Description

ANNOTATION: Working with neighboring industrial forest landowners, Grays Harbor Paper in Hoquiam, Washington has developed a new processor head to assist securing additional hogfuel from existing logging slash piles. The processing head consists of a brush grapple, with one chain saw mounted on each side, configured so that an operator can control each independently. When the operator picks up a full grapple of slash, he can trim the material sticking out at either side, creating shorter length stems and, ultimately, a denser material ready to transport. ABSTRACT: Grays Harbor Paper, in Hoquiam, Washington, is unusual among paper mills in the Pacific Northwest, as it has the option of relying on hogfuel as its primary source of energy and has a history of doing so. However, with the slowdown in Western lumber production, and the general increase in the use of wood as an alternative energy source, competition for hogfuel is on the rise. The need for additional secure supplies caused the company's personnel to look at creative new ways to increase hogfuel supplies economically.