Pallet companies have an increasing number of suppliers to choose from when it comes to nailing machines or automated pallet assembly systems.
Four companies have entered the nailing machine area in recent years, bringing the total to about 10 serving the North American pallet industry.
The new players include Storti, an Italian manufacturer of pallet and sawmill machinery that has had a presence in Europe for many years. It entered the North American market in recent years and is represented exclusively in North America by G. Wine Sales. Storti offers sophisticated systems that use bulk nails.
The other new entries include Eagle Pallet Equipment, Trace Equipment and Third Man Products, all of which use collated nails and pneumatic nailing tools. Third Man’s equipment relies on a worker to pull a counter-weighted nailing gantry along the pallet to drive the fasteners.
Most nailing machines are designed for stringer pallets, which have been most common in North American markets. Two suppliers currently offer machines to nail block pallets, GBN and Storti.
In the accompanying tables, we have collected information about advertisers that manufacture or sell pallet equipment. The accompanying tables display information about the suppliers as well as each model machine they manufacture or sell.
The machines offered by these suppliers vary greatly in sophistication, capability and cost. The newest model introduced by Viking, for example, can assemble two GMA pallets at the same time.
The more sophisticated machines use hydraulics to drive bulk nails, may feature two nailing stations with equipment to turn the pallet over, and are highly automated; they may have a computer memory that can store a certain number of pallet designs or footprints.
Most nailing machines perform so-called ‘stitch’ nailing; they nail one deck board at a time. GBN offers machines that are oriented for ‘beam’ nailing; the machine drives all the nails required for one stringer at the same time.
Pallet Chief Manufacturing offers both automated and semi-automated nailing machines; some models require the worker to move the nailing gantry.
Some machines with one nailing station require the worker to pull the pallet out after the bottom face has been nailed, and then turn it over in order for the top face to be presented to the machine.
Most machines come with a stacker on the outfeed, and companies may offer various accessories, such as in-line branding or printing.
Bronco Pallet Systems offers semi-automated equipment. The Bronco nailing stations are essentially jigs with a pneumatic nailing tool suspended overhead. After placing the pallet parts into the jig, the worker pulls down the tool and nails the components together, then turns the pallet over to complete the other wide. Bronco nailing stations have a stacker on the outfeed. The company also offers the Mustang 4000, an automatic nailing system with optional powered nailing gantry.
Nailing systems also may vary by whether or not they can assemble pallets with used or recycled lumber, lumber with wane, and other factors.
Many of these vendors also will provide custom services to manufacture a specialty or modified nailing machine.
Machine nailing provides consistency, steady production at various speeds, and the ability to control or reduce labor required for assembling pallets by hand.
A few advertisers provide specialty services to customize nailing machines or modify them in some way: Macon Machine and J&J Machinery. Macon Machine provides services to improve and automate certain older machines, and it also provides rebuilding services. J&J Machinery also provides services to upgrade and improve machines.
Morgan Gage specializes in nailing machines for pallets and reels, and the company also provides rebuilding services for older Morgan, Doig and FMC nailing machines.
In addition to these advertisers, one supplier manufactures machines to assemble wood components with staples. Stapling Machine Co. offers systems that can build wire-bound crates and containers as well as mats, and panels, tops and bases for crates, pallet containers and other value-added wood packaging products. The machines use bulk spooled wire to make and drive staples ‘on the fly.’ For more information about Stapling Machine Co. and its equipment, call (800) 432-5909 or visit www.smcllc.com.
