Sawmill with POWER_RIP edging system and ZSA mobile automatic stacker.
The Hainz sawmill near Munich (Germany), a family-run sawmill since 1948, produces sawn timber as green or dried construction timber, boards, battens and planed timber. From fence wood made of larch to terrace wood made of Douglas fir, the product range is large. But that's not all, since sawing services and the associated by-products are also on the list of the flexible sawmill. From log to sawdust, the valuable raw material wood is completely utilized.
For modern and efficient processing of the predominant softwoods of larch, spruce, fir or Douglas fir, the old circular edger was to be replaced and supplemented by further automation components. This plan led Tobias Hainz to Paul Maschinenfabrik in Dürmentingen. The team of the mechanical engineering company planned with a POWER_RIP edging system for the sawmill. This combination of KME3 circular edger/ripsaw and AB920 infeed system makes the operator's job easier, more efficient and safer. "The AB920 measures each individual board coming from the gang saw fully automatically, detects the geometry and calculates the highest possible yield depending on the customer-programmed cutting lists," says Lothar Peschel from Paul. "The KME3 circular edger/ripsaw positions the saw blades on the four adjustable saw bushes in no time and rips the workpieces in a precise and powerful manner with its 90 kW motor".
To increase performance at the Hainz sawmill, Paul Maschinenfabrik also developed its first "mobile" ZSA automatic stacker and, thanks to the good cooperation with Tobias Hainz, took it from prototype to series production. This model was specially designed for stacking long workpieces (up to max. 8200 mm) and works according to the paternoster principle. The automatic stacker takes the individual workpieces, lifts them up from the working height, forms layers there and then stacks them offset, twisted or with gaps on a roller conveyor. With this version, the operator inserts the stacking and stabilizing sticks by hand. The ZSA mobile automatic stacker stands out from the competition’s products thanks to its extremely robust and flexible design. At the Hainz sawmill in Bavaria, the system stacks either construction timber with cross-sections up to e.g. 160 x 200 mm coming from the gang saw or boards after ripping with the KME3, which was previously done by hand. On tracks, the stacker rolls from one place of use to the other, where mixed timber packs of different workpieces are created with individual stack widths and heights, depending on the needs of the sawmill customers.
The stacking system consists of three individual stands, each of which is individually programmable via a 17" touch display. They can be moved to adjust the length of the automatic stacker to the workpieces. If only two stands are used for shorter workpieces, the third can simply be switched off, which, among other things, also saves energy.
"When it comes to stacking our products, we were able to significantly increase flexibility and performance and reduce the amount of effort and time required. The work of two people is now done by just one person thanks to the support of the automatic stacker," Tobias Hainz explains. He is satisfied with his investment: "I was particularly impressed by the robust design; timber layers weighing up to 400 kg are not uncommon".
