Lumber Unloading Facilities

The Red Lion Cabinet Company, Red Lion, Pennsylvania, which handles up to 200,000 board feet of green hardwood lumber per week, has installed an improved railroad unloading system. The unloading dock has space for two freight cars. When one is empty, the unloading conveyor can be moved to the second space in 10 minutes. A worker in the car places the end of each plank on a mechanized roller conveyor and then steers it lengthwise until it is taken onto a continuous belt conveyor. As the plank is moved by the belt, it trips a limit switch which activates a hydraulic pusher operation, pushing the plank onto the grading table. The table, with a chain-drag conveyor, moves the board the entire length of the building, past the inspection station. To speed up inspection, each board is automatically turned over as it passes the inspector. Lumber tally records are accumulated on an electric calculator and quickly summed as each car is unloaded. The tally is invaluable for usage checks in the plant and for invoice checks. After passing the inspector, the plank is moved to a transfer truck by two men. The truck is lowered hydraulically so that no lifting is required. Fixed metal guides assure proper spacing of the piling strips between layers of lumber. The company has reduced lumber unloading costs by 20 percent using this system. Definite spacing of piling strips has reduced twisting of lumber, employee moral has been raised by eliminating most of the heavy labor, and freight demurrage costs have been reduced.

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