Travis tour day

[begreen]

At Travis Industries. This place is huge. Starts in 30 minutes.

 

[chazcarr]

Take a lot of pictures!

 

[brenndatomu]

Hmm, been almost 8 hrs...no word...I wonder if security detained 'im when they caught 'im with all those pics?

 

[BrotherBart]

They probably discovered how fond he is of PE stoves and the body is buried out back of the factory.

 

[begreen]

Sorry to take so long. I tried to send a pic from my phone but it didn't work out. The facility is amazing and huge. 11 acres under one roof. Will file a report when I get home.

 

[webby3650]

Travis Ind. doesn't care too much for photos typically, we shall see.. I'm really diggin that new stove, the Evergreen. The new pellet stoves are pretty nice too! Ya know, for a pellet burner anyway..

 

[Woody Stover]

Travis Ind. doesn't care too much for photos typically

I figured it was taking him so long because he slipped away from the tour, hid in the janitor closet until the plant closed, then came out and got his pics.

 

[begreen]

Unfortunately no pics allowed during the tour, but their public relations dude says he will send me several for posting here. Being respectful to their policy I do have one at the entrance and that is all.

As noted this is a huge facility. They ship 3-4000 units a month and consume 15000 tons of steel a year, the region's largest steel consumer. Although they are incorporating some cool laser cutting technology and a couple robot welders, I was surprised to see how much is still done by hand. It was fascinating to see the human scale of this vast operation. The plant employs about 400 people. There is a lot of attention to detail and a great deal of deserved pride in their product.

One thing I really wanted to take a picture of was the fellow hammering out the details for the iron finish on the fireplace on an anvil. Every piece is unique and beautiful. On their gas stoves they now have a hand rubbed carbon and antique bronze finish that look and feel fantastic. Very nice work and you can tell they are proud of it.

I also really liked seeing the internal components before they get welded into a final stove. It helped me a appreciate the detailing they put into the airwash, secondary manifolds, final finishes, etc..

 

[blacktail]

I did the tour in the fall of 2013. Pretty cool stuff. You should have asked how to get one of their t-shirts. I did! See my avatar.
I wear it all the time and just pulled it out of the dryer. 40 miles from the Travis factory, propped up on red alder, in front of my Lopi insert.

 

[blacktail]

One thing I really wanted to take a picture of was the fellow hammering out the details for the iron finish on the fireplace on an anvil. Every piece is unique and beautiful.

I was impressed by that too. The guy I saw pounding iron had the arms to prove it.

 

[Highbeam]

Sorry to take so long. I tried to send a pic from my phone but it didn't work out. The facility is amazing and huge. 11 acres under one roof. Will file a report when I get home.

The last warehouse I worked on here in the port of Tacoma area was just over 15 acres. We usually see 500-650,000 SF per building these days. Efficiencies of scale.

 

[rdust]

I loved the quality of my Endeavor, it was a well built stove.

 

[webby3650]

Did you get to see the evergreen? Or their new pellet stove, the Foxfire?

 

[begreen]

No, I didn't see any new models. They were firing the heck out of an FPX when we went through. I was hoping to see the Rockport, but it is still in late testing.

 

[webby3650]

That FPX was likely the new model. They've redesigned it, now does not require the cooling vents and now uses Class A insulated pipe. 7"

 

[begreen]

Here are some pics that Travis sent me.
The plant
The crew. They employ about 400 people here
The assembly lines. I think they have about 12 running concurrently.

Proud employee. Behind him is a huge stamping press inherited from Boeing. Kurt got it for a dollar cuz no one wanted to move it. They no longer use it because the dies and forms cost so much to make. If you want to make a change you need a whole new set.

The coolest things to watch were the laser cutters. They can do remarkably intricate cuts and leave no burr. They can also do partial shallow cuts for an engraved look. They only use a few robot welders for difficult welds, the rest is done by hand. Watching Marcel hammering on red hot steel was also pretty cool and unexpected in a big warehouse full of machinery.

 

[velvetfoot]

Which stove lines does Travis make?

 

[aansorge]

Lopi, FPX, Avalon

 

[coldkiwi]

 

[iamlucky13]

Is there a public tour, or were you invited?

Their factory isn't far from where I work. If they do occasional tours, I always love seeing how different industries operate and how various products are manufactured. Plus, I've got one of their inserts.

 

[begreen]

It's a public tour, Wednesdays only. You book it on the Travis tour website. If you live close by definitely go. It's an impressive place. You will get to see the detail and craftsmanship that goes into these products.

(broken link removed)

 

[NWfuel]

At Travis Industries. This place is huge. Starts in 30 minutes.

Dang you Begreen, I am 2 blocks north of them. I would of loaded you up with NIELs and Super Cedars. Next time I guess.
Thomas

 

[iamlucky13]

Sorry to drift off topic, but where do you get your energy logs, and how much do they cost? Just curious in case I ever want to supplement my cord wood, since I'm in the same area.

 

[begreen]

Dang you Begreen, I am 2 blocks north of them. I would of loaded you up with NIELs and Super Cedars. Next time I guess.
Thomas

Poop, Thomas, wish I knew that. I'm not at all familiar with Mulkiteo and wasn't driving, but thanks for the offer. I'll just have to make a special visit and take you out to lunch.

 

[NWfuel]

Sorry to drift off topic, but where do you get your energy logs, and how much do they cost? Just curious in case I ever want to supplement my cord wood, since I'm in the same area.

North Idaho 8 lb energy logs. 240 logs per pallet. We actually are clearing out the winters inventory at $270.00 pallet plus free Super Cedars!