Technical changes that solved the southern pine lumber industry’s small-log problem

The major technical changes the southern pine lumber industry made at mid-20th century may have been crucial to its survival. The primary cause of the industry’s problem was the small size of available saw-logs ? one of the most costly components of lumber production ? after the old-growth timber had been depleted. The emergence of a market for clean pulp chips made possible the merchandizing of much of the large volume of sawmill residues produced when small logs were converted into lumber. Log debarkers in combination with slab and edging chippers enabled mills to recover an additional product of value from each log in the form of pulp chips. The introduction of high-speed chipping headrigs into mills where logs were being debarked reduced the cost of sawing small logs. These technical changes also altered the structure of the industry.

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