Southern Loggin’ Times magazine Associate Editor Jay Donnell has the opportunity to visit Fly Tie & Lumber LLC in Grenada, Mississippi. When young Ricky Fly founded Fly Timber Company in 1981 in Coffeeville, Miss., the thought of operating a modern hardwood sawmill wasn’t on his mind—yet. In addition to running his own logging crew, he became a wood dealer for International Paper, overseeing up to nine jobs and investing in highly efficient logging equipment as it came on the market. Fly tried the sawmill business in the mid-’80s but didn’t stay in it long. But when the economy took a down turn around 2000 many local hardwood sawmills and other markets began shutting down, leaving Fly in search for log buyers. He decided to expand his operations to take up some of the slack and before long was running a small mulching system, a Hurdle hardwood sawmill in Oakland and a scragg mill in Winona.

Featured Story: “Built To Last”

Written By: Jay Donnell
Company: Fly Timber Company, Inc./Fly Tie & Lumber LLC
Location: Grenada, Mississippi
SLT Issue: July 2016

Check out other featured articles in the July 2016 issue of Southern Loggin’ Times magazine.
Southern Loggin’ Times magazine’s July 2016 issue features Chester, Virginia’s Williams Tree Harvesters LLC, Pittsview, Alabama’s Pitts Enterprises, Inc., manufacturer of Pitts Trailers, Grenada, Mississippi’s Fly Tie & Lumber LLC, and Haddock, Georgia’s Kip Smith Forest Services. An article reports on the recent Southeastern Wood Producers Association Annual Meeting and Logging and Transportation Expo held in June in Valdosta, Georgia. Other articles cover the latest industry news and new machinery and products.