Pike Lumber Expands Milan Plant to Increase Production

By Paul Miller

Milan, IN–An expansion of Pike Lumber Co.’s manufacturing facility here, complete with new handling and sawmilling equipment, has positioned it to double production of green Hardwood lumber.

Primary species are Walnut, White Oak, rift and quartered White Oak, Hickory, Hard Maple, Cherry, Red Oak, and Poplar in 4/4 to 16/4 thicknesses. Timber is purchased in a 50-mile radius of the plant from private landowners, who receive Pike Lumber’s assistance in managing their woods.

“We bring in tree-length logs, then break them down into sawmill lengths,” said Rich Solano, corporate treasurer/director of marketing. “We will buck them to 8- through 16-foot, based on the highest quality we can get out of the log.”

The logs go through an HMC rosserhead debarker, which has regular and grinding heads, then are put through an MDI metal detector. As long as nothing trips the detector, the logs are then sent to a McDonough Manufacturing head saw, with a six-foot headrig. The head saw squares the logs, after which the squared cant goes to a five-foot PHL horizontal resaw. A McDonough Manufacturing edger with USNR scanners performs its work, then an HMC trim saw cuts the boards to length. Finally, the lumber is sorted and shipped to Pike Lumber’s main facility in Akron, IN, for kiln drying.

“One of the unique things about the equipment is that the carriage is electric,” Solano said. “It was one of only two that were in the country at that time and it’s very quick and precise. No hydraulics are involved, so it’s a very clean-running machine and there is less fire risk. It also doesn’t have the pantograph arm, which tends to have problems over time.”

The slant carriage and slant saw were designed for a better view of the log and to take advantage of gravity, Plant Manager David Steen added. “One reason we don’t need hydraulics is because the log is at an angle, making it easier to maneuver using gravity instead of forcing it with hydraulics,” he said. “We use gravity to help turn the log and we use the slant to drop the board off with the proper orientation for the next machine center.”

The Milan sawmill began operating on the 35-acre site in 2011, but Akron-based Pike Lumber has had a presence in the area since 1992 when it began buying local logs and standing timber. “We wanted to build in this area because of our established relationship with the landowner and because of the good-quality timber that is here,” commented Craig Brouyette, executive vice president.

He lauded the cooperation that the town of Milan provided, noting that it had built a truck access road costing $800,000 to the facility.

In 2016, a truck shop was added to the Milan location and its green chain was expanded to 200 feet in length, with 17 doors each handling two sorts. The latest expansion has enabled the sawmill to produce between 7 million and 8 million board feet annually. Log inventory stands at 500,000 to 700,000 board feet during the summer, and 1 million to 1.2 million board feet during the winter. 

Pike Lumber was founded in 1904 by D.A. Pike, whose sawmill was flooded a few years later. He rebuilt and relocated the sawmill, only to have his business destroyed twice by fire. Pike persevered, as did his daughter Helen, who had sensed his disappointment in not having a son to carry on the family business. Helen asked for and received a portable sawmill, which she used to cut railroad ties throughout northern Indiana and southern Michigan.

Delighted with his daughter, Pike sent a young lumberjack named Howard Utter along “to watch out for my little girl.” He and Helen hit it off and got married. When Pike eased toward retirement in 1935, Utter became company president, a role he held until his death in 1995. During those 60 years, Pike Lumber had been transformed from a “ma and pa” sawmill into Indiana’s leading lumber manufacturer with sawmills in Akron, Carbon, and a vision for a sawmill in Milan.

Today, James W. Steen–who was hired by Utter–is president. Other officers include Chris Herrell, vice president of operations; Brian Schilling, vice president of engineering; Paul Branch, vice president of timber procurement; and Samantha Howard, vice president of administration/corporate secretary.

Interestingly, the 1986 movie “Hoosiers,” was based loosely on the Milan High School team that won the state basketball championship in 1954. Filming locations included Crawfordsville, Knightstown, Lebanon, New Richmond and Terhune.

Pike Lumber Co. is a member of National Hardwood Lumber Association, Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Association, Hardwood Manufacturers Association, and American Hardwood Export Council. 

More details are available at www.pikelumber.com.