Unsound defect volume in hardwood pallet cants

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the percentage of unsound defect volume to sound/clear wood in pallet cants at selected sawmills in Virginia and West Virginia. Splits,wane, shake, holes, decay, unsound knots, bark pockets, and mechanical defects were all considered to be unsound. Data were collected from seven Appalachian area sawmills for four hardwood species: red oak (Quercus rubra, L.), white oak (Quercus alba, L), yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera, L.), and basswood (Tilia americana, L.). White oak and yellow-poplar had higher percentages of unsound defect volume compared to red oak and basswood. Regardless of the mills and species, splits accounted for the highest percentage of defect volume per cant. Decay, bark pockets, shake, and holes also contributed significantly to the total defect volume. The majority of unsound defects in white oak and red oak consisted of holes, decay, splits, and shake. Ninety percent of the cants had defect volumes less than 10 percent, and 2 percent of the cants had unsound defect volumes higher than 30 percent. This study suggests that cants can be pre-sorted and some even culled before processing into pallet parts, which ultimately will reduce the processing cost and produce high quality, longer-lasting pallets.

Citation

Araman, Philip; Winn, Matt; Kabir, Firoz; Torcheux, Xavier; Loizeaud, Guillaume. 2003. Unsound defect volume in hardwood pallet cants. Forest Products Journal. 53(2): 45-49.