Forestry Memories

The first timber into the chipboard factor at Cowie

The first timber into the chipboard factor at Cowie

Date Added: 12 December 2020 Contributor: Norman Davidson Year of Photo: 1972 Picture No: 4980

The first timber into the chipboard factor at Cowie
The image is courtesy of David Leslie of James Jones and has been lying in the in-tray since he passed the image to here in 2013!

James Jones and Sons lorry unloading at the chipboard factory on its first day receiving loads of timber for chipping. The Dodge lorry registration number SWG75H has three bays of timber as its load. Can anyone name the driver?

The unloading machines may be Muirhill MH6 although there is a OLK symbol on the back of the machine. Can anyone clarify?

Scottish Timber Products manufactured Caberboard, a type of chipboard first developed in Germany. The company was formed in 1970 by private traders who invested £30,000 to establish the case for building a Scottish chipboard factory. A £7 million plant was established in Cowie, Stirlingshire, with the company offices being located in Murray Place, Stirling. At the end of the first full year of trading the Chairman confirmed that the results were promising. He also confirmed that STP had been awarded regional development grants, which allowed the Board to approve the purchase of a coating line and a laminating line.

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Groups: Other Vehicles and Machines, Sawmills, pulp mills, chipboard mills, Timber lorries and loaders

2 Comments

The 2 machines are O&K built MH6 22 tonne excavators. The dipper arm or stick has been removed and replaced with a suitable stick which to hang a grab and rotator from rather than a bucket. Also note the boom is a 2 piece which can be adjusted to suit the application. The boom has been shortened to possibly allow a longer stick piece to be fitted.
Normally the MH models would denote a Material Handler, but it doesn't seem to be on the O&K machine, looks like it was an excavator.
The stabilisers legs have also been removed, presumably the thought was the machine would be fully mobile, not required to sit and work in one area.
Comment left on 15 December 2020 at 19:44 by Iain Gale
I was the timber buyer for STP when this load arrived. It came from Kirriemuir and was delivered April 1973 about 6 am in the morning. I can’t remember the name of the driver but I gave him a fiver as a memento of his first delivery to Cowie. The two drivers of the O and K grabs were Owen Cattegan and Bill Shaw Comment left on 06 August 2021 at 23:00 by Roger Thornton
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