Logs going through the debarker at Doll Lumber Co.

For one thing, summer adds unique challenges for different types of wood, said Eric Doll, sales manager for Doll Lumber Co. in Trumbull County and current president of the Ohio Forestry Association.

“I’ve got a lot of poplar logs right now and it’s not something people want; part of that’s the time of the year as well. White wood is not going to keep very well in the summer. It’s a product that is prime for spoilage particularly, when it’s 90 degrees out, so those hickory logs are going to dry out and split, those maple logs are going to start getting log stain on them and turn blackish, and then the logs will keep for certain amount of time but then as soon as you saw it, that speeds up the spoiling process,” Doll said. “If I get an order for maple this time of year, I have to ship it by Wednesday because it needs to be on sticks and into a pre-dryer; it can’t sit over the weekend. So if we have a pile of maple logs and pile of red oak logs, I have to cut the maple on Monday and then cut the red oak the rest of the week, so I can cut the maple, get it shipped, and get it delivered. If I cut the red oak first and then I cut the maple, then I can’t ship the maple on a Friday because they can’t get it processed through the receiving facility. Summer is also when trees are growing and the bark is loose, so by the time the log gets here, especially hickory or poplar, it’s lost a lot of its bark and is more likely to dry out in the sun, crack, and stain.”

Doll Lumber is a forestry service and sawmill operation in Southington currently managing the challenges of summer production and the broader issues of tough times in general for sawmills. They are an Ohio Master Logger Company that manages their own procurement forester and logging crew, subcontract logging crew to bring in logs, and a green sawmill. They sell mostly green lumber for pallet cants from the center of logs, 1 x 4s, 1 x 6s, and railroad ties but also have a retail component for dimensional green lumber and kiln dried lumber sold locally to craftsmen, high school wood shops, small cabinet or furniture manufacturers, and woodturners.

The system at Doll Lumber is a little different compared to most sawmills. Instead of having logging crews buck logs at the log landing, harvested timber is cut tree-length and trucked to the mill for customized cuts and merchandising. This system allows Doll Lumber to maximize the value of the logs based on various existing orders and market conditions, creating greater efficiency. They can better control their supply, reduce time for their logging crews in the woods and on the landing, and eliminate much of the waste on the property for the landowner.

Like most industries, efficiency is critical to profitability, Doll said.

“In the 80s when my dad (former OFA Logger of the Year, Jim Doll) bought [the mill], there were six or seven small mills all feeding one grading line green chain. Then he slowly began to streamline that to fewer, but more efficient, mills to where in the mid-90s we were running two sawmills, a green chain, and a separate debarker. The one mill we have now was installed in 2002 and with that you have a loader operator who puts the logs in, a debarker operator, sawyer, edger, grader who’s also running the trimmer operation, and then two or three guys stacking,” Doll said. “We’ve eliminated two instances of the loader moving material during production and condensed the process so you no longer need as many people to operate, which is really important in this labor market and fuel costs and everything else. Anything you can do to minimize handling and costs is important.”

Unfortunately, the current market is really tough for sawmills in the U.S.

“We just have to keep trying to find different markets. We’re cutting more rail ties than we ever have before because that’s a market that’s still strong. It’s less production to cut one 7 x 9 than it is to cut two 3.5 x 6s and grade lumber out of that board, so you’re reducing your production cost while you’re also creating a higher value product than what you’re getting out of the center of that log if you’re cutting pallet cants, low grade or deficient grade lumber, or 1 x 4 and 1 x 6. Anything you can do to produce a better product for less cost, you’ve got to try to do it, particularly in these markets when margins are so slim,” Doll said. “This certainly isn’t the first time markets have been difficult for hardwood mills (e.g. the Great Recession in 2008), but coupled with the increased costs across the board, from logging costs to production costs to trucking, and the seemingly impossible task of finding reliable skilled labor, it’s more challenging now than it was in 2008. On top of that, the market is not bearing out any of those challenges with the return on the product that you need.”

Doll attributes some of the difficulty to a reduction in consumer demand.

“Production and supply have been depressed over the last 2-3 years. There have been a lot of changes in architectural trends and the addition of many substitute and imitation products that are hurting the hardwood market,” he said. “The good thing is pallets and railroad ties are made from wood, but those are the low-grade products we make; they happen to be in demand and the price on those is holding to a degree. But because of the lack of demand for high quality products, the overall market is still not what it was roughly 25 years ago. Back then, cherry was triple the price it is now, even in 1998 dollars, let alone adjusting for inflation. White oak is the one species that seems to be holding at a high demand, but demand for others like red oak, hard and soft maple, and poplar goes up and down. The costs have gone through the roof compared to what it was 25-30 years ago, but the price of the product hasn’t.”

Market challenges the hardwood industry faces are very similar to other agricultural commodities. Like corn and soybeans, it is still profitable for landowners to manage and harvest timber even when markets are low.

Source:  ocj.com