Bargains Products for the Do It Yourselfer
Rouck Bros. Sawmill has been associated with the forest industry for over fifty years. Back in the 1940’s our father, Jack, started in the forest industry making axe ties in the bush with a broad axe and skidding them out with a horse. In the 1950’s he started sawmilling. This was done with a portable sawmill which he moved around the area to the wood he was going to saw. He would mainly saw fir, from which he produced such items as railroad ties, dimensional lumber and squares.
Our summer holidays were spent working on the sawmill with Dad. This usually meant piling lumber and doing the cleanup at the end of the day.
By the 1970’s the Rouck brothers decided to start off on their own. With Dad thinking of retirement, we felt all the good training and work ethic Dad taught us, would be better put to use in our own business rather than working for someone else.
We started off with a small sawmill, and quickly learned the other skills needed to run a business besides piling lumber and wrenching.
Besides having a banker’s advice in financial matters, we could always count on Dad for guidance. He always showed an interest in what we were doing, so much so , that in around 1980 he decided to come out of retirement and come back into the business with us. At this point we bought a bigger mill and had our sights set on more specialty products. In 1980 we started to build the re-man side of our business. This expansion opened up a whole new field for us.
With remanufacturing and value added forest products the way of the future, we started to develop this side of the business more so than the sawmill end. By the mid 1980’s Dad was ready to retire for good now, but he always continued to be interested in what we were doing and felt confident that we were on the right track.
We started to build lumber sheds to keep the products covered from the weather and a dry kiln was added. We purchased a band saw and every year or two we would buy another piece of equipment. A moulder was purchased and that really put the gears in motion for producing value added products. It always seems that you need another piece of equipment to compliment the ones you have. So then, we purchase a couple of chop saws. As the business grew so did the crew, which has increased from the original two employees to a staff of seventeen. Another forklift was purchased, the main re-man building was added on to and has to be expanded yet again. The filing room which is used to look after all the saws and cutters, has doubled in size and could also be made larger.
All this growth in our business has been the result of an expanded wood product line. From the beginning when we sawed rough lumber and squares, the idea of doing more with the product has been high on our priority list. Now the finished value added products are endless as to what we can produce. Our product line includes: cedar sidings, paneling and facial boards, hardwood floorings in birch, fir hemlock and pine, manufactured log home products, as well as finger joint stock.
Rouck Bros. Sawmill is looking forward to an exciting future which includes new markets and new products. We are always interested in innovative ideas when it comes to manufacturing a high quality wood product for consumer use.