worse), increasing demand for domestic logs. By the early 1990s, more than 25% of logs harvested in Washington and Oregon were exported. As industry sought solidarity in the face of mounting preservationist pressure, log exports split smaller domestic lumber producers and large timberlandowning producers involved in the log export market. The former demanded that value-added should remain in the U.S., while the latter cited free trade and a foothold in offshore markets with an eye toward future lumber sales. Log export issues have flared again today as industry continues to slowly recover from the 2008 economic downturn: Strong demand for both logs and lumber in Asia since 2011 has revived the debate as log price increases in the Pacific Northwest are exacerbated by exports taking logs off the domestic market. TP

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tioned the Fish & Wildlife Service to list it under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). At the same time, these groups filed hundreds of lawsuits and appeals against specific timber sales in Washington, Oregon and California national forests citing spotted owl concerns. hile Forest Service (FS) planning and management deFederal land managers sought to address the legal concerns cisions and wilderness area designations had always with owl habitat areas, setasides, surveying and more, but each been a thorn in the side of lumber decision or initiative led to lawsuits. producers who relied on public Congress got involved with special land, especially in the U.S. West, in legislation to release some sales— the 1980s it was the northern spotattracting even more lawsuits. ted owl that became the perfect dagIn ’91 the FWS listed the owl as ger to stab in the heart of the most threatened under the ESA, triggerproductive public forestland in the ing regulatory hurdles for both pubCascades and Coast Range mounlic and private timberland owners to tains in Washington, Oregon and clear. Soon after, a federal judge northern California. halted 171 FS timber sales covering For five solid years from 1988 to 66,000 acres and more than 2 bil1993, virtually every issue of Timlion BF, saying they couldn’t go ber Processing included articles forward until spotted owl issues about the spotted owl and oldwere addressed. growth logging controversies and After campaigning on the issue, legal actions. the Clinton Administration develAs FS timber sales on older age oped a plan that addressed the legal class and “old-gowth” tracts came concerns and got the FS Northwest under increasing fire from preservatimber sale program out of the courttionists in the 1980s, anti-logging room, but introduced consultation legal groups seized on obscure acaprocedures with the FWS that drastidemic research that the northern cally reduced Northwest public timspotted owl was going extinct due ber harvests by 70-80% or more— The "perfect species" to halt federal timber sale programs to old-growth logging and petilevels that have never recovered. TP

Northern Spotted Owl W

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na; and July ’78 included Opcon scanning at a quad bandmill and gang edger in G-P’s new Arkansas stud mill. In the January 1980 Timber Processing, sawmill expert Ed Williston reported 129 scanning systems in use at North American sawmills, with about a third used in computer-based control he first sawmill scanners in North America were installed systems. The first TP Suppliers’ Directory Issue to include a in 1974, supplied by Rema Electronics of Sweden in lineal “scanning systems” category in 1984 listed 41 suppliers. (The log bucking applications. The fifth issue in TP’s first full TP directory listed 53 scanning suppliers in 1990, and 47 in year—May 1976—was the first mention of sawmill scanning 2013.) Williston also predicted a future of advances in electronic systems in the magazine: vision systems and nona MoDoMekan “fully aucontact sensors to detertomated” bucking system mine log characteristics using photocells for with increasing speed and length and diameter scanaccuracy—and that’s exning at the Olinkraft mill actly what happened. in Winnfield, La. Today, taking advanWith so much potential tage of lower component to help boost recovery and costs and much stronger production, scanning techcomputing power, scannology quickly spread ning system suppliers are throughout the sawmill: In using a wide variety of October ’76 TP featured a sensors, and utilizing Saab-Totem edger optidata from multiple senmizer with photocell scansors that include photoning at Weyerhaeuser in cells, lasers, cameras, xCottage Grove, Ore.; Janrays and more to develop uary ’77 highlighted a highly detailed and accuKockums optimizer with rate log and lumber charRema scanning system on acteristics at speeds una Chip-N-Saw at Jordan heard of when TP began Edger scanning at Boise Cascade, Kettle Falls, Wash., 1989. TP Lumber in North Caroliin the mid ’70s.

Scanning Explosion T

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Small Log Processing hen Timber Processing began W publication in the mid ’70s, many sawmills in both the West and South

were running large diameter logs, with Western mills enjoying the last decade of the old-growth federal timber coming up for sale, with three-, four- and five-log loads rolling into the mill yard. Southern sawmillers were likewise steadily working their way through big tracts of largediameter natural growth timber, much of it acquired from independent operators as pulp and paper interests and large corporate firms steadily expanded in the region in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. By the mid 1980s that had all changed: Northwest public forests were halting most large diameter timber sales, and Southern sawmillers were getting used to a steady diet of small diameter plantation wood. In major sawmilling regions, it became increasingly harder to find a mill to handle the few 30 in.-plus

logs that might come onto the market. The move toward smaller diameter logs also spurred technological innovations in production and fiber recovery: Small logs meant higher piece counts to maintain production levels, and rising log costs put a premium on higher recovery sawing systems. With small logs, less margin for error on sawing decisions and machine performance meant more demand for sawing systems that addressed kerf sizes, saw snaking, log movement during sawing and more. Chipping canters were among the first widespread small log machines, designed to extract lumber from pulpwood, with many variations. Sharp chain systems feeding chips heads and twin bandmills splurged in the 1980s, as well as small log end dog feeding systems, and later double- and extended-length infeed systems with chipping heads and arrays of band

Timber Contract Relief

the late 1970s many Northwest U.S. companies bid excessive prices Ionntimber federal forest timber sales offered by

the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The reason was twofold: One was that the building industry had been booming. The second reason was precautionary; there was growing concern that wilderness and environmental pressures could reduce the future timber supply on public lands.

The average bid price for Douglas fir on the west side national forests of Oregon and Washington reached $486MBF in the first quarter of 1980. By the third quarter of 1982, it had dropped to $93MBF. Housing starts had started to plummet in late 1979 and continued to nosedive along with lumber and plywood prices and the rest of the economy. In 1982 many of those contracts were set to expire and many companies faced

Many Northwest lumber companies bit off more federal timber than they could chew. 30

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Small log technology came on strong.

saws. Processing small logs had become the norm. TP insolvency if forced to honor them. The industry pleaded for assistance and the Forest Service granted an extension in 1981 to delay harvests, and then President Reagan authorized an extension for up to five years while waiving interest payments. Northwest lumbermen said it wasn’t enough and began talking about contract forgiveness. Southern pine lumbermen, whose timber stumpage came primarily from private lands, feared that federal government assistance to the Northwest lumber industry could result in a flood of cheap lumber to Southern markets. Stemming from a compromise agreement between Northwest and Southern lumber interests, Congress responded with the Federal Timber Contract Payment Modification Act of 1984, which was signed by Reagan in October 1984. The Timber Contract Buyout, as it was better known, permitted contract holders to buy out up to 55% of the timber volume on their contracts issued before January 1, 1982, but no more than 200MMBF. The buyout charges depended on the extent of the purchaser’s losses. If the losses exceeded the company’s net book worth, a minimum buyout rate of $10/MBF applied. Otherwise, the buyout rate varied with buyout volume and ratio of the purchaser’s loss to net book worth. Purchasers reportedly returned about 9.75 billion BF to the Forest Service and BLM by paying about $170 million in buyout charges. TP

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MACHINERYROW Canfor Implements Counter-Flow Kiln

much steam as it was capable of producing so we had to have an energy efficiency improvement with the steam we already had. For that reason we would not consider adding another conventional kiln and decided to go with a continuous flow design.” Travis McDonald, chief engineer for the company, works out of the head office at Myrtle Beach. He comments that

this is the first continuous flow kiln for the Canfor Southern Pine operations. “We went through a pretty exhaustive research process that spanned a couple of years. We visited several mill sites with continuous kilns, with various manufacturers and various methods of heating the kilns. As far back as 2006 we considered putting a continuous kiln in our Graham, NC plant but it would not physically fit

Canfor is running a continuous dry kiln.

Canfor Southern Pine at Conway, SC had been investing in updates to its sawmill process. It wanted to increase its production to take advantage of the recent upturn in markets, and needed to increase its drying capacity. Its plans were hampered by a more lengthy permitting process required to change its dry kiln heat source. Add to that the fact that its existing steam-fired boiler was already at capacity, so the new kiln had to be super efficient. After extensive investigation it selected USNR’s steam-fired CounterFlow Kiln with Kiln Boss controls. This custom-designed system is utilizing the existing steam heat now, with immediate gains in efficiency and lumber quality. And with a future conversion to a directfired process it will reach its desired destination. The Conway operation has been manufacturing lumber products for over 55 years, and was started by the Wall, Sledge, Singleton and Campbell families. In 2006 Canadian Forest Products acquired the mill along with sister operations at Camden and Marion, SC and Graham, NC. Today the company operates as Canfor Southern Pine and is based at Myrtle Beach, SC. The Conway site comprises a sawmill, dry kilns, planer mill and treating plant. The operation produces dimension lumber (2x4 through 2x12), 5⁄4 x 6 radius edge decking, 4x4 timbers, and boards. The mill currently runs two shifts and has an annual capacity of 175MMBF. With five conventional steam kilns the mill was still facing a bottleneck with lumber drying, and needed to come up with a way to increase its drying capacity. The decision was made to construct a sixth kiln, and this one would be a continuous flow design. Tim Papa, manager at the Conway site, explains the challenge, “Our boiler was producing as TIMBER PROCESSING

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MACHINERYROW on the site. It had always been our plan to adopt this technology.” McDonald adds that Conway’s other five kilns are all from USNR, and the company is comfortable with the Kiln Boss software and the kiln itself. “The USNR Counter-Flow Kiln gave us the best value for our investment.” Preparing the site created the biggest challenge for the mill. Papa relates, “It’s

a huge machine and takes up a lot of square footage. We had to do quite a bit of construction demolition and arrangement just to fit it in on site. It turned out pretty well.” Another challenge the company faced was the permitting process; it would be able to increase its drying capacity the fastest by remaining with an all-steam kiln process for the time being.

The team said that they decided to run primarily 16 ft. lumber through the kiln. They related that their visits to other mills convinced them that stacking quality was paramount to efficient operation of the kiln. McDonald says, “Conway really does a good job making sure that what goes into the kiln is uniform.” USNR’s engineers designed the kiln with the capability to convert it to a direct-fired system once the required permits are in place, and the mill made space available to accommodate USNR’s Green Burner on the site. Converting the kiln will require removal of the fin piping, and installation of a duct system to distribute the heat from the Green Burner. Papa gave kudos to Morgan Lumber at Red Oak, Va. for helping them out along the way. That mill installed a USNR Counter-Flow Kiln about two years ago. “They were very helpful, and we are very appreciative of their help.” Papa credits the counter-flow design for improved quality of lumber. “We’re pleased with the lumber quality coming out. The conditioning chambers on either end not only recover the heat that would normally be lost when you open the doors and push the lumber out, but by cooling it down and introducing a little bit of moisture back it does help to condition the lumber. The lumber has less standard deviation and is straighter than that dried in a conventional kiln.” The new Kiln Boss system controls all six kilns from a single computer. (This is an excerpt of an article that appeared in USNR’s Millwide Insider newsletter.)

Sweden Flooring Firm Purchases X-Ray System WoodEye by Innovativ Vision sold a WoodEye X-Ray with Cross Cut to the flooring manufacturer Kährs in Nybro, Sweden. The system will mainly be used to cut raw materials for their parquet floors. These substances are cut from wood that comes directly from Kährs sawmills. This is the third X-Ray system that WoodEye by Innovativ Vision has sold since the Ligna fair in May 2013, and the market has shown big interest in the new technology. “It stands clear that we have made something great for the industry with our Dual Energy X-Ray. The need to scan with higher accuracy, even in rough or dirty material, is significant for many operators around the world,” says 32

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MACHINERYROW CEO of WoodEye Jonas Eklind. “Our XRay is a product that will develop the industry and create new opportunities when it comes to high precision and increased yield.” WoodEye 5 X-Ray makes use of the patented technology Dual Energy with X-ray in two energy levels, which gives accurate results even in rough and dirty materials. “Innovativ Vision is world

leading with the Dual Energy technology when it comes to X-ray systems in the timber industry.”

New Bander Relieves White City Bottleneck Samuel Strapping Systems, a leading supplier of industrial packaging supplies and equipment, recently partnered with

Boise Cascade’s Engineered Wood Products division to install a bander in the White City, Ore. facility. Boise Cascade EWP Oregon facility is one of the largest laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and I-joist manufacturing plants in the world. Their existing single bander configuration could not process product as quickly as it was being delivered. This resulted in a bottleneck that slowed down operations. Samuel Strapping Systems had previously outfitted one of the White City plant’s sister mills in New Brunswick, Canada. Armed with this previous experience, Boise Cascade approached Samuel Strapping Systems and asked them to provide a solution. In response, Samuel Strapping Systems offered a top-sealing strapping machine set up with a VK30 polyester strap head and a CD12SJ powered dispenser, which was installed on the same production line as another brand of strapping machine. When asked about the performance of the Samuel Strapping bander, Dennis Ekstrand, Manager of EWP Maintenance and Construction, said, “After we put the (Samuel Strapping) bander in with the second bander, we reduced our cycle time by approximately 33%. Additionally, the (Samuel Strapping) cycle rate exceeds the cycle rate of the other brand.” Boise Cascade EWP took a great risk in bringing Samuel Strapping Systems in, considering that Boise now had to deal with a completely new set of spare parts for a totally different brand of strapping machine. But that risk has paid off in huge dividends. “We put the numbers together and it looks like the ROI is under two years,” Ekstrand says. “I’ve followed the life cycle of that (New Brunswick) strapper, and the life cycle is very good. Very low maintenance, real reliable, and a quick cycle rate.” When asked what the White City plant’s next step would be, Ekstrand says, “I’ve asked for potential capital in 2014 for another strapper, so I can take advantage of the (Samuel Strapping machine’s) higher cycle rate.” This additional investment should increase the cycle time even more, while also improving the overall uptime of the plant’s strapping line.

Bandit Industries, Alamo Go Separate Ways Bandit Industries announced that the company will for now remain privately owned, as it has turned down a pur- ➤ 60 34

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400TH EDITOR’S NOTE: The following companies submitted the following materials as part of the Timber Processing 400th issue anniversary. All statements and claims are attributable to these companies.

ADVANCED SAWMILL MACHINERY Celebrating its 20th anniversary serving the pine and hardwood sawmill industry, ASM has doubled its workforce, including two more machine designers, a dedicated CNC programmer, a purchasing manager, safety manager and manufacturing plant personnel. ASM continues to expand plant capability and just invested in a new CNC Plasma Burn Table, a 48 in. x 60 in. CNC horizontal milling machine with a 10 ft. bed, a 40 in. CNC lathe with a 10 ft. bed and Inventor Design Software to complement the existing Solid Works and AutoCad in use. New ASM products include a Timber Trimmer with two electric linear-actuator operated shifting saws that can handle boards through 12 in. x 18 in. cants, vector motor-positioned Log Chop Saws and high speed line shaft timmers that offer standard saw spacing, precision end trimming and custom saw spacing as close as 6 in. Additional new products include an Automatic Package Doubler, Vector-driven Package End Squeeze and a Severe Duty Log V-Feeder designed to replace aging, high maintenance step feeders. ASM continues to offer a complete line of high-speed, custom built sawmill machinery, including the ASM carriage with on-board forward and reverse horizontal log turner and slant option, hybrid carriage drive, patented Steady Scan Log Conveyor, tilt hoist, high-yield curve canting and curve-sawing systems, planer feed table and outfeed bridge and ASM’s famous sharp chain systems. Additionally, ASM offers reconditioned bandmills as well as the capability to cost-effectively recondition and update most sawmill machine centers to the latest technology. ASM has a well-deserved reputation for manufacturing heavy-duty sawmill machinery that is designed and built to last. ASM does all of its own design, machining and fabrication in-house, which provides exceptional quality control. asmei.com

AMETEK Processors of raw wood and lumber have relied on position sensing and level gauging solutions from Ametek Factory Automation for more than 50 years. Key to Ametek’s success is the accuracy and reli36

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ability of its Gemco linear displacement transducers (LDTs). Ametek is a recognized leader in advanced positioning technology, offering the most extensive line of continuous rotary and linear motion control devices for the timber and lumber industry. Its Gemco LDTs are known for their flawless performance in extreme operating conditions. They feature the latest magnetostrictive position-sensing technology and are available in numerous application-specific configurations. The Gemco 953 VMAX is particularly well suited for the timber and lumber industry, providing unmatched reliability and durability and resistance to shock, vibration, extreme temperatures or exposure to contaminants. The 953D VMAX LDT is shock resistant to 1,000 Gs, vibration-resistant to 30 Gs, and it is IP68 rated. The fully digital LDT offers accurate and reliable absolute position indication with high resolution and precision repeatability. It overcomes the resolution and signal limitations of analog LDTs by offering infinite resolution and a stable position feedback for cable runs up to 1,200 from the host controller. Both the Gemco 953A (analog) and 953D (digital) VMAX LDT offer active measuring range of up to 300 in. and wide power supply voltages ranging from 7 to 30 VDC. Analog output units offer programmable zero and span. Both units feature visual and output signal diagnostic feedback and utilize standard off-the-shelf cord sets for maximum value. A tri-color LED indicator verifies proper operation and distinct diagnostics for quick troubleshooting. Their low power consumption (1 watt typical) allows direct connection to displays and control interface modules. Along with lumber and forest products equipment, Gemco LDTs have found application in steel mills, primary and secondary metals processing such as stamping, roll forming and die-casting, rubber and plastic injection-molding, extrusion equipment, and material handling machinery. ametekapt.com

BAXLEY EQUIPMENT Baxley Equipment Co. was formed in 2004, so it is a relatively new name in the forest products industry, but its heritage goes way back. In 10 short years, Baxley has built on the reacquired HiTech product line, adding many innovative new products. Grade scanning for green lumber, a new generation Lineshaft Trimmer, a positive high speed lug loader, an all electric paddle fence, all electric package makers and stackers, high speed board edgers—linearly and transversely fed, curve-sawing, cut-in two lumber sorting, operator-less lumber sorter and crosscut edger are some of the Baxley innovations. While this technology was being developed, Baxley Equipment bought Price Systems, a world renowned chip mill equipment manufacturer, and turned it into Price LogPro. Price LogPro’s product line has expanded from primarily drums and cranes for chip mills to include pellet and sawmill

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400TH wood yards. This product and market expansion caused a physical expansion into two large capacity manufacturing facilities. Positive, simple and extremely robust LogPro log/stem feeders and shifting saw cutup systems are some products developed in the past five years. Looking at customer needs, Baxley struck a deal two years ago with Calibre Equipment, a New Zealand company, to license and manufacture Ecoustical grading machines in North America. This has proven very successful, with many satisfied MSR lumber manufacturing customers. During all this growth and expansion, Baxley has maintained its commitment to customer service. Baxley Equipment, along with Price LogPro, is positioned exactly where it needs to be in the marketplace—close to customers. beqco.com

CATERPILLAR The year 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the Cat 988 wheel loader and the introduction of the latest model, the 988K. The 988 was Caterpillar’s first model with articulated frame steering, which would become the standard for wheel loaders. Previous wheel loaders were rigid-frame with rear wheel steering. The 988 was originally designed for the earthmoving and mining industries, but was quickly put to work in mill yards. Today mills around the world unload trucks in a single pass, move logs around the yard and feed the mill with a 988. A number of the earliest mill yard models, the 988B, are still in service today. Fuel savings with the new Cat 988K are significantly better compared to previous models. In one two-week trial at a mill yard in Idaho, the fuel savings with the 988K were 25% over the previous model, the 988H. Caterpillar offers a complete line of mill yard machines and attachments in addition to wheel loaders. A cost-efficient system that works well in many mill yards is the 988 wheel loader to unload trucks, along with either the M325D material handler or the 325FM to sort, stack and break down stacks of logs. The M325D is a wheeled carrier that can cover a lot of ground fast. The cab can be raised 81⁄2 ft. for excellent visibility while high decking, and maintenance/repair costs are low. The M325D can be configured to handle either cut-to-length or treelength logs. The fuel-efficient 325D FM is a track machine for handling treelength logs. The undercarriage was recently upgraded to the D7 size hydraulic excavator type, along with larger final drives, increasing component life and stability. The ability to stack wood higher in the same footprint is a benefit of both the M325D and the 325D FM. This reduces the need to have a satellite yard for additional storage. This system also means less handling and, therefore, less breakage. In one study of the 988/M325D system, breakage from handling was reduced 50%.

Caterpillar Forest Product’s Global Solutions Team helps mill yards improve their bottom line by taking a high-level view of the operation and bringing the expertise, services and machines needed to improve it. “We look at a mill yard operation from a system standpoint and the total cost,” says Florentino Bernal, Global Solutions Team manager. “It’s not just about the equipment; it’s about providing a complete solution.” cat.com (Accompanying image is a 1974 spec sheet.)

CONE-OMEGA Cone-Omega, LLC was formed in May 2013 by the merger of Cone Machinery and Omega Solutions. Both companies are well respected in the industry and have proven track records for supplying simple, rugged and reliable equipment. As Cone-Omega, they will continue to provide customers with the high quality mill floor equipment that they have come to expect, while continuing to develop new innovative products that are engineered to decrease downtime and increase profitability. They have several new products that are being well received in the marketplace. For precision chain lubrication, Cone-Omega offers a unique Lubrication Optimizer Control system (LOC). The LOC system was developed for use on sharp chains and can be used for edger, gang and Chip-N-Saw style chains. The LOC system delivers a precise amount of specialized blend oil, exactly where it is needed, to extend chain life and save money on oil usage. Using the LOC system along with the Omega SD Sharp Chain oil additive allows reduction of oil usage and improvement of oil quality. The Linear Motion Log Turner (LMLT) is another recent innovation. Engineered with ease of maintenance in mind, the LMLT design is very simple, resulting in an extremely robust quad roll log turner that offers precise turning capabilities. All movement is totally linear with components riding on linear bearings and rails. The LMLT has a shorter profile than most quad roll turners, lessening the opportunity for unintentional log movement as the log enters the turner. Each of the four rolls is air-cushioned, allowing the rolls to react independently to log surface irregularities. State-of-the-art hydraulics make this the faster turner on the market. The most recent product offering is the High Speed Flare Butt Reducer. The Cone-Omega butt reducer was developed by customer demand for an extreme duty, truly high speed flare butt reducer. The design is a traditional “vee” block style with the log rotating axially for reduction; however, many improvements have been made to drastically increase throughput and reliability while reducing downtime and maintenance requirements. coneomega.com TIMBER PROCESSING

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400TH CUT TECHNOLOGIES

DYNALYSE

Since inception, Cut Technologies has placed great emphasis on technology research and product development. President Mike Cloutier states, “At Cut Tech, our mission is to provide the primary forest industry with innovative sawing technology that will allow our customers to achieve top performance.” Cut Tech’s mission is evident in its recent launch of Predator Series tips, the Cougar XX Chrome saw, and the Sawmill Kahny. The tip industry had remained stagnant for decades, and in response, Cut Tech developed and launched the Predator Series carbide and super alloy saw tips that were designed specifically to meet the demands of today’s sawing industry. Instead of using existing tip grades, Cut Tech engineers developed an in-house formula of carbide and super alloy instead, which has proven to yield outstanding results. Predator Series tips outperform competitors in terms of cutting precision and running time, making the tips a favorite amongst the most productive sawmills in North America. The Cougar XX Chrome saw was launched in response to industry demands of increased run times. The Cougar XX is manufactured using a proprietary heat treatment, and a chrome finish is fused onto the saw plate. As test results have shown, this combination, which is unique to the Cut Tech product line, has created a saw with decreased gullet wear resulting in a longer sawing life. Furthermore, Cougar XX Chrome saws experience the added benefit of between board tolerance improvements. By incorporating the need for precision, quality and automation with the realization that at the mill level it is increasingly harder to justify extensive capital investment, Kahny created the Sawmill Kahny. At an affordable price and exhibiting the latest in European technology, the newly developed Sawmill Kahny is the perfect complement to every filing room. The smaller size of the machine and the newly designed single tip clamping jaws from the bowel to the saw makes for a user-friendly round saw tipping machine. Cut Tech’s long-term commitment to innovation in the industry is further evident in its representation of the premier European line of manufacturing equipment, Vollmer. Cut Tech is the Canadian distributor and factory service representative for Vollmer, whose machinery is considered the most technologically advanced in the sawmill industry. The use of Vollmer equipment in the manufacturing of Cut Tech’s Cougar saws allows for production of a product that is of the highest quality in the industry. Cut Tech is an industry leader and understands the importance of investing in research and development and representing premier machinery brands. Cloutier explains, “Cut Tech doesn’t believe in adhering to industry standards; we strive to develop extraordinary products using the latest technology. Doing so allows our customers to rely on a truly superior product line that results in cost savings and increased running times.” cuttech.com

Dynalyse was registered in Sweden in 1995. The first product Dynagrade was introduced at a trade show in Gothenburg in 1996. It was a revolutionary product for strength grading in planer and sorting mills. A lot of work had to be done to prove it was fulfilling the standards in relation to the authorities and to convince the sawmillers that is was a good way of working. The early adopters soon realized the cost-effectiveness and short payback time of Dynagrade, and many were to follow. Today, there are more than 160 grading systems running Dynalyse in more than 10 countries. The most common methods until 1996 were either manual visual grading or machine strength grading in a linear fashion, either after a planer or in a dedicated strength grading line. With Dynagrade, which is a grading system based on vibration measurement on a transverse line, much cost and space were saved for the millers. The vibration technology showed the same or better grading performance and showed a much stronger repeatability than traditional methods. Also, grading could be, and is done, on sawn as well as on planed timber. Dynagrade was first approved in Europe according to the older grading standard EN519, for the Nordic countries and the UK. Later on, the approvals for the American and Canadian markets were gained around 2000. Dynalyse products are always up to date with current standards for its supported markets. In 2006, the grading accuracy was further developed with Precigrader. It uses the same principle as Dynagrade, but it adds a density measurement. Thus, a higher yield in higher grades is achieved. Dynalyse is dedicated to its task and is continuously developing current and coming products. The organization is small and works as a networking company with great partners in many countries. For almost a year, Dynalyse has been working with SCSFP in North America to combine strength grading with moisture measurements. This cooperation looks very promising for future product developments as well. Key factors for the success of Dynalyse include: a great team and partners, efficient organization, continuous development, instant customer support, expert knowledge, ideas, facing the challenge, planning for the future and excellent customers giving great feedback. dynalyse.se

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FULGHUM INDUSTRIES Fulghum Industries, Inc., a Georgia-based manufacturing company, has recently debuted a new design of its 87 ft. log handling crane. This redesign came in response to the needs of the ever-growing sawmill industry. This particular crane is being utilized at a sawmill in South Carolina. Fulghum Industries has been active in the forest products industry for more than half a decade, engineering and fabricating the equipment needed to handle, debark, chip and process

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400TH all types of hardwood and softwood. To meet the ever surging demands of the lumber industry, the crane was redesigned to be stronger, faster, cleaner and more efficient than its predecessors. This evolution is due, in no small part, to Fulghum’s engineers who outfitted the crane with all electric drives, a more robust frame, and a larger grapple. With electric drives replacing the original hydraulic drives, the crane gains the advantage of faster grapple and swing speeds and alleviates the environmental issues associated with hydraulic drives. The more robust frame and larger grapple means the crane’s gross lifting capacity has increased from 16.25 tons to 20 tons. With the greater maneuverability and upgraded lifting capacity, the crane is capable of quicker truck turnaround times than any other Fulghum 87 ft. crane. The combination of fast truck turnaround and the inherent resilience of Fulghum Industries equipment coupled with proper preventative maintenance means that the crane will be able to function efficiently at 98% uptime. The biofuel and lumber industries are a booming part of the global economy, and Fulghum Industries is available to supply the equipment and expertise needed to excel in such competitive markets. fulghum.com

GILBERT PRODUCTS For more than 25 years, Gilbert has been the market leader in the design and manufacturing of planer mill equipment. From molding applications, to high speed mills, the Gilbert planer is the fastest planer in the world and makes the most beautiful lumber finish. Totally oriented towards innovation, Gilbert’s engineering team has spent a great amount of time on research and development for designing new parts on the machine to make the planer extremely safe for all planer operators. The Gilbert planer requires up to 50% less space than a conventional planer. It uses "Pull Through" technology. The planer runs with a gap between each board. Every board is pulled through independently from the other, no matter the space between each piece. Benefits of this technology include reduced stops in production as well as elimination of offset defects. The Gilbert planer never stops! The Gilbert Automatic Positioning System uses a unique and innovative design—a push of a button opens the machine up and re-sets it to exact position, no re-measuring of boards. It allows for automatic adjustment of four cutterheads, high 40

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accuracy planing, very precise and beautiful lumber, saves time when changing recipes and especially makes the planer a much safer machine. Other important features: Sturdy modular frame. No need for a long bridge—most of the Gilbert planers are installed with a 3 ft. bridge. Very easy maintenance. High speed rates up to 4000 FPM. High productivity (95% and more). Rapid return on investment. Improves production. Keeps planing visible. New safety options have been developed: Automatic jointing of top and bottom heads—the jointing system is motorized and controlled outside the planer room by the Gilbert Automatic Positioning System. Jointer for side heads—joint knives when motor is stopped and locked out, much safer for operator. gilbert-tech.com

HURST BOILER The latest edition in the Hurst biomass boiler series is the Hurst Reciprocating Grate Stoker with automated ash removal. This unit offers the very best of solid fuel combustion allowing mechanical replacement of fuel with the least amount of moving parts. This efficient multi-fuel design is offered in various configurations to utilize a wide selection of solid fuels. All Hurst factory stokers are cast from the highest quality steel alloys and mounted on a robust undercarriage system. It’s capable of burning wood, coal, bark, construction debris, nuts, shells, husks, paper, card/board products, hog fuel, sawdust, shavings, sludge and agricultural biomass. The Hurst BIOMASS-TER features a Co2 neutral release and PLC based total systems monitoring. Hybrid Series: Available in steam or hot water multi-pass dry back design, 100 to 1800 BHP, 15 to 450 PSI steam. N65 Series: Available in steam or hot water firebox design, 100 to 1500 BHP, 15 to 450 PSI steam. S100 Series: Available in steam or hot water firebox design, 100 to 800 BHP, low pressure steam with hot water options. STAG Units (Stand-Alone Gasifier): STAG units are used when heated air is needed instead of steam or hot water. Hurst manufactures units to service oil heaters, rotary dryers, lumber kilns, brick kilns, and the firing and co-firing of boilers. Available with components such as ash systems, material handling, custom blend refractories, combustion air systems and the Hurst BIOMASS-TER combustion monitoring system. The Hurst Biomass product line is available with options including flat grate stokers, underfeed stokers, and traveling grate stokers to meet all biomass system requirements. Energy solutions based on biomass and biofuels provide clean and renewable energy. Green-thinking companies are now using biofuels to mitigate the impact their activities have on the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. This can also generate earnings by saving money on energy costs, and by the sale of carbon credits. Achieve energy independence, and no longer be at the mercy of the oil markets. Hurst Boiler is a leader

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400TH in the development of boiler technology and energy management projects through sustainable solutions for renewable energy and energy efficiency by biomass. Hurst Biomass Boiler Systems can reduce, or even eliminate your energy and disposal costs through the combustion of renewable and sustainable fuel sources, also known as Biomass. hurstboiler.com

JOESCAN Today’s complex and demanding sawmill environments require 3-D scanning that is reliable and easy to use. No one can afford to waste time with complicated and unreliable scanning, which is why more mills are relying on JoeScan scanners. Besides providing accurate and detailed data, JoeScan scanners come with the best guarantees in the industry: a 5-year warranty and 10 years of product support. Since introducing the JS-20 model in 2002, JoeScan has revolutionized how sawmills use scanners. JoeScan pioneered Ethernet communication for scanners, which is now the industry standard, and was first to offer a 5-year warranty. JoeScan led the evolution to higher-density snapshot scanning with 6 in. spacing. The foundation of JoeScan’s products is summed up in four simple terms: simple, fast, accurate and reliable. Every model comes with plug-and-scan Ethernet, built-in toughness that delivers the data even in the roughest application environments, and JoeScan’s unsurpassed package of warranty and product support. As JoeScan has perfected its products, they have also added versatility. They now offer seven different models to fit virtually any scanning need—indoor, outdoor, transverse, or lineal. From logs to lumber, JoeScan provides dependable scanning for bucking, carriages, sharp chains, gangs, edgers, planers and more. Customer input is integral to JoeScan’s product development; they view customers as collaborators. By constantly soliciting feedback and input, JoeScan has learned that customers want mainstream scanning products that are simpler, more reliable, and give more bang for their buck. These standards are reflected in what JoeScan hears from customers about their products, with phrases like “operating consistently every day with little upkeep,” “one of the simplest and easiest I’ve ever used,” and “the kind of company that will help you figure out any question or issue you ever have.” JoeScan can improve your recovery and lower your costs. joescan.com

LINDEN FABRICATING For more than 35 years, Linden has been a leading brand name for North American sawmills, chipping plants, plywood mills, pulp mills, MDF plants, OSB plants and others. Linden-manufactured equipment encompasses everything from 42

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the mill infeed log decks and transfers, to the log unscrambling and singulating equipment and log merchandising equipment leading up to the log breakdown lines—essentially everything required to process a log from the wood yard to lumber breakdown. Linden's patented log merchandising systems, log ladders, quadrant log feeders and step feeders are found in mills across North America and around the world. linfab.com

LUCIDYNE Lucidyne’s primary focus is lumber grading systems. Its flagship product has been its Grade Mark Reader, but now its GradeScan lumber grading system is taking hold after experiencing several successes in mills in North America. Most people in the industry are aware of Lucidyne’s patented lumHuman visibility High resolution ber tracking system True-Q, and Lucidyne’s most recent GradeScan customers have also benefited from its new Warp Tunnel. The increase in business Lucidyne has experienced has finally allowed the company to build from the momentum and grow its staff. Besides adding technicians and fabricators, some of the most recent hires are experts in their field, with Masters and PhD degrees. These personnel have already contributed to the company’s efforts in some critical areas including optimization and sensor technologies. Development of an optimizer to grade Shop lumber is a good example of a significant milestone completed; this is a first for the industry and has the potential to benefit several mills in the West. This optimization adds a very powerful tool to GradeScan’s already sizable capability to grade Dimension, Timbers, Commons, Decking, Patio, plus a variety of species (cedar was the most recent). This past year saw an increase in the resolution in Lucidyne’s GradeScan sensors. This high-resolution improvement shows up as a positive contribution to a mill’s bottom line. GradeScan’s ability to more accurately see the wood surface allows it to now identify Timberbreaks and other tiny cracks, and to better scrutinize the grain of a board. Lucidyne attained the Timberbreak milestone once it was able to also increase its resolution along the length direction of the board. An increased understanding of grain characteristics has resulted in very accurate pith location estimates, plus certification by the ALSC to strength grade lumber. lucidyne.com

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400TH Everyone often asks: “What’s new in kiln drying?” The hot topic in softwood lumber drying is Mahild’s Contraflow lumber dry kilns. Mahild is leading the continuous dry kiln technology movement. Mahild links the known U.S. technology, and updates this with Mahild “know how,” innovation and build quality. The Mahild Contraflow kilns are double track, with each track traveling in opposing directions. They are automatically advanced into the kiln at prescribed push rates via hydraulic rams. The advantages of Mahild Contraflow dry kilns are: a) 30%+ less energy than traditional batch kilns, and greater savings than other continuous kilns b) Very good standard deviation (sd) of moisture content. c) Fully automated systems Red Stag Timber in Rotorua, New Zealand installed the latest generation Mahild Contraflow dry kiln. They are drying structural studs 2 in. x 4 in. (90 mm x 45 mm) out of Radiata pine sapwood, which is approximately 175% moisture content. One Mahild Contraflow dry kiln is drying 48,734MBF (115,000 m3) per annum. Mahild has also retrofitted existing kilns with Mahild’s Contraflow designs, with great success, typically over 50% more production through the same kiln(s) with no extra installed heat energy required. Niagara Sawmilling in Invercargill, New Zealand retrofitted Mahild’s Contraflow technology to its existing kilns. They dry Radiata pine that is sometimes over 200% moisture content. They gained greater than 50% increase in production with less than one week downtime in production of their existing kilns Mahild is based in Germany and has offices worldwide. Mahild only builds lumber dry kilns, and is one of the world’s most innovative lumber dry kiln businesses. mahild.com

big problems for many metal detecting systems. The MDI system is designed to filter out these effects. In today’s world, digital technology plays a major part in modern electronics. The processing power of a digital system greatly enhances performance and achieves powerful results. Software engineering has maximized the abilities of digital technology to specifically accommodate the requirements of most applications. The TWA-2000 Surround Metal Detector System with MP-4 Customizable Digital Technology provides the processing power to achieve higher performance with greater stability and better sensitivity. In addition, the TWA-2000 has advanced digital filtering, reduced product effect, enhanced performance and remote access which allows remote service diagnosis and reprogramming with phone line access. The TWA-2000 Surround is successfully used in numerous applications in various industries. Any product, such as logs, that may have high levels of minerals or moisture with conductive properties will generate a response when passing through the metal detector. MDI applies sophisticated algorithms to classify it, therefore selectively reducing product effect giving the best sensitivity while reducing false tripping. MDI has two flat under conveyor systems. The XR-3000 system is an economical metal detector designed to give consistent protection against tramp metal damage; used generally where load depths are low and the application calls for protection from primarily ferrous metals. The second flat under conveyor system, the MP-2000, features the same customizable MP-4 Microcontroller that is used in the TWA-2000 system. This advanced digital technology has processing power to achieve higher performance with greater stability and better sensitivity. The MP-2000 is used in situations where more sensitivity is needed for ferrous, non-ferrous and Manganese. Both shielded systems are highly resistant to all radio and electrical interference. MDI takes pride in an experienced and well trained Service Department and with more than 7,000 successful installations worldwide has the knowledge, experience and technology to help with any metal contaminate needs that may arise in today’s mill environment. metaldetectorsinc.com

MDI

MICROTEC

MDI stands above the rest as the leader in high performance industrial metal detection. Well designed and supported metal detector systems are a necessary part of the production process. They are there to protect expensive equipment and prevent costly downtime in the event that damaging metal is present. MDI is a proven leader in the industry with nearly 50 years of experience in providing industrial metal detection systems. MDI metal detectors are designed to work in harsh environments, taking in account such things as variable frequency drives, radio interference, and AC noise; all of which can create

GOLDENEYE has a long story to tell. In fact, the first GOLDENEYE system was installed in 1992 at Pichler, a small sawmill in Italy. At that time, it was the first multi-sensory scanner for the dimensional measurement and the determination of the quality of boards. MiCROTEC was able to combine various technologies such as infrared, laser and, and for the first time, X-rays gaining a significant competitive advantage in implementing and controling these technologies. For several years now, MiCROTEC has been developing

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400TH critical sensors, such as its CMOS sensor. The vertical integration in the technology chain allows thorough control over accuracy and speed of measurement. With the new generation GOLDENEYE scanner, MiCROTEC has all the needs of the woodworking industry covered: for hardwood and softwood; green and dry lumber; and up to a transport speed of 4,000 FPM. The new generation scanners were designed from the ground up including: ● Full HD CROMETiC cameras with on-the-chip digital image processing ● A brand new X-ray technology with integrated cooling system to minimize maintenance and increasing efficiency ● 64-bit applications and parallel-computing for stable and real-time optimizations ● A radical redesign and engineering for consolidating the reliability and robustness of the system ● Mobile connected: A mobile app for iOS and Android to access and control the MiCROTEC systems from anywhere, either the office or the airport. GOLDENEYE is also (virtually) part of a radically new approach to process timber-logs: the CT.LOG, a high-speed inline CAT-scanner for timber-logs with a diameter up to 32 in. This breakthrough new technology enables full 3D reconstruction in real-time. In a glimpse of an eye the digital log is virtually broken down in all possible ways grading the final products of each cutting mask. Once the cutting mask with the highest value is identified the timber-logs will be processed that way. Various scientific studies confirm that depending on species and application this breakthrough technology, installed already three times around the world, boosts value up to 20%. microtec.eu

NYLE SYSTEMS Nyle started 36 years ago with an innovative technology to build the best dehumidification kilns in the world. Since then Nyle has evolved into a supplier of quality lumber dryers for every application. Nyle is the world leader for dehumidification units and for good reasons—they are efficient both from a cost-to-purchase and a cost-to-own basis, they do a really great job drying wood, they are easy to run and they last. However, Nyle also builds indirect gas fired kilns that take advantage of today’s low natural gas prices. Nyle builds kiln chambers for conventional kilns and offers made-to-order packages for those who choose to build their own chambers. Nyle offers the latest in kiln controls that help you get better performance out of any brand kiln you may already own. You can control your kiln from your phone and any internet connected device. Bottom line, if you dry lumber, Nyle works hard to be your equipment provider of choice, no matter what kiln works best for you. Major products: ● L-Series and HT-Series dehumidification kilns from the L53, drying 300 BF of pine, to the L1200 drying 300,000 BF of oak. 46

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● VHT dehumidification kilns designed for large installations drying softwoods at high speed. ● Gas fired kilns take advantage of low cost energy and save the cost of purchase and maintenance of a boiler. ● Heat treating and firewood dryers fast, reliable and the most durable and safest in the industry. ● Nyle chambers—the best insulated chambers in the industry, resulting in the lowest operating costs. ● Controls introduced in 2013, the only one that lets you run your kiln from your phone or ipad. When you call on Nyle, you are dealing with people who know lumber drying and have dealt with hundreds of species and systems around the world. No hustle and hassle. Just honest, straightforward information. Call Nyle with your questions and let them show you why they are the world’s number one choice for lumber drying systems. nyle.com

OLESON SAW TECHNOLOGY Oleson Saw Technology (OST), a division of York Saw and Knife, is an acknowledged leader in saws and saw filing room equipment for the forest products industry. York Saw and Knife is the premier expert in machine knife technology and manufacturing since 1906. In addition to being the only U.S. distributor of the most modern line of saw filing equipment available, Iseli of Switzerland, OST utilizes the equipment in the manufacturing of their band saws. The fully automated Iseli line features a benching station, swaging and shaping, sharpening, Stellite tipping, leveling, and side grinding machines. These machines replace what was once done by hand, allowing mills to be more effective as well as creating a better end-product. The machines have a short setup time and allow programs to be saved for efficiency. The programming allows for one person to operate multiple machines simultaneously, instead of only doing one operation at a time. Additionally, the automation of the equipment ensures a consistent, repeated quality of machining. Band saws are now produced with precise and accurate profile every time as human error is virtually eliminated. Mills now have better and increased output due to the advancement of Iseli saw filing machine line. With help from Iseli and their state-of-the-art equipment, the quality of finish and sharpness on Oleson saws are unparalleled in either ready to tip, swaged tooth or Stellite tipped saws. Mills can now purchase Iseli of Switzerland machines for their saw filing rooms directly from Oleson Saw Technology. The complete and comprehensive knowledge that Oleson Saw Technology has in forest industry products allows OST to remain a top choice and single source for customers’ saws and saw filing room supplies. olesonsaw.com

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400TH OSMOSE Osmose has long been a leader in the research and development of new products and services in all areas of lumber preservation technology. With innovative wood preservative products, advanced engineering services, and award winning customized marketing services to its valued customers in over 70 countries worldwide, Osmose offers a complete line of pressure treated lumber products to meet the most demanding needs. Its premier research and development capabilities position Osmose as the global leader in wood preservation solutions. Osmose offers revolutionary ways to pressure treat wood for decks, fences, landscaping and general construction uses with advanced protection against termite damage, rot and fungal decay. In addition, Osmose offers Cleanwood Wood Protection Products to enhance and sustain the appearance of freshly sawn untreated wood products. Protecting against mold and sapstain by helping preserve the appearance and value of freshly sawn lumber products, Osmose offers: Prosan 18 (for Spray Application) • Broad-spectrum fungicide for wood protection. • Controls sapstain and mold on freshly sawn softwood lumber, logs, poles, posts and timbers. • Applied by spray application. • Synergistic combination of propiconazole and quaternary amine active ingredients. Busan 1009 (for Dip Application) • Controls of fungi and iron tannate stain. • Controls sapstain and mold on freshly sawn softwood lumber, logs, poles, posts and timbers. • Applied by dip application. • Combination of MBT and TCMTB fungicide active ingredients. The Osmose commitment to the environment is unmatched, with the most third-party environmentally certified products available in the industry. Osmose is proud of its nearly 80-year long history and success as the world’s largest manufacturer of wood preservatives and products for the pressure treatment industry. osmosewood.com

PIERCE CONSTRUCTION Pierce Construction and Maintenance continues the family tradition started by Mr. Willie Pierce in 1974. 2013 saw expansion and innovation becoming the new watch words. Pierce Construction experienced growth in its product lines as well as services. Once known as an installation company, Pierce now covers the full spectrum of services to the forest products industry. Equipment manufacturing has been exceeding the construction division for the last several years. Pierce Construction continues to enlarge its manufacturing 48

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facilities and adding new CNC equipment. It is now possible for a complete system to be engineered and sent directly to the various cutting and turning centers without the need of hard prints helping to eliminate human error, thereby assuring better quality. This past year saw Pierce Construction enter into the area of total mill design, by way of engineering, manufacturing and project management. While Pierce is not an engineering company, it does have the capability to offer these services to the small to medium mills that may not be able to avail themselves of the large engineering companies. Mr. Pierce has set a very high bar with regard to quality control, rugged construction, on time delivery, and installation. Each division is managed by one of Mr. Pierce’s sons, ensuring the true family touch in all they do. Pierce Construction offers true turnkey options from a single piece of equipment to a total mill. With years of experience in both the hardwood and softwood markets, problem solving is one of Pierce Construction’s strong suits. As a member of ISNetWorld, Pierce Construction brings a proven financial strength and safety record to meet the most strident standards in the industry. Pierce Construction sees 2014 as another growth year and looks forward to serving not only its established customer base, but its new friends and customers. piercepcm.com

SALEM EQUIPMENT For 68 years, Salem Equipment has supplied a wide range of rugged and dependable products for the sawmill industry, including: vertical and tilted bandmills and resaws in single, twin or quad configuration; horizontal band resaws in single or twin band; standard and tilted carriages; AC electric regenerative carriage drives; sharp chain infeeds; log turners; canter/slabbers; rosserhead and ring debarkers; bucking saws; gang edgers and board edgers with transverse or lineal scanning; trimmers; stackers; bark hogs; bark scalping screens; belt and chain conveyors; lumber handling equipment; and full service Salem parts. Rebuilds of used and fire damaged equipment is also offered. salemequipment.com

SIMONDS INTERNATIONAL Simonds International Corp. announces another innovation in filing room productivity. The new model 090 Automated Bench improves filing room productivity for band saw mills.

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400TH The 090 AB incorporates many features that improve filers productivity and saw consistency. Model 090 AB incorporates a touch screen control panel that allows the filer to perform leveling and tensioning tasks faster. The 090 has a unique “Learn” mode feature that allows the filer to load a “Best Practice” saw and when instructed, the machine will scan the saw and record all the measurements in memory. Using the memory function, the filer can recall a stored saw and duplicate the specifications from the stored saw on all saws in the future. The machine has the capacity to store up to 999 different saws. The machine performs all scanning via a contact sensor that has been proven to be more accurate than a tested optical laser measurement device. The measurements made via the sensor are fed into the computer, the machine performs all calculations, adds the appropriate back, tension and tire line to the band. Following on the groundbreaking success of the original Simonds Automated Bench, the new 090 AB simultaneously levels and tensions the saw while measuring to .0004 in. across the entire area of the saw—length and width. The touch screen is large and can be operated even while wearing gloves. “The Learn Mode on the Simonds 090 AB allows the filer to load a properly leveled and tensioned saw on the AB and the machine will measure, document and ‘learn’ the bench work specifications such that it can be stored and reused on subsequent runs. The filer can duplicate the specifications on all saws by simply recalling the program stored in memory,” says Ray Eluskie, Product Manager of Simonds International Corp. Simonds was founded in 1832 and is a leading supplier of cutting solutions for the North American wood industry. Simonds has manufacturing plants in Fitchburg, Mass.; Big Rapids, Mich.; Camden, Ala. and Portland, Ore. and distribution centers in Langley, BC; Granby, QC and Louisville, KY. simondsint.com

USNR USNR's Transverse High Grader (THG) recently made its debut grading green Douglas fir at a dimension mill in Oregon. Though green Douglas fir is a challenging species for automated grading, the mill has successfully passed three grade inspections. This new grading line is meeting or exceeding mill targets for consistent grade out, as well as improving throughput, and the mill's fortunes. Combining proven geometric and vision-based scanning into a transverse package, THG offers the industry high value and recovery performance. The THG was designed as an alter50

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native for mills where lineal grading is not an option. USNR’s THG provides accurate measurement of bow, crook, twist, skip and wane, plus detection and classification of knots, pith, stains, decay, bark pockets, splits, shakes and worm holes. THG utilizes the industry’s newest sensor, BioLuma 2900LVT, designed specifically for transverse grade scanning applications. With a pending installation in the heart of the Southern U.S., THG is poised to make automated grading the next “must have” technology for modern grading operations. ● USNR’s Grade Projector keeps freshly planed lumber mark-free. USNR’s Grade Projector system is an innovative way to display lumber grades on boards. The system uses a projector mounted above the flow to project the grade determined by the optimizer directly onto each board, and tracks that projection with the board as it passes by a check grader. Boards are not marked in any way, so your freshly planed lumber remains clean and bright. Projected symbols are customizable, so you can create symbols your facility is used to using. All saw lines including near end, far end and cut-in-2 are projected onto the material in their respective locations making it easy to see trim decisions. Multiple grades can be projected onto boards for multi-grade cut-in-2 decisions. ● Control your kiln from anywhere on the mill site. USNR’s MyMill system is catching on as a time and money saving solution for streamlining mill operations. Mobile machine control offers all the functionality typically available through a stationary HMI screen, at a fraction of the cost. With 12 systems sold, MyMill is proving that mobile control technology is no longer a wave of the future, it’s the new way to work. Building on the success USNR achieved with the MyMill system for mobile lumber sorter control, USNR has expanded the system to include dry kiln applications. All of the functionality that is available with USNR’s Kiln Boss control system can now be accessed via iPads/iPods from anywhere on the mill site within range of your in-plant wireless network. MyMill works seamlessly through direct communication with your PLC control system. Response is immediate and accurate. coemfg.com.

VOLLMER “Travelling in Western Canada recently confirmed a trend that I was already aware of in the U.S.,” comments Mike Cubbon, division managersawmill, Vollmer of America. “As mills add shifts many are experiencing skilled labor shortages. The average age of filing crews is creeping up each year, many are in their early 60’s and nearing retirement and we are not seeing anywhere enough young people entering the filing trades to replace them. This threatens to come to a head right around the time the industry is forecasting peak demand for lumber in this upward cycle (2015-16).” ➤ 52

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400TH Cubbon notes that forward-thinking mill managers 50 ➤ are now taking an urgent look at how automation in the filing room can help minimize the situation. When considering automation in the filing room the spectrum is quite broad, the new generation of tippers (both carbide and Stellite) and the latest high-end grinders all operate without the need of a dedicated operator standing next to the machine. Once set up no attention is necessary until the saw(s) is finished. The advent of circle saw levelers and band saw levelers have meant that relatively inexperienced operators can be utilized. “This is particularly true when we look at the latest fully automatic band saw benches,” Cubbon says. “These machines level, tension and adjust the back without human intervention once the process has been instigated, again opening the opportunity to utilize semi-skilled operators.” Cubbon also says robotic systems for sharpening circular saws are winning acceptance in many mills where saws can be processed in a fully automatic cycle. “Vollmer is not advocating the replacement of skilled filing room personnel with semi-skilled workers; that would be a foolhardy move on the part of mill management,” Cubbon says. “However, automation has the potential to alleviate skilled labor shortages that would otherwise threaten an operation. Where skilled personnel are still available, automation allows them to concentrate on other equally important tasks that they otherwise may not have time to address. “As an industry we are finally witnessing mill management remembering that without a well-designed and accurately prepared saw, the rest of the mill is just about as useful as a truck without wheels,” Cubbon concludes. vollmer-us.com

WAGNER METERS

grade by sorting your lumber into groups that dry more uniformly. The LDS200 uses a non-contact method proven to accurately sort lumber at the sawmill, using a driability parameter based on a proven total density approach. MC4000 In-Kiln Moisture Measurement System allows you to make a better-informed decision. The MC4000 is the latest in Wagner’s revolutionary in-kiln moisture measurement system concepts. The MC4000 measures up to eight separate zones to give you the information you need. It functions well in kiln environments up to 300°F and offers an open architecture design, which allows integration with common kiln control systems. Add the data from your Omega System, and you can take full control of your moisture QC. Omega In-Line Moisture Measurement System is your most important moisture data collection and analysis tool. Pre-planer or post-planer, sideways or end-to-end, the benefits are the same when you use the Wagner Omega System to detect and monitor QC issues: minimized moisture-related degrade that will improve both grade recovery and the bottom line. Wagner Hand-Held Moisture Meters make it possible to scan even large boards from end to end in seconds, using the rugged L-600 Series of hand-held moisture meters. These meters are designed for the demanding environment of the sawmill or wood products manufacturing plant. Reach deep into stickered units of lumber with Wagner’s L-722 Stack Probe and take accurate moisture readings without the danger of broken pins. Wagner offers world-class support and permanent access to its U.S.-based customer support staff. “We don’t wait for you to call us – our proactive Customer Care Call Program means that we take the initiative to help you resolve issues before they become problems. When you need us, we’re there.” Wagner Meters’ entire line of moisture measurement and management products is designed, manufactured and supported in the United States. wagnermeters.com

WILLIAMS & WHITE

Wagner Meters is the respected world leader in moisture meter and moisture management solutions. Leading softwood and hardwood mills, as well as secondary wood product manufacturers, have relied on Wagner Meters’ moisture measurement and analysis solutions for more than 45 years. Improve your grade recovery, along with your bottom line, when you use Wagner’s (Omega In-Line and MC4000 In-Kiln) moisture measurement systems, hand-held moisture meters and sawmill sorting systems to lessen drying-related degrade. Wagner leads the forest products industry in innovation. Its decades of research have resulted in a number of leading-edge patents, which means you get the very latest in moisture measurement technology. Add over 60 years of combined experience in moisture measurement systems, moisture data analysis and technology to your team when you partner with Wagner. Its engineering and technical staffs are committed to your success. The LDS200 Green Sort Lumber System has been proven to help mills substantially decrease lumber drying times, tighten up final moisture content variability, and increase lumber 52

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2013 was a phenomenal year for Williams & White Equipment as the recovery of the U.S. housing market and high demand from China fueled the North American wood products industry. For nearly 50 years Williams & White Equipment has been renowned for making the most durable and reliable machinery in the filing room. In the past decade, it has solidified itself as the best saw guide manufacturer in the world, and more recently as the go-to for used equipment. Williams & White Equipment manufactures its saw guides in-house from start to finish, allowing them to provide the most cost effective guides in the industry. With both steel and aluminum models available, Williams & White is able to create an accurate saw guide fit for all customers’ needs. Standard Williams & White saw guides are manufactured to .0005 in. tolerance, allowing for increased lumber recovery for

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400TH all customers—and as you’re likely aware, increased lumber recovery equals increased profit. Last summer Williams & White Equipment had the opportunity to help Hampton Lumber by supplying new saw guides to one of their lines. “Our mill purchased new platinum series saw guides from Williams & White and instantly noticed a .020 in. increase in lumber recovery,” says Marty Reece, Head Filer of the Hampton Lumber Darrington Div. The Darrington Div. saw a payback period of two months on the purchase and total savings of $136,000 in the first year. Williams & White’s platinum series guides offer a .00025 in. tolerance, ensuring maximum returns and peace of mind. Providing accurate and affordable saw guides is not the only way Williams & White Equipment helps filing rooms maximize performance. Williams & White stretcher roll machines are found in thousands of filing rooms and saw shops worldwide, using the patented Dish-O-Matic system to tension and repair circular saws. Williams & White has also made significant investments in product development in recent years and is in the final stages of a new technology which will revolutionize saw grinding. Visit Williams & White at one of the many trade shows and events slotted for 2014. Williams & White can be found at any of the regional North American filing events, as well as GrindTec 2014 (March 19-22 in Augsburg, Germany), Expo Richmond (May 16-17 in Richmond, Va.), IWF Atlanta (August 20-23 in Atlanta, Ga.) and the Timber Processing & Energy Expo (October 15-17 in Portland, Ore.).

If you’re one of many interested in purchasing used equipment for your filing room, Williams & White Equipment is the place for you. williamsandwhiteequipment.com

CEMAR ELECTRO Cemar Electro Inc. has been at the forefront of industrial laser technology for more than 30 years. Cemar revolutionized laser technology with the introduction of the linear lens and direct diode solid state lasers. Cemar Electro’s mission is to continue improving its products and to develop new products designed to increase efficiency in all applications. The CL-800 series red lasers offer a reliable solution to any industrial laser requirement, with many years of service and proven reliability. The new Green lasers offer a brighter laser many times as bright as the red and Cemar is constantly improving the temperature range and longevity. Cemar now offers the most powerful industrial line laser on the market, the GL-830 (30mw) and GL850 (50mw). For smaller applications the company also has an economic range of lower powered lasers to fit most budgets. Apart from the clear advantage in technology, what separates Cemar from the herd is service, top notch, reliable and quick. “We are unmatched when it comes to taking care of our customer, both for repairs and customer service,” the company states. “Normal turnaround on a repair is 48 hours and everything we make or repair has a full no nonsense twoyear warranty.” cemarelectro.com

Comact Streamlines Into Southern Office Comact, a subsidiary of the BID Group of Companies, is relocating its Southern U.S. office from Hot Springs, Ark. to the company’s new facilities in St. George, SC. The move takes effect on February 24 and allows Comact to remain a leader in its field by concentrating its activities in St. George and thereby streamlining its operations, the company states. “Doing so will contribute to improving lead-time and delivery of its products while maintaining the professionalism the company is renowned for.” Comact’s mobile team, which was based in Hot Springs, will remain part of the company and continue to serve clients in the area. Rick Noffsinger, who has 18 years of experience in the sawmill business and in customer service, joins the team at the St. George plant. “We are thrilled about this new development,” says Eric Michaud, Senior Vice-President at Comact USA. “This move is an important part of our long-term, strategic planning and is bound to strengthen our presence in the Southern USA.” 54

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NEWSFEED 10 ➤ Crown Counsel determined that the defense of due diligence would reasonably be open to Babine. WorkSafeBC advanced a number of theories for the ignition, fire and explosions, mostly related to combustible dust. In accordance with its practice at the time, WSBC’s approach in this case was to collect the evidence, then make a decision on how best to proceed, including a determination on whether to forward a report to the CJB for charge assessment and possible prosecution. Within the specific context of the Babine investigation, this approach had significant implications for the legal admissibility of evidence gathered by WSBC. WSBC’s examination of the fire site, and the related inquiries, were all conducted as a safety-compliance inspection rather than as an investigation

into possible criminal or regulatory enforcement. Thus, for example, WSBC did not obtain a search warrant authorizing search and seizure at the Babine site, even after its officers formed reasonable grounds to believe Babine had violated the WCA and OHSR. Similarly, when officers interviewed the president of Babine, they did not provide him with any Charter of Rights warning or caution, according to Criminal Justice Branch. While suitable for the purposes of a safety compliance inspection, this approach did not adequately take into account the legal requirements for the collection of evidence that apply when it is understood that the evidence gathered by an agency may subsequently be used for the purposes of prosecution. Failing to comply with these requirements can result in evidence

not being admissible in a prosecution. Crown Counsel concluded that a trial court would likely rule as inadmissible significant evidence that was collected by WSBC after the matter had evolved from being an inspection to an investigation. Criminal Justice Branch also noted that in seeking to establish due diligence, Babine could be expected to rely on evidence that WSBC performed its own testing of dust levels at the sawmill in the fall of 2011, and dust levels at that time were not reported by WSBC to be at a level to create a risk of explosion. Meanwhile, Hampton Affiliates and the Burns Lake Native Development Corp. have been rebuilding the sawmill, which is nearing startup. Machinery is in place. Primary electrical commissioning for the large log line and board

edger were completed in December. The primary machinery vendor is on site doing lineup, mechanical checks and electrical commissioning. Babine’s log scales have been open for log deliveries and received close to 250 loads of logs in December. The log yard crews continue to learn how to operate the new materials handler and how to deck short logs in the yard. More maintenance and production employees returned to work at Babine. The Babine office began the process of calling laid off employees for placement at their new positions and asking for verification of returning to work at Babine. Some employees have decided to retire and some are not returning to Babine, but overall a high percentage of employees are returning to work at the reTP built mill.

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COMACT USA OPEN FOR BUSINESS By Jessica Johnson ST. GEORGE, SC. n November 15, 2013, Comact USA officially opened its manufacturing facility with a grand opening and ribbon cutting. The event featured many elected officials from South Carolina, as well as 15 people from Comact’s parent company, the BID Group of Companies, who came down from British Columbia and 20 people from Comact’s headquarters in Québec. Festivities began in the late morning with speeches from Dorchester County Council Chair Bill Hearn, Ted Campbell with the South Carolina Dept. of Commerce and St. George Mayor Anne Johnston. Campbell’s speech resonated with the 300 gathered as he recounted a story from this past Ligna, meeting Comact CEO Brian Fehr over dinner. Campbell explained, “He barely ate because he was talking so much!” The burly but approachable Fehr, seated just to the left of the podium, let out a big laugh. Campbell’s short speech wrapped up by reading an e-mail sent to him from the BID Group about a possible move to the Southern U.S. for Comact and what Comact was looking for: a place with a favorable business climate, where a manufacturing facility would be providing a needed economic boost. “We truly believe in contributing to the communities in which we operate,” the e-mail concluded. Campbell presented Fehr with South Carolina’s state flag, asking for it to be flown above the facility. It was clear, as Mayor Johnston spoke following Campbell, that Comact was a much-needed economic boost to the area. She called Comact USA the “town’s silver lining, the dawn after the storm.” Fehr rose and greeted the audience with his booming voice and pleasant disposition. He addressed everyone in a much less formal tone than the Americans. He affably opened with, “I heard someone call for hands raised for politicians, let’s see hands raised for customers!” This day wasn’t about Fehr or Comact per se but it was about serving the customers and helping support the economy. At the grand opening, Comact USA employed 27 with the promise from Fehr to double that in a short period of time. Flanked by politicians and members of

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Flanked by South Carolinians Comact CEO Brian Fehr cut the ribbon in front of the new facility.

This Wave Feeder, sold to Brewton, Ala. mill T.R. Miller, was the first produced in South Carolina.

Fehr

Fehr promised to bring even more jobs to the fledgling city of St. George.

the Comact USA team, Fehr cut the ribbon and welcomed everyone to a traditional low country lunch. Following lunch, everyone was encouraged to tour the facility. Comact had an assortment of products on display, including the Wave Feeder, which is produced at the St. TP George, SC facility.

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MACHINERYROW 34 ➤ chase offer from Alamo Group Inc. The company also stated that it will continue to explore options for a potential sale. Alamo Group reported that the proposed acquisition, which was announced on November 19, had been terminated; that the transaction was subject to certain conditions and that the parties “had been unable to reach an agreement on a basis for going forward.” Bandit Industries President Jerry Morey comments, “Alamo is an excep-

tional company and we are very honored that they’ve shown such an interest in Bandit and our corporate culture. Ultimately, we decided the best future for Bandit and our 400 employees at this time was to remain a private company.” Bandit Industries reports that 2013 was a record sales year. The company recently completed a factory expansion of 20,000 square feet, with additional expansions already in the works. “When we first announced that we were

considering offers to sell Bandit, myself, Mike Morey Sr. and Dianne Morey said that we would only sell if it was the right fit,” Morey says. “Taking care of our employees and our dealer network, continuing to support our mid-Michigan community and maintaining the Bandit legacy we built over the last 30 years, these are things we cannot put a price on.” Bandit employs 408 at its mid-Michigan headquarters, constructing nearly 50 different wood processing machines that range from small wood chippers to large wood waste recyclers, stump grinders and forestry mowers. Bandit equipment is sold through a global dealer network with more than 160 locations. Alamo Group is a leader in the design and manufacture of equipment for rightof-way maintenance and agriculture, including truck and tractor mounted mowers, street sweepers, excavators and other products.

HewSaw Machine Makes Long Trip As is tradition at the HewSaw factory in Mäntyharju, Finland, cake was served to the staff in late September to celebrate the departure of another HewSaw machine. This time, it was one of the company’s flagship SL250 3.4 lines, which was heading to Lewiston, Idaho for a major upgrade to one of Idaho Forest Group’s five sawmills. With an array of tests successfully completed and many of the major components

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MACHINERYROW carefully wrapped in heavy duty plastic, the final shipment of the Idaho line was secured for the journey. In total, this latest shipment included seven flat racks and seven containers, which all went by truck from the factory to Kotka Harbour in Southern Finland, where they were loaded onto a ship for the journey to Hamburg, Germany. In Hamburg, the shipment was transferred to an ocean going vessel for a 12 day journey across the Atlantic Ocean, landing in New York on the East Coast. Next was a trip through America’s heartland by rail for the containers and road for the flat racks before the final delivery to the mill, which is in northern Idaho. The first order of business is placing the components on the sub structure and concrete foundations that have been prepared by the mill. The components must be positioned in exactly the right place to ensure correct alignment of the sawline, both horizontally and vertically. Special leveling tools are used by HewSaw’s technical staff to make sure this critical step is completed correctly. Once the line is placed, the new building erection will be completed and then the HewSaw team will start connecting the many components. Although some of the electrical work and plumbing had been done at the factory, the HewSaw line has to be connected to locally supplied hydraulic power units (HPUs), machine control centers (MCCs), dust extraction systems, chip and waste conveyors, power sources and many other systems. To get the job done, HewSaw uses a combination of local technicians from its North American office and technicians from the factory in Finland. Marko Järvinen from Finland heads the installation team with Tyler Levy from the HewSaw North America office in Abbotsford, BC, Canada taking care of much of the local coordination and project management. Both Marko and Tyler have extensive experience working on SL250 sawlines in other countries, including Scotland, Finland and Australia. The new HewSaw line, which is expected to be operational in late spring, will be showcased in a brand new building that will feature abundant natural light and wood accents. Logs will be fed into the new line from a new bucking and sorting system in the log yard, while new log decks and debarkers will also be featured in the project. Located on the banks of the Clearwater River, the mill was originally built in the early 1920s and was part of a pulp

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MACHINERYROW and tissue mill. The existing sawmill and planer mill facility, which currently has an annual capacity of 210MMBF (500,000 m3), was last upgraded in the late 1980s, while new dry kilns were installed in 2005. The new HewSaw line includes four processing units, including a cross saw, a HewSaw Login Log Positioning System, two sets of separating conveyors for sideboard extraction, and scanning and optimization technology from Canadian supplier MPM Engineering Ltd. Other significant features of the line include HewSaw’s telescopic saws for increased flexibility in sawing patterns, walk-in access to the chipper canter and dual openings on the cant saw and ripsaw with slide-out sawing units for easier

saw changes and maintenance. HewSaw’s new maintenance walkways on the line will provide safer and easier upper machine access. The project in Idaho will mark the first time a HewSaw SL line is installed in North America. More than 70 HewSaws have been sold in the U.S. and Canada, but up until now they had all been the smaller single pass “R” Series machines. Idaho Forest Group is based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The company operates five sawmills in Idaho, including the Lewiston mill. Idaho Forest Group was formed in 2008 when Riley Creek Lumber and Bennett Forest Industries merged. (This is an excerpt of an article that appeared in the HewSaw Newsletter.)

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ATLARGE

Personnel Movement For Vermont Wood Pellet Vermont Wood Pellet Co., North Clarendon, Vt., announced that Chris Brooks, co-founder and CEO, is stepping into the dual role of CEO and President. Chris’s co-founder, Katie Ewald Adams, is moving into a more strategic role as Chief Marketing Officer. Adams will remain active in promot-

ing the VWP brand as it continues to expand, both in her role within the burgeoning wood pellet industry as well as the voice and spirit that have contributed to VWP producing the “Best Softwood Pellet of the Year,” as reviewed by WoodPelletReviews.com. This award has been given to VWP four years in a row. Over the last few years, U.S. and Canadian pellet mills have produced a

total of 230 different brand names for sale to home and commercial users. When VWP prepared to open Vermont’s first wood pellet manufacturing facility in the spring of 2009, the two partners set a goal of 10,000 tons of wood pellets a year. Now in their fourth year of operation, they have almost doubled that ambitious goal and are exploring the construction of a second mill, as they strive to keep up with the demand for VWP’s super-premium pellets, known for their famously low ash, low moisture content and high heat output. Adams, while stepping away from the day-to-day operations, will be responsible for overseeing the brand development that will ensure the established brand’s consistency and availability. Visit vermontwoodpellet.com.

EPA Hosts Meeting On SPI Expansion Environmental Protection Agency held a public meeting in Anderson, Calif. about the proposed addition to Sierra Pacific Industries’ 4 MW cogeneration plant on the site. Following the proposed $43 million expansion the mill would consume about 7 MW and 24 MW would be sold. Sierra Pacific hopes to complete the addition in 2015. SPI principal Red Emmerson was quoted in the local paper on the project, which was first proposed in 2009: “This delay has been ridiculous. We’ve already spent $1 million trying to get this facility permitted. It has probably cost Shasta County between $300,000 and $350,000 each year in taxes that we would have paid had we been allowed to built it and operate it, so that is $1 million in taxes that these delays have cost the county. And that isn’t even counting the additional jobs it would have created.”

Sawdust And Splinters Scheduled For November Once again Saw-Axe-Spur Production Co., Inc. is bringing world class sportsmanship and entertainment to the area with the 2nd Annual Sawdust and Splinters event to be held November 7-8 at the Shirard Gray Estates, in Magnolia, Miss. World champion lumberjacks and pole climbers are scheduled to compete. Also participating will be champion chain saw carvers. Each year the event is being expanded to add new and different dimensions. Truly a family affair, ➤ 67 64

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Call Toll-Free: 1-800-669-5613

EMPLOYMENTOPPORTUNITIES Specializing in confidential career opportunities in the Forest Products industry

Executive – Managerial – Technical - Sales

Management Recruiters of Houston Northeast

2200

Recruiting Services

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

JOHN GANDEE

gcopeland@mrihouston.com • www.mrihouston.com

& ASSOCIATES, INC Contingency or Retainer

Michael Strickland & Associates, LLC Executive Recruiters Wood Products/Building Materials Industries Mike Strickland mike@woodproductjobs.com 601-529-2157 • www.woodproductjobs.com Fees paid by employer

Top Wood Jobs

SEARCH NORTH AMERICA, INC. IT'S YOUR MOVE...

FOREST PRODUCTS RECRUITING SINCE 1978

“Your Success Is Our Business”

The Jobs You Want — The People You Need

Serving the Wood Products and Building Materials Industries For more than 21 years.

CONTACT CARL JANSEN AT 541-593-2777 OR Carlj@SearchNA.com

Recruiting and Staffing George Meek

1615

Depending on Circumstances / Needs

8187

geo@TopWoodJobs.com www.TopWoodJobs.com (541) 954-8456

WWW.SEARCHNA.COM

3779

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

3220

LUMBERWORKS ■ LUMBERWORKS GREENWOOD KILN STICKS Importers and Distributors of Tropical Hardwood Kiln Sticks GW Industries www.gwi.us.com

Dennis Krueger 866-771-5040

Jackie Paolo 866-504-9095

d.krueger11@frontier.net

jackie@gwi.us.com

127

“The lowest cost per cycle”

NEWNES SCANNER?

Newnes, Trimmer, Edger & Gang Scanner Replacement Parts—Guaranteed To Work 4824

Visit us online: www.timberprocessing.com 66

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Part #'s 80APVR2A 80ALPS2A 80APVT2A SPS2C-04

qty. 72 .............$100 qty. 97 .............$100 qty. 84 .............$100 qty. 132 ...........$250

deals@surpluscowboy.com

530-378-8301 6348

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9237

1248

PROFESSIONALSERVICES

WORN OR MISALIGNED CARRIAGE RAILS? A Proven Process

• Rails straightened & ground in-place at a fraction of the cost of rail replacement • No down time for the mill • Restores carriage rails to optimum sawing efﬁciency •Precision Laser Alignment • Machining and Grinding • Carriage and Bandmill Alignment 489

ATLARGE 64 ➤ in addition to the competition, attendees will find various games and activities for kids and adults, a variety of food vendors, music, entertainment and vendors showcasing their unique arts, crafts and handmade items. Last year’s event attracted close to 3,000 spectators. “Based on the feedback we are receiving, we anticipate our attendance to more than triple last year’s event. We are already receiving inquiries for tickets, and we expect another successful turnout this year,” the event organizer comments. There are several different packages for advertising which are detailed in the attachment. These packages are designed to suit any size business and maximum advertising visibility for your company. Contact 601-876-9635 or e-mail contact@sdsfest.com.

Logging Cost Indexes Are In The Works In a project funded by the Wood Supply Research Institute (WSRI), researchers at the University of Georgia

are endeavoring to validate what they describe as the UGA Logging Cost Index, built on accumulated data provided by logging companies in the South. At the same time, they are collaborating with researchers at the University of Montana to lay the groundwork for a Logging Cost Index covering the western U.S. Timber Harvesting & Wood Fiber Operations is partnering with the universities in these efforts. The University of Georgia in late 2012 began reporting a quarterly Logging Cost Index through Timber-Mart South, a regional timber market resource updated quarterly. Based on data aggregated from actual operating cost information voluntarily submitted by southern-based logging companies, the index tracks cutand-load costs over time. This more time sensitive and more useful quarterly index replaces Mississippi State University’s (MSU) annual logging cost index, which dated back to 1995 and included data reported through 2006. The UGA team calculated its quarterly index backward in time and compared results with those of the previous MSU annual index. The two

tracked very closely over time, but more work is called for. “Since that annual index was not reported after 2006, we did not have recent cost data against which to compare our index values,” states UGA’s Dr. Dale Greene. “We collected cost records from participating logging contractors only for calendar year 2011 to establish the appropriate breakdown of logging costs into major cost categories. We now need to ensure that the changes reported quarterly by the UGA Logging Cost Index through 2013 are equivalent to the actual changes incurred by logging contractors.” Greene also indicates the most recent logging business sample from the South may not be as representative on a production-weighted basis, pointing out that researchers intentionally solicited participation from larger, higher production companies to generate the initial index. While validating the southern data, WSRI would like to expand the methodology to other regions, beginning with the West, and perhaps eventually to the Lake States and Northeast, according to Greene.

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WOOD PRODUCTS marketplace ■ Kentucky

NORTH AMERICA ■ United States

HAROLD WHITE LUMBER, INC. MANUFACTURER OF FINE APPALACHIAN HARDWOODS

Buyers & Wholesalers We produce quality 4/4 - 8/4 Appalachian hardwoods

(606) 784-7573 • Fax: (606) 784-2624

■ Florida

Ray White

• Red Oak, White Oak, Poplar •

Domestic & Export Sales

CRACKER SAWMILL CYPRESS AND SYP Sawmill, Drying and MillIng facility Custom Cut to Order Lumber, Cants, Specialty Beams to 44’ We will Mill Log Home logs S4S 6”x6” thru 8”x12” T&G Your wood or ours WE DO WHAT OTHERS CANNOT 20253 N.E. 20th Street Williston, Fl 32690 www.Crackersawmill.com Info@Crackersawmill.com

Green Lumber: Air Dried, Kiln Dried Timbers & Crossties

rwhite@haroldwhitelumber.com

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

■ Minnesota

(352) 529-2070 ■ Georgia Beasley Forest Products, Inc.

• 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

Do you produce or buy lumber? Here's your #1 source for effectively promoting your hardwood or softwood service to your top prospective buyers.

P.O. Box 788 Hazlehurst, GA 31539 beasleyforestproducts.com Manufactures Kiln-Dried 4/4 Red and White Oak, Poplar, Ash and Cypress Contact: Linwood Truitt Phone (912) 253-9000 / Fax: (912) 375-9541 linwood.truitt@beasleyforestproducts.com

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

■ Indiana

Next closing: July 7, 2014

■ North Carolina Cook Brothers Lumber Co., Inc.

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

WANT TO GET YOUR AD IN OUR NEXT MARKETPLACE? Call or email Susan Windham 334/834-1170 susan@hattonbrown.com by July 7, 2014

NATIONAL HARDWOOD LUMBER ASSOCIATION

02/14

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wood products marketplace ■ Pennsylvania

■ Tennessee

MERIDIEN HARDWOODS OF PA, INC.

P.O. Box 227 ● Pittsfield, PA 16340 www.meridienpa.com Export and Yard Quality Hardwood Green, KD, S2S, SLR Custom Walnut Steaming Available

Ph: 800-780-3187 Fax: 800-292-5773 Dan Ferman – meridien@penn.com Brandon Ferman – brandonferman@hotmail.com Rob Allard – 802-380-4694; rallard@hughes.net Mike Songer – 814-486-1711; mjs@zitomedia.net

■ Virginia

STACKING STICKS

Producing Quality Southern Yellow Pine Since 1939

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

P.O. BOX 25 • 628 Jeb Stuart Highway Red Oak, VA 23964 Tel: 434-735-8151 • Fax: 434-735-8152 E-mail Sales: john@morganlumber.com Website: www.morganlumber.com Product Mix: ALL KD, HT STAMPED 1x4 D&BETTER, 1x6 D&BETTER, 1x4 #2, 1x6 #2, 1x4 #3/#4, 1x6 #3/#4, 5/4x4 PREMIUM, 5/4x4 STANDARD, 5/4x4 #2/#3/#4, 5/4x6 PREMIUM, 5/4x6 STANDARD, 5/4x6 #2/#3/#4, 6x6 #2&BETTER, 6x6 #3/#4

Do you produce or buy lumber? Here's your #1 source for effectively promoting your hardwood or softwood service to your top prospective buyers.

WANT TO GET YOUR AD IN OUR NEXT MARKETPLACE? Call or email Susan Windham • 334/834-1170 or email: susan@hattonbrown.com before July 7, 2014 02/14

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MAINEVENTS 26-March 2—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers annual meeting, Boca Raton Resort Club, Boca Raton, Fla. Call 336885-8315; visit appalachianwood.org.

MARCH

2-4—Western Wood Products Assn. annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Portland, Ore. Call 503-224-3930; visit wwpa.org. 5-7—IWPA's World of Wood Convention, Renaissance Vinoy, St. Petersburg, Fla. Call 703-820-6696; visit iwpawood.org. 12-14—Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. annual meeting, The Hyatt Regecy, Savannah, Ga. Call 412-244-0440; visit hmamembers.org. 18-19—Bioenergy Fuels & Products Conference & Expo, Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 334-834-1170; e-mail dianne@hattonbrown.com; visit bioenergyshow.com.

Visit us online at timberprocessing.com

Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

●

▲

1-4—National Wooden Pallet & Container Assn. annual meeting, Marriott Harbor Beach Ft. Lauderdale Resort & Spa, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Call 703-519-6104; visit palletcentral.com.

20-21—Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE), Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 800-669-5613; visit pelice-expo.com.

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▲

FEBRUARY

Easy access to current advertisers! www.timberprocessing.com/adindex.html Don’t forget to bookmark this link!

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

PG.NO.

Advanced Sawmill Machinery 71 Ametek 29 Andritz Iggesund Tools 2 Brookhuis America 60 Capital City Sharpening 62 Cat Forest Products 21 Cemar Electro 60 Claussen All-Mark International 35 Comact Equipment 56 Cone Omega 22 Corley Manufacturing 8 Cut Technologies 3 Dynalyse 51 East Coast Sawmill Expo 16 Esterer WD Gmbh 59 Fulghum Industries 51 Gilbert Products 39 Heinola Sawmill Machinery 63 Holtec USA 72 Hurst Boiler & Welding 32 JoeScan 61 Les Drev Mash 2014 65 Linck 55 Linden Fabricating 57 Lucidyne Technologies 27 Mahild Drying Technologies 57 Mebor 53 Metal Detectors 33 Metriguard 43 Microtec SRL Gmbh 45 Mid-South Engineering 28 Nelson Bros Engineering 33 Northeastern Loggers Assn. 49 Nyle Systems 62 Oleson Saw Technology 41 Osmose 64 Peninsular Cylinder 35 Pierce Construction & Maintenance 7 Pipers Saw Shop 62 Premier Bandwheel 62 Price LogPro 11 Rema Sawco 47 Sering Sawmill Machinery 61 Simonds International 49 Simply Computing 26 Smithco Manufacturing 54 Soderhamn Eriksson 34 U S Blades 26 USNR 9 Utility Composites 70 Vacutherm 53 Veneer Services 25 Vollmer Of America 17 Wagner Electronics Producers 10,23,31 Wellons 39 Williams & White Machine 28 Woodeye By Innovativ Vision 29

PH.NO.

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

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