Managing four lines at three sawmills several hundred miles apart in Washington and Oregon is a challenging job admits Bob Armstrong, plant manager. “We run several products each shift-from kiln stick to stakes to pallet boards-and we run all our equipment hard, especially our stackers.”
One location, Moman Lumber, installed an AIT M2L Unscrambler and Stacker on their pallet board line in 2009. “The M2L never causes us a problem. We run it every day, 10 hours a day, with only one operator and one man as a grader before the unscrambler.” The operator has learned to tweak the machine with the help of an electrician so that it has performed well continuously. “It’s the best auto stacker out there and certainly has paid for itself in time savings and reliability.”
Armstrong purchased an AIT TS300 Stacker for the Washington plant, Legacy Lumber, because of the speed and the ease with which it handles different stock. The line changes product every six to eight hours. “My crew dials in the changes and the stacker has run up to 11,000 board feet per hour,” said Armstrong. “We’re pleased with the TS300 Unscrambler and Stacker. It was more expensive than others on the market but it’s worth it already. It has features that let us run product consistently on the TS300 that it wasn’t programmed to run-that speaks to the adaptability of the machine design.”