FiberPro modernized Hood Industries' Gen 2 27-saw fixed line-shaft log trimmer system — originally installed in 1999 with transverse scanning — replacing it with a Gen 7 sliding infinite-trim 5-saw log trimmer system. The new system integrates lineal bark-off 3D scanning and lidar fiber indexing to maximize value recovery, reduce the maintenance downtime inherent in the old 27-saw configuration, and increase overall throughput.

Hood Industries needed to modernize their aging log merchandising line to remain competitive. Their bucking process relied on 25-year-old technology that was cutting edge at the time — FiberPro's Josh Krauss was heavily involved in the design, purchase, and start-up of the Gen 2 log trimmer while employed by Hi-Tech Engineering — however, technology has evolved and the mill required a new system to keep pace. Beyond the saw system itself, the mill needed advanced log handling solutions to minimize fiber breakage on the outflow of the log trimmer system.

We replaced the Hi-Tech/PSI Gen 2 system with the evolved Gen 7 platform. The new system utilizes traveling saw carriages with infinite trimming capacity to fully exploit state-of-the-art 3D lineal scanning technology — a solution far superior to the older system in both recovery and reduced maintenance.

To address fiber breakage on the outflow, we implemented a wide outfeed belt conveyor to minimize cut-log jams and fully plated log pocket pushers to receive lineal-transferred batch logs. Gravity gently collects the logs in a concrete-filled engineered log pocket, which then lifts and meters them straight and safely to the log sorting infeed deck — eliminating the jams and misalignments the original system was prone to.

Our new system utilizes the Strenx step feeder and multiple pocket pushers to ensure logs are sorted, handled, and indexed to both primary breakdown infeed systems — delivering the safety and reliability the mill needs to perform at full capacity.