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The pieces of wood aren’t large in comparison to the rest of the timber and lumber stacking up at F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co.’s mill, but the 1-by-2 strips represent a new upgrade in efficiency and safety here.

Fitted between stacks of freshly cut lumber, these pieces of wood, called “stickers,” evenly separate the planks as they’re piled up to head into a kiln. The lumber is stacked high and on rails, ready to move into a silver square of a building that runs heated air through the planks at 140 to 170 degrees, depending on the type of wood, in order to pull out moisture before the lumber is used.

It’s all part of the process, has been for a long time, but those little pieces of wood separating the lumber used to be inserted by hand, according to Chuck Roady, manager at Stoltze. Now, there’s a machine to do the work, eliminating the fear of crushed fingers and adding a level of efficiency to the process.

“It’s called a stacker and sticker,” Roady said. “When lumber comes green out of a mill, we space it, square it up, and put stickers between each layer so it dries evenly. And that’s a really sophisticated machine. It’ll help efficiency and production, and more importantly it won’t have people sticking their fingers in things and getting hurt.” Stoltze invested about $2.3 million into the new process, highlighting an optimistic-if-wary perspective on the future of the wood products and forestry industries in Montana.

It’s a momentous time for the lumber and timber industry, with a revitalized home construction market continuing to make gains after bottoming out during the recession, and the future of the industry seeming to lie in advances such as SmartLam’s cross-laminated timber (CLT).

From the Flathead Beacon: http://flatheadbeacon.com/2017/10/25/cautious-optimism-timber-industry-moves-forward/