Dryland Sort

 Dryland Sort

The Lower Dryland Sort at Port McNeill is a major funnel of timber on the North Vancouver Island.  Nearly all of the wood on the east side of the claim is brought to this sort.  The export logs in the claim all come to this sort to be stick scaled.  Many of the logs are boomed down to add to other export inventories.  The Lower Dryland is one of the busiest sorts of the North Island because of the amount of wood that passes through the systems. 

Weigh Scale

A great portion of the logs are weigh scaled. This means that the sorts of logs on the truck are proven to generally be relatively similar and through weight measurements can take a decent estimate of the volume on the truck.  The truck drives on to the scale located at the upper sort and takes the weight.  It then trucks the load down to the lower sort to be unloaded and banded together.  A certain portion of the weigh scale loads must be sampled in order to best estimate the total volumes on each truck.  That sample is then scaled by hand on the deck.  

Stick Scale

When the truck comes in with a wider assortment of logs the load must be stick scaled.  This means the load is laid out for the scalers and graders to calculate volumes, quality, and sort.  All loads with cedar and old growth are stick scaled to catch the variability in the wood.  Scalers and graders check the lengths and diameters to identify possible sorts.  They then look at the size of knots, any rot, or damage to the wood that decrease the value of the log.  With spray paint they may mark lengths that it should be cut by the buckers on deck.  The sort is also marked on the log ends to be further sorted into boom sticks. 

Hooking up logs to pull the boom sticks tighter together

Boom Makers

When the logs are finally scaled, graded and sorted they are banded together with the Bandit.  The two wire cables are locked and the logs are then dumped into the water.  The boom makers in their bumper-car-like boats maneuver the bundles into the allotted ‘sticks.’  The boom sticks are comprised of four bundles across and as many as eight in lengths. It depends on the frequency of the particular sort.  Each boom stick is then attached to all the other sticks ready to be attached. When a full boom is ready a tug boat arrives to latch on and push the logs south.  As many as two booms may be made per week at Port McNeill dryland sort.

It's like playing bumper cars in the water

The boom stick maker.  The logs that surround each boom stick bundle.

Connection to Mills Demands

The dryland sort is intricately connected to the demands of the mills. The mills’ demands react to the market way more quickly that the persons in the woods can react.  It is important for the dryland sort foremen and quality control persons to be tightly coordinating with the bucking prescriptions produced.

The barge with a wench to tighten bundles