# Zip-O Log Mill/Logging Co



## OregonSawyer (Apr 1, 2011)

I am just curious if any of the regulars on here from Willamette Valley area know of Zip-O Log Co? I was a sawyer (a real one, not the alaskan mill type) for them and have built some pretty great relationships with a couple of the older guys that worked there. Just curious if there are any guys on here that I may share mutual friends with. The most of the logging they did was in the Fall Creek region (Zip-O National Forest as the Foresters referred to it). 

Anyway, I have posted on here a little bit and figured I would introduce myself a bit and how I was involved with the lumber industry... 

I'm currently going to school for Forest/Civil Engineering as well... Still early on though.

Alan

BTW I may have to sneak up some pics of our me and the Headrig if you woods guys are into the sawmill equipment at all


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## RandyMac (Apr 1, 2011)

Sawmills? You're kidding right? Anything with logs or timber is always of interest. I took any chance to look at whatever mills where in the area, one of the coolest was on Indian Creek near Happy Camp, a good portion of the mill ran off of driveshaft driven belts. They milled pecky Cedar for fence boards, you could smell that sawmill for miles.
Part of the family business was sawmills, I wanted to be a sawyer, ended up making stumps instead.


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## madhatte (Apr 1, 2011)

Make mine a double. 

I grew up in Centralia, close enough to NW Hardwoods to hear and smell the mill when it wasn't raining. Some days the HS band would be marching to the south and the mill wailing to the north and as a kid that seemed to be about how things ought to be. Dad worked for Weyerhauser. The coal mine was still open. Satsop wasn't dead yet. 

So, uh, yeah, do tell -- please!


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## RandyMac (Apr 1, 2011)

I was born across the street from a sawmill.


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## paccity (Apr 1, 2011)

lived almost my whole life within earshot of the wail of a mill. youngest years werein a town that it whole existants was the mill. gota do something with the trees that get tipped.


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## OregonSawyer (Apr 1, 2011)

I don't have any pics or vids on my comp right now. They are all on my external hard-drive. I'll get a couple things up tomorrow. 

We ("they", I don't work there anymore) are a Doug-Fir only mill. Have the capability to cut up to 5' diameter and 52' long. One of the last few bigger cutting mills around. A couple of summers ago we got an order for bridge truss replacements that were 18"x32" between 32'-40'. I've got a couple pictures of a load of those somewhere. Unfortunately the only picture I have of a big log being sawn is from the old mill (26' length). They used to cut quite a bit of 12" clear cants for vertical grain products. The log in the "old" picture is about a 6 footer that had to be "rolled" back after every cut because it was taller than the saw guide was high. It'll probably make more sense when I post the picture... It's a biggun, and not quartered. Although it should have been.

One of my best friends from the mill used to be in charge of the logging company that Zip-O used to run back in the 70's-90's. He's been there 43 years. Still refers to me as a mill-rat. He says that is what loggers refer to mill workers as... Haha. I try to milk as many old logging stories out of that guy as possible. He's also my golfing partner, so I usually am able to get quite a few good ones out in 18.


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## floyd (Apr 2, 2011)

Logs generally go somewhere else than the woods so the woods folks can get paid. Although it is one of those jobs that are enjoyed by folks that do it. Life's good when you get paid to do what you enjoy.



Making stumps is just the first of many cuts on that log. You are just a sawmill sawyer working a little closer to the ground.


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## nw axe man (Apr 2, 2011)

I've never had anything to do with a mill until about a month ago. We have 2 mills in eastern lewis county, both of them incredibly high speed stud mills. They mill 800,00 ft per shift. I hadn't been in the one in Randle since my freshman year in high school. The technology today in mills is incredible. They had called me up to put on a chainsaw training for them. I toured the mill for 3 hours listening to them tell me what the hangups are and how they have to deal with them. Inspected their saws. Whoa! Now, I've hit a few rocks in my day and some of them lightly and went back for more. I think you can get the picture. These chains were brutal. With the powersaws in the mill it's not a question of "if" you're going to hit something, it's a question of when. Chains traveling at that speed and hitting something like a conveyor or dog just don't come out on the winning end. I'll be going back to help them with a program just to deal with their saws and chains. Seems the guy that used the saw last just put it back in the saw box. You can see where the production and saftey go in the toilet. I did get an education and appreciation of what those mill guys have to do. I'll tell you one thing, when going through the mill, I found myself jumping quite a bit when those cants and lumber would be coming at you miles an hour and make a sudden stop. My guides looked at me kind of funny not realizing how it is where I'd come from. One of the millwrights I had broke in many years ago saw the writing on the wall and opted for a steadier job at the mill. He would just look at me and grin.


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## OregonSawyer (Apr 2, 2011)

nw axe man said:


> I've never had anything to do with a mill until about a month ago. We have 2 mills in eastern lewis county, both of them incredibly high speed stud mills. They mill 800,00 ft per shift. I hadn't been in the one in Randle since my freshman year in high school. The technology today in mills is incredible. They had called me up to put on a chainsaw training for them. I toured the mill for 3 hours listening to them tell me what the hangups are and how they have to deal with them. Inspected their saws. Whoa! Now, I've hit a few rocks in my day and some of them lightly and went back for more. I think you can get the picture. These chains were brutal. With the powersaws in the mill it's not a question of "if" you're going to hit something, it's a question of when. Chains traveling at that speed and hitting something like a conveyor or dog just don't come out on the winning end. I'll be going back to help them with a program just to deal with their saws and chains. Seems the guy that used the saw last just put it back in the saw box. You can see where the production and saftey go in the toilet. I did get an education and appreciation of what those mill guys have to do. I'll tell you one thing, when going through the mill, I found myself jumping quite a bit when those cants and lumber would be coming at you miles an hour and make a sudden stop. My guides looked at me kind of funny not realizing how it is where I'd come from. One of the millwrights I had broke in many years ago saw the writing on the wall and opted for a steadier job at the mill. He would just look at me and grin.


 
800,000 bd ft is a TON! We would cut 150,000 in a GOOD shift. I think the most I ever cut was somewhere around 175 MBF. I know exactly what you are talking about with the chainsaws at mills... There is a lot of metal around and most of the guys have NO idea what they are doing! They'll cut into metal 3-4 times really good and then just go put it back in the saw room. What's better is when you hit something (like an insulator or three) with the headsaw and it literally blows in half. With teeth on both sides and keeping the saw under a 6500 lb strain it creates some havoc when it comes off/apart. Zip-O has some of the newer technology such as log scanners for length, diameter, sweep etc. In a timber cutting mill the log grade is more important though, so it is often up to the saywer to decide how to break down the log. It's a pretty neat setup that I imagine some of your guys from in the woods would find interesting. The lumber market is pretty up and down (as I'm sure you guys know) so I had to look for something else to do.


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## paccity (Apr 2, 2011)

ya, pulled greenchain fror 6 months then figured it wasn't for me.


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## sawsalottawood (Apr 7, 2011)

*I live in Veneta*

I'm not really familiar with the Zip O Mill other than having heard of it. As a woodcutter I don't have anything to do with the mills other than buying the logs they don't want for my lil firewood operation. 

I cut and sell on the coast at Waldport. The mill at Toledo is the closest one and seems to be paying good money to the truck drivers. Its next to impossible to get a driver to deliver a load at a price I can afford simply because of my proximity to that mill.

Regards,

SAWS


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## madhatte (Apr 7, 2011)

Ah, Veneta. I have fond memories of Big's Hi-Yu-He-He there. MAN was that a stack of biscuits and gravy!


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## sawsalottawood (Apr 8, 2011)

LOL,

I ate biscuits and gravy for breakfast today! Great food with a dab of cayenne pepper sauce. Not from Bigs tho, I have finally trained my GF how to make a proper baked dough ball...it only took years. 

Then I put a new receiver in my GF's explorer so she can listen to her Iphone music thru the truck speakers.



Regards,

SAWs


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## OregonSawyer (Apr 28, 2011)

*Finally got around to getting a couple pics together*

This first one is of some 18"x32" timbers between 36' and 40'. They were for a bridge repair up in Canada. The one on the top right (not the 8 footer, the full length one) got thrown out... The 8 footer was a trim-back from another one. They were taking true #1 wane on these so we were able to squeeze them out of some reasonably small logs. 

Just for reference, the timber off to the right, by itself is an 8x14






Here is just a few finished units of 8" timbers that are ready for shipment.






The Headrig cutting what looks to be about a 2 1/2 footer with a little white speck in the butt...






Using the "log turner" to get it positioned just right on the carriage.






Turning that same log...


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## nw axe man (Apr 28, 2011)

OregonSawyer said:


> 800,000 bd ft is a TON! We would cut 150,000 in a GOOD shift. I think the most I ever cut was somewhere around 175 MBF. I know exactly what you are talking about with the chainsaws at mills... There is a lot of metal around and most of the guys have NO idea what they are doing! They'll cut into metal 3-4 times really good and then just go put it back in the saw room. What's better is when you hit something (like an insulator or three) with the headsaw and it literally blows in half. With teeth on both sides and keeping the saw under a 6500 lb strain it creates some havoc when it comes off/apart. Zip-O has some of the newer technology such as log scanners for length, diameter, sweep etc. In a timber cutting mill the log grade is more important though, so it is often up to the saywer to decide how to break down the log. It's a pretty neat setup that I imagine some of your guys from in the woods would find interesting. The lumber market is pretty up and down (as I'm sure you guys know) so I had to look for something else to do.


I hear you on that log market. The Chinese are paying a premium for all the logs they can get right now. Matter of fact, the Randle mill has been shut down for 2 weeks and the Morton mill is due to shut down next week. Pretty amazing how these guys play it so close to the market. It doesn't sound too good for the next few months.
Are you very close to Tillamook? I think that's a dimensional mill owned by Hampton, the owners of the two mills here in eastern Lewis county. Their production is truly amazing. When I last visited it in '69 they were bragging about 150k per shift. I'm sure that was a lot back then. They were also cutting much bigger wood. No one would even cut the stuff they're making lumber out of now for firewood back then. There'd be piles of it on the landings.


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## OregonSawyer (Apr 28, 2011)

nw axe man said:


> I hear you on that log market. The Chinese are paying a premium for all the logs they can get right now. Matter of fact, the Randle mill has been shut down for 2 weeks and the Morton mill is due to shut down next week. Pretty amazing how these guys play it so close to the market. It doesn't sound too good for the next few months.
> Are you very close to Tillamook? I think that's a dimensional mill owned by Hampton, the owners of the two mills here in eastern Lewis county. Their production is truly amazing. When I last visited it in '69 they were bragging about 150k per shift. I'm sure that was a lot back then. They were also cutting much bigger wood. No one would even cut the stuff they're making lumber out of now for firewood back then. There'd be piles of it on the landings.


 
I still talk to the salesman at the mill fairly regularly and he was saying the exact same thing about the Chinese. Just buying up EVERYTHING! As for location, Eugene is 120 miles south of Portland. The mill itself is located in town actually... 

The bigger stuff is definitely more fun/challenging to cut, but it will put a bit of a damper on production when the diameter starts to get a little too big. I'm sure it's roughly the same for falling. Gotta spend a little extra time and energy to get the bigger ones just right.

As for how quickly the mill adapts: Last summer there were a couple times where we would get an order that needed to be shipped out like yesterday. We were able to find the right log(s) (either in the deck at the mill or our log yard a couple miles away), get it/them to the mill, sawn, packaged and on a truck within that shift! Gotta act fast in a competitive market!


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## 056 kid (Apr 28, 2011)

RandyMac said:


> I was born across the street from a sawmill.


 
I have always wanted to see one of those giant bad mitten deals at full tilt. My Dad said they would get red hot.


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## RandyMac (Apr 29, 2011)

You talkin' about the teepee burners?

Yep they glow. That one had a big conveyor that dumped crap in, at night it gave off clouds of sparks. I know of only three teepees left, none are in use.


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## nw axe man (Apr 29, 2011)

RandyMac said:


> You talkin' about the teepee burners?
> 
> Yep they glow. That one had a big conveyor that dumped crap in, at night it gave off clouds of sparks. I know of only three teepees left, none are in use.


Alright. I've been trying to remember the name of those teepee burners for the last 6 months. What is it? I know there's a name for them and was trying to tell a guy about them but just couldn't remember the name of them. We had about 6 of them here at one time. At night they would be just red hot like you said, spewing sparks into the air.


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## RandyMac (Apr 29, 2011)

They can be the last thing standing at old mill sites, a sad reminder......


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## slowp (Apr 29, 2011)

Wigwam burners? Just another variation of teepee.


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## RandyMac (Apr 29, 2011)

them too


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## paccity (Apr 29, 2011)

that's what we called them , "wigwam's" . last one around here got scraped about five years ago. funny how that was the last thing to go at the one mill.


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## coastalfaller (Apr 29, 2011)

They were called bee hive burners up here.


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## madhatte (Apr 29, 2011)

There was one out near Oakville standing not too long ago. I wonder if it's still there?


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## nw axe man (Apr 29, 2011)

madhatte said:


> There was one out near Oakville standing not too long ago. I wonder if it's still there?


 Last time I was through there it was still standing.
I've heard all of those names but just can't put my finger (brain) on it. Old age I guess.
Randy, if you look at this thread there's one as you head down the river from Weitchpec a few miles above the road all grown up with alders. Do you know the one?


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## Ramblewood (Apr 29, 2011)

I started as a mill-rat when I was 12 and got paid $1.00 @ hour to put dots in a tally book for the inspector at my fathers mostly maple mill in western NY state . I had to hide when the insurance guy made his inspection since I was to young and off the books . $40 @ week was a lot to me then . When a maple log hits a hot saw, it smells like an IHOP ! Mill-rats and yard-varks are the guys that keep the whole thing rolling along .
Back then, Japan had discovered bowling and the price of hard maple for pins and alleys was going up like a rocket . The price changed weekly and people speculated on the price of timber like tulips in Holland in the 1500's . The AMF plant in north NY state had so much green maple coming in that it was rotting before they could get it on sticks so some mills would ship beech or soft maple (WAY cheaper timber) knowing it would be black mush by the time anyone looked at it . 
One day, Japan looked around and said; "I think we have enough bowling alleys, no more maple thank you". Overnight the price went into the toilet and timber bought on spec was worthless . 
Cherry and oak have had a similar bubble in the last decade and two years ago high priced cherry logs were being cut into RR ties as there was no market for the lumber .
Not a business for the faint hearted ... or the stupid !


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## RandyMac (Apr 30, 2011)

nw axe man said:


> Last time I was through there it was still standing.
> I've heard all of those names but just can't put my finger (brain) on it. Old age I guess.
> Randy, if you look at this thread there's one as you head down the river from Weitchpec a few miles above the road all grown up with alders. Do you know the one?


 
I must have missed that one, probably was preoccupied looking for savages. The last one I saw in full 24/7 use was in Happy Camp, although the Englewood mill in Redcrest used theirs sporatically into the '80s. Palco pretty much stopped using teepees in the mid '70s, they were using bunker oil in the generating plant, they converted to wood waste.

"Old age" pretty funny :hmm3grin2orange:


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## Gologit (Apr 30, 2011)

There's still a good example of the old style tepee burner just south of Live Oak on Hwy 99. It in a moulding mill. It hasn't been used for years but the people who own the mill have a sense of history and aren't inclined to tear it down.

And RandyMac is right. When we were kids the big burners were just an accepted part of the landscape and the smell of burning sawdust and woodscraps was as natural to us as the air itself.


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## RandyMac (Apr 30, 2011)

There were sawmills or remains of mills everywhere. The little family operated mills held my attention more than the new monster mills. I would spend days watching them work, sometimes I'd toss boards or pull cants for a way to spend time talking to whoever was running the place. No guided tours here. In one day you can see decades of innovative jerry-rigging. The odd mixture of equipment, power supply and such. One thing about the old sawmills, they are almost completely bio-degradable. They almost always burn, rust follows, then Fireweed, Alders and onward.


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## Ramblewood (Apr 30, 2011)

One of the hardwood mills I used to call on, in N. Penn., was an ash handle/hockey stick mill . They used a cone burner into the mid-80's . The smell would waft down the valley for miles . Ash smells a little like butterscotch when it burns and when passing a house with a woodstove, I can always tell when they are burning ash - or maple . Between the two, it's like going past a candy store that's on fire .


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## OregonSawyer (May 7, 2011)

Here is a picture of a picture that I took with my phone. This is from the "old mill" (26' and shorter, single cut). The particular log in the photo should have been quartered but somebody had already got it in the cradle to feed the debarker and they had no way of getting it back out to the pond. If you look close you can see how much bigger the log is than the cutting region of the bandmill. The Sawyer had to cut a little off and roll it back, cut a little more, roll it back (you get the idea) to make it fit under the saw guide. That is why the log looks like it is being sawn so weird. We used to cut a decent amount of 12" clear and while the picture isn't the clearest, it looks as though it may be a peeler...


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## nw axe man (May 8, 2011)

OregonSawyer said:


> Here is a picture of a picture that I took with my phone. This is from the "old mill" (26' and shorter, single cut). The particular log in the photo should have been quartered but somebody had already got it in the cradle to feed the debarker and they had no way of getting it back out to the pond. If you look close you can see how much bigger the log is than the cutting region of the bandmill. The Sawyer had to cut a little off and roll it back, cut a little more, roll it back (you get the idea) to make it fit under the saw guide. That is why the log looks like it is being sawn so weird. We used to cut a decent amount of 12" clear and while the picture isn't the clearest, it looks as though it may be a peeler...


 Where are they getting meat like that to cut? Has to be some piece of old private ground. It'd take an act of congress to get the FS to let loose of a tree like that. I'd love to see some of the lumber from a clear piece like that. I wonder if the county building codes would let anyone build from some clear piece like that. They would probably require it to be some laminated beam. Beautiful log. Get some more pics.


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## OregonSawyer (May 8, 2011)

nw axe man said:


> Where are they getting meat like that to cut? Has to be some piece of old private ground. It'd take an act of congress to get the FS to let loose of a tree like that. I'd love to see some of the lumber from a clear piece like that. I wonder if the county building codes would let anyone build from some clear piece like that. They would probably require it to be some laminated beam. Beautiful log. Get some more pics.


 
This particular picture was off of one of the computers there. I'll see if I can weasel a couple more out... They try to be pretty secretive about the operation (not sure why). For some more good pics of nice, big, clear timber check out Starfire Lumber.... They are a local mill about 15 miles south of here. They are probably the last ones to still cut 12" clear. You'll have to just poke around their website to see all the pics. They have a few of a 6' P1 that they cut about 8-10 12" and thicker clear. One of the pieces was an 18x28 FOHC clear!

Starfire Lumber | Eugene, Cottage Grove, Lane County, Oregon


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