Renewafuel LLC has selected a site north of Orr, Minn. for a biomass cube fuel plant that will consume at least 150,000 tons of wood biomass per year. It is expected to be operational by 2010. Earlier this year the company announced that it would build two such plants in northeast Minnesota but the second site has yet to be revealed.

Many sawmills are taking advantage of slower times to upgrade machinery or otherwise improve operations. At Battle Lumber, which is one of the largest hardwood lumber producers in the country, one of the departments mill officials are focusing on is saw filing. Both circle and band saws are completely maintained in-house at Battle, and at least a dozen employees tend to this on a daily basis.

Long-time saw blade and cutting tools equipment supplier Pacific/Hoe is emerging from a tough year that saw the death of company leader George Jacobsen and a distinct softening of markets as lumber producers reduce operating hours and production in response to a bleak housing market, says new Pacific/Hoe President Jim Ruthven, a 25-year Pacific/Hoe employee who took over after Jacobsen’s death in July 2007.

When I finished college in 1961, as a 25-year-old kid, my first job was with a machinery company called Fryer Dry Kiln Company, which was located under the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Ore. Besides kilns, they manufactured lumber handling systems including lumber stackers. At Fryer, I cut my teeth designing hydraulic systems and controls. I was baptized into hydraulics one day when I was literally inside the framework of a power unit, with a five-gallon accumulator, when a compression fitting let loose.

Mid-South Engineering Co. was formed in 1969 when Weyerhaeuser Co. purchased Dierks Forest Inc. The Mid-South founders were the engineering vice president and several of the senior engineers for Dierks and were responsible for the concept development, feasibility, design, construction and commissioning of all capital projects within Dierks Forest.

Following the recent announcement that Hallco Industries, Inc. is now owned by Mike Almond and brothers Steve and Dan Hallstrom, the company has introduced a new corporate logo to reflect its new identity. The new logo still features the distinctive Hallco “H” with several new elements added. The owners say the logo represents their commitment to the continued development and innovations to the Live Floor industry.