Our Company History:
In that same year, Gerald (pictured at right) and two of his brothers purchased Miles Lumber, originally founded by Hatton Lumber Company, which was located at the mouth of the Wolf and Embarrass Rivers. This was an excellent location for the mill due to the transportation of the river. In 1969, Gerald started Ort Lumber Company with his 4 sons (pictured above, left). The company has grown to be one of the most automated sawmills in Wisconsin, cutting approximately 16-million board feet per year. Then, they started Ort Trucking Company in 1979, followed by Wolf River Lumber.
Wolf River Lumber was purchased in May of 1982, with only 3-employees. Over the summer, people were hard at work to rebuild and renovate existing dry kilns at the location downtown, along the river. In October of the same year, lumber was put into its first process into the two-existing dry kilns. More employees were then added.
In January of 1983, the third dry kiln was added. In March of the same year, two more dry kilns were added; there were then 7-employees. In August of 1983, the first pre-drier was build and 4-employees were added. In January of 1986, 4-more employees were added. In December of the same year, two-more dry kilns were added, as well as the Stacker. With the additional equipment, 10-more employees were needed.
In 1878 Edward Ort Senior settled in Appleton, surveyed the area for business, and determined the wood industry appeared ripe for growth. Today, fourth, fifth, and sixth generations of his family have built a small empire upon hardwood lumber. In 1930, Edward Ort Senior had owned a portable sawmill in the town of Center, which only cost $500.00. Edward's son, Gerald Ort, and his 4-grandchildren logged and sawed millions of board feet of lumber before 1964.
In 1878 Edward Ort Senior settled in Appleton, surveyed the area for business, and determined the wood industry appeared ripe for growth. Today, fourth, fifth, and sixth generations of his family have built a small empire upon hardwood lumber. In 1930, Edward Ort Senior had owned a portable sawmill in the town of Center, which only cost $500.00. Edward's son, Gerald Ort, and his 4-grandchildren logged and sawed millions of board feet of lumber before 1964.
In May of 1986, the first office personnel were hired and in August of the same year, the first office was built. The original office eventually became the shipping office at the downtown location.
In 1987, two new pre-driers were added, bringing the total up to three. At that time, Wolf River Lumber was continuing to expand in the market for Hardwood Lumber and began to sell lumber to more specific lengths, widths, grades, etc. Wolf River Lumber really began to promote service lumber.
In 1990, the grading line and trimming lines were added to the facility. During this time, the night shift was developed and more employees were added to make it possible. In the same year, Wolf River Lumber took a giant step toward its future with the addition of a location at Drier Road, located near Ort Lumber. This location consisted of two-warehouses with a 2.25 million board foot capacity, green lumber storage, and T-sheds with a capacity of 1.5 million board feet.
From forest to finished product, no element is more crucial than the drying process. During the entire year of 1995, Wolf River Lumber renovated all 8 of its kilns and updated its 3 pre-driers; this included a fully integrated computerized control system. This allowed employees to monitor all kilns and pre-driers with the push of a button. Drying times, start ups, and stress relieving were all controlled, reported, and adjusted as the lumber was being processed.
In July of 1996, an automated trimsaw was added to the planer room; this increased efficiency and productivity. Lumber was surfaced, sanded, trimmed, graded, and packaged all in the same manufacturing process. Consistently bright stock was controlled with the addition of the dip tank in August of 1996. Chemical dip was used to control staining and molding to maintain the bright, fresh, off the log color.
With technology increasing and space decreasing, Wolf River Lumber made the decision to expand from a 2.7-acre site (pictured above) to a 55-acre site (pictured at right). Team members from Wolf River Lumber and other various companies worked together to form what is one of the most advanced lumber dryline facilities in the world. The announcement, of the future site, was in May 2000 and from then on, the future of Wolf River Lumber was well under way.
In the beginning of September 2000, the footings for 20-new kilns were poured at it's current location. On September 8th, 2000, the official ground breaking ceremony was held; by this time kilns were underway and began taking shape in the end of October 2000.
In early January of 2001, two-600 horsepower boilers were put into place to run the 20-kilns. By late February 2001, 5 of the 20 kilns were up and the frame of the main building was in the process of being built.
The main building, at 338,000 square feet, was designed to hold the new green and drylines as well as the offices and inventory. Near the end of 2001, the walls had been put up around the main building and the stacker plans were taking shape. By this time, 15 of the 20 kilns were in operation, and construction of the 60-bay bin sorter was underway.
By mid-August of 2001, the completely automated, self-tallying stacker was up and running and preparing to meet its stacking capacity of 100,000 board feet per shift. Near the end of September 2001, construction for the planer had begun. Shortly after, in early December, the 60-bay bin sorter worked its way into production with the stacker line sorting up to 60-different grades, widths, and lengths of lumber, prior to the kiln drying process.
The start up of the planer line had begun in early March of 2002. The new planer line is approximately 1,100 feet long, with a Newman EPR-30" Short Stock Machine knife planer with 10-knife heads, and a 48-inch wide abrasive planer. In the late May of 2004, our ripline, a Mereen-Johnson 441 along with a Cameron Automation Opti-Rip System, was installed to meet customer needs. Since the completion in early June of 2004, the ripline has been in full operation. The ripline can produce anywhere from 10-12,000 feet of rips per day.
Initially, Wolf River Lumber had 20-kilns installed at the current location. In February of 2005, the kiln addition project had begun, adding 20-more kilns for a total of 40. The original and new kilns were built by SII Dry Kilns. The 20-new kilns have roof-mounted vents, providing more venting power and a quicker drying time. In addition, the new kilns are stainless, instead of aluminum to prevent damage from the acid in wood. The capacity of each kiln, old and new, is approximately 55,000 board feet. Due to the horsepower and ventilation of the new kilns, the drying process can be as much as two-days quicker in some species.
As we grow, Wolf River Lumber will continue to be one of the most reliable manufacturers of kiln dried lumber and will provide superior, consistent, quality and service!
Customer-focused company providing innovative forest product solutions,
by a knowledgeable family-oriented team, with service second to none.