OVER 65 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
It all started with an imported gang saw. After WWII, three brothers from Germany migrated to the United States and built a sawmill on Galls Creek in Gold Hill, Oregon. Dissatisfied with the imported gang saw they were using, they decided they could make a better saw themselves.
1955: The Jeddeloh brothers begin the Sweed trend of engineering innovation.
The Jeddeloh brothers found it more profitable to build high-quality equipment than to mill wood, so they left the sawmill business and started Jeddeloh Brothers Sweed Mills. The Sweed Mill was a type of gang saw that put the business on the map. The three brothers quickly gained a reputation of being innovative engineers who provided solid solutions for the forest products industry with a focus on plywood related machinery.
1956: The first scrap chopper was built.
Being known as pioneers in engineering, mills often came to the brothers asking for a solution for all of the steel banding they accumulated from banded loads. Recognizing that this steel banding was a hazard and a nuisance to work with, the Jeddeloh brothers built the first patented scrap chopper.
1957: The first automatic dryer-feeder machine was built.
Jeddeloh Bros. Sweed Mills builds the first automatic dryer-feeder machine. Another groundbreaking solution for the plywood manufacturers that provided systematic feeding of individual trays in the veneer dryer.
1985: Scrap chopper hits a milestone.
Jeddeloh Brothers Sweed Mills continues to build equipment for the forest products industry, and by 1985 there is a scrap chopper on every continent except Antarctica.
1986: Cascade Wood Products purchases Jeddeloh Brothers Sweed Mills.
Cascade Wood Products purchases Jeddeloh Brothers Sweed Mills and changes the name to SWEED Machinery, Inc. Cascade Wood Products helps SWEED Machinery to develop products that appeal to a variety of new markets, including continuing their prominence in the forest products industry while also expanding their chopper product line into more extensive recycling systems.
1999: The recycling products industry flourishes.
The recycling products niche has grown fourfold in the last 10 years and, to meet demand, SWEED Machinery expanded their recycling product line to include wire and cable separation systems that recover copper and aluminum from scrap telecommunication cable, ACSR, and other scrap wires and cables.
2007: The Great Recession hits.
When the Great Recession hit the country, SWEED diversified their markets and emphasized applying innovation to their products. During this time, SWEED gained prominence in numerous industries, from forest products to metal fabricating, and all in between. While this diversification was taking place, Sweed also solidified its manufacturing systems and modernized its equipment to prepare for future growth.
Today: SWEED continues as a pioneer in engineering, the same way we started.
SWEED continues to be dedicated to refining proven products for a wide variety of industries while offering custom engineering and manufacturing to meet specific needs. SWEED’s ability to not only pioneer two product lines but keep driving each of them forward with proven innovations decade after decade is attributable to a team of knowledgeable mechanical engineers and salespeople. SWEED engineers work closely with customers on many levels – from customizing a scrap chopper to meet specific criteria, or revolutionizing a veneer or panel handling solution to increase production and efficiency, SWEED strives to exceed every customer’s expectation in all they do.
