Method and apparatus for providing flitches to an edger

An edger feeder apparatus for feeding flitches into an edger, comprising:

• a flitch carriage assembly arranged to move a plurality of elongate flitches serially and in a transverse, lateral, direction relative to a length of each of the flitches, toward a transfer ready position at a delivery end of the flitch carriage assembly;
• an edger infeed mechanism arranged to engage and carry the flitches into the edger, in a longitudinal direction with respect to the flitches, wherein the flitches are within a first horizontal plane when engaged and carried by the edger infeed mechanism;
• and
• a fetcher assembly arranged to transfer each of the plurality of flitches in turn from the transfer ready position on the flitch carriage assembly to the edger infeed mechanism, the fetcher assembly including a first set of fetchers located over the delivery end of the flitch carriage assembly,
• wherein the first set of fetchers positions a second flitch having a thickness in an edger ready position that is within a second horizontal plane that is above the first horizontal plane by more than the thickness of the second flitch while a portion of a first flitch is on a part of the edger infeed mechanism that is directly below the second flitch in the edger ready position, and releases the second flitch from the edger ready position such that the second flitch lands on the edger infeed mechanism when the first flitch has moved clear from beneath the edger ready position.