In business by the 1930s, the Klamath Machine & Locomotive Works manufactured sawmill machines that were specialized for the larger logs of the Pacific Northwest.

In 1965 Klamath Machine & Locomotive Works was acquired by San Francisco management firm Pacific Associates, Inc., which merged Klamath with M. A. Ward Corp., a firm that they had just acquired following the death of Mr. Ward. The resulting firm was Klamath-Ward, Inc., headquartered in Eugene, Oregon.

In 1969 Pacific Associates sold Klamath-Ward to Morbark Industries of Winn, Michigan, a manufacturer of sawill debarking and wood-chipping machinery, which continued to operate it under the Klamath-Ward name and gave the combined business a product portfolio that could fully outfit a large sawmill.

Information Sources

• From 1969 issues of Southern Lumberman (Volume 218 page 34), and National Hardwood Magazine (Volume 43 page 67).

  Morbark Industries Buys Klamath-Ward

  Broader Line of Sawmill Equipment Planned by Morbark

  PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 14.—Richard H. Headlee, president of Morbark Industries of Winn, Mich., has announced his firm's purchase of Klamath-Ward, Inc., in Eugene, Oregon.

  Klamath-Ward manufactures saw-mill machinery for distribution throughout the United States and Canada. The firm has been owned and operated since 1965 by Pacific Associates, Inc., a San Francisco management firm. The company was founded by Mike A. Ward in 1930 and was originally known as M. A. Ward Corporation until its merger with Klamath Machine and Locomotive Works in 1965 following the death of Mr. Ward.

  According to Headlee, the acquisition of Klamath-Ward by Morbark Industries is part of the parent company's efforts to represent a broader line of sawmill equipment. "For ten years," says, Headlee, "Morbark has dealt primarily with the design and manufacture of debarking and chipping equipment. We have installations in sawmills, plywood plants and pulp mills worldwide. Until now, our line of equipment has been directed to where the log enters the mill or where it leaves it as chips. Our addition of the Klamath-Ward line now places Morbark Industries in the sawmill production line from the log deck to the shipping dock. Klamath Ward is just what we've been looking for to insure that Morbark will become one of the largest forest industry machinery manufacturing complexes in the nation," he added. "Our overall goal is to design and manufacture complete mill packages. They would be carefully programmed packages of mill equipment offering a totally synchronized sawmill."

  According to Headlee, Klamath-Ward will continue to operate under the same name, with emphasis currently on the manufacture of modern, high-speed sawmill equipment such as their single- and double-arbor edgers, the small log and core mill and the Ferrari twin resaw, Klamath-Ward's complete line includes a host of equipment from log clamps to trimmers and live deck skids to stackers.

  Management of Klamath-Ward will be headed up by Robert B. Young, who is a vice president of Morbark Industries. He moves to Eugene from Lewiston, Idaho, where he was manager of Morbark's northwest operations. Klamath-Ward and Morbark equipment will be marketed through various sales offices of Morbark Industries and dealers throughout the world. Morbark's headquarters will remain in Winn, Mich. where the bulk of the debarking and chipping equipment will be manufactured. Klamath-Ward will continue to manufacture its line of equipment in Eugene and may also manufacture some of the Morbark machinery. Mr. Young, the newly appointed

  Mr. Young, the newly appointed general manager of Klamath-Ward, Inc., reveals that major plant expansion is to begin this summer to allow for improved efficiency in the manufacture of equipment, and to enlarge the production capacity.

  Morbark Industries was founded in 1957 by Norvel Morey in Winn, Mich. Morey, who is now chairman of the board, was originally a hardwood lumber mill operator with his four brothers in Winn. "We became involved in the design and manufacture of a revolutionary new principle in debarking in 1957," he states. "The successful development of that principle resulted in the formation of the Morbark company in 1958."...

• A railroad enthusiast website has some information on this firm and particularly on their nameplates, which have proved to be a popular target for forgers.
• Archives West has a collection of paper related to Klamath Machine & Locomotive Works. We have not seen this material.