The winter of 1975 was a cold one. Gailyn and Valerie
Messersmith could barely keep their small house in Wilson,
Michigan, warm; fuel oil was too expensive, and cutting wood
was too time consuming due to long hours at work and the
hour commute. The old Robinson Furniture Factory was a few
miles away and they had massive piles of sawdust that they could
barely get rid of. Gailyn used his creativity to perfect the sawdust
burning system and by 1978 he had it perfected, patented, and
named the Messersmith Conversion burner.
The orders started and by 1980 building waste burning boilers
became Gailyn’s full-time job. On February 5th, 1982, the
company was incorporated and started to build bigger systems
for schools, hospitals and sawmills. As time went by systems
got larger, more efficient, and extremely durable. Messersmith
Manufacturing, Inc. (MMI) located in Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula, now employs 16 full-time employees and two parttime employees.
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Messersmith Manufacturing designs fabricates and installs
industrial sized biomass boiler systems. Messersmith also
trains operators. Wood chip burning boiler systems range from
500,000 BTU to 33 Million BTU. MMI has operating systems
that are almost as old as the company and still continue to
provide reliable heat all over the United States of America. Wood
chips are produced locally, transported by local truckers and are
a completely renewable resource. Wood chips in Michigan are
only about $40 a ton. Each ton of chips replaces roughly 83
gallons of propane, 61 gallons of #2 heating oil, or 76 therms
of natural gas. Messersmith Manufacturing prides itself on
excellent customer service, saving customers heating dollars,
and providing a positive, opportunity filled environment for its
employees.
Messersmith Manufacturing, Inc.
2612 F Road
Bark River, MI 49807
Phone (906) 466-9010
Fax: (906) 466-2843
[email protected]
www.burnchips.com
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