February 2006
 

FEATURES

The Swanson-Noti sorter project was assembled off-line and swung into place with two 350 ton cranes.

"We were up to production speed within three days of start-up" said Jeff Remington.

USNR Stacker installed and running.
USNR Bin Sorter at Swanson in Noti, OR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Unique Sort of Installation

The Swanson Group in Noti, OR recently completed what might be a “record” installation of gigantic proportions. Installing a twenty-four foot dimension lumber Bin Sorter and Stacker is daunting at almost every level, especially when considering the sheer size of the steel, and the downtime typically required to complete the task.

Bin Sorters are much too large to ship pre-assembled, thus requiring onsite assembly which is usually done in-place. But when the Swanson Group decided to replace the green chain and end stacker last year with a new USNR Bin Sorter and Stacker line, they took a unique approach to keep shut-down time to a minimum.

“I’d seen them moved in Canada from one mill to another on barges,” explained Jeff Remington the corporate project manager for Swanson Group. “One of my mechanical installers Blaine Belveal of West Coast Industrial had done it on some smaller scale equipment installations, but nothing that weighed in at 150 tons.”

“We assembled the sorter and stacker line complete with catwalks and haul out chains in the lumberyard and rolled each section in with 50-ton dollies I bought from Boeing surplus. Once we were close enough to the sawmill we used two 350-ton cranes to swing it into place. Then we tied our rebar in the frames, poured concrete and connected the incline transfer and we were off and running” Jeff explained.

“It was a good project run on a tight schedule.” Jeff remembered, “I think the contract was signed in late July, early August and we started taking deliveries from (USNR) Hot Springs in September. It all had to go hand in hand and the guys in Hot Springs stepped up and got it shipped out the door.”

Swanson bought the USNR Bin Sorter and Stacker system to relieve the bottle neck at the green chain, and it’s been quite effective. “Our piece counts probably went up 10%” Jeff affirmed, and added “We were up to production speed within three days of start-up, which is a very short curve.”

“By building it offline on frames, we were able to pre-wire it, do all of our I/O checks and most of the testing that normally chews up a lot of time before you start up” Jeff further explained. “If we would have built it in place, it would’ve added another month to the shut-down.”

“They started actually building it in the lumber yard in November, I believe. Then we shut down on Dec. 21 and were up and running again by January 12 th, 2006 with Christmas Eve and Christmas day off for the crews. It was a good project and we’re pleased. The guys at Hot Springs did a great job pushing it out the door.”

This is phase two of another project the mill did over Christmas 2004. Swanson replaced an old trimmer with a new USNR Line-shaft Trimmer and Four Stage Fence system and reused the existing USNR V6 scanning and optimization system on the new unit. The rest of the mill uses Perceptron-USNR scanning and optimization.

Jeff Remington is a long time forest products industry veteran. For the last three years, he’s been the Corporate Project Manager for the Swanson Group. Before that he spent about fifteen years working for TreeSource, WTD.

 

 
Jeff Falk, NW Mechanical Sales Account Executive

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

Jeff Falk is NW Mechanical Sales Account Executive for USNR in Woodland, WA. With 18 years experience at USNR, Jeff has unparalleled knowledge of USNR's product innovations. He has spent time in various functions including parts sales, conversion sales, quoting and finally landing where he is today, in Capital Machinery Sales. Jeff enjoys the challenge of providing customers with advanced sawmilling solutions.

Jeff attended Business College in Washington and majored in Business Management. He likes to hunt elk and deer, and fish for salmon and steelhead. Jeff is very active with his two sons and spends much of his free time coaching little league baseball as well as youth football and basketball.
 

PRODUCT FEATURE

The USNR Dual Head Saw Guide Resurfacer is a complete stand alone solution.

 

The unit shown with a sawguide in place.

DUAL HEAD SAW GUIDE RESURFACER

USNR's Dual Head Saw Guide Resurfacer is a precision machine designed to maintain the critical accuracy required to guide thin kerf saws and cut lumber within close tolerances.

USNR has been designing and installing saw guides and kerf reduction technologies since 1934, and has learned a lot about the fine points in the process. All that knowledge and experience has gone into the development of a superior saw guide resurfacing unit.

Performance & Flexibililty

• Designed to accurately machine both Babbitt pads of a center saw guide in a single pass, for a more efficient use of operator time
• Also able to machine the single Babbitt pad of end saw guides
• Efficient operation easily achieves the accuracy needed for thin kerf saw guides
• Can be used for both single and double sided saw guides
• Accurately resurface many types of saw guides

  

Some of the many types of sawguides that can be resurfaced.
 

 

NEW PROJECTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USNR says Thank You to our customers for the new orders.

We appreciate your continued loyalty and pledge to continue earning it!

 

A.R. Williams Material Handling purchased a USNR Lift Truck model US-355.

Bois Franc Cyclone of Daveluyville, QC has bought a USNR Carriage system. The three-knee carriage has a 36" opening and features a four-axle, three-chain log turner along with a tong dog. The mill processes hardwood.

Canty Forklift in Nacogdoches, TX bought a USNR model US-305 lift truck.

Devereaux Sawmill has completed the installation of a Valley Machine lineal edger with USNR Dual Scan Zone Smart TriCam scanning with MillExpert Hardwood Edger optimization. The mill has extremley tight space constraints at this machine center and according to Dale Bradicich of USNR Optimization Sales, "if it can fit in this mill, it'll fit in any mill." Devereaux is high-grade hardwood mill, processing mostly hard Maple.

Hampton Lumber Mills has installed a four-head 3D LASAR scanning and optimization system on an exisitng USNR carriage in the Tillamook, OR sawmill. The mill processes Douglas Fir and Hemlock logs up to 60” by 26’ long into dimension lumber. This facility also has USNR 3D LASAR scanning on the EDLF machine.

Hood Industries of Waynesboro, MS has started up a new USNR 84' double track high-temp dry kiln. The kiln is direct fired with a USNR green burner and controlled wtih Kiln Boss controls.

Hugg & Hall has ordered two USNR model US-355 Lift Trucks for its locations in Little Rock and Fort Smith, AR.

Interfor Acorn Division in Delta, BC has replaced a USNR ScanMax optimizer with a USNR 3D LASAR scanning and optimization system for an existing carriage. The system features automatic saw guide control and carriage drive control. The Inferfor Acorn Division cuts squares for the Japanese market.  

Kennebec Lumber in Solon, ME is seeing the benefits of their USNR 3D Smart TriCam cant scanning and optimization system on their Valley Cant Sizing machine. In one pass, the system can take up to three sizing cuts away from the resaw.

The new Cant Sizing system at Kennebec Lumber in Solon, ME can take up to three lines off the resaw.

The system features 3D Smart TriCam scanning with MillExpert Hardwood Edger optimization.

Lavalley Lumber of Stanford, ME has started up its eighth USNR package kiln. The mill's existing Kiln Boss control system will be expanded to accommodate the additional 37 x 35' kiln. Lavalley dries high-grade Eastern White Pine lumber.

Mary's River in Montesano, WA has ordered a USNR 3D Smart TriCam upgrade for an existing sharp chain on a twin band reducer.

Murray Timber has ordered a new USNR primary and secondary line complete with 3D scanning and optimization for its mill in Ballygar, Ireland. This European-style linear log line features three cant turners and profiling modules with four scan zones.

Logs are scanned by 3D Smart TriCam scanning and then move through a Quad Roll Log Turner, and down a single length infeed to a Horizontal Chipper, creating a two-sided cant. The two-sided cant is then scanned and turned by a Cant Turner and lands on a rollcase on the way to the Cant Canter Infeed. A second Horizontal Chipper creates a four-sided cant which is scanned and turned again before proceeding to double profilers with VFM's.

Next in line is a Quad Arbor Saw Box followed by a sideboard dispatch table. Profiled sideboards exit here and transfer to one of the mill's two existing sorters. The remaining center cant is turned again and flows through another profiler, versa gang and outfeed module. The profiled sideboards discharge to a landing table. The center stack travels to a splitting saw module that makes the final cut before boards exit to the mill's second sorter.

The mill operates at speeds slower than North American mills, but is able to achieve comparable production. Since all logs are pre-sorted to within 1 cm, the mill can run continuous batches of homogenous material. This enables Murray Timber to get short gaps between pieces, and achieve their production levels. Some benefits of running at slower speeds are improved chipping and sawing accuracies. Murray Timber processes Sitka Spruce.

North Florida Lumber in Bristol, FL has ordered a USNR Quad Cam boardfeeder to complement its existing USNR DLEI and VSS Small Log processing line.

Pine Mountain Lumber is a hardwood mill in Whiteburg, KY that is installing a USNR Full Coverage transverse scanning and optimization system on a new 16’ ASM Edger.

Potlatch of Gwinn, MI has taken advantage of one of the fastest payback opportunities in a mill today - upgrades. Potlatch is upgrading their Log Sorter with USNR 3D Smart TriCam scanning and replacing out-dated computers with new high-performance computer hardware. Faster computing speeds allows mills to take advantage of a host of advanced software features at significantly less cost than a new system. With potential uplifts of 1-2%, upgrading outmoded systems is a key strategy to staying competitive.

Rocky Creek in Mexia, AL has completed the start-up of a new USNR Cant Maximizer System. Designed to make 4x4 and 4x6 products for the timber market, it has a canter center line infeed to a 6" single bottom arbor edger with four shifting saws and a shifting picker outfeed. Randell Robinson, General Manager said he was "pleased with the start up" and mentioned he "could not be happier with the start up people, both mechanical and controls." The mill is running well and is still coming up to full production.

Sierra Pacific has ordered a USNR double length infeed primary line for its new mill in Burlington, WA. USNR provided an A/R conveyor, Quad Roll Log Turner, Vee-Chipper and VFM with a sharp chain outfeed to an existing L&B Bandmill. When the Quincy, CA location took its primary line from a Quad Bandmill down to a Twin, it was left with a spare Twin bandmill which was transferred to this new mill. The Burlington mill will also receive a new USNR planer system.

Tetra Pak of Sikeston, MO has purchased a USNR Dynastar Computerized Maintenance Management Program to gain greater efficiency in maintenance management functions. Dynastar allows key operational information about equipment, labor, work orders, budgets, and inventory to be stored and retrieved by management to improve planning, scheduling, and purchasing.

Toyota Lift of Santee, CA has ordered a USNR Lift Truck model US-365M.

TR Miller installed a USNR Triple Length continuous dry kiln and a green burner at the Brewton, AL facility. The mill will use the double track kiln high-temp to dry poles.

EVENT CALENDAR

March 8-11 - NZ Forest Industries 2006 is having its annual international exhibition at the racecourse in Rotorua, NZ. For more information visit http://www.forestevents.co.nz

March 13-15 - HMA is holding its annual convention in Charleston, SC at the Charleston Place Hotel. For more information please visit http://www.hmamembers.org

March 22-24 - The 2006 Wood Technology Clinic & Show will be held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR this March. For more information visit http://www.woodwideweb.com If you would like to attend the show at NO COST, please reply for a FREE ePass!

March 30 - April 1 - NeLMA is holding its annual convention in Boston, MA at the Marriott Long Wharf hotel. For more information visit http://www.nelma.org

NORTH AMERICAN LOCATIONS

Headquarters
 Arkansas Florida
558 Robinson Road Woodland, WA 98674
phone (360) 225-8267
Hot Springs, Arkansas
phone (501) 262-1010
Jacksonville, Florida
phone (904) 354-2301
Michigan
British Columbia
Quebec
Brighton, Michigan
phone (248) 573-1930
Parksville, BC Canada
phone (250) 954-1566
Plessissville, QC Canada phone (819) 362-7362

INTERNATIONAL LOCATIONS

Chile
England
Japan
 New Zealand New Zealand
Patricio Faundez y Cia.Patricio Faundez Santiago, Chile
phone 56.2.220.1517
Sawmill Machinery
J.F. Wilson
Tyne & Wear, UK
phone 0191.253.1402
Hirota Corporation
Ryosuke Hirota Shimada City, Japan phone 0547.38.3211
CNC Design
John Marwick Auckland, NZ
phone 64.9.274.1280
Skookum Forest Tech
John McLachlan Auckland, NZ
phone 64.9.525.2402

This e-mail communication may contain an offer to purchase a product or service for your business. For information about this company and its products and services, contact info@usnr.com or call (800) BUY-USNR. Copyright © 2005 USNR. All Rights Reserved. To unsubscribe and OPT-OUT of receiving newsletters, please reply with REMOVE in subject line or CLICK HERE: info@usnr.com

www.usnr.com