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Beasley ForestBoosts Production CapabilitiesLinwood Truitt, grade lumber sales, and Darrell Beasley, vice president, stand by a truckload of 4/4 kiln-dried Red Oak to be shipped to a flooringcustomer.Hazlehurst, Ga.— While other firms are facing cutbacks due to the struggling economy,Beasley Forest Products Inc., headquartered here, recently made several improvements to becomemore efficient. The upgrades include a new McDonough band saw, two additional SII dry kilns and anew 22,000-square-foot warehouse.Beasley, which produces more than 90million board feet of lumber annually,added the 7-foot McDonough band millhead-rig and carriage to help cut logs thatare 28 inches in diameter and larger. Theaddition increased the firm’s productionby 500,000 board feet of lumber perweek, and called for new kilns and storagecapacity to be built.The two dry kilns, which were orderedfrom the Lexington, N.C.-based SII DryKilns, each can dry 100,000 board feet oflumber per charge, and bring Beasley’stotal kiln drying capacity to 520,000board feet.Linwood Truitt, who handles gradesales for Beasley Forest Products Inc.,said the McDonough band saw was necessaryin order to utilize all of the logs,which are purchased from landowners.“The McDonough band saw will cut upto a 50-inch diameter log,” he said. “Ourregular sawmill was sawing logs that were28 inches in diameter and below.However, we purchase tracts of timberwhere many large logs are procured fromthese particular forestlands. So, webought and installed the McDonoughband saw to help us increase production,to an average of 1.8 million board feet perweek.”Truitt said Beasley Forest Productsbelieves that its operation must manufactureand sell more Southern Hardwoodand cypress lumber products in order tocombat the rising cost of diesel fuel.“You’ve got everything from your cutdownmachine, to your skidders, loadersand trucks that run on diesel fuel,” hesaid. The price of diesel fuel was $1.30eight years ago, and it has increased 300to 400 percent within the last year or so.BY GARY MILLERThe price of lumber hasn’t even comeclose to matching that. By the time itcomes across our scales, we’ve got moremoney invested in the timber, countingthe increased cost of cutting it on our timbertracts and hauling it to our sawmilloperation. Then when the finished productleaves the mill, it is transported bytruck, train or ship. They all use dieselfuel. Our main concern is having a profitafter you pay the freight.”Truitt added, “You’ve got to keep loggersand truckers in business. We’re tryingto do everything we can here to bemore efficient.”Founded in 1999 by Rabun Beasley, thefirm’s owner and president, BeasleyForest Products Inc. has grown from itsoriginal 20-acre sawmill operation toinclude a large log yard with a sprinklersystem, an air-drying yard and warehous-38 Hardwoods Have Workability