Electricity in the Lumber Industry

The development in the application of electric drive to the lumber industry has been exceptionally rapid. Successful sawmill companies are now even operating entirely from central station service, notwithstanding the large amounts of refuse available for fuel. The paper considers the lumbering industry as carried on in Washington and Oregon, and describes the application of electric power to the various operations carried on under the two main divisions of logging and milling. Typical applications are described, to illustrate types of motors and power transmission equipments, and the average power demands of the various logging operations and milling processes. In addition to the machines used in ordinary sawmill work, those used in planing mills and shingle mills are described. The auestion of the disposition of waste is considered, and comparative fuel values are given. The illustrations show logging operations and electrically driven saws, finishing machinery and lumber-handling machinery in the Pacific Coast lumber districts.