Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-01-17
IMPROVEMENTS TO MILL
MANAGER GEORGE GERLTNGER
INSTALI.S LATE EQUIPMENT.
willamette Valley Lumber Company's
Plant Runs When Other
Mills Lie Idle.

In consequence of the recent snow.
fall, the Willamette Valley Lumber
/ Company has been compelled to sus.
| pend operations for the time being, as
/ the alleys are blocked and it is impos.
sible to truck the lumber out. The
lumber piles are capped with snow tc
such an extent that workmen could
1 not very well handle them. While this
/ suspension of business is regrettable
/ on account of the large number OF
men whom it has thrown out of work
temporarily. it has given Manager
George Gerlinger an opportunity to
make a number of repairs which have
been contemplated for some time, and
to permit the installation of a number
of new and modern features which it
has been deemed advisable to add.
| These Improvements will not materi-
| ally increase the output of the mill,
but will allow more thorough work
and be the means of saving a great
deal of material that was, under the
old method, unaVoidably wasted.
In the present state of the lumber
market, millmen are inclined to be
conservative Hence their aim is not
so much to augment their output as
it is to find a market for what they
already produce. In order to meet
competition upon a profitable basis,
they are turning their attention to the
problem of trying to produce better
goods at a lower cost than their COM
petitor can.
Future Outlook Is Bright.
Business is very quiet at the present
time" said Manager Gerlinger yester-
day, but we are optimistic for the
future. The past year has been a very
successful one in the operation of our
mill and camps, and we were not de-
layed for want of logs since early in
the Spring. We put in 275 ten-hou
days in 1910, and during that time we
produced 100000 feet of lumber.
Our yards are full here now, and we
have on hand at the beginning of the
year about 100000 feet, which is
100000 feet more than we had at
this time last year. We are endeavor-
ing to so arrange our mill that we can
run in the face of competition, and
give steady employment to the large
number of men on our payroll. Dallas
should congratulate herself that she
has mill that can operate when those
at other points are running on half
time or not at ALL"
Among the improvements being
made is the Encouragement and better
ment of the sawdust and refuse con-
veyors, and the remodeling of the dry
kiln The latter, which contains two
miles of one-inch heating pipe in coils,
is being re-ceiled with heavy timbers
and otherwise changed.
The most important addition of all,
though, is the new Sumner overhead
trimmer, which is a machine used for
cutting out knots and defects as the
lumber comes from the big circular
saws. This is one of the most modern
machines of its kind, and is probably
the only one in the valley, outside of
Portland. While it is of large size, |
each of its 21 saws are connected with
a fingerboard arrangement that places
them under the immediate control of
the operator, who sits in a cage over
head, where he can see every piece of
timber that passes beneath the saw.
In the old style of trimmer, the saws
are overhead, and are raised by COM
pressed air and lowered by gravity. |
The speed at which the lumber passes
beneath the saws may be varied at
will of the operator, from 40 to rs |
feet per minute. All lumber less than
6 by inches is carried under the saws
and, after being trimmed, is taken by
machinery over a long
route to the sorting table. The refuse
pieces and slab wood drops through .
beneath, and is picked up and con-
veyed to its destination. An extension
20 by As feet i'm size has been made to
accommodate the new trimmer, and
altogether the improvements will
amount TO over $4,000