13th Oct Giddings sawmills visit

On Tuesday fourteen Questers had a most enjoyable visit to Giddings Sawmill, first we were shown a stack of about eight hundred tonnes of Softwood logs. This was about the amount they would use in 4 (four) days.
The logs all 4 metres long were taken by a grab vehicle costing £250,000 to the start of the process, they were lifted into a high shoot, to be de-barked, from there a conveyor belt took them along to the computer controlled sawing benches. The computer decided how to cut each log to maximise output, having travelled through the saw, the next stage is to sort out the eight different piles to drop them into. this was absolutely amazing, 1" boards, 2x2 ,3x2,4x2 and many other sizes all put without the help of a human hand into the correct piles. The next operation was to send the right size pieces to the correct customer's requirements, now they are cut to length and banded ready for shipment.
For every tonne of log coming into the mill, exactly a tonne of products go out,be it timber planks, wood chips, sawdust an even the bark it is all used. Nothing is wasted, proving this to be a very environmentally friendly operation. Bob Giddings who showed us around is extremely proud to be helping to save the resources for the generations to come.