April 2003 Volume 9, Number 4
April 2003 Volume 9, Number 4
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Six company trucks bring logs to the mill yard. Two front-end loaders, a Volvo and a Cat, are used to sort and stack logs. The first step in processing the logs is an older Mellott Rosser-type debarking machine with a Bark King head. A 36-inch MDI metal detector was also installed recently in the debarking area. After debarking, the logs are conveyed to the new McDonough slant head rig and carriage, where they are squared up into cants. The cants are conveyed to a McDonough linebar resaw with a run-around feed system; the resaw, installed in 1996, is a McDonough 6-foot bandmill with Temposonic servo-hydraulic setworks. Pieces removed by the resaw move to a 4-inch Crosby combination edger with a 42-inch maximum opening; the Crosby combination edger has 2 moving saws on one side and a fixed saw with a fence on the other side. The lumber is then transferred to an adjoining building on the property for trimming to length and sorting.
At the trimming department, the lumber is fed transversely by lug chains to a Newman-Whitney KNO 24 multiple trimmer with nine saws. Trimmed boards are transferred on to a 140 foot-long green chain, and the boards are manually graded and sorted by species, length and grade. Up to 50 different sorts can be made. Any rejected boards can be re-trimmed for width or length in the same building by a straight line rip saw.
| "Feed speeds are now 20 percent faster than before... both recovery and grade have improved" |
A state-of-the-art Gillingham Best Stacker with automatic stick placement is used to stack the lumber for kiln drying. "Two men can now stack automatically in 26 hours what it took eight guys a week to do before," said Dean.
Rail ties and pallet stock are sold directly at this point in the process, but the other lumber goes to the kilns for drying and then to two Newman Whitney roughing planers for finishing.
When the company decided it needed to replace the old Jackson head saw, Dean traveled extensively, looking for new equipment ideas. He also had been collecting information for years. He has been very pleased with the results of the improvements, which incorporate many new hardwood industry firsts.
With his engineering background, Dean was interested in the most advanced technology even if it meant taking some calculated risk. The equipment that was finally chosen included a newly designed McDonough E series slant carriage and 6-7A bandmill along with an Inovec StereoScan 3-D scanning and optimization system. The mill also installed the first Jacobson Engineering AC Vector electric carriage drive and an Armstrong automatic leveler and grinder in the filing room to support the new variable pitch band saws. McDonough was pleased to work with Dean on the specifications of what turned out to be its first tong dog E series slant carriage. The new log carriage, at 10,000 pounds, is much heavier than most, Dean noted. "It looks huge compared to the unit it replaced."
The specifications for the new head rig system and ancillary equipment are as follows:
McDonough Manufacturing has a long history in sawmilling. The company was founded by Frank McDonough, who started a small manufacturing shop to support the many sawmills along the Eau Claire River in Wisconsin in 1888. Because he also worked in one of the local mills, Frank knew first-hand what machine improvements were needed. By the 1930s, the local white pine had run out, and one by one the sawmills closed. However, Frank’s company survived and prospered.
the story continues...
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