USA - The Wood-Mizer Way 99 Spring/Summer 2017 | Page 13
“ Being able to work directly with my kids
and see them as decision-makers at
a young age has been tremendous. ”
—J.T. Wilcox
J.T. began his new career with the
purchase of a Wood-Mizer LT15 sawmill.
“We do quite a bit of building on the
farm,” said J.T. “The use of lumber
from our own trees provides a
considerable amount of added value
to the logs we harvest.” J.T. generally
harvests and mills douglas fir, maple, and
cedar from the farm that is only cut if
the tree is unhealthy. Today, J.T. is a self-
described employee of his daughter Katie,
an undergraduate at Whitworth University
who has developed a substantial business
working with her dad milling lumber and
slabs to create beautifully finished furniture.
“The first mill was very useful, supplying
dimensional lumber to be used on farm
projects for when we remodel chicken
houses, converting them into cage-free
houses,” said Katie. “My dad bought the
first sawmill when I was a freshman at
Whitworth. I would come home to visit
and he would want me to help him saw. It
was not love at first sight.” All that changed
when Katie discovered woodworking.
Seeing potential for the mill to play
a bigger part in their goals for the farm’s
timber resource, J.T. purchased a Wood-
Mizer LT35 sawmill with hydraulic log
handling. The upgrade not only allowed
for more efficient lumber production, it
allowed for the ability to efficiently handle
bigger logs for slab production. Katie and
J.T. began to grow their new business, Hart's
Lake Pioneer Lumber Company, focusing
on building slab furniture including tables,
benches, conference tables and other
products. “We want to stick with using
timber from the farm because that’s
our niche – local timber from a farm
that has been in my family for over
100 years and is widely known around
the Pacific Northwest,” shared Katie.
“We have a planned forest rotation and
when we are logging, we divert a few loads
that fit our sawing needs to our log yard,”
explained J.T. “Salvage
of wind-blown and
di seased trees are also a
factor. We actually like
the logs that have been
on the ground for a year
or two because the onset
of decay gives the wood
more character.”
because the people who live around
us value the type of product we are
making,” said Katie. “A local, father-
daughter business, with unique,
handmade products is something
people want to support.” When
asked how J.T. enjoys running a furniture
business, he answers with a laugh, “I’m
not running it. I’m working for Katie.
After a lifetime of being in charge,
working for my daughter is one of
the best things I do.”
As a small rural
business using nothing
but a portable sawmill,
forklift, small tractor,
sanders, and a planer,
Hart's Lake Pioneer
Lumber has a smaller
budget than Wilcox
Farms so they market
primarily
through
Facebook and word-of-
mouth. “So far this has
been effective – I think
woodmizer.com
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