The Log Trimmer — 7th-Generation Merchandiser Systems

The Log Trimmer Systems are now into the 7th generation of design evolution, with over 28 years of constant development — no other OEM has our complete cross-decade, multi-customer experience. Simplicity is the key to reliability: our systems are built on the principle that simple, robustly engineered systems produce satisfied customers. The 6-Arm Rotary Positioner, coupled with traveling carriages positively locked to the large center round-way, delivers safety, speed, and reliability. Our merchandising systems handle up to 15 stems per minute, producing 34 cut logs per minute when paired with an ultra-high-speed ring debarker.

Log Bucking & Merchandiser Systems

Our latest-generation Log Trimmer is the production core of a complete log merchandising system, engineered to serve mills of varying scale. Customers who have run it for years will tell you the current-generation platform delivers precise multi-cut geometry and reliability, through a solid machined guideway design that avoids the binding and wear that demand constant maintenance on older trimmer designs. Stems are handled in the most efficient way possible, with the highest recovery in the industry.

• System throughput scales with a mill's production rate and debarker technology, rather than requiring system replacement when the mill grows or debarking technology advances
• Precision guideways with molecular linear bearings: redesigned from the prior generation's ball/roller bearings and T-guide bars to simplify the process and resist pitch and dust contamination
• Multi-cut design allows simultaneous or sequential saw positioning across the stem for maximum value recovery per stem cycle
• Upstream singulation and handling are matched to the log trimmer to maintain optimizer feed rate; singulator or feeder configuration is set per mill layout
• Safety systems engineered in at the saw level, including a balanced-up design, saw module travel braking and integrated dual guarding

Log & Stem Singulation Systems

We offer many different log feeding systems based on the needs of each application. If you need precise gapping, the screw/cam feeder delivers a guaranteed, consistent 4–6″ gap to your primary breakdown line. If the gap is not critical, our Strenx® Stepfeeder system is the answer. If you need a simple feeder, the clockwork or stop-n-load is the ticket. All our feeders are electric-driven via flux-vector motors for reliability and performance.

Stem Feeders

Our stem feeders deliver the exact, repeatable single-stem feed reliability that high-speed mills demand. We offer them as a clockwork stem feeder or a step feeder design, based on the mill's needs.

• Singulator systems with feedback control that holds feed velocity steady across load variation
• Heavy-duty shaft and bearing assemblies built for continuous multi-shift operation, with automatic lubrication systems available
• Adjustable feed timing via encoded drive parameters
• Drive isolation shock coupling protects the gearbox from stem impact loads
• Counter-balance geometry maintains consistent drive power across a range of stem sizes
• Compatible with major optimizer scanner platforms, with encoder output available for synchronization
• Every mill runs a different mix of stems — contact us to talk through your application

Screw Feeder / Cam Feeder

Our screw feeders use an auger-helical contact surface to advance and singulate logs from a deck into single file, indexing them to our cam feeder for applications that need an accurate log gap. The screw geometry creates a positive mechanical grip on the bottom log and even-ends it as it feeds up the singulator, so every log leaves from a reliable point, reducing the log gap going to the primary breakdown system. For additional indexing and more precise gapping when feeding a primary breakdown machine center directly, our cam feeder pre-positions each log and accelerates it to the same speed as the primary conveyor's lineal infeed. Coupled with a screw singulator, the cam feeder can feed logs and hold a target gap of ±6″. Our cam feeder is protected by U.S. Patent No. 11,465,857 B2.

• Precision-fabricated rolls that are easily replaceable
• Heavy-duty serpentine drive system with an automatic single-point oiling system and a fully automatic airbag chain take-up system
• Fully adjustable rolls to reset timing and adjust for chain stretch
• Large 6.75″-diameter bearings on each roll assembly
• Our cam feeder log indexing configuration is available as an addition for operations requiring tighter cycle-time control
• The cam feeder uses the same heavy-duty serpentine drive system, oiling system and 6.75″-diameter bearings
• Reach out with your fiber flow layout and we'll help spec the right singulator for your gap feeding needs

Step Feeder

Our step feeders advance logs from the deck pile using a staged-step mechanism that lifts and transfers individual logs one step at a time toward the outfeed conveyor system. The step geometry separates logs mechanically at each stage, preventing the pile-rush and overlap conditions that cause jams and mis-feeds at the conveyor infeed. Step feeders are particularly effective where the feeding gap isn't critical and singulation and feeding are needed with little to no fiber presentation issues. Our step feeders use SSAB Strenx® steel for superior strength and wear resistance, and our Strenx Stepfeeder is patent pending.

• Patent-pending design
• Staged-step mechanism provides positive mechanical log separation at each transfer stage; no sensors required for basic singulation
• Step timing is adjustable so feed rate matches downstream conveyor speed demands
• Heavy-duty SSAB Strenx steel step shelves and wear-surface plates
• 12″-diameter pivot tube with 6.75″-diameter roller bearings
• 6.75″-diameter hardened cam rollers/followers
• Log feeding needs vary from mill to mill and application to application — contact us to talk through yours

Gen 2 Fully Plated Log Pusher Systems

We offer the Gen 2 fully plated log pusher system. Log pushers were developed about 25 years ago to solve a specific problem: discharging logs flowing linearly onto a transverse log deck without damaging the deck from dropped or pitched logs, and without creating skewed logs that present a safety hazard. This new generation is fully plated, self-cleaning, and balanced — but the key is that it places logs on the deck without rolling them down a ramped transition, keeping logs straight and setting them down gently. All our pusher feeders are electric-driven via flux-vector motors for reliability and performance.

Quad Style Log Pushers

Our Quad Style Log Pushers catch, gravity-align and meter logs onto a log deck using an extra-heavy-duty, fully plated lifting shelf assembly and a balanced electric drive system. The unit has become almost a requirement for high-production mills looking to improve safety and reduce downtime by eliminating skewed logs where lineal and transverse fiber flows meet. This is the second generation of these feeders we've designed in the past 25 years, and the current design has become the industry standard.

• Fully plated lift shelf geometry spans the log length, preventing rotation and skew when feeding log decks
• Multi-log lift design feeds up to 45 logs per minute with lower cycle times
• Our design places each log accurately on the deck instead of letting it roll down onto the deck, which can cause skew
• Extra-heavy-duty electric drive systems
• Built for high-cycle duty in two- and three-shift softwood and hardwood production facilities
• Every layout is different — contact us so we can spec a quad pusher for your mill

Log Handling Systems — Kickers, Transfers & Scan Chains

We offer the Gen 3 fully modular electric pinball log/stem kickers, along with a range of log transfers that include a V-flight stabilization chain. Here again, simplicity translates to reliability and longevity. Both the kickers and the scan chains have been through years of design changes that reflect decades of accumulated field experience.

E-Sweep Kickers

Stem and log kickers live a hard life, and our E-Sweep Kickers are designed for exactly that. They're overbuilt, with oversized components and a shock-absorbing drive system, so a log jam or a missed kicker timing doesn't harm the kicker. Things happen, and we understand that. Ask any of our customers who run FiberPro kickers: they'll tell you nothing else in the industry matches them for design and reliability.

• Designed for stems and logs with sweep, bow or butt flare that would jam or hang on normal kicker designs
• Powered electric actuation, with kick timing synchronized to conveyor speed and fiber gap allowance
• Kick arm geometry clears the stem or log to the new path without conveyor stoppage; the conveyor runs continuously
• The complete kicker is mounted on a common plate, allowing fully position-adjustable mounting to the conveyor system and easy adjustment when conveyor irregularities form over time or belts curl
• Heavy-duty tubular steel arm construction built for continuous contact with green hardwood and softwood stems
• Contact us with your log profile and layout so we can spec the right configuration

Rotary Log Kickers

Our Rotary Log Kickers transfer individual logs from a lineal transfer conveyor to another conveyor, using a rotating arm mechanism that carries the log through the transfer arc and deposits it on the receiving conveyor. Unlike pinball or dish kickers, the rotary kicker can be bidirectional, so one kicker can kick in two separate directions.

• Heavy-duty design with a large torque tube for reliable service
• Direct encoded drive system with built-in shock absorption
• PVM bearings for high impact and low maintenance
• 2-arm to 4-arm configurations, depending on speed and design
• Reach out with your fiber flow layout and we'll help spec the right kicker

V-Flight Scanning Conveyor System

Our V-flight scanning conveyors position individual stems in the V-flight formed between opposing chain lugs, centering the log laterally and holding it square to the chain travel direction as it passes through the optimizer scanner window. The V-flight geometry replaces the flat-lug designs that allow stem roll and lateral wander — two of the most common causes of optimizer scan-miss events that reduce value recovery and increase miscut rates at the log trimmer.

• V-flight geometry centers the stem and eliminates lateral wander through the scanner window — compatible with all major laser scanner platforms
• Log registration accuracy maintained without mechanical adjustment to the chain
• Heavy-duty chain pin and sidebar construction built for continuous operation
• Chain speed matched to optimizer scan rate for scan-speed adjustability
• Replaceable V-flight wear bar in 10′ sections
• Chain length and transfer geometry custom-engineered to the scanner platform and infeed layout
• Contact us with your scanner platform and layout and we'll help spec the scanning conveyor

Roundwood Drum Debarking Systems

Our engineering team has vast experience in the roundwood debarking sector across every industry that relies on the technology — OSB, chip mills, lumber, pellet, and pulp all use it to efficiently debark fiber for standing, chipping, or sawing. Our team has designed over 100 debarking systems over the past 25 years across this spectrum of industries. Every application has its own production requirements, but the goal across all of them is the same: optimize debarking efficiency while limiting fiber damage and fiber loss to maximize yield. Efficiently handling the roundwood through the system — and feeding the primary resizing disc or ring with an engineered, metered flow — returns the highest production per dollar invested. Fiber optimization, second only to safety, is every mill's highest priority: fiber is their largest expense and the source of their largest ROI.

Drum Debarking & Roundwood Handling Systems

Our drum debarkers handle most lengths of roundwood. Rubber-tire and steel-wheel supported configurations are both available, selected based on species mix, production, service life and maintenance preference. Bent-lifter or segmented-bar lifter geometry is standard across the product line — a design choice that measurably reduces fiber loss compared to the angle-iron lifter designs common in commodity-built drums.

• Drum dimensions specified to match each mill's production target
• Two support configurations: rubber-tire supported (lower cost) and steel-wheel supported (higher cost)
• Modern lifter geometry standard: reduces lifter on-wood abrasion and lowers fiber loss
• Heavy-duty chain drive with a direct-coupled reducer is our preferred drive design, but we also offer tire drive systems
• Infeed deck and outfeed transfer chain options integrated at the factory for single-source responsibility on roundwood handling

Downstream Lumber Handling

Our lumber equipment line covers the downstream side of the sawmill: the infeed decks, breakdown unscramblers, even-ending rolls, lumber trimmer applications, transfer systems and handling solutions that move green and dry lumber from the secondary breakdown machine centers and the kiln outfeed to the stacker and package maker. Built for high-cycle demand in softwood and hardwood operations alike, these machines are fabricated to hold up under the throughput loads commodity mills require, without the maintenance downtime that eats into shift utilization, mill resources and cost.

• Infeed and outfeed lumber handling systems sized to a mill's production profile
• Easily replaceable wear components on every assembly, serviceable in the field, with engineered shock-absorbing power transmission that lets the equipment keep performing when overloaded while protecting key components such as reducers and drive shafts
• Maintenance accessibility and reliability are at our core. Our focus isn't recurring revenue or excuses: our equipment is overbuilt and overdesigned to perform without issue, every shift
• Drive systems selected to match each installation's needs
• Compatible with major optimizer and scanning platforms for direct system integration
• Contact us to discuss which lumber handling equipment fits your needs