The Sawmill De Vree from the town of Randwijk in Geldern has developed and built its own wood stacker. This stacking machine stacks wooden beams and boards, which are then tied into packages ready for transport. If the wood is damp, small slats are automatically inserted between the layers to allow ventilation and dry the wood. Co-owner Sander de Vree designed the device using “Mono Rail”Profile rail guides from Rollon pass.

Contents

• Beams and boards for the pallet industry
• Stacker required at higher speed
• Simple concept reduces wear and susceptibility
  • 25 meter profile rail guide
  • Capacity with sufficient reserves
    
    

Beams and boards for the pallet industry

The Sawmill De Vree mainly saws wooden beams and boards for the pallet industry. The wood is supplied in many different dimensions and relatively small quantities of around 10 m³. This work accounts for approximately 80% of sales. De Vree also saws smaller orders with special dimensions, e.g. B. for renovation projects, facade cladding and the furniture industry. Around 15.000 m³ of round wood from poplar, Douglas spruce, larch and oak with diameters from 40 cm to 1 m are delivered every year. This wood is peeled, sawn and cut to length at the production facility. At the end of the system there is a wood stacker that automatically stacks the boards and beams. 

Stacker required at higher speed

“Of course we already had a wood stacker,” says Sander de Vree, “but the machine was quite old and we needed a much faster forklift. Two years ago we were looking at trade fairs and looking for a suitable forklift. What we found there didn't really convince us.

Most machines were very expensive or had a lot of moving parts and were therefore prone to malfunctions and wear and tear. Another option would have been to purchase an existing model and modify it for our purposes. But that was also quite expensive. Since we already had a specific concept in mind, we decided to build the new stacking machine ourselves.”

This turned out to be less difficult than one might have expected, as Sander de Vree himself studied mechanical engineering and is responsible for the machinery and technical maintenance at the sawmill. In this capacity, he is used to finding creative technical solutions to keep production processes running and improve. As in the fall of 2015 Tool making student worked at the sawmill, the development of the new forklift gained additional momentum. The first sketches were created together with father Sander, from whom Sander de Vree and his brother Arjo took over the sawmill in 2014.

Simple concept reduces wear and susceptibility

The concept of the wood stacker is simple. The aim was to keep the number of moving parts and thus the risk of wear and faults as small as possible. After crosscut saw The boards or beams run in front of a stop that is attached to the end of the feed belt. There is an ultrasonic sensor at the stop that sets the chain in motion, which transports the wood sideways over a 4 m long feed track to the forklift.

If the photocell When it registers that there is enough wood on the feed path to fill one layer, the first board of the next layer is held in place and the remaining wood is pushed onto two metal arms. These arms are then retracted, causing the entire layer to fall downwards.

Wooden slats can be automatically inserted between the layers at desired intervals, which ensure ventilation of the wood package so that the wood can dry. The slats come from a holder above the forklift.

The operation of the machine is also very easy. On a touch-sensitive screen, the dimensions of the boards and beams can be easily entered, from which the correct composition of the layers and stacks is calculated. The conversion of the machine to other dimensions is very simple and takes at most 5 min. This is important because De Vree saws small parts and therefore requires a quick transition to other formats.

25 meter profile rail guides

The machine frame was made by a design company according to De Vree's specifications and installed in the sawmill hall. Important parts of the log stacker are the guides, which are used to adjust the machine to the width of the wood, feed the wood to the stacker and move the arms.

In total there will be around 25 m of guided tours 28 carriages used. Rollon was contacted for advice on the guides and their installation. The linear technology specialist had already supplied the guides for the previous forklift truck.

According to De Vree, Rollon actively thinks about the use and installation and Rollon's guides are of high quality. The very robust Mono Rail type guides in sizes 30 and 45 are used for the automatic stacker. They are very common in industrial mechanical engineering. The rail-runner system can withstand even light impacts. This is important when transporting the sometimes heavy beams. Thanks to the closed lubrication, they are also very easy to maintain.

Capacity with sufficient reserves

The new stacking machine was officially put into operation at the beginning of 2017 after various tests. Development and construction have overall about 1,5 years lasted. The new wood stacker is suitable for boards and beams with a thickness of 2 to 15 cm and a length of 70 cm to 3,5 m. The stacker can assemble packages of wood up to a height of around 1,5 m. It has been working without any problems since it was put into operation.

Heavy duty rails | High loads welcome

In terms of capacity, it still offers sufficient reserves for the next few years. In continuous operation it can produce around 20.000 m³ of wood process. Given that the new machine fits seamlessly into De Vree's production process, the stacker ultimately cost about half of what it would have cost for a comparable off-the-shelf stacker.

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