Need to have a forum for this manufacturer of yarders also
Diamond D425 I don't know to much about this machines, hope somebody can give some info! Pictures are taken from the internet.
Diamond yarders were built in my friend John "JB" Leonard's shop in chehalis wa. JB had a fairly good sized logging company for 30+ years and Rod Hansen approached him about building yarders in his shop. There is still a Diamond 210 swing yarder unassembled in shipping containers at the shop JB owned (Since sold to ENB Logging, Ed Bryant). There is everything to build the yarder but since Rod went bankrupt I believe that the yarder is "Technically" lost and will never be assembled.
The Diamond Yarder is a Long Story..... We'd better slow down on this Diamond thread until we can get all the pieces put together with some good complete information on these machines. I'll even see about getting a serial number list with dates and such- RH probabable has that too. The Diamond design process started in the late 80's as the thinning was really taking off. The original design and ownership team is still around and I can call and discuss with 2 of them easily this evening. The machine was owned by a group of gentlemen from the Marysville/Arlington/Granite Falls area, and the first 12 machines (all Diamond 210's) were built in a portion of the old Skagit factory at Sedro-Wooley. It was a neat bit of history happening there and I was lucky enought to see some of it. I know 2 of those owners very well talk to them regularly. Naturally they are quiet folks and I won't mention names without thier permission. The Diamond 210 was the really popular model and lots of those were sold. I'm not sure how many, but I'll find that out. One of the owners had a large logging operation in Alaska as well, and 2 larger machines were built and sent to Alaska in the early 90's for testing, etc. -They were the D425 (shown above) and the DT8000, an 80' tower-machine. The machines were excellent, but the economy and other things weren't ideal and the group shook hands and went thier seperate ways. One of those other original players was Ken Nichols, who then opened the used machiney yard in Chehalis and eventually hired Rod H. to help with that whole operation. They had the plans but only built a few machines- much, much later and in Chehalis as stated above by Hallback. McPaul may even have built one at Centralia...? I dont know Ken, but I know Rod a little- and he's a great and knowledgable guy who spent many, many years with Ross and the Thunderbird yarder and loader group. I do have all the old Diamond sales literature, ads, etc and will start scanning that stuff here in the next couple of weeks. I didnt realize there was much interest out there but we can nail down a good and accurate history here, as fortunately all the players are still around. Hallback is right in everything he said above- there's just alot more back-story and alot that's yet unkown on this one. Also- personalities play into it too, and as always with these things we should be careful as there may be people remembering some things differently. Lets tread lightly on this for a bit. IN THE MEANTIME- keep posting Diamond pics and stories. I dont want to burst a bubble here, we just have the opportunity to get it all accurate so I think that's what we should do. It'll take time but be better in the end. ALSO not bagging on Hallback, he's accurate on the Chehalis building, etc.
Edited as names were incorrect. Apologies if I offended anyone as Ken is the one that went under, Rod was working there and I'm not sure if he had any $$$ invested or not.
Diamond yarders at Bruer Contract Cutting in Dallas, Oregon Diamond yarders for sale (?)
more Diamond pics additional Diamond pictures from Bruer's yard
I must say I never had seen the 450 model before, it must be some kind of angle drive between the engine and the winch? "Sorry" to start with such an atypical Diamond machine... I allways thought the 210/2000 had some similarities with the 78SL, and that it was a running skyline/swing yarder, but when I see the cab pictures it looks more like a standing skyline machine. It is not so long ago I could find info on the internet about the 2000 and 3000? yarders but yesterday I tried to search it up again and couldn't find anything. Great pic's Jeremy - I look forward to learn more about the Diamond yarders.
I recognise that one Torkel - Y3 was imported second hand into Tasmania in 02 by Kevin Morgan. He had the 'angry axeman' signwritten on all his yarders. I believe it is for sale now due to cutbacks in available resource - the situation in 'Tasi' is very much akin that in the US. Anyhow will scan some pics of it working down here and add.
Fishhawk logging from birkenfeld oregon had one that has been sold to Nygaard from astoria now.
We bought our Diamond D210 (SN#27) in 1995 from Ken Nichols. I assume the model number on the swing machines was designated to match the horsepower (210 & 425). I also thought the 2000 model was nothing more than a 210 with a nicer cab and different paint scheme. Has been a good yarder for what we've tried to do with it. Only real complaint is the transmission gearing. It has a 6 speed Funk transmission and is too high geared in my opinion. Wish they could have just split 1-3 and completely forgot about 4-6.
Diamond was trying to beat the line speed of the TSY 6140's when they geared the 210's like they did from what I was told. In the 90's speed was everything.
Y3 yarding with Maki carriage
I had a 210 that came out of Montana. Pretty neat little machines but I agree, the line speed is a joke. The drums turn so fast the line won't spool and it doesn't pull much wood after 4th gear. The whole geartrain should have been beefier and direct drive (no drive chain) was a bad idea. Easy to move and operate but a pain big time to work on. Oh yeah Ken N. was as arrogant as they get too.
Trying to find one of these for sale in good condition is not that easy. How many drums do the 210/2000's come with and does anybody know the capacities ?
Is the 210 swing yarder still available?
I use to own one of these yarders serial number 020 and i know quite a bit about them.
A few days ago I learned that the "ghost" yarder was never assembled and it has since been parted out. I am looking for factory DT8000 photos if anyone has them.