Western hardwood firm's Midwest backup

By Gage McKinney Contibuting Editor

Ir O BETTER serve its West Coast I customers MacBeath Hardwood Co., San Francisco, Ca., operates a 20-acre concentration yard not in the Westbut in Indiana.

The Edinburgh, In., facility puts MacBeath in the heart of one of the major hardwood producing regions in the country. Situated about 35 miles south of Indianapolis, the location has enabled the company to expand its supplier base, especially among smaller sawmills.

According to the MacBeath staff the small production mills within a 200 mile radius of Edinburgh are among the finest in the country. Since many of these mills don't have dry kilns and sell only green lumber, few West Coast distributors can buy their quality hardwoods. (The weight of green lumber makes shipping it to the West prohibitive). But the Edinburgh facility puts the firm in a position to buy from these small producers and still ship their hardwoods West economically.

Truck loads of green lumber arrive daily at Edinburgh. The lumber is graded on the green chain, sorted and stuck for air drying, and eventually dried in one of the five conventional kilns. As a result of a recent addition, the kilns have a capacity of 300,000 feet. The dried lumber is stored in sheds that cover more than five acres.

Each month MacBeath ships about 500,000 board feet of hardwood from Edinburgh to its customers throughout the country and to its own distribution yards in the West. About half of it was purchased Breen from these small sawmills and dried and processed at Edinburgh. The balance was purchased from large production sawmills in nearby states and routed through Edinburgh for processing.

At Edinburgh inventory includes red and white oak, cherry and soft maple in thicknesses from 4/4 through l2/4. Walnut, poplar, basswood and hard maple are stocked through 16/4. Other species include birch, hickory, sycamore, beech and sassafras. Most species are inventoried in grades from first and seconds (FAS) to No. 2 common.

The Midwest facility provides the firm other advantages. A complete milling operation, including a 36" Oliver Straitoplane, straight-line rip, resaw and moulder, allows the company to ship its lumber either partially or fully milled, which reduces freight costs. Lumber machined to dimension or into mouldings is also shipped from Edinburgh.

The new facility puts MacBeath in a position to select the highest grades of hardwood for the many distribution yard customers the firm serves from coast to coast, and for its own distribution yards. It is able to ship mixed carloads or containers of hardwoods from Edinburgh to yards as well as straight cars to furniture plants or other manufacturers.

As well as receiving shipments from Edinburgh, its yards receive shipments from Lake States, Appalachian and Southern suppliers, and from overseas, to make up their complete inventories of hardwood products. The firm has distribution yards in Salt Lake City, Ut., San Francisco, Montebello (Los Ange- les) and Berkeley, Ca.

"Our Indiana facility has helfed our West Coast yards operate more efficiently, and it gives them a larger selection of stock," said company president Joe Cortese. He said that the San Francisco yard can receive containers by rail in as few as three working days. And because MacBeath controls the loading of the containers, he said, on arrival the unloading is quick and easy.

Managed by Loren Cantrell, a veteran hardwood lumberman with 40 years experience, the Edinburgh facility employs 35 people. David Wilbur and Carter Rothrock assist Cantrell in the daily management and sales, while Jane Hirt handles local sales. Three certifred hardwood lumber inspectors work.in the yard.

The Edinburgh facility was formerly the Amos Thompson Co., manufacturers of hardwood lumber and veneer. "We concentrate lumber herewe're no longer producers," said Cantrell, who was sales manager for the old firm. He said the yard is currently operating near capacity.

MacBeath Hardwood was founded by the late K. E. MacBeath in Berkeley in 1955. In 196l the firm purchased David Hardwood, San Francisco, and in 1964 opened a third yard in Salt Lake City. The firm expanded to Los Angeles in 1976 when it purchased Brush Industrial Lumber Co. K. E. MacBeath, with more than 60 years in the hardwood industry, served as chairman of the board until his death on Sept. 8. (See Obituaries on p. 86) General offices are in San Francisco.

Story at a Glance

Western hardwood wholesaler uses a Midwest concentration yard for better buying and distribution...500,(Xn b.f. ship ped permonth green lumber is graded, air dried and eventually kiln dried.