McDonough Blog

Just how long do McDonough resaws run? McDonough has just completed the rebuild of a 54” center split resaw we manufactured in 1970.

The driving force behind McDonough is our team – the folks in the shop and offices every day who have made it possible to produce high-quality machinery for over 130 years. Right alongside us throughout our success are the industry partners who help with our equipment installations and service calls all over the continent and world. Chief among these valued colleagues is Ray Tharpe of RTM Industrial Maintenance (RTM), who we have worked with in one capacity or another for almost 20 years.

In January 2021, Meherrin River Forest Products in Macon, North Carolina installed a new McDonough 6-7A Band Mill. Replacing an existing circle saw, this piece of equipment will allow them to reduce their kerf and increase their yield to make more lumber and less sawdust.

In a previous blog, we outlined the components of a linear edger system and their intended purpose. Now, we’ll take a look at the alignment and calibration of your linear edger.

To refresh, a linear edger operates under the basic principle that we can scan a piece of lumber while it is in one location and then ‘edge’ it when it reaches another, without handling it in between, by accurately predicting where it is going to be throughout the process.

McDonough's white paper on ‘Maximizing performance of Linear Edger Systems’, written by VP Operations Hugh Hawley over 10 years ago, has become an incredibly popular document for customers and competitors alike on how to achieve optimal linear edger performance. Today we will examine the components of a linear edger system and their overall contribution to the performance of your linear edger. In the next blog post, we will examine alignment and calibration.

Joe (dad) and Dillon (son) Chapman both work in McDonough’s Canadian shop. The pair have a lot in common, a passion for the manufacturing industry, hunting and the outdoors, but working on the shop floor with your father/son can also have some challenges. One thing they always agree on, however, is their commitment to building the best machines possible.

Team McDonough is happy to bring Matthew Frazier on board as our Southeastern sales rep, working out of his home base just outside Atlanta. With extensive project management and sales experience, we're excited to have Matt on board.

McDonough has always been a family company, and there a several family members who work together at our facilities in Eau Claire and Mactaquac. We recently chatted with Jason and Greg Meyer, father and son, who both work out of our Eau Claire shop.

McDonough Canada recently completed delivery of another OptiFit Linear Edger System to the Baillie Group’s Double Aught Lumber facility in Candor, NY, shipping the equipment in early January, 2021. This is the third OptiFit edger delivered to the Baillie Group in the last calendar year and is being delivered just weeks prior to their fourth OptiFit system, also heading to northern NY later this winter.

A Minute with Matt - the Importance of Cast Iron Wheels is the second video in our new vlog series. McDonough Manufacturing has been building quality sawmill machinery in the U.S. since 1888! Watch this video to learn why Cast Iron Wheels are so important to your saw mill operation.