A FASCINATING HIGH-TECH PIONEER IN THE SOUTHEAST GEORGIA BOONDOCKS
The crane and the horizontal merchandiser deck in the photos below are part of Newport Timber
LLC's remarkable mill that produces higher value from some pulpwood trees at high speeds and
without being touched by human hands. Newport's primary raw material is long pine pulpwood,
but it also buys "Pulpwood Butt Cuts" or PBC's. A PBC is the bottom section of a
pine tree. It has a maximum diameter of12 inches, a minimum diameter of 6 inches, and a length
of 17 feet 6 inches; it must have no crooks, forks, or canker and be at least 15 years old. We
estimate that such trees would have a DBH of less than 10 inches and therefore be classed as
pulpwood. Newport agrees; it sells all chip-n-saw and sawtimber trees that it acquires in
timber purchases.
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In one photo the crane has just picked up a load of long pine pulpwood from the huge pile
like those frequently seen beside Interstate Highways. Note the two pieces extending below the
others. In the other it is unloading them on the back side of the Merchandiser Deck. Here an
operator in the cab on the right inspects each long log and directs special saws to cut it into
two pieces. Both of these may be suitable for lumber, or one may be suitable only for pulpwood
chips. Unsuitable pieces drop to a conveyor that takes them to a drum de-barker and then to a
chipper. When the crane unloads on the near side, stray pieces from its load and other pieces from
the merchandiser slide down the structure to the ground and are periodically picked up by big
tractors with front-end loaders and delivered to the chipper.
The suitable pieces drop to the sawmill conveyor that moves faster than a man can run. Each piece
passes by a computer that sets its future treatment depending on length and diameter. The sawmill
converts the log into some combination of 2x4's, 4x4's, or 2x6's, a small pile of chips, and a smaller
pile of sawdust. An observer can hardly take his eyes off the spectacle of a pulpwood log going in one
end of a big box and two to four pieces of lumber coming out the other end in no time at all. The mill
can process 40-55 logs per minute. These pieces go automatically to a dry kiln and planer mill similar
to other sawmills.
The chips go to a shaker where they are separated into various thicknesses. Those of the right size
go by conveyor to the digester and then into Interstate Paper LLC's adjacent paper mill. Those of the
wrong size join the bark on another conveyor to another shaker tower that separates out those too large
for boiler fuel and adds them to a pile for later grinding up; all the rest go by conveyor to the boiler
room and become the power to run the whole installation. The only unused parts of trees are the stumps,
roots, limbs, and needles that decompose into fertilizer, and the breeze that blows through the
needles.
At a time when the pulpwood market has shrunk and is still shrinking, mills like Newport's are very
good news. There are only three or four in SE U.S., so market prices for long pulpwood have not
changed. In our reports of 6/15/01 we reported that these mills are being added in Louisiana and Texas.
When there are many such mills, loggers will get more for producing PBC's to pay for the extra labor, and
landowners will get more than they can get from pulpwood. Newport deserves a gold star for being a high-tech
pioneer out in the boondocks.
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