West Virginia University Appalachian Hardwood Center Research Program

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West Virginia UniversityAppalachian Hardwood
CenterResearch Program

•   Shawn T. Grushecky
• Railway Tie Association
• 90th Annual Conference

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What is the AHC?

• The Appalachian Hardwood Center was established
  in 1987 by the West Virginia Legislature to
  provide technical and research support for the
  states growing wood products industry
• The AHC is a center of excellence for
• Outreach
• Extension and technology transfer
• Professional development
• Applied research

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Presentation summary

• Merchandising pulpwood in WV
• Sawmill Assistance Program
• Transportation and wood basket analysis of WV
  sawmills

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Merchandising pulpwood
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Merchandising pulpwood - background

• large amount of logging residues remain after
  harvest
• conducted two investigations to determine volumes
  and piece size distributions of logging residues

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Results

• 5796 pieces of residue were measured
• Yellow-poplar most prevalent, followed by red and
  white oak
• Average diameter at intersection 7.3
• Average large and small end diameter 9.2 and
  4.9
• Average length 20.4

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Results by county

• On average, 10.4 tons/acre of logging residue
  remained after harvest in WV in 2001.
• Oak species average over 5 tons/acre
• Represents 2.4 million tons statewide, over 1.2
  million tons of Oak pulpwood
• Over 80 of residues met pulpwood specifications!

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Challenge

• Large quantity of under-utilized roundwood
  remaining after harvest in West Virginia
• Investigate new technologies and merchandising
  ideas for making better use of these residues
• Can we use more oak in Oriented Strandboard?
• Can we merchandise pulpwood in West Virginia to
  produce economical levels of hardwood lumber?

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Investigate lumber yields and economic
feasibility of merchandising pulpwood

• Residues dont pay their way out of the woods.
  
• Sawlog-sized material is sold to pulp markets.
• Goal is to increase utilization and monetary
  return of pulpwood through intensive
  merchandizing.

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Pulpwood procurement

• To date, we have procured 15 truckloads of
  pulpwood
• Pulpwood was purchased at market-price.

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Merchandising

• Pulpwood was merchandised and pieces of sawlog
  size were characterized as follows
• Large and small end diameter
• Defect information (size and number)
• End conditions (double heart, shake, checks,
  splits)
• Crook and sweep
• Weight
• Large and small end diameters, length, and weight
  were recorded on pieces remaining after sawlogs
  were merchandised. All pieces were enumerated so
  all products could be tied back to the original
  stem.

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Tracking lumber

• Used continuous mill study methodology to track
  enumerated logs through participating sawmills
• Logs were sawn and individual products marked
• Grade and scale of products produced was recorded
  for each log
• Developed measures of lumber recovery and grade
  yield from sawmill data

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Results

• Results from 416 pieces of mixed-species pulpwood
  with a total weight of 188,935 lbs (94 Tons).
• 86,796 lbs (43.4 Tons) of sawlogs were produced
  leaving 102,139 lbs (51 Tons) of roundwood.
• On average 1.7 ( 0.78) products were
  merchandized from each pulpwood piece
• Seventy-two percent (73,211 lbs) of the pulpwood
  remaining after merchandizing sawlogs met
  pulpwood specifications
• Thus 46 of the total weight was merchandized as
  sawlogs, 39 remained pulpwood, and the
  remaining 15 was considered firewood.
• For every 1 lb of sawlogs sawn we were left with
  0.84 lbs useable pulpwood.

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Results log characteristics
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Results returns on sawlogs
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Results - returns on sawlogs and pulp
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Results returns on sawlogs and pulp
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Results returns over time
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Sawmill Assistance Program
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Primary question to mill

• Is this log adding to or detracting from my
  bottom line?
• Do I saw it or do I sell it? How many other
  industries do things that they know doesnt
  generate required returns?
• Need to evaluate the log quickly, efficiently,
  and dynamically to make the most from it.

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How do sawmills grade?
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Red Oak Lumber Grade Yields For No. 1 Grade Logs
An Example
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Mill Grade Relationship to Revenue
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Sawmill Assistance Program

• Program helps sawmill owners understand the
  relationship between log characteristics and cost
  to overall sawmill profitability
• Allows industry to benchmark their production
  versus their competitors to help identify
  deficiencies

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Log Characteristics and Lumber Yield

• Species, Scaling Diameter, Length, Weight, Clear
  Sides, defects, Position in Tree, End Condition,
  Scaling Defects
• Enumerate and track individual boards through
  mill
• Record sawing time, product volumes and grades

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Putting it together

• Each log is analyzed based on WVU log
  characteristics and mill log grades
• Cooperators receive an analysis of their logs
  based on their established log grades and their
  scale
• Project personnel available for assistance in
  implementing ongoing data collection and
  troubleshooting solutions to any existing
  problems
• Have graded gt3000 logs, tracked gt28,000 boards,
  and made 36 mill visits in 4 states

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Reports/Tools original approach
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Sawing Logs on the Internet

• Developed web-based yield program
• Focused on Lumber Grade Yields and the Impact on
  Profitability
• Allows industry to benchmark their production

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Selecting Logs and Reporting
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Report Log Characteristics
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Report Log Cost
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Report Yield Results
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Report Summary by Diameter
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Report Log Grade Summaries
please work
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West Virginia Forest Industry Transportation
Network
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Background

• Traditional proximity analysis is often used
  doesnt take terrain and road characteristics
  into account.
• Provides limited knowledge of true transportation
  networks for forest products.
• Very few flat and straight roadways as proximity
  analysis would suggest.
• Circuity factors often used ratio of road
  distance to straight line distance.

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Developing SSAs and TSAs

• Used a transportation network analysis to
  identify sawmill service areas (SSAs) for WV
  hardwood Sawmills
• Related SSAs to theoretical supply areas (TSAs)
  to understand resources available to WV sawmills

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Sawmill Service Area (SSA)

• Transportation network analysis using ESRI street
  network layer (Census TIGER data) with associated
  speed limits
• Also incorporated 584 bridge locations (barriers)
  with posted weight limits that do not meet
  requirements for typical log truck weight
  classes.

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Statewide SSAs
30-min drive time for each mill
Drive times for all sawmills
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Theoretical Supply Areas (TSA)

• Classified forest land in West Virginia into
  areas that were appropriate for commercial timber
  production.
• Created Analysis Mask to exclude public lands,
  urban areas, and open water.
• Assembled 10 resource layers to help identify
  areas and classify their potential for supplying
  WV sawmills.
• Analysis mask combined with resource layers
  formed basis of suitability analysis.
• Suitability analysis used to create TSA.

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Slope
Private Forest Lands
TE Species
Forest Patches
Proximity to Road
Sawtimber Vol.
Stewardship Plans
Growing Stock Vol.
Sawtimber/Growing Stock Ratio
Removals
Analysis Model
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TSA Results
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Sawmills Overlaid with TSA
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SSA and TSA for Individual Mills
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Results
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Looking at Individual Mill ResultsHigh TSA
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Summary

• The AHC conducts a diverse array of applied
  research projects related to the forest products
  industry
• AHC has developed a great industrial support for
  its research program
• For more information see
• http//www.ahc.caf.wvu.edu or Google AHC Wood