Production, profits trending up

Mackeys Ferry Sawmill

Production, profits trending up

HIGHER THROUGHPUT, MORE VALUABLE OUTPUT. LONG-TIME USNR CUSTOMER STILL A BIG FAN.

With an aging resaw linebar that required a team to keep it going, Mackeys Ferry Sawmill knew it was time to update its process. Its goal was to improve throughput and be able to handle larger pieces at the resaw, with a focus on providing a high piece count with minimum gap between pieces. Today the benefits from this investment are being felt all the way down the line.

Its existing resaw was no longer up to doing its job when Mackeys Ferry Sawmill solicited bids for a new system. The company reviewed resaw lines from all the major bandmill suppliers to find the right fit to meet their processing goals. The result is a line that is satisfying those needs, and a lot more.

The view from the new operator's cab.

Family owned/operated

The Jones family owns the Mackeys Ferry Sawmill at Roper, NC where it processes hardwood lumber. It also owns J.W. Jones Lumber at Elizabeth City, NC. That location processes high grade Southern Yellow Pine boards, and it has a chip mill on the same site.

Wilson Jones III is co-owner of the company and manages the Mackeys Ferry operation while his brother, Stephen Jones, is co-owner and manager of the Elizabeth City mill, and he is also president of the company. The Jones family has been in the lumber business since 1882.

The Mackeys Ferry Sawmill comprises a sawmill, planer mill, dry kilns and log yard; the mill is a typical hardwood sawmill that has been added on to and retrofitted many times over the years since its inception in 1959. In 1987 the mill was acquired by Wilson III's father, Wilson Jones Jr., who is now mostly retired.

The Mackeys Ferry mill cuts red and white oak, soft maple, yellow poplar, ash and cypress. Products include primarily 4/4 and 5/4, and a small percentage is 7/4. About 80% is exported to Asia, with the remainder marketed domestically. The mill employs about 70 people, and it has a capacity in the range of 12 mmbf.

Mackeys Ferry Sawmill is located just off of Albemarle Sound, a large estuary on the east coast of North Carolina. Its close proximity to the deep-water port at Norfolk, Virginia only 90 miles away, provides sthe mill with easy access to ship its products to export markets. Mackeys Ferry has developed close ties with some small to mid-size factories in Asia.

Setting the goal

Wilson explained the need for the new resaw. “The original system we had was worn out. It was an old bandmill built in 1959, and a linebar that was installed around 1972-73. We had upgraded it and replaced components, but it was really labor intensive to run it. We had 3 men working on it and it was just worn out. We originally planned to replace it in 2007, but when we saw the economy falling we held off until the time seemed right.” Fast forward to 2015 when the Jones brothers decided it was the right time to implement a replacement for the old line, and bring it up to modern standards.

The new line

The new equipment starts with a carriage outfeed transfer, then a transfer table to transport the squared timbers to the resaw line. An infeed transfer and table queue up the material for sawing, and the line-bar positions each piece for feeding into the bandmill. The linebar’s fence section is 12” high by 10’ long, and positioned by a hydraulic servo-linear positioner for a total travel of 12” from the saw line. The 72” double column bandmill resaw is USNR’s renowned L&B design featuring a full air strain system. The outfeed shifting and separator tables are designed to effectively and efficiently remove the slab or shim, and separate the boards from the return cant. The boards are dropped onto a lower deck for transport to the USNR optimized edger. Boards not requiring edging are transported to a landing table and on to the trimmer transfer. Except for the hydraulic linear positioners all other motors and devices are electric.

Now we have an 18” block capacity, so we put less lines on the log at the carriage. That translates to fewer carriage passes, and more valuable fiber processed at the resaw.

The PLC control system for the resaw line was updated to the ControlLogix architecture. A new operator’s cab was supplied, outfitted with the latest technology for ease of operation as well as comfort for the operator. As an integral part of the project, the USNR optimization system for both carriage and resaw was upgraded. The carriage optimizer features LASAR scanning on both front and back sides. carriage and resaw was upgraded. The carriage optimizer features LASAR scanning on both front and back sides.

A processing solution is displayed on a screen in the operator's cab.

Achieving milestones

One of the project’s key design goals was to provide a high piece count with minimum gap between pieces. Outfeed separation and waste board management were also very important features of the design. The system includes height and width sensing for automatic cut pattern that can be overruled by the operator, if desired. Luc Frigon, USNR project manager, commented on a production milestone. “They broke a mill production record just before Christmas (2016) achieving 8,200 board ft./hr.”

Wilson described the results the mill has achieved with the new line. “We saw some immediate gains. One of the statistics that we look at is lines per log.” He continued, “On our old system the resaw had a 12” block capacity. Now we have an 18” block capacity, so we put less lines on the log at the carriage. That translates to fewer carriage passes, and more valuable fiber processed at the resaw. With the old resaw we probably fed a poplar cant at about 200 feet/min. On this machine that same size cant can be fed at about 330 feet/min.”

He continued, “On the old line, if we had a 24” log we had to saw it down to 12” before we could present it to the resaw. Now we can take up to a 30” log and cut an 18” cant off of that and send it to the resaw. That’s a big benefit.” Another benefit he described, “We’ve dramatically changed our product mix. With the bigger block size we’re able to push a more valuable, thicker board to the outside of the log with less loss. Because we’re canting that log at a larger size, there is less loss and less edging required. Previously we were cutting a lot of those pieces 4/4 or 5/4, and now we can go 6/4 or even 8/4. It’s made that log yield more profit.”

More benefits

Wilson explained, “We saw everything up on the resaw. We have a dispatch system where we send a waney board to the edger, a good board to the trimmer, and the cant returns to the resaw. Our production is up about 12-13%. Not only do we get more throughput on the line, we also get increased throughput at the kiln because our sizes are so much more uniform. More uniform product sizes mean it is easier and faster to dry the lumber.”

“The project installed nicely, then we started looking at production and we could just see the trends going straight up. As we learned how to utilize the features of the resaw we’ve made changes in how we approach sawing the log at the carriage now that we’ve got so much more capacity.” Wilson continued, “We’re still working on a few things within our organization to make the system run better, but we couldn’t ask for a better system.”

A key USNR member on the project was Eric Brousseau, who at the time was general manager at USNR’s Plessisville, Quebec facility, but has since been promoted to vice president, overseeing all of USNR’s manufacturing activities. Wilson Jones commented on Eric’s role in the mill's decision to select USNR for this project. “Eric showed us the video of the Bégin and Bégin carriage and resaw system, with slabs immediately removed right off the end of the outfeed. That was what sold us. Lots of our colleagues in this industry have problems with getting slabs dropped out to the chipper.”

Wilson also noted that the company has been a USNR customer since 1947. “We have two USNR edgers, two trim-sort-stack lines, a shape sawing gang, and between both Mackeys Ferry and Elizabeth City we have seven USNR dry kilns. My grandfather bought his first Moore dry kiln and it’s still in use today.”

At the resaw outfeed, boards are separated off to go for edging or trimming, while the cant is transported back around for another pass.

The project installed nicely, then we started looking at production and we could just see the trends going straight up. We couldn't ask for a better system.

Team effort

Wilson praised the members of the team responsible for installing and commissioning the new equipment. “Bob Gaston is the mill’s PLC controls technician, who made a huge contribution to the installation and to converting the old controller to the new ControlLogix platform. Terry Morgan, our staff electrician, performed all the electrical installation. Our maintenance manager and sawmill foreman is Cecil Richardson. We has been instrumental in the installation and the every-day maintenance of the new line. James Downs is our sawfiler, and he absolutely loves the L&B bandmill. He says it’s a beast. The whole team did a phenomenal job, and I’m very proud of them.”

Wilson also noted two other key people involved with the mechanical installation, Mike Reynolds and Greg Davis of D.R. Reynolds. He said the company has had a good working relationship with the Mackeys Ferry and J.W. Jones mills spanning 20 years.

Looking ahead Wilson expects to do further updates in the next few years, but says the mill will require updating the electrical system before that can happen. He says for now the plan is to keep their heads down and pay off debt. This new line, with its higher production and more profitable recovery, will help meet that goal.

Scan the code to see the line in action, or go to: https://www.usnr.com/en/product/ VerticalResaw/videos