It was time for an update at the Dodson, Louisiana facility. The existing equipment was near the end of its useful life, requiring significant maintenance and repairs. After evaluation of vendors, Endurance was selected as the supplier of the new equipment.
A new Stem Singulator was first to be installed, several months prior to the Merchandising units. The Singulator is based on the Clockwork design with a major improvement; a fully plated infeed section. This feature keeps stems square to the feeder and eliminates hangups while singulating. Also the design double singulates in a single stage. Although Dodson is only operating at feed speeds of around 8 to 9 stems per minute, the feeder will consistently run at speeds up to 15 per minute.
The existing debarker infeed system and 27″ debarker was utilized in the new system.
New equipment in the Merchandising area included a High Speed Scan Chain, all electric Overhead Sweep Kickers, Rotary Stem Positioner, 5 saw Vertical Carriage Merchandiser, Outfeed Belt system, Metal Detection, Dual Kick out Pockets and a MultiLog unit to accept log blocks and feed them squarely on to the modified Jackladder.
The conveyor system pans are constructed from 3/4″ formed plate. Pulleys are large diameter Mill and Mine duty. All drive units are direct coupled, meaning no sprockets, chains or adjustments.
The Merchandiser system utilizes Endurance’s Vertical Carrriage design. Carriage movement is driven by Closed Loop Vector Controls at speeds up to 30″ per second. The Merchandiser is designed to operate at production speeds of up to 10 stems per minute.
Merchandised log blocks tie into the existing/ modified jackladder for further processing. The system has met Weyerhaeuser’s expected goals with production and reliability.