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(Left to Right): Ray, Derek and Damen Wheeland of Wheeland Lumber Co., located in Liberty, Pa.
Wheeland Lumber Co. Updates and Innovates

By Paul Miller Jr.

Liberty, Pennsylvania—Located on a 40-acre facility in the Appalachian Mountains, Wheeland Lumber Co. has come a long way in the hardwood production industry. A fourth generation family-owned and operated sawmill, the company is a manufacturer of lumber products, servicing the world markets and constantly growing with the demands of the wood industry. Lumber is produced in thicknesses, from 4/4 to 12/4, with nearly 30 percent of the company’s Cherry, Oak, Maple, Ash and Poplar being exported to more than 20 countries around the world.

A clear focus on secondary wood manufacturing and value-added marketing has kept the firm in the forefront of the world marketplace.

Located in the lumber-history rich mountains of North Central Pennsylvania, close to the Susquehanna River, the company produces more than 8 million board feet of hardwood lumber cut from some of the finest Cherry, Hard and Soft Maple, Ash and Oak logs in the world.

Along with shipping kiln-dried lumber, some specialized services include: Clear strips, S2S, gang ripping, straight line ripping, optimized cross cut, molding and millwork, edged and face-glued products and end matching.
“Our company continues to grow 10-fold,” President and CEO Ray Wheeland said. “I attribute much of our success to key personnel like my wife, Gina, vice president; my sons Derek Wheeland, who handles domestic and international sales as well as day-to-day operations, Damen Wheeland, who handles log and by-product sales; Bill Smith, lumber purchasing and yard manager; Bill Baker, domestic hardwood and dimension sales; Dave Andrews, yard manager; Tony Massaro, operations manager; and Gary Confair, log yard manager. Our procurement is handled by four foresters.”

Wheeland Lumber recently reinvested in new equipment and operations to ensure efficient, quality products. Derek Wheeland said 2013 has been a year of improvements and upgrades.

“We recently installed a new 62-inch McDonough Horizontal Resaw with the McDonough MAXX Infeed and Tipple Outfeed system. This system was designed to replace our existing 54-inch McDonough and PinheiroVertical Resaws.  With the new McDonough resaw system we went from running two resaws to operating and maintaining current production through one saw. After the operator chooses which face to saw and makes the thickness decision, the width scanning and PLC take over. At that point, the cants index automatically and the feed speeds through the saw change depending on cant size. We are achieving speeds up to 300fpm. We looked at various options when deciding on which direction to take. Our main objective was to eliminate personnel and reduce the amount of downtime or hang-ups associated with our vertical resaws. All of our cants are sized through our resaws, and without having a gang-edger, we are left with a thin shim that created many problems down stream.  With the Horizontal Resaw, the shim is left on top of the cant and then is automatically discharged into the waste conveyor.  

The company accommodates 3 million board feet of dried lumber.
 “Our Trim-line was another area we focused much of our attention too. After evaluating and speaking with Riley Smith at TS Manufacturing, we developed a solution that would eliminate two positions just by automating and improving material flow. First of all, we moved our existing HMC Drop-Saw Trimmer downstream an additional 50 feet and elevated it to over 10 feet high. This allowed the needed room to add the necessary equipment to feed material to a lug loader and then onto the sloped grading station at which point the boards are graded and read by the grade mark reader and the automatic fence positioning system positions the boards accordingly to the grader’s marks. The controls of this system are provided by Automation & Electronic (AE USA), based out of Ruston, LA.  We have had great success with the guys from Automation & Electronic as they did a complete upgrade to our Edger scanning in 2011.      

“In addition to our sawmill overhaul, later this year we will be upgrading our existing Headrig INOVEC 3-D scanning to the new YieldMaster G3 upgrade. The system that’s currently running is becoming outdated quickly, and spare parts either are not available or difficult to get.”

 Located in an area heavily affected by the Marcellus Shale, Derek said finding quality labor is challenging. “Personnel has been very difficult and in rural America, particularly difficult to find qualified individuals to run machinery. So by installing this new resaw, we’re able to reduce two employees. We’re also automating the trim saw by going to a grade mark reader where we’ll have one operator on our entire trim line, which will be the grader.”

With nine dry kilns, Wheeland Lumber has a total capacity of 500,000 board feet.
The company also upgraded the Inovec system on their headrig. “We upgraded the entire system,” Derek continued. “Replacing our older system and upgrading with new computers eliminated some of the problems we had with the Inovec cart.”

Wheeland Lumber also offers specialized services and secondary manufacturing, which continues to grow with the industry. The process starts with a fully computerized double-band headrig equipped with Inovec 3-D scanning and linear positioning. The company accommodates 3 million board feet of dried lumber with nine dry kilns at a total capacity of 500,000 board feet. Along with shipping kiln-dried lumber, some specialized services include: Clear strips, S2S, gang ripping, straight line ripping, optimized cross cut, molding and millwork, edged and face-glued products and end matching.

A 100-plus-mile procurement range centered in some of the best hardwood forests of the Appalachian chain gives the company access to the highest quality timber sources to be found, according to Ray Wheeland. The firm manufactures 2.5 million board feet through the secondary manufacturing facility, as well as purchasing kiln-dried items from valued suppliers.

Wheeland Lumber Co. employs 80 full-time employees and more than 25 sub-contractors. Many of the workforce at the facility have been with the company for years, through the growth that the company has encountered.

Located on a 40-acre facility in the Appalachian Mountains, Wheeland Lumber Co., Liberty, PA, produces 4/4 through 12/4 Cherry, Oak, Maple, Ash and Poplar.
Wheeland Lumber updates its machinery to stay current with the times, and one thing has stayed the same. The company’s commitment to providing its customers with the best products and customer service has not changed in the company’s history, nor will it change in the future, according to Ray.

“Hard work, honesty and determination are the values that motivate our employees and are the basis for our continued growth in the industry,” Ray said. “We have always believed that one needs a vision for the future, that change is a healthy motivation for growth, and the result of this outcome promotes a strong unity of people working together to accomplish a common goal. We take pride in our products and services and are experienced and dedicated to providing top quality forest and lumber products our customers can rely on.”

Wheeland Lumber Co. is a member of the National Hardwood Lumber Association, Hardwood Manufacturers Association, Penn-York Lumbermen’s Club, the Wood Products Manufacturing Association, The American Hardwood Export Council, the International Wood Products Association, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association.

For more information visit www.wheelandlumber.com.
A 100-plus-mile procurement range centered in some of the best hardwood forests of the Appalachian chain gives the company access to the highest quality timber sources to be found, according to Ray Wheeland.











Located in the lumber-history rich mountains of North Central Pennsylvania, close to the Susquehanna River, the company produces more than 8 million board feet of hardwood lumber cut from some of the finest Cherry, Hard and Soft Maple, Ash and Oak logs in the world.











Quality lumber begins with Wheeland’s fully computerized double-cut band headrig equipped with USNR 3-D scanning and linear positioning.










The company also focused on its trim line by developing a solution that would eliminate two positions by automating and improving material flow.













Wheeland Lumber recently installed a 62-inch McDonough horizontal resaw with McDonough MAXX Infeed and Tipple Outfeed system.

 
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