National Hardwood Magazine - November 2018

ALL OF THE INVESTMENT

ALL OF THE INVESTMENT AND UPGRADES TO THIS FACILITY HAVE BEEN MADE TO ENSURE THAT CUSTOMERS CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON QUALITY, THICKNESS, WIDTH AND CONSISTENCY OF OUR LUMBER AND FRAME STOCK. –Eugene Hall, Sales Manager, Fly Tie & Lumber Fly Tie & Lumber has an on-site rail spur to enhance its ability to transport material. FROM A STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY, FLY TIE & LUMBER CRAFTS HIGH QUALITY PRODUCTS By Paul Miller Jr. Grenada, MS–Many sawmill owners start out working in the family business, sticking with it to continue a legacy founded by previous generations. Early on, Ricky Fly knew that he wanted to build his own legacy, starting in 1981 with a logging business. Ricky noted that at the beginning of his career, “My wife, Dotty, and I actually went hunting for a loader truck on our honeymoon. We were married in July and started the logging business one month later. I worked with my father for a period of time, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that I wanted to do things differently. In 1981 I got out on my own while continuing to work in the timber and logging business. It was in 2000 that I got into running a sawmill.” By 2003 Ricky was the owner of two sawmill facilities—one in Oakland, MS, and the other in Winona, MS. He commented, “They were about 40 miles apart and what made sense was for me to sell both facilities and combine the entire business on one site.” Ricky traveled to Canada, in addition to mills and auctions all over the U.S., with contractor Billy Humphries in search of the exact equipment that he envisioned for the new sawmill operation. Martin Quanci with Mill Quality Equipment & Designs was hired to engineer the project. 18 NOVEMBER 2018 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE Ricky stated, “It took a little while, but we finally found the equipment that we wanted to buy. Then, when the loan was approved in 2011, we could really get going on the new sawmill. To be honest, I had already bought the debarker and an infeed because I was so confident in this venture, but the bank loan was necessary to secure the rest of the machinery we needed and complete the mill.” Today, the finished mill, Fly Tie & Lumber, is a stateof-the-art facility capable of high volume production of 4/4, 5/4 and 6/4 Red and White Oak, Ash, Cypress, Poplar, Gum, Cottonwood and other mixed Hardwoods. The two-sided mill runs a pair of McDonough Manufacturing band mills (a 6-foot on the right side and a 7-foot on the left). Cleereman carriages, a Piché drop saw trimmer and a Piché 68-bay sorter round out the facility’s larger pieces of machinery. Eugene Hall, sales manager for Fly Tie & Lumber, said, “All of the investment and upgrades to this facility have been made to ensure that customers can always count on the quality, thickness, width and consistency of our lumber and frame stock. We don’t waste material either. If a switch or cross tie gets culled, we pass it back through the mill and get lumber out of it.” Ricky commented, “The Piché sorter and trimmer line Please turn to page 41

Eugene Hall is sales manager for Fly Tie & Lumber. Members of the Fly Tie & Lumber management team (left to right) include: Jessica Fly, compliance officer; Ricky Fly, owner; and Dotty Fly, secretary/treasurer. Shown is the company’s descrambler and infeed to the new lumber grading station as part of the Piché upgrade. Phillip Clark is the manager of Fly Tie & Lumber’s mill. (Below) Additional machinery brands used to manufacture Fly Tie & Lumber’s high-quality lumber and ties include McDonough Manufacturing and Equipment PHL. NOVEMBER 2018 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 19