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Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

Article by Jessica Johnson, Senior Editor, Timber Processing November 2022

I very clearly remember a dinner I had with one of my favorite engineers from the West Coast after a day on the sawmill show floor many, many years ago. After a few cocktails (don’t all stories get good once you hear “after a few cocktails”?) and some advice on how I was screwing up my kid’s chance at learning how to ride a bike because I didn’t bend the training wheels, and instead unscrewed them, we started talking shop. Now of course, he was tight lipped about basically everything because of those pesky NDAs everyone signs and engineer/client privilege—which I am not sure is a thing or not separate from an NDA, but I am claiming it as one. So, he starts talking to me about this hairbrained scheme someone came to him with. It involved a lot of plexiglass and things that would have made OSHA shudder.

Now, this scheme, to my knowledge at least, didn’t make it past a first meeting, but I recently thought about it. Not because I thought it was a good idea per se, but because it was just so…out there. Or at least it seemed to be at the time. Sort of like in 2016 at the Timber Processing & Energy Expo when Joey Nelson was flying a drone inside the Portland Expo Center. It was a little bit mysterious and a little bit cool and a little just out there. I’ve always thought Joey was cool, but in 2016, flying drones inside was still on the cutting-edge of cool. And a few old geezers probably thought the drone was a little bit nuts.

Editors Donnell, Johnson and Shell after an all day Beer Garden

What does all this have to do with each other? Well, for the 2022 edition of the Timber Processing & Energy Expo the editorial trio of Dan Shell, Rich Donnell and everyone’s favorite (and only) lady editor Jessica Johnson did daily recap videos on YouTube. And it was a little bit out there—at least for us. Not because the three of us haven’t been covering this industry for a collective like eight decades, but because I wanted to step outside of the box and film videos on the show floor. I didn’t want to wait until the next issue to discuss all the amazing things we saw, heard, and did at TP&EE 22.

Now, I realize YouTube videos aren’t exactly putting a man on Mars, but for our staff, it kind of was. But just like everyone else, we’re having to teach ourselves new ways to do things. We sent emails (you can subscribe here): with a lot of colors and pictures and graphics leading up to the industry’s biggest gathering on the West Coast. We were active on social media. TP&EE went as digital as we could, while still remaining true to our in-person roots.

Now that I have certainly oversold these videos, click on over to YouTube and check out all the coverage we are offering to supplement the dedicated review elsewhere in this issue. It was great to hug so many friends from far and wide over the course of the show. Thanks to these videos we can all reminisce, until we see you all again in 2024. I am sure there will be more innovations and automations made that will have us all waiting with bated breath to see how the trio of Shell, Donnell and Johnson cover it all in their Daily Round Up.

Latest News

When He Talks People Listen

Article by Jessica Johnson, Senior Editor, Timber Processing January/February 2024
Some of the smartest men and women in the industry have graced the pages of this magazine—and have won the award of Timber Processing Person of the Year. They’ve all been incredibly worthy of this recognition for innovation, commitment and love of the industry they serve. Perhaps none have been quite as innovative as the introverted sawmiller from Georgia named Levi Anderson Pollard, V, whose name is on two of the patents that changed the way the sawmilling world manufactures and dries lumber (and on so many other patents as well).

Industry Says Goodbye To Walter Jarck

Walter Jarck, whose career in the forest products industry spanned 65 years and ranged from logging machinery to engineered wood products, died January 3, surrounded by his children, in North Wilkesboro, NC. He was 92.

Carbotech Acquires Sawquip

Carbotech Group has acquired Sawquip, a manufacturing company specializing in the design and manufacture of sawmill equipment for the primary and secondary breakdown of logs into lumber. This acquisition allows Carbotech Group to add on a new field of expertise, providing customers with innovative new solutions for lumber production. Sawquip’s innovative products include log turners and optimized log infeeds, chipping canters, twin and quad circular saw modules, as well as optimized gangs for controlled shape sawing, among others.

Oregon Truckers File Suit Against State

Rob Freres, president of Oregon-based Freres Engineered Wood, a manufacturer of lumber, veneer, plywood and mass timber, has thrown in his support for a lawsuit filed by the Oregon Trucking Assn. and three Oregon-based trucking companies against the state of Oregon for overcharging truckers under the weight-mile tax.

Hasslacher Enters North America

Austria-based Hasslacher group is acquiring a stake in Element5, a mass timber producer specializing in the design, manufacture and assembly of modern engineered timber buildings. Based near Toronto, Can., Element5 employs more than 100 and produces cross-laminated timber and glued laminated timber for the North American market.

Hampton Lumber Purchases Rebuilt

Atlas Holdings has entered into an agreement to sell RedBuilt, LLC to Hampton Lumber Mills, Inc. Atlas formed RedBuilt with the acquisition of the commercial division of Trus Joist from Weyerhaeuser Co. in 2009. Over the next 14 years, the company became an industry leader in the engineering, design and manufacturing of proprietary wood-based structural solutions serving the low-rise commercial construction market. The transaction is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2024.

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