Smoller Side-Looding Kilns Prove Big Cqpocities Attoinoble

Over 1,250,000 board feet of Douglas Fir, Hemlock, Western Red Cedar and Port Orford Cedar studs are being seasoned in three 42'x30' Moore Cross-Circulation kilns at Round Prairie Lumber Company, Dillard, Oregon, according to Ralph Sandstede, sales manager and plant superintendent.

The three kilns are of the side-loading type, each with a holding capacity of 50,000 board feet of lumber.

"No doubt we could even increase this present capacity by going to more severe drying schedules," Sandstede said, "but the absence of even slight hair-line checks in the grade indicates the drying schedule we are now using is a sales advantage in this competitive business."

Gene Krewson is general manager of Round Prairie Lumber Company.

Explaining that space was at a premium when the kilns were installed, Sandstede pointed out that the kilns, together with housing for the automatically operated boiler, were easily installed in a line along a steep hillside. Fork lifts are used to place lumber packages through large size door openings directly into the kiln rooms.

"We have found from experience that having three kilns is an advantage to allow us to easily accumulate a kiln charge of one species so the lumber can be dried using a temperature and humidity schedule designed for that particular item," Sandstede added. "At Round Prairie. we place quality over quantity."

Each of the three Cross-Circulation kilns is equipped with separate controls for completely automatic operation with temperature and l-rumidity being continuously controlled and recorded. Automatic electrical starting equipment reverses air circulation periodically to send high velocity air circulating across 16 feet of lumber width, where it is then reheated to obtain uniform drying conditions. The ultimate result of this operation. is uniform final moisture content through the complete charge.

No fireman is required to be in attendance at the modern kilns, which are steam heated at 15 pounds pressure. A Cleaver-Brooks package oil-fired boiler, equipped with a burner designed for the most economical fuelheavy weight oil-supplies the steam at oil costs of less than one dollar per thousand board feet of lumber.

Reflecting on the advantages which the kilns offer his company, Sandstede states : "We are now equipped to furnish our customers with uniformly dried studs, either to moisture content specifications of standard grading rules, or to their own moisture content specifications to meet the end use of their product."

Round Prairie Lumber Company was one of the first to steel-strap studs in packages to allow loading and unloading of boxcars by mechanical equipment.

All kiln equipment and structural steel for the buildings was prefabricated and furnished by Moore Dry Kiln Co.

'Two Houses in Every Fomily'

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Lu-Re-Co, the system of pre-assembled wood componentsexterior panels, roof trusses, and interior partitions-for light construction.

Retail lumber dealers throughout the United States are being franchised to manufacture, distribute and sell Lu-ReCo built components. These must be built according to the specifications contained in the F.H.A. bulletin and each component carries a Lu-Re-Co shield testifying to this compliance and identifying the fabricator of the part.

"The future is bright," declares Mr. Thompson. "As long as we can develop better products and better ways of making them and using them, our standard of living has no ceiling in sight."