Approximately 70 truck loads of freshly harvested
logs
and
stems
arrive to the mill on any given day, and you don't need to be a genius to figure out that that's a 'truck load' of timber for our
plant
to keep tidy.
Day and night
As each truck is unloaded, logs and stems join the first queue to remove bark. After going through the De-Barker, each length travels along a conveyor where it is measured and 3D scanned ready for the Log Merchandiser to decide its fate.
The Log Merchandiser
The 'log merch' as it is known might look like some circular saws on steroids but behind its brawn there are some serious smarts at play. Before a log is even cut, an algorithm processes its dimensional data in real-time and pre-determines the mix of products it will go on to become. More often than not, pre-sawn logs pass straight through without needing a trim, whereas stems need cutting down and may require odd sections of 'camber' to be isolated.
Down the line
Sections of timber shoot out of the log merch along a conveyor. On the way, every log is hit with an 'acoustic hammer' before being sorted into 'bins' and again being stacked in the Log Yard ready for the Green Mill.
Wear and tear
Thousands of tonnes of timber rattling along a conveyor belt 24 hours a day is perhaps the definition of 'unforgiving' and so Mondays are set aside as downtime, allowing maintenance crews a small window of time for safe access before the show goes on.
