HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



Utilization of HardWoods 



ARTICLE XLVI 

 PLOWS 



An industry which consumes millions of 

 feet of the finest hardwoods eyery year is 

 worthy the attention of the hardwood trade. 

 Although farm implements would not gen- 

 erally be considered in the class of wooden ar- 

 ticles, the amount of lumber annually used 

 in their manufacture is large enough to make 

 the hardwood dealer sit up and take notice. 



The manufacture of farm implements has 

 grown as perhaps no other industry in the 

 country. A score of years ago it was a note- 

 worthy occurrence for a dealer to make and 

 sell a plow, while the output and sale of 

 plows daily in the country now amounts to 

 dozens of car-loads. 



The plow is practically the only one of the 

 larger farm implements that contains wooden 

 parts, as cultivators, harrows, etc., are made 

 of iron and steel throughout. Of late the use 

 ef iron and steel has been extended in the plow 

 manufacturing iield, and many plows are 

 now made without any wood. However, in 

 the opinion of the manufacturer of farm im- 

 plements, wood can never be replaced for va- 

 rious plow parts, as it is the most satisfac- 

 tory material for these uses. For the han- 

 dles, beams and rounds of plows there is little 

 likelihood of anything but wood being used. 



One of the largest plow manufacturing 

 concerns in the country is B. F. Avery 

 & Sons of Louisville, Ky. As these peo- 

 ple operate a model factory, the description 

 of the various stages of plow manufacture, as 

 practiced at their plant, can be taken as typi- 

 cal of all such operations. 



Plow handles, beams and rounds can only be 

 suitably manufactured from one kind of wood, 

 the best quality of straight-grained white oak 

 that is obtainable. The best sources of sup- 

 ply of this wood are the states of Kentucky 

 and Tennessee and the majority of the stock 

 used comes from these sections. As plow man- 

 ufacturers' facilities for handling logs are 

 not as good as those of the sawmill operator, 

 the stock comes to the plow market in the 

 form of boards of no particular dimensions 

 and rough from the logs. 



As the boards are received at the farm im- 

 plement plant, they are inspected, when the 

 satisfactory stock is allowed to go to the saw- 

 mill. In the sawmill there is a complete 

 equipment of saws which cut the rough boards 

 into necessary lengths and widths for plow 

 handles and other parts. In a modern plow 

 plant, the sawmill is arranged so that one 

 car of lumber may be received, inspected in- 

 side the mill under cover from the "weather, 

 and unloaded with the least possible confusion, 

 making way for another car. 



The lumber, having been inspected and 

 sawed to the proper dimensions, is piled in 



be kept on hand continually, since the :inie for 

 seasoning is so extended and many thousand 

 feet of stock are used daily. 



From the seasoning yard, the lumber moves 

 to the woodworking room, which is in close 

 proximity to the yard. In this room ;herc 

 is an immense assortment of planers, borers, 

 and sand-papering machines for use in shap- 

 ing the plow handles and other parts. The 

 lumber is then shaped into the various parts 

 and after each piece is carefully sand-papered 

 it is removed to the plow stock room. In this 

 room the assembling of parts takes place. 



The iron and steel parts of the plow come 

 in a steady stream from the foundries and 

 steel-forging rooms to meet the wooden parts 

 that come from the woodworking departments. 

 The walls of the stock room are lined with 

 bins, in which the iron and steel parts are 



'd(4S>'^. 



WOODWORKIXG AND PLOW STOCK DEPARTMENTS 



the lumber yards which surround the mill. 

 For' convenience, the yards lie between the 

 sawmill and the woodworking departments, 

 so that the wood can be transported to the 

 works in the shortest possible time. In the 

 yards, the lumber is stacked according to va- 

 rious dimensions and purposes for which it 

 is intended. 



The seasoning of the stock then begins. 

 e%'ery inch of limiber that goes into the wood- 

 working department bein,-^ seasoned for at 

 least twelve months. In seasoning, the lumber 

 is exposed to the weather on all sides, but is 

 protected on the top by means of sheds, whieli 

 are erected over the piles, as their locatioTi 

 demands. An immense amount of stock must 



stored and the plows are assembled, piece by 

 piece. After being assembled, each plow is 

 removed to the paint shop by means of elec- 

 tric trolleys, and, as the .paint shop is con- 

 veniently situated to the assembling depart- 

 ment, the plows are gotten out of the way as 

 quickly as they are completed. 



The finishing touches are appUed to the 

 plow in the paint shop, and they are allowed 

 to dry out thoroughly, preparatory to stor- 

 ing before delivery. In the floor of the paint 

 shop there are paint and varnish tanks, sunk 

 at convenient intervals. The fireproof con- 

 struction in the paint shop obviates all fear 

 of conflagration, the floor being concrete 

 and the waUs of brick and steel. The com- 



SiiALL .M;<^JI<j.\ uF i.l.MUER YAKD 



PLdW 



STUCK I£U0-U SHOWING WOUJjE.N 

 TO BE ASSEMBLED 



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