Texas Family Sawmill Going Strong At 70
Jerry Rogers recalls his family moving to Orange in 1965 for what looked to be a short stay. “Daddy came here to log Sun Oil Company timber back in the woods. He said: ‘In five more years, we’ll have all the timber cut and we’ll have to move.’ He was off about 50 years.”
The Rogers Lumber Company that Jerry’s dad, William Dayton “W.D.” Rogers, began in 1947 in Arkansas, is celebrating its 70th year in operation and 52rd in Orange. Three generations of the Rogers family oversee the operation of the family sawmill located along Interstate 10, just west of U.S. 62.
Most weekdays, a steady stream of trucks, each hauling up to 40 tons of freshly cut East Texas pine, delivers logs, which are unloaded and stacked around the 2-acre lot. A full crew off 11 men operate the machines that can turn a 33-foot log into a 20-foot 12×12 or 6×6 post in 2 minutes, with a support crew just as large.
“We cut about 25,000 board feet a day,” says Jeff Rogers, the executive vice president of the company and the fourth generation to work in the family business. That’s the equal of about six log trucks of lumber. It would be enough to build two homes – if the wood was used that way.
“We produce dimensional timber, the big, heavy timbers for building use,” Jeff Rogers said. Rogers Lumber Company sells most of its lumber to processing companies around Houston.
From The Record Live: therecordlive.com.
Latest News
Carbotech Acquires Sawquip
Carbotech Group has acquired Sawquip, a manufacturing company specializing in the design and manufacture of sawmill equipment for the primary and secondary breakdown of logs into lumber. This acquisition allows Carbotech Group to add on a new field of expertise, providing customers with innovative new solutions for lumber production. Sawquip’s innovative products include log turners and optimized log infeeds, chipping canters, twin and quad circular saw modules, as well as optimized gangs for controlled shape sawing, among others.
Oregon Truckers File Suit Against State
Rob Freres, president of Oregon-based Freres Engineered Wood, a manufacturer of lumber, veneer, plywood and mass timber, has thrown in his support for a lawsuit filed by the Oregon Trucking Assn. and three Oregon-based trucking companies against the state of Oregon for overcharging truckers under the weight-mile tax.
Hasslacher Enters North America
Austria-based Hasslacher group is acquiring a stake in Element5, a mass timber producer specializing in the design, manufacture and assembly of modern engineered timber buildings. Based near Toronto, Can., Element5 employs more than 100 and produces cross-laminated timber and glued laminated timber for the North American market.
Hampton Lumber Purchases Rebuilt
Atlas Holdings has entered into an agreement to sell RedBuilt, LLC to Hampton Lumber Mills, Inc. Atlas formed RedBuilt with the acquisition of the commercial division of Trus Joist from Weyerhaeuser Co. in 2009. Over the next 14 years, the company became an industry leader in the engineering, design and manufacturing of proprietary wood-based structural solutions serving the low-rise commercial construction market. The transaction is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2024.
Find Us On Social
Newsletter
The monthly Timber Processing Industry Newsletter reaches over 4,000 mill owners and supervisors.
Subscribe/Renew
Timber Processing is delivered 10 times per year to subscribers who represent sawmill ownership, management and supervisory personnel and corporate executives. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
Advertise
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.