Road to Success
Interstate Forestry Finds Opportunity and Profit
in the LT300
(The 2010 LT300 Sawmill is now called the WM3000 Sawmill)
Transitioning from a Wood-Mizer portable sawmill to one of the company’s industrial mills from the AWMV division is, in a word, EASY. Long time LT40 Super Hydraulic owner,Gary Messer, found that out last year when he and his business partner, Bill Carpenter, took their Northern Indiana firm to the next step in log processing with a new LT300.
Optimizing opportunity
Gary and Bill founded their business in the late 1990s when the two loggers decided that it was better to saw logs than to sell them. “We kept selling off our little logs, thinking about the potential money we could make sawing them ourselves,” explained Gary. “It was hard to just hand them off.”
A Sawing Strategy
Planning to saw only small logs, Gary and Bill purchased a LT40SH and twin-blade edger. “We’d seen Wood-Mizer’s portable sawmills in action and talked to other owners about the company’s great service,” Gary commented.“We never heard anything bad about Wood-Mizer, so working with them was natural.”The combination of mill and edger was so efficient and the results so encouraging,the co-workers quickly changed strategy and decided to saw every log; big and small. “It was just as profitable to keep sawing all the logs,” said Gary.Interstate Forestry was soon selling finished, hardwood boards to several lumber businesses, and its reputation for quality lumber was gaining recognition. The company experienced rapid growth, and the founders needed more production. “We were already operating completely as a stationary business, and decided to go electric to help meet demands,” commented Gary.
Another Mill for More Production
Once again, the sawyers turned to Wood-Mizer, purchasing an electric LT40SH and edger which they operated for the next four years. Business continued to grow and the partners kept the saw so busy that it was hard to believe they once thought they would just saw part-time. They expanded their customer base to include eight concentration yards, and more employees were hired.
Stepping Up
By the end of 2004, the co-owners decided it was time to step up to a commercial saw. Without hesitation, they contacted Wood-Mizer and their industrial division, AWMV. Working with the AWMV sales team, the two were able to trade in their portable sawmill and buy the LT300 thin-kerf sawmill. After more than seven years sawing on the portable sawmill, Gary is quick to comment on the changeover. “The way both mills operate is so similar it made the transition easy for us,” explained Gary. “It was as easy as could be!”
A Far Cry from Part-Time
Today, Interstate Forestry mills between 500,000 to 600,000 board feet of lumber a year. The company cuts nine species of lumber, using its own logging crew, and employs seven full-time people, including a lumber salesman and inspector. Gary remains one of the main sawyers and is thrilled with the LT300. “I couldn’t be happier,” he comments. Looking back, Gary remembers how great it was when he starting sawing. “My independence is everything. I am my own boss and I can control my destiny. That is a really good feeling!”