Shelton mill unleashes rrew DF fencing

A PACIFIC Northwesr manufacla.turer has turned the dogs loose to market its new Douglas fir fencing line.

Mason County Forest Products, Shelton, Wa., has enlisted a green Great Dane, red corgi, and purple and yellow terrier to promote its new Woodruff fencing line, designed as a mid-priced option next to western red cedar.

The cartoon canines-Woodruff, Rusty and Mick-are the attentionfetching stars of ads, direct mail, and other promotional materials from Mason County's distribution arm,

Lumber Country, Portland, Or. Mason County began producing Woodruff fencing in January, but its birthing dates back to the previous spring, to a conversation between Denny Reinwald, product manager for Lumber Country, and Randy Cook, an old friend who owns and operates Sunburst Construction, Salem, Or. Cook mentioned a Douglas fir fence, discovered during a remodeling project, still standing strong after 53 years of wind, drizzle, sun, rain and more drizzle. Reinwald checked it out and discovered the treasure did indeed exist. in sood condition, even though most of its white paint had turned a mossy green or faded to a dirty gray. Checking and chipping left much of the rest of the surface unprotected, which caused it to turn black. The fence was steam cleaned, allowed to dry, and repainted white-and looks as good as new today. Reinwald took his findings to Fred Sutton, general sales manager of Lumber Country, and Dave Ramsey, sales manager for Mason County. Feasibility research on manufacturing Douglas fir fencing began.

Working from information gathered from documented reports from the Western Wood Products Association and the Forest Products Laboratory, Ramsey learned that "Douglas fir is unique among all softwood species in that it is naturally dimensionally stable, with the ability to season well in position, and it is as good as or better than western red cedar in fencing component applications."

Ramsey realized that his challenge in reintroducing Douglas fir as a viable fencing choice was relieving consumer concerns over shrinkage, warpage, longevity, color, quality and consistency. He decided the product had to have two good faces without holes and be wane free. Ramsey wanted to minimize installation concerns for the professional fence builder as well as the fussy home builder.

Ramsey and Sutton also decided to produce a matching fence rail to offer a complete coordinating "Good Neighbor" fence panel system. To take the new/old Douelas fir fence components to the market, an existing stud mill had to be reconfigured to add speed while assuring quality and consistency.

With input from Mason County mill managers Wayne Burton and Greg Duncan, a picture-perfect manufacturing system was hammered together complete with computer screens, controls, laser beams, saws and a high-speed planer to produce a 2 million bd. ft. combination of lx6 boards and 2x4 matching rails. The mill currently runs one shift to fit today's demand level on a monthly basis.

One of the goals of the system was to match production with demand at the lowest possible cost. Since manufacturing through-put speed is essential to keeping costs down, Mason County's system can be geared up to provide for processing levels that could exceed l2 million bd. ft. of components monthly. Logs are purchased with an eye toward recovery to fence components and are sorted and cut for maximum utilization, allowing for a good two-faced product.

The plastic transfer chain signals the end of iron stain on green lumber as it moves to the steam dry kilns to increase stability and minimize shrinking and warping. Mold spores are eliminated with 180" kiln temper- atures. Kiln dried fence components also accrue a savings on transportation costs. In line moisture meters assure a consistent l87o dryness quotient prior to trimming and staining.

MCX Seal/Rite end-seal is applied to the ends of each board to reduce end checking and splitting. The cedartoned staining process includes an environmentally approved mold inhibitor. which ensures a fresh-looking product at the time of delivery.

And the Woodruff logo-a green dog resting on a cedar-toned fence panel-appears on each paperwrapped unit.

In addition to the promotional "fun stuff," Fred's marketing plan calls for just-in-time shipment to several major fence markets. Woodruff is initially being distributed by Lumber Country, shipping rail cars from the mill site to transfer centers in six locations: Shelton; Denver, Co.; Riverside, Ca.; Houston and Ft. Worth, Tx., and Chicago, Il. Additional centers will be added based on market demand.

All Woodruff fence components are backed by Lumber Country's Saw-Tek certified warranty, guaranteeing that each component will perform as intended by the buyer in constructing a fence panel.

The promotional package includes retail point-of-purchase materials, such as in-store banners, customer hand-outs, a fence panel counter display, and Leader of the Pack hats and T-shirts. The old-fashioned promotional campaign is designed to introduce an old standard to a new breed of customer.

TITHERMALLY modified wood is I the latest entry in the U.S. decking marketplace. Unlike recently introduced alternatives, the product is real wood that is treated with heat or steam-but no chemicals or other additives.

"This industry has heard a lot of promises through the years: promises of a wood product that would truly be a viable alternative to composites and treated materials," said Ron Long, president and c.e.o. of Bay Tree Technologies, Memphis, Tn. "We're proud to introduce a safe, natural alternative with proven technology behind it."

The thermal modification process was developed in Finland and has been used extensively in Europe since the mid-1990s. Using specially designed kilns, the wood is heated at high temperatures that reportedly improve dimensional stability, chemically transforrn sugars in the wood so they can't be digested by insects or decay organisms, and produce uniform coloration. The result, say proponents, is natural wood that lasts longer and performs better.

Bay Tree is one of three companies that were formed to offer the product in the U.S. The other two are Cambia by Greenleaf. which operates in Kingston, N.H., and Westwood Timber Group, King of Prussia, Pa.

B ay Tree's entry is called PureWood and includes two profiles: traditional-style Sahara and Eurostyle Linea. Both are produced from