McDonough Manufacturing Co.
McDonough Manufacturing Co.
 715-834-7755

The most recognized provider of sawmill machinery solutions that increase the efficiencies of our customer’s operations. Specializing in band mills, resaws, edgers and carriages, McDonough recently acquired BID Canada Ltd., experts in material handling systems. McDonough offers new and factory re-built sawmill equipment, all coming with the same 1-year warranty.

McDonough Manufacturing is excited to welcome BID Canada Ltd. into the McDonough group of companies. This acquisition partners two of New Brunswick’s premiere manufacturing teams and facilities, combining them with our flagship location in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and allows McDonough to increase production capacity, human resources, and product offerings.

McDonough Manufacturing was founded in Eau Claire, Wisconsin in 1888, expanding operations to Mactaquac, New Brunswick, in 2017. Increasing demand of our machinery has necessitated a further expansion to increase capacity and meet changing market needs.

BID Canada Ltd. has over 50 years of experience in the design and manufacturing of bulk material handling systems, making it one of North America’s leaders in the industry. Within close proximity to the Trans-Canada Highway and various seaports, BID has been a sought-after manufacturer in the coal, cement, potash, nickel, biomass and pulp and paper industries.

This acquisition is part of McDonough’s business strategy to continue to offer the best machinery on the market, while employing teams of experts to service our customers. BID Canada will continue to operate in their facility in Woodstock, New Brunswick, retaining existing team members under the McDonough umbrella. The BID Canada location will remain focused on their existing customers and projects, while contributing to the production of McDonough sawmill machinery. The experience of the McDonough sales and marketing teams will allow us to further expand BID Canada’s horizons across North America.

This is an exciting chapter in the 135-year history of McDonough Manufacturing, and we are grateful for the support of our many customers, vendors and supporters. We are confident that this expansion will only serve to increase our capabilities and we look forward to welcoming in our new BID Canada team members.


McDonough's complete line of board edgers ranges from some of the fastest optimized edger systems in the world to manual edgers and combination edgers for smaller sawmills everywhere. The OptiFit linear edger has become the most popular edger system for modern hardwood sawmills based on its ability to deliver exceptional yield, short payback and long-term durability based on the proven McDonough linear edger sawbox.

OptiFit Linear Edger
Designed to fit in every hardwood sawmill in the country, the McDonough OptiFit Linear Board Edger maximizes yield without having to expand your sawmill. This board edger system will handle everything your carriage and resaw can throw at it and provide your sawmill with huge gains in yield and profitability.

Optimized Linear Board Edger
McDonough has established itself as the industry leader in the optimized board edger market with all the unique design features of our linear board edger systems. Field experience and customer consultation that is combined with careful engineering ensure our board edger is the most accurate and easiest to maintain board edger on the market.

Optimized Transverse Board Edger
Available as a dedicated board edger or gang, this machine can also be configured to handle both boards and cants to maximize the return on your investment in optimization and machinery at the one highly efficient machine center. With board edger piece counts of up to 40 pieces per minute, this machine is designed to drop right into your existing edger footprint with our unique short coupled outfeed system. Dramatic increases in yield over conventional board and gang edgers make this machine a quick payback candidate for any sawmill.

You can find more info at https://www.mcdonough-mfg.com/products/board_edger


McDonough has recently begun work on a new AutoMAXX resaw system, a revolutionary machine that re-imagines what a resaw can do. The AutoMAXX system combines physical controls with a visual operator interface, high-quality digital imaging and optimization to maximize yield of grade and input.
The AutoMAXX comes with complete automation of turning, fence sets, gap control and feeding that allows the operator to focus on cutting decisions and grade. This system increases yield of your highest-grade products, and increased line counts at equivalent feed speeds.
Requiring only one grader/operator, optimum saw feed speeds will reduce saw fatigue while increasing saw capacity. The PLC controlled turning, feeding and cant spacing will keep gaps to a minimum, even when changing sets.
McDonough invented the Travelling Bed Feed Resaw, now known as the Linebar Resaw, that revolutionized the sawmill industry. With the new AutoMAXX resaw system, McDonough is once again advancing resaw technology and capability.


Introducing the Sterling YieldBoss Hybrid Edger System by the industry experts at McDonough 

The Sterling YieldBoss Hybrid Edger System is a revolutionary new approach to edging that combines the benefits of optimized saw placement with the simplicity of a manual edger system. An affordable system in a whole new class of edgers created by McDonough, a Sterling YieldBoss Hybrid Edger fits in the space between our line of McDonough fully optimized edgers that return the highest yields, and manual edgers that leave everything up to your operator. 

Based on years of edger product development and site testing, a Hybrid Edger will deliver performance expected to be superior to many optimized transverse edger systems, and even outperform many edgers that are billed as being optimized, but in reality, are not. 

The Sterling YieldBoss can help you meet your goals with:

  • Optimized saw placement on every board
  • Designed to fit the footprint of a hand-fed edger system common in sawmills everywhere
  • Designed to put the saw on the correct cutpath on every piece
  • An infeed system based on the designs of our industry leading McDonough OptiFit edger system, which has been developed over years of testing and improvement, with 50+ systems in operation around the industry  

The standard YieldBoss edger system includes:

  • Edger infeed belt
  • McDonough YieldBoss Hybrid Edger scanning
  • McDonough Hybrid Edger system controls
  • Two-saw McDonough YieldBoss edger 
  • Edger outfeed belt 

McDonough strives for efficiency through specialized machine solutions that lay a foundation for success. We focus on mutual honesty and long-term ethics, open and respectful communication, and are conscious of our customers’ expectations. No matter your edger needs, McDonough has the system for you. 

For more, visit www.mcdonough-mfg.com or call (715) 834-7755.



In the late 1890s, Frank McDonough invented the Travelling Bed Feed, now known as the Linebar Resaw, that revolutionized the sawmill industry. More than 120 years later, McDonough is once again re-imagining what the Resaw can be.

Available as a new installation or as an upgrade to any existing resaw, the McDonough AutoMAXX resaw system combines physical controls with a visual operator interface, high-quality digital imaging and vision optimization to maximize yield of grade and throughput. Using vision optimization to suggest the best face to the operator, the AutoMAXX AI framework will build a database of decision making processes based on operator decisions that will decrease dependency on the operator and allow the machine to run in “auto-mode” without pause, in turn improving operator decisions and reducing responsibility on the operator for productivity.

Allowing the operator to see four faces simultaneously, and identifying white spots, blond knots, low contrast color variation, etc., system overrides will be rare. As the AI framework processes and store information over time, the AutoMAXX will begin to utilize max available grade estimates to influence cutting solutions several cuts ahead.

Providing a significant increase in grade/value recovery, as well as reducing operator responsibility, error, injury and fatigue, the AutoMAXX optimizer provides estimated ‘max grade’, SM and value of each face with high accuracy.


McDonough Manufacturing, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the world leader in sawmill solutions, is proud to unveil its redesigned interactive website. The new website, www.mcdonough-mfg.com was created by the team at LumbermenOnline.com, the sister company of LUMBERMEN’S Equipment Digest and features improved graphic interface and easy to use navigation. Since 1888 McDonough has followed a simple “good neighbor” philosophy coupled with a family atmosphere that puts the customer’s need for profit and efficiency first. Visitors to the new site will find complete product information including features, product specifications and video as well as quick print product information, career opportunities and more. If your sawmill operation needs to learn more about kerf savings offered by band resaws and headrigs, how edger optimization can improve your bottom line, advanced material handling, a new carriage or a complete turn-key installation you’ll find it online at www.mcdonough-mfg.com.

High Country Lumber in Wilkesboro, NC has ordered a lineal edger infeed table for their existing Valley Machine lineal edger. The McDonough design offers a smoother feeding to the edger increasing recovery compared to the old one. The infeed table is scheduled for a February delivery and will be installed in the mill right away. This adds High Country Lumber to the list of nine Valley Machine edgers that McDonough is currently servicing. Pike Lumber Company’s new mill in Milan, IN started up the first week of January. The new mill includes a McDonough 6' headrig as well as McDonough’s seventh edger system. This edger system features McDonough’s ValueMax system which allows an operator assisted visual defect upgrade of the optimizer’s solution and is Pike Lumber’s second edger system of this kind. Rex Lumber Company’s new tandem arbor lineal edger, for their new 20' Southern Yellow Pine facility in Brookhaven, MS, tested in the shop in early January and shipped to the customer. This innovative machine design features two skewing saw boxes in one machine center. Sold to perform up to 50 pieces per minutes, once operating this will be one of, if not the, fastest edger in the world. The machine is scheduled to be commissioned the first week of March. This will be McDonough’s eighth edger product since they started making edgers just three years ago. D.G. Limited of Beauce, Quebec, Canada will be receiving a McDonough 54" horizontal resaw in February. Sold by Akhurst Machinery, the horizontal is a new design for McDonough as the bandmill will be installed directly behind a moulder and tilt up to 15 degrees from horizontal. McDonough has a long history of making 54" vertical resaws with tilting feed rollers which allow customers to make beveled boards to be used for house siding. But a machine installed directly behind the moulder will reduce the need to have a separate machine setup and the surrounding material handling equipment required for the operation as well as an additional operator. The machine will start up soon after it is received. For more information on McDonough Manufacturing’s custom line of sawmill machinery, please call (715) 834-7755

The key to linear edger performance can be taken right from the machines name, in that everything needs to run on a straight line or in a “linear” fashion. While this is arguably the simplest way to handle the optimized edging process, eliminating all of the starting/stopping, grabbing and positioning that takes place between the scanning and sawing operations of a transverse edger system, linear edger users still need to keep a close eye on their edger system in order to keep things working properly. This is of course in an effort to realize the highest possible recovery of yield and value that their edging system can provide. In particular, mills should pay very close attention to: ¦ Edger infeed belt tracking, making sure that the belt tracks perfectly parallel to the edger system centerline. ¦ There are no humps or twists in the belt path that will cause the board to “walk” or “spin” on the surface of the belt. ¦ Transition areas need to be smooth and level, in particular those: Through the scan zone Between the infeed belt and the edger feed system. Saw calibration to the transfer system. After transfer systems are aligned then saw entry points that are consistent with those planned by the optimizer are established by: ¦ Calibrating one saw (usually the center saw) to the entry points desired by the optimizer. ¦ Each of the remaining saws are then calibrated by sawing more lumber and comparing the sawn piece width to the target piece width. If you need any help with this or any other type edger system maintenance, please don’t hesitate to call McDonough to schedule an appointment. If you have any maintenance tips to share or would like one answered don’t hesitate to contact McDonough today at 715-834-7755.


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