Comparative Economics of Manufacturing Composition Boards from Dead Timber

Previously it was found that dead trees of western white pine and lodgepole pine, while normally unsuitable for use in plywood and with limited suitability for lumber, constitute an important potential resource for such wood construction materials as dry-process composition boards. It is estimated that 6.3 billion ft.3 of saleable dead timber is available on northern inter-mountain commercial forests. Much more raw material is available from non-saleable trees which can be used for composition board products. It had been demonstrated that, even after standing dead many years, the wood of such trees changed very little from that of live trees in characteristics important to composition board manufacture. Based on practical experiences, it appears that equipment modifications for composition board plants using the dead tree resource would not be major when compared to plants operating conventionally. Starting with roundwood delivered to the plant, particle preparation equipment would be roughly the same. The probable greater difficulty in preparing furnish from dead trees would be balanced to a degree by lower drying costs due to the lower moisture content of dead tree furnish. In particleboard plants receiving dry shavings for furnish, such a cost advantage would not exist. More of the deadwood entering a plant could be expected to be used as fuel because of its lower quality when compared to greenwood. A good supply of such raw material for energy would be expected to be an advantage when using dead trees. Changes in prices of expensive chemical additives would have the same cost effect on boards made from either raw material source. Other types of composition boards had similar unit manufacturing costs, no matter which type of wood raw material was used. There were economies of scale as expected when more than one size plant was analyzed; however, comparable unit costs remained about the same.

You must be logged in to download any documents. Please login (login accounts are free) or learn how to Become a Member