Blame it on the construction industry. Pallet design options have historically been more limited in the West than in the East due to the western reliance on lumber sized to meet the needs of home-builders. Weaver Wood is one company that is offering an alternative to standard cut stock.
Jacob Weaver, a respected East Coast industry veteran, started his new mill in Toston, Montana around 18 months ago. Offering a mix of standard and custom cut lumber, his goal is to provide greater flexibility for regional pallet makers.
The company specializes in tight-grained Rocky Mountain Douglas fir. The slower-growing inland varietal has much closer growth ring spacing than its coastal counterpart which can have growth rings of a quarter-inch or more. Douglas fir is unique among all softwood species in that it is dimensionally stable without being dried. That means that it does not shrink or twist significantly.
“Bottom line, I saw a real opportunity out here because the stringers primarily are inch and a half and the deck boards are mainly 11/16,” Weaver explained. “That’s the only raw material that’s available other than mill run rough. Furthermore, the utility and economy material is the ‘bones and feathers’ out of the log. This is very common here out in the West.” Weaver Wood, on the other hand, cuts exclusively for the pallet sector and can supply higher quality material because 100% of the log is going into its pallet lumber.
“With the inch and a half stringers and 11/16” deck boards the pallet might be rated to carry 4,000 pounds, but perhaps the customer is only putting a 2,000-pound load on it,” he said to illustrate his point. “So, that’s where the opportunity would come in to go with 1 ¼” stringers and 9/16" deck boards, for example, and get the load-bearing capacity a little bit more in line with the load that’s going on it.”
Weaver Wood focuses on supplying the right solutions for pallet companies. Jacob Weaver explained, “With the crazy lumber market right now, I am working to help customers find what they need. Sales are a result of providing solutions and value for customers.”
Weaver honed his pallet expertise in the highly competitive East Coast pallet market, where a creative approach can help a pallet producer get a leg up on the competition. In fact, Pallet Enterprise first interviewed Weaver back in 2003 for a story about The Pallet Alliance Inc. (TPAI) and U.S. Gypsum regarding his involvement in the pivotal redesign of the Durock® pallet. Paul Messinger, now retired former owner of TPAI, first met Weaver when he was 15 years old and working at his father’s pallet shop. Over the many years that followed, Messinger and Weaver did a lot of business together. Messinger happily jumped on a Zoom call recently to share some thoughts with Pallet Enterprise. He referred to Jacob as a pallet genius.
“We have redesigned many, many pallets and saved customers literally millions of dollars over the years,” Weaver reflected. “And I’d be happy to talk about redesign options with pallet mills. And then we could cut the lumber accordingly.”
Weaver, the youngest of six brothers, grew up in the pallet industry, working at the pallet business run by his father Abe. “When I was five years old, I was putting blocks into fixtures for making block pallets,” he recalled. “And we started with hammer and nail. And then we upgraded to air guns, and we upgraded to Morgan nailers. And I remember how exciting it was to push the pedal the first time and watch that head come down.” As Abe got older and was asked when he would retire, he joked that he would stop making pallets when he ran out of boys.
Creativity runs in the family. Abe Weaver’s pallet shop was the first Pennsylvania operation to take advantage of four-quarter boards that did not make furniture grade. At the time, sawmills did not have very good outlets for the nominal four-quarter material. Abe came up with the idea of center splitting it to make half-inch deck boards.
Jacob Weaver, like several of his siblings, found careers in the pallet industry. Jacob went on to run a successful pallet company in Pennsylvania, but he always had a dream of moving out West to Montana. Before getting married, he worked for a period of time at a Montana sawmill, and he yearned to return. He chose Toston in southwestern Montana. He was attracted to the region because his daughter’s family moved there and he liked the traditional values of the local residents as well as the climate and mountainous areas. The region boasts good elk hunting, a hobby he enjoys with his children. Jacob’s two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, have an interest in the business as well.
Jacob Weaver credited his employees for making Weaver Wood a success. He stated, “I couldn't have gotten this mill off the ground and achieved good production levels without all of my employees who work hard to produce quality lumber for our customers.”
Another benefit of southwest Montana is that the area has an abundance of some of the highest quality Douglas fir trees in the country according to Weaver. Weaver Wood buys Douglas fir logs from roughly a hundred-mile radius. Logs typically range in diameter from 8 to 24" and are purchased by the ton. “We get the same grade of logs that the stud mills use, but here the whole log goes into pallet lumber so we have got some very, very nice lumber,” Weaver said. The company tries to keep about a million board feet of log inventory on hand. Log supply is typically relatively steady except during the spring breakup.
Initial log breakdown is achieved with its Smicksburg band sawmill, which was chosen for its versatility and thin kerf. The center of the log is milled into cants, which are run through a Keystone Machinery chop saw and cut to the required length. Cants are then run through the Keystone Machinery gang ripsaw. Slabs are run through an 8" x 60" Frick edger. “The Frick edger is very robust and is made to handle large pieces of wood at high feed rates,” Weaver explained. A Keystone double head bandsaw then breaks them down into boards. All of the mill equipment was purchased new, except for the Frick edger, which was a good condition used unit which the company rebuilt.
The Keystone Machinery equipment was selected for its versatility and ease of quick changeovers. Weaver also remarked on their solid customer support. “I’ve dealt with them for around 30 years,” he said. “Bottom line, the mill is set up so we can easily go from standard cuts to non-standard cuts. I see the potential in doing the non-standard cuts, such as non-standard stringer thickness and thinner deck boards.”
Sawdust is sold for animal bedding or to a particleboard plant. Leftover slabs are processed with its Hershberger Manufacturing firewood chopper and sold locally.
“Our most important selling point is that with us, the whole log is going into the pallet lumber and that the material is a premium quality, Weaver summarized. “It’s not the usual bones and feathers.” The mill offers green material but can bring in kiln-dried material as required to fill customer requirements.
“Obviously, right now, it’s a seller’s market for lumber,” Weaver concluded, emphasizing the value he places on strong relationships. “We don’t chase the highest dollar. Of course, the price is going to go up, but I prefer to look after our customer base.” He is currently shipping to the western states and Alberta, Canada. The company has access to rail shipment as needed.
To find out more about how Weaver Wood can offer custom material to help improve your pallet design flexibility, contact Jacob Weaver at (406) 266-4840.
