Not far from international tourist destinations such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, is Whitsunday Timber. Founded by Craig and Janelle Yeomans, the Cannon Valley sawmill helps neighbouring residents and businesses make use of the area’s valuable natural resources.
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Helping a friend cut down some trees initially led Craig’s wife, Janelle, to speculate that there must be an abundance of trees that needed to be removed.
She recognised the potential value of processing this material, which led to the idea behind Whitsunday Timber. The business was started strictly as a side project, as Craig works another professional job during the week.
“I figured that if I could process three trees a week on my day off, we would make some money and I would enjoy getting outside,” Craig said.
He said starting the business was the easy part. He formed partnerships with local tree services that supplied free logs in exchange for removal from the site, which substantially reduced disposal costs for the businesses, so everyone benefited.
The purchase of a Mack rigid truck complete with a crane and the addition of a mounted rotating hydraulic grab and logging bolsters gave Craig the tools he needed to start picking up logs and bringing them to his facility for sawmilling.
Currently, Whitsunday Timber operates out of a rented yard behind a local garden nursery, with 1000 square metres of unpaved area and no sheds or cover on site.
While the Yeomans planned for Whitsunday Timber to be a small side business, work has quickly increased as their customer base has rapidly grown from word-of-mouth referrals along with a small social media presence.
“I am processing several logs per week at present. Most of this is customer logs, which has been a profitable source of cash flow while I build my own inventory of timber,” Craig said.
With about 70 tons of timber in the yard after a short time in the sawmill business, this side project has the potential to be a much bigger operation.
The work starts whenever a local tree service rings Craig to ask if he’d like the tree they’ve just cut.
In most cases, the log must be removed from the property on the same day, which means Craig is out picking up logs on his lunch break or after work at his day job.
Whitsunday Timber operates a Wood-Mizer LT50WIDE hydraulic portable sawmill, chosen for its processing speed and computerised setworks to facilitate fast and efficient milling.
“I have found the Accuset setworks invaluable. No other portable mill in Australia gives me convenient and simple calculation assistance,” Craig said.
“Once I get going, I don’t have to be constantly working things out. For a guy like me who tends to rush things or have multiple things on the go, it reduces the risk of mistakes.
“My experience with Wood-Mizer has been positive. The after sales service has been great and the equipment is fantastic. I have found the Australian distributor to be warm and inclusive. There's a family feel in the Wood-Mizer community.”
When he’s ready to process, logs are moved to the sawmill using a wheeled loader.
Details of each log are carefully recorded on a job card so that information is readily available when making marketing decisions and monitoring profitability.
It’s not unusual for Craig to stop by the yard around 5.30am and mill a log or two prior to his workday. His days off from his full-time job are spent processing as much timber on the sawmill as possible.
Once the timber is milled, material of all sizes is labelled, stacked and strapped so the drying process can begin. Currently, Whitsunday Timber sells timber green, but there are plans to install a kiln in the future to provide more value for the customer.
Eucalyptus is the company’s main milling timber, which also includes blue gum, Moreton Bay ash and ironbark varieties. Mango trees are also milled quite frequently, as the trees grow large and become problematic in residential yards.
Silky oak, Mackay cedar, white cedar and pink cedar are also common woods milled by Whitsunday Timber, with kauri pine and hoop pine occasionally becoming available.
“We will mill anything that has a good grain and an appeal for any purpose, from building to bespoke furniture,” Craig said.
“[Mango trees] produce stunning furniture-grade timber.”
He said all timber was sustainably sourced from private customers who wanted to mill their logs or from local tree services who had cut down a tree for a client.
As their sawmill business has developed, Whitsunday Timber has carved out a desirable position in the community.
“I have been surprised by the number of people who have a log lying around and are looking for someone to mill it,” Craig said.
He said half of the company’s clients were other businesses that use timber in their lines of work.
“A local resort had to remove several trees for insurance reasons, and I am milling all of the trees and returning them as bearers and decking timber to replace the ageing boardwalks around the property.”
In addition, some local builders hired Craig to mill logs to a certain size before they were sent off to another processor to be planed, creating vertical joints and other types of internal cladding timber.
Next up for the company is finding a more permanent location with covered warehousing, building a kiln and adding services that enhance the current offering.
Craig would also like to upgrade his sawmill in the future and has an electric-powered Wood-Mizer LT70SUPER hydraulic portable sawmill in mind for increased timber production.
“Everyone loves saving money, being environmentally responsible, and seeing the end result,” he said.
“It’s all really quite emotive, but the bottom line is always providing good and engaging service.”