January 2010-
Hull Forest Products announces the addition of pine timbers to its existing spruce and hardwood timbers line, following its purchase of W.D. Cowls’ pine timbers business. Included in the purchase was the Cowls company timber sizer, which enables Hull Forest Products to surface timbers 16” tall and up to 24” wide—huge pieces of wood—on four sides in one pass.
“We are sorry to see the closing of the Cowls sawmill,” said Bill Hull, founder and CEO of Hull Forest Products. “We’ve been friends with the Cowls for many decades, and we’re thankful that we’re in a position to assist them with this transition. In these tough economic times, our purchase of Cowls’ pine timber business represents a continuing consolidation within the industry and adds another niche to our existing hardwood timber frame business. We look forward to servicing all of Cowls former customers.”
Hull Forest Products offers framers a variety of softwood and hardwood timbers, along with options such as NELMA grade stamping, FSC-certified timbers, timber lengths to 26 feet, and surfacing—all from a single supplier. The company’s land base of largely FSC-certified woodlands in New England also plays a key role in timber procurement, providing a sound resource for the sawmill.
“We are a large landowner in southern New England, as is Cowls, and we harvest timber in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York,” says Hull. “Because we handle a huge volume of softwood material, the bulk of which does not go to any mills in New England, we have a huge internal resource with which to meet our customer’s needs.”
