2018 International Forest Industries IFI Feb March 2018 Digital | Page 36

Behind this housing, or to be more
precise, under the motors, the
actual TAE circular saw is hidden
Fantastic investment
High-speed optimizing edger systems from
EWD impresses in every regard
T
he first EWD line was
commissioned last year in
Ireland. With a feed speed
of up to 420 m/min and a
performance of up to 65 boards per
minute, it ranks among the fastest
systems of the sawmill specialist
from Southern Germany.
“We looked at several EWD
optimizing edger systems in
Germany. We really liked the
solutions,” explains John Murray in
regard to the decision to invest in
the new EWD line.
The system is impressive in
many regards: it is the first that
EWD has delivered to Ireland. The
schedule was very tight and the
space was restricted, and on top
of this, Murray had opted for the
high-performance OptiDrive TAE
edger optimizer with skew and
slew sawbox.
Murray Timber operates two
sawmills in Ireland with a total
consumption of around 520,000 m³
per year. In Ballon, the focus
is mainly on lumber for house
building and timber construction.
A reducer quad bandsaw with
secondary resaw group and two
optimizing board edgers are used
as the main machines. One of the
two was replaced at the turn of the
year 2016/17. The existing edger
was rather old and had reached its
capacity limits.
In terms of performance, the
new OptiDrive edger from EWD
replaces both edger systems at
Murray’s Ballon site. However, the
second machine remains in use for
emergencies.
Perfect execution
Murray stopped the old edger on
December 13, 2016. Production
continued for the most part on the
main machine and second edger
optimizer to minimize losses.
“We were able to maintain 60%
of the production. We had a very
ambitious, but feasible schedule.
The planning and the execution
were perfectly planned by EWD,
meaning that we could start up
again on January 24 – exactly as
planned,” explains Murray. The
exchange was thus successfully
completed within seven weeks,
including a break over the
Christmas period. Full performance
was reached just one week after
commissioning.
The side boards reach the
OptiDrive edger from the right side.
34 International Forest Industries | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2018
The OptiDrive edger system runs automatically, the operator’s role is
mainly to monitor the process and only intervene when necessary
Happy about the smooth process: Christopher Wolf (EWD Project
Manager), Joseph and John Murray as well as Thomas Lang (EWD Sales)
(from left to right)