Some of the best innovation comes when you discuss what is possible with a proven machinery partner. That’s the story behind the recent cut stock line installed at Langston Lumber in Emmet, Arkansas. The company serves customers throughout Texas and Arkansas, supplying pallet stock, crossties, cants and more.
Langston Lumber just installed a new end-dogging scragg mill from Baker with vertical edgers. Rodney Langston, the president and owner of Langston Lumber, explained, “This is the first end-dogging scragg mill that Baker has ever made that has vertical edgers on it. We talked with Baker about doing this job, and they thought they could develop it. We love this design; it makes us efficient.”
While the design does give the saw operator more to focus on, it saws and edges in one pass. Langston noted, “This design eliminates two employees downstream from having to edge a board.” Baker did make the system as easy as possible on the operator by adding laser guides for the edging. All the operator has to do is hit one button to move the bank of vertical edging blades up or down as required.
Langston added, “It is a very simple design. I don’t know why more people don’t do this. Those boards are already edged and clean when they come off the sawmill.”
The new scragg will augment the production that the company already gets out of its existing Hurdle mill. Langston said, “We’re hoping to get about 30,000 board feet per day out of this Baker scragg.”
While the company has already tested both hardwood and softwood material in the new Baker scragg, Langston Lumber will primarily use the new Baker scragg to process pine lumber for pallet cut stock. Langston commented, “The Baker system will process both hardwoods and softwoods. This new sawmill vastly increases our production capabilities as well as enhances our versatility.”
Langston Lumber decided to add extra capacity when business was still booming back in 2023. He commented, “We decided to go with the Baker scragg mill because our main market now is pallet stock. We needed something that would process a smaller log than our Hurdle saw would handle. And we wanted more production.”
Langston’s Lumber Sawing Process
The majority of logs come into the yard tree-length. These logs are run through a Nicholson debarker and then conveyed to a Baker trim saw to cut to length. Logs are then carried over to the new Baker scragg mill. It cuts cants off the middle of the log and saws pallet lumber off the sides. Cants are sold for pallet material or crossties. The company does cut a small amount of flooring and grade material. But today it has always focused on the industrial markets.
The Baker circular saw end dogging scragg mill can process material that is 8’ to 12’ and up to 24″ in diameter. This machine came with electronic setworks and a saw cab with climate control. The feed works are complete with a pressure-compensated hydraulic system, a log turner, and a cant drop with four strand x 20′ chain conveyor at the infeed opposite the log deck. It also came with a log infeed deck with loading arms and two Baker auto-tie stackers.
Some cants are processed internally to produce cut stock. These cants are taken to a Baker AmbiTrim saw and are cut into lengths. Depending on the size of the board and the quality, boards are processed into deck boards or stringers. Boards that are thick enough and good enough to become stringers go through a Baker single-head resaw that cuts them to size. Then those boards travel onto another deck that carries them to a Baker X2 double notcher with unscrambler. Those stringers boards are then conveyed to a Baker stacker.
Deck boards are processed through a five-head Baker “C” resaw and stacked by hand. Automating the board-stacking process is something that Langston is considering in the future. Currently, the company has ten employees, including four Langston family members.
Langston hopes the new scragg will produce up to 30,000 board feet per day.
The Baker Difference…
If you look around the Langston Lumber facility, you will see a lot of Baker equipment. Rodney Langston explained, “We love working with Baker because their machinery is simple to work on. It’s simply designed. Baker runs a sawmill, and they know what works well in this industry. And they design equipment that just works.”
Geographic proximity has also played a part in the decision to opt for Baker equipment. Baker’s Ellington, Missouri, manufacturing plant is only six hours away. Langston added, “If we need assistance or if we need parts in a hurry, you know, they’re right here close to us. And they support the machinery after the sale. We just love the people at Baker.”
Baker tests all of its equipment before shipping it out. While Rodney’s team did the install, he said, “Everything was color-coded and easy to install.”
When it came to the final price tag, Baker was very price competitive. He recalled, “Baker was the cheapest of our options, saving us more than $250,000 for a similar machine from other vendors.”
Simple Formula for Success – Family Run and Hard Work
Langston Lumber started around 20 years ago when Rodney and his father, Billy Joe, began cutting timber to build Rodney’s house. He said, “I loved working with my dad. He was a brick mason. He had timberland and always enjoyed watching over the timber. He bought a little band mill and cut some lumber on the side with it. Then we decided to try to sell some lumber to the public, and one thing led to the other.”
Over the years, the Langstons bought a bigger band mill and started cutting crossties for the railroad. About five years ago, they ventured into pallet lumber. Langston noted, “Back then, the pine lumber market got a little soft around here, and we started to sell some pallet material. We wound up buying an AmbiTrim saw from Baker and then bought a single-head resaw and a two-head resaw.” Before these purchases, the company was just a hardwood mill.
Billy Joe was the sawyer for many years. Now, the new Baker scragg is run by his grandson, Nick. Langston credited his father with a lot of the early success of the business. He stated, “My father got this thing going. He funded it and was the sawyer.”
In addition to his son, Rodney’s daughter, Sarah, runs the debarker, and his wife, Rebecca, manages the books. Their strategy for success is simple. Langston said, “We try to hire good-quality employees. We try to keep the overhead low, and we work hard. That’s how we have built our business.”
At its recent peak, the company shipped out 55,000 board feet of cants per week and about 30,000 board feet of cut stock. Even though the market was pretty slow at the end of 2024, he noted that demand has picked up. He explained, “We see the market starting to turn around now. I think we hit it just right with the installation of this new scragg mill. We are ready to produce more lumber more efficiently.”
