52 | TIMBER INDUSTRY Mitchpine Products T T Russell Fredric Expansion plans target better uses Mitchpine is looking to add new technology that will produce wood biomass that has multiple uses. Following a baptism of fire, Mitchpine Products owner Lee Mitchell is embarking on a project that will turn an environmental problem into an exciting opportunity. As the third generation owner of the family company, Lee faced his baptism soon after taking the helm of the company in June 2019, a few months before the covid pandemic hit. “Not knowing what the outcome of your business would be, it was very scary. Leading from the top and trying to look after the staff was the main priority. “The government wage subsidy was a godsend, we managed to keep everybody employed and after some uncertainty we did become an essential service.” This was because Mitchpine supplies animal welfare products. Other products stocked include a comprehensive range of rough sawn timber, timber posts, poles, and landscaping supplies. With the pandemic well and truly in his wake, Lee is now focused on expanding the mill to add new technology that will produce wood biomass that has multiple uses, including as a fuel source for large plants that convert from fossil fuels to biomass-sourced energy. Included in the Mitchpine’s upgrade plans is a new round-wood mill that will be the first of its kind in New Zealand and Lee hopes this will be part of the solution to reduce the amount of slash (waste timber) that is lying in forests. “We need to supply this mill with a round wood product like small trees, and I always got annoyed with going into a forest and seeing so much of the small wood being left. “It didn’t matter how much I tried to get the forestry owners to put it on a truck, it wasn’t beneficial to them.” Consequently, he developed a vision for the business to buy whole trees from woodlots rather than partly processed logs. The project is currently in the procurement and design phase. “[We will] do all the defecting, we are going to use 3D scanning technology to scan the whole tree and use that information to cut fence posts, poles and logs for sawn timber and then all the rest of the undesirable timber can be chipped for biomass. That will reduce the waste by about 15% and effectively the forestry owner will win out of that because we will be buying that extra 15%, and traditionally that would be just left in the forest to rot or become an Manager Jonathan Hogg 06 350 1007 | enquiries@maxtarr.co.nz | www.maxtarr.co.nz · industrial electrical · HVAC electrical · Street lighting · mechanical engineering · industrial electronics ELECTRICAL • INDUSTRIAL • AUTOMATION
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