Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-08-09
SawniIi Wasts
(Dun's Review

There are more than 1900 sawmills
in the United States, and their output
Of waste in the form Of sawdust, shaw
ings, slabs and other wood refuse ID
estimated at 100000 cords q year.
This is equal to over $500. 0O0. 900 cubic
feet Of waste, which is the capacity Of
a bin one-half mile high with q base
covering forty-acre lot. Or. consider
ing each cord to contain eighty cubic
feet of solid wood with all the cracks
and air spaces taken out. these $4,000, 900
cords would make a block Of wood
more than a quarter Of a mile on each
edge.
Perhaps one-half Of this so-called
waste product is not strictly speaking
wasted, but serves a useful purpose
as fuel under the boilers. Much Of the
remaining 100000 cords not only
serves no useful purpose. but in most
cases is source Of inconvenience and
danger, and costs the mill time and
money.
Sawmill waste is disposed Of in vari-
Gus ways. Some goes to the local fuel
market. some to pulp mills or to wood
distillation plants. Shavings and log
cuttings, as well as other mill waste.
are sometimes used to fill low places in
the yard. However, the most common
method Of getting rid Of waste is by
burning either in f1repit having an
open fire which sometimes has a pro-
tecting wall on the side toward the
mill, or in a burner inclosed on all sides
and having a spark -arresting screen
at the top and fire CRATE near the bot
TOM In both cases some kind of con-
veyer is necessary to bear the waste
from the mill to the fire. This Is usu-
ally a sort of trough with a metal bot
tom along which a slowly moving chain
or cable, equipped with cleats or buck
cts, carries the waste to the fire.
A closed burner and conveSor costs
about $4,000 for a mill Of 100000 feet
daily capacity. Forty per cent Of the
larger mills, cutting more than 5000
board feet daily, are equipped with
closed burners. Forty-five per cent
have fire pits The remainder have
neither, and dispose Of their waste in
some other way.
1t is estimated that for mill Of 100
900 feet capacity. the cost Of conveying
the waste from the machine where it
is made, and destroying 1t in a closed
burner, is AZ cents cord, or $10.05 a
day. Burners seldom bring in any
revenue, although in a few cases ashes
are sold for fertilizer, and in number
Of others the burner furnishes hot feed
water for the boilers.
Both burners and fire pits add to the
insurance rates on lumber, and in the
case Of the pit on the mill itself. In or
der to reduce the fire hazard to zero. in
the case Of the burners, it Is necessary
to keep all lumber piles at least Is feet
away from the burner. The matter is
much worse in the case of pits. especi-
ally the open ones, which must be kept
800 feet away from the mill and 500
feet away from the lumber piles. When
nearer than these distances from the
mill and yard respectively. the insur-
ance rates mount up rapidly with clos
er proximity, until they become prac-
tically prohibitive when the fire pit Is
nearer than 100 feet.
No we'll managed mill would produce
waste if it could be avoided. This, how
ever, is not possible, SO the next best
thing is to seek out some method of
utilization Of the waste SO it will pay
for it's disposition. The forest service
is working on this problem, but has not
yet found satisfactory solution.