Recent results compare its circle mill to its Brewco B-1600 thin-kerf resaw.
Beshear Lumber Company in Princeton, Kentucky recently worked with Brewco Inc. to study board and grade yield at its sawmill, comparing its circle mill to its Brewco B-1600 thin-kerf resaw.
Six logs were chosen by Tyler Beshear, owner of Beshear Sawmill, and segregated into three two-log samples. Each pair of logs had the same diameter. One pair was 16″ diameter, one pair was 17″ diameter, and one pair was 19″ diameter. All logs chosen were red oak and 10’6″ in length. The log ends were spray-painted in order to identify the boards coming off the green chain.
The logs were loaded onto the circle saw log deck and opened up on the circle saw. The three logs going to the Brewco were shimmed and squared just enough to pass through the 16″ x 16″ opening. This required some of the boards credited to the resaw to be sawn on the circle saw.
The other three logs were all sawn on the circle saw. Each board was 4/4 by random, and all cants would be sawn down to a 3-1/2″ x 6″ cant.
The three logs (cants) that were sawn on the Brewco were all sawn down to 4/4 by random leaving a 3-1/2″ x 6″ cant, the same saw method as the circle saw.
All material was taken to the off-line grading area and graded and tallied. Then all this material was separated according to paint color and placed on a deck for further inspection.
All boards were tallied according to grade and board footage. The cants sawn on the resaw, on average, showed a 23.39% increase in overall lumber yield, a 16.33% higher board count, and a 17.39% increase in upper grades (FAS and 1 FACE).
Lumber value was determined referencing pricing from the Hardwood Market Report, dated March 28, 2016, using the Southern area values. The three cants sawn on the Brewco showed additional value of $88.28, a 39.12% increase. This is in spite of the fact that the 17″ diameter log yielded 5 board feet less than the similar log sawn on the circle saw (It was determined that the 17″ diameter log sawn on the Brewco had sweep in it resulting in a lower than normal number of boards).
Brewco indicates that a sawmill on average can cover the lease payment of its $300,000 B-1600 Resaw system by merely sawing 15 logs per day on it. This is factoring an increased yield of $20 per log, which is conservative relative to yield increase shown in the study at Beshear Lumber. The complete report on the Beshear Lumber study with photos and supporting data can be viewed at www.brewcoinc.com. A Brewco representative can be reached at 1-800-237-6880.
