Southport Wood Products' green end lumber handling system was due for a full modernization. FiberPro replaced an early-2000s single unscrambler–to–trimmer infeed with a modern dual unscrambler system featuring dual speed-up conveyors that meter mixed-product lumber down to a single layer before presentation to the existing boardfeeder.

The upgrade significantly reduced operator handling requirements and improved trimmer line performance and recovery — delivering a markedly higher percentage of even-ended product than the outgoing system.

Southport needed to modernize their green end lumber handling system to match the investments they had already made throughout the mill in order to stay competitive. Their existing handling system was standard 25-year-old technology — never designed to handle the volume growth the mill had experienced — and it could no longer reliably feed the green end trimming system.

One of the most significant obstacles was space. The distance between the primary breakdowns and the existing boardfeeder was not ideal, creating tight physical constraints on any replacement design. Working closely with the mill team, our engineers developed a solution that fit the available footprint and still met the mill's production requirements.

We replaced the older single tall unscrambler system with our dual unscrambler breakdown system. The new system utilizes dual unscramblers with 16 lines of chain for full-width coverage, multiple lines of speed-up chains to handle the short, curved sawn lumber the mill produces, and longer screw rolls to ensure lumber is even-ended prior to lug loading.

Despite the constrained footprint, the new system matched the existing trimmer line elevation — maintaining the compact layout while dramatically improving capability. The combination of accurate lumber breakdown, dual waterfall and speed-up chains, and longer screw rolls increased production, greatly reduced dual-layer feeding, and greatly reduced operator input compared to the previous system.