How about a thread for posting our logging equipment 'in action' pictures? New, old, or otherwise- lets show each other where we've been and what we were using. I'll start with some cable logging gear from the 1960's..........
From Washington Iron Works this round then........... here you go!
More old Washington stuff for your viewing enjoyment...............
Skagit BU98 on an HD110 Tower on Self-Propelled Carrier Is currently rusting away in Skagway, Alaska.
More Skagit yarders in random order and location,
Random Yarders old pics from days gone by.
Logging in Hoonah, Alaska, September 2009 Here's a Madill 009 and Link-Belt 4300 working in the hills above Hoonah Sound in Alaska. View from the landing here isn't bad either!
More Hoonah Pics The cruise ships sail by as the loggers get to it!
Nice pictures. Small world. I was just checking out that yarder in Hunzs yard in Skagway. Looks like shes been there a while. A guy working for me worked for Whitestone in Hoonah for over 20 years. I'll have to have him look at your pictures.
More Hoonah Pics From Sept 2009
Sweet! he'll recognize the Hoonah ground forsure. I heard Cliff W was working out at Kensington last week. Good to see you here, and from here no less!
I know Cliff. Whitestone was over logging on Afognak when they sold out to Evergreen. I didn't know there was much logging going on at Hoonah. Those cruise lines don't like that. LOL!
I know Cliff too- and both Eric and Brian from Evergreen. Might even know you, LOL. I love that the cruise ships hate the logging. And the loggers hate the cruise ships. Alaska politics. I like the loggers and the cruise ships, but the drama is fun to watch. We need both groups to survive.
That is some nice country to work in. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us. Looks like the logged areas provide some diversity in the habitat areas. That is usually a good thing, as it breaks up the areas so new plants and animals can take advantage. Like a fire does, but we get the use of the wood. A good trade.
We closed down around 300 miles of Logging roads after Silver Bay pulled out of Afognak. A couple years later Whitestone came in and we did some barge work for them. They bought a bunch of used piling to use for culverts to open the roads back up. They like the piling because they're easier to remove without damaging them. We did a lot of work for Ben A Thomas too. Not many of the old outfits still around. I agree that the state needs both industries to survive.
You mention Silver Bay- **** and Betty Buhler are from the same town in Washington that I am (Longview)- I've known them for many years. I have hundreds and hundreds of Silver Bay pics, all on film unfortunaletly (35mm in those days). You wouldnt believe all the iron they have sitting down at Wrangell righ now. Must be 200 off-road log trucks- C500 KW's mostly, just rusting there with trees growing up around them. And Thomas was from Woodland, Wa, not far south of me. He logged alot on Mt St Helens until the big bang down there. Good to chat with you, it is a small world.
What a great topic and interesting pictures.My hat is off to anyone with the foresite to have taken pictures along the way through life and the ability to get them posted for all of us to share.The digital cameras these days make it pretty easy to document the day to day goings on but without them I am afraid that we wouldn't have nearly the pictures that we do today. I still shoot film but I admit,it is a lot of work compared to todays offerings. Thanks for sharing.Ron G
WOW, great pics contract logger. How do they turn trucks around on those landings? Talk about tight on space. Thats some steep ground for sure, now do the bosses really scream and yell at the guys in real life? Do the chasers hafta run like hell, or is that just for the added drama on ax men? Please post more pics!
Awesome pictures, thanks for sharing! I cant seem to get enough of the big towers. Around where I live all we see are little swing yarders like a 98 Link Belt, or a GT3 Skagit. Either that or a yoder. There is more tractor skidding than anything here.
A couple of my ole logger buddies sent me these wreck pics from jobs they have worked on. The third pic is of my saw on a big cedar I cut on a road job up in Port Angeles we did 2 years ago.
About 4 years ago I had just came back to Idaho from California, needing some medicine, so I went to work for my best friend and his Grandpa, building some new logging road. I cut alot of the right-of-way, and ran dozer behind the pioneer hoe. I was able to get a few pics though. The big Madill shovel on the lowboy was being moved into a different job, just down the road from where we were working.
Me and the one man pipe crew, Johnny, went for a booze cruise one afternoon and found another logging site. Thats a 395 Valmet head on a 330B Cat. The other pic is a 528 Cat skidder. The must have been using is as a guy line stump for the yarder, which had just moved down the road. No pics of it cause my batteries died. I have some more older pics, but I need to scan them first.
Sweet pics! This is wxactly what I was hoping for--- that people would start digging out thier pics to share. I love looking at any operation I havent looked at before! Love the Madill- is it a 2800 or 3800?
:drinkup I cant remember if it was a 28 or a 38. I'm gonna say it was a 2800. I know it was big from what I remember when we drove by it.
Landing shots.
That's an awesome looking cedar you cut in Port Angeles, Jason. Can't get over the size of it. How old do you think that tree is? Whatdya do with all the lumber?
I lost count on the rings at around 70 to 80, and still had a foot of tree left. As far as the logs went, the road we built was on Green Crow's ground (a big timberland owner in those parts) so I just bucked the logs up and stuck them in a couple of decks along the R.O.W. They sent in a self loader and hauled them to the mill.
great pictures everyone:thumbsup
heres mine! http://www.********.com/showthread.php?t=269952&page=2 proud 4th generation b.c. logger!
eeehhh... I think I recognize that green paint in the pix of the lowboy truck..(Jack Buell)
Here are some shots of my girlfriends brother in laws yarder. Thunderbird Tsy-50 working about 60kms east of Canal Flats Bc. Was quite the machine I had never seen anything like it working before, growing up in manitoba you don't see things like this. The carriage think I figured out how it works quite the setup. Glamore shot turned out ok I think.
Here are a couple more shot of the yarder and one of the backspar hoe. They added 10 tons of iron to the machine to keep the yarder from dragging it around. Contract logger thanks for all the pictures and information.
Those are great pics! Only a few TSY50's were built, and I have never seen this machine before. The operaor's cab is much larger/different than the standard model, it must have been built/ordered specifically for this machine. I am guessing, but I suspect this may have been he last TSY50 built. Did he buy the machine new, in 1988 or 1989? The TSY50 was the base model that developed into the TSY255, and I think only 10 or 11 were built. I thought I had seen all of them, but this one is new to me. Thank you for sharing! Very cool indeed!
I think they bought it new but I will have to ask. He did say they are the only one operating a cable in the area, they do have a convtional side also.
great pictures. that is the real deal.
Couple from work.
I have a bunch more just need to find the cord for my camera.
Look at this cobbled up pile o mess! Buddy Matt and I went to Spokane yesterday so he could re-open his unemployment claim. On the way home, being the equipment nerds that we are we had to take a trip down equipment row on Trent. There isnt really alot of iron sitting at Western States or Modern Machinery, but we did find this little jewel at Western States.
A high-and-wide EX150--what a neat little machine. Cat built some high/wide 315BL forest machines for a short while, but they never really took off. Squirt boom is neat and rare as well. Looks like a baby Waratah head maybe??? Great find, never seen one like this.
I have seen a couple of those 315's with hi and wides doing silverculture work. Seemd like the right size to get around witout doing to much damage to the floor while piling brush. We were thinking the head was a little Valmet, being the boom was a Valmet 989. We couldnt find any markings on it at all. It is small though. Look like it would only handle a 12 or 14" stem.
I suspect you are right about the head. Wish I knewmore about them.......... Great Pics! PS- I saw the Cat 315 mini logger-roadbuilder (2 of them) at the Eugene Log show only one year, and havent been able to find one since. They were really cool, but expensive- nearly doule a standard 315BLC at the time.
The ones I saw were working up around Colville, WA on some Vaugen Brothers Lumber ground, building fire lines and piling brush and the likes. I know what you mean about double the price of a standard hoe. Kinda like this 330 that was at Eugene last year. And this was a "special" price!
Heres a picture taken out from Juneau, down on Icy Strait I believe. Thought maybe Contract could shed a little light on it. Really enjoy all the pictures, I could build models for years from these threds. Fred
OK, Here it is, sorry for the delay. I spent the day in Ketchikan, saw this pic around noon. I have never seen this machine before, but have heard stories, and called a couple of people I know to look at it also. They all recognized it immediately. This machine and its twin (yes, there were 2 I am told) are Liebherr front shovels that were purchased by Boyer Barge Service of Seattle and converted to log loaders. The fellows I spoke with think that Pierce Pacific of Portland made the conversion. Apparently Boyer would run around picking log bundles out of the water and put them on the barge for transport to here or there. The 3 piece boom would get the grapple clear into the water. The barge was long, and the shovel would travel the lenth of it decking wood. I wonder where these machines are today? Boyer sold out to Northland Services some years ago, and I am pretty familiar with thier operation today- I have never seen these. I'll ask some Boyer managers I know if they know anything of them........ and get back to you on this. Have you got anymore pics?? This thing is awasome!
Log Barge Shipwreck, Alaska Lost Coast Along the lines of the above story: This wreck lies on Alaska's 'Lost Coast'- a 300+/- mile long stretch of coastline with basically nothing and no access. It runs north from Yakutat to Cordova, with nothing but Moose and Brown Bear roaming around-- no people, towns, or roads. There are several old military installations, some abandoned mines and exploratory oil-well drill sites (some old equipment parked around out there too), but basically nothing. In the summer some Natives from Yakutat fly-in and set up fish camps out there. Anyway, this broke loose from its towboat and washed ashore- and is still there. I spotted it moose hunting and have been back sevral times to the site- and come home with meat no lees!!
Funny, I was going to ask you if you knew anything about this wreck. I never heard anything about it until a few years ago there was a picture in Alaska Magazine. Hard to imagine the money lost here. I was in Port Graham once and watched the Seaspan Rigger load logs. Wow, get out of the way. They can move the timber. A couple years later I saw where they rolled one over unloading it. I had a few pictures on here a while back loading the aft hold of a log ship after they dropped the boom overboard but they got deleted. I've really enjoyed all your pictures. Thanks for posting them.
I did have one other pic of that log loader picking about a truck load of bundled logs out of the water. Will look around to find it. Did you ever fish for Halibut off Cube Cove? Fred
Who Knew? Wow Talk about a blast from the past !!!! I actually worked under this yarder in skagway back in 1997 on the Goat lake hydro electric project. I was watching the show "axe men" on the history channel and decided to google Skagit BU98 which brought me to this site. who Knew i would Find Photos of the same yarder that i worked under 13 years ago. just out of curiosity sake, do you Know How old these Photos are. to be perfectly honest it looks to be in pretty close to the same condition that i last saw it. maybe a bit more rust than i remember.
These photos are a year old. Dont worry though- I was by there 3 weeks ago and nothing has changed at all. Dave Hunz has the machine at his place and I suspect you could own it for $ 3,500.00 bucks. He says it got left there and he wants it gone. Cost $15,000.00 or so to get it to Seattle, and the what? There are several down there you could buy for much less.........
Thanks for the info. I'm not at all interested in buying it. I just thought it was cool that i was thinking about it while watching "axe men" (which i think is far too much drama and not enough logging) so i decided to google Skagit BU98 only to find pictures of the very same yarder i used to work under rusting away up in Skagway. gotta love the internet !!!
Says 'Priest Logging, Port Angeles Washington' on the cab, even a phone number on there yet. Pretty rusty though. Think of all the air valves, lines, and switches just sitting there in the salt air all these years. Not good for any piece to sit like that, but is especially deadly for a yarder. Thanks for looking- better yet, got any pics of here standing up? That would be great to see!
I will do some digging in my old photo albums. i might have a few of it and the tower we used on the uphill side. i will have to scan them into my laptop as they were taken before the days of digital cameras.
What was the second yarder?? Be great if you could scan em!
There was no second yarder. only a 100' spar to keep the skyline high enough off the ground. we used the whole system to log the trees off the right of way then used it as a slackline crane to set the pipeline in their saddles. it might take me some time to get the photos on to my laptop (I've never done it before) but i do have a printer with scanning capability so it should be a good learning experience. besides it would be cool to have the photos digitized. i will do what i can but it will have to wait until at least tomorrow.
Skagit BU98 on an HD110 Tower on Self-Propelled Carrier Understood- I've never done it either. Here are a few more pics of your yarder to get you through the night, LOL.
With all the lines and rigging, this old girl weighs around 265,000 lbs sitting here. Good for scrap value, BAD for crossing bridges!
I second the motion for pictures of it in action. Pretty wild where they took that pipe. Be great to see a few pictures of the project.
I'm scanning the photos that i have of the project right now. sorry to say that i don't have any of the BU98 , but i have some pretty neat pics of the upper tower and some good shots of from the helicopter. i will upload them when i'm finished scanning.
Sweet! maaybe when you get done you can learn me on the process of scanning the pics. What do you use for a scanner if you dont mind me asking?
I'm using an Hp Photosmart C6150 all in one printer+fax+scanner+copier actually alot easier than i thought it might be I'm scanning them to a usb flash drive then transfering to my laptop
Here are a few photos, More to come.
That last photo was the first heavy lift to be done by Erickson Air-crane. It is a pipestand that one of the welders and I built together, I was the welders helper and backhoe operator on that particular project. we designed it so that the train that runs up White Pass could pass under it. that way it could continue to run even if our cables were slacked against the hillside. the pipe would hold the cables high enough off the ground in order for the train to pass underneath them. after coming off the barge the big Sikorsky picked it up from the yard right next to the bridge heading out of town, and flew it up to the jobsite near Pitchfork falls.
These are incredible pictures. That 100' tower is a Berger brand unit, cam off a Berger yarder, built in Seattle (see my Berger thread for pics of these towers hooked to yarders). They must have flown that Berger up there? It has 6 guylines on it with the hyd motors and drums mounted right on the lower tube base, and free-stands on the ground. What was the name I see painted on the Berger tube? Also- great job on the scanning- these pics are terrific for sure!
Heli Shots Some more heli shots. the little one was our company's own Bell 500. not a bad way to get to work each day. the last shot is of Skagway From the heli flying home.
Your right It is a Berger. we flew it up in three pieces. The writing on it is Whitewater (company name) the funny thing is they painted it on the wrong side. lol it was intended to be seen by all the tourists from the road leading into Canada. funny story about that Berger, back here in Bellingham before it was shipped north the bottom section of the tube was all beat up from years of rigging banging into it so i had to crawl inside it with a sledge hammer and beat on it while a guy on the outside would heat it up with a rosebud torch. this was in the dead of winter and it was cold as hell outside, i went in wearing full winter gear. and i came out wearing only my pants, gloves, and work boots. also had to blow fresh air in so that i could breathe because all the grease that was smeared inside would cause so much smoke while it was being heated.
These are awsome pics! Great shot of Skagway. It looks as if the Sikorsky came up on the AML barge? Why not fly it up? Columbia works up here all the time, never seen them barge one in. What year was all this work done? Aagin, awsome shots, and they dont even look scanned! Great work on this.
This was in 1997
What a story! My hat is off to you for sure! There are some great people with crazy stories who post here. On another note, for those who have never been there, Skagway is a miserable, cold, windy place on this earth, and anyone who works a job like this in a place like that has earned everyone's respect. Again, hats off!
Heli Pics More shots from the Heli
That whole mountain is buried under feet of snow right now no doubt.
Various equipment We had three Hoes that were flown up in pieces, a Jd 490, Hitachi 300,and a cat 235 High cab log loader. The 235 was Broke down into 7 pieces. everything had to weigh less than 17,000 lbs. we mounted a rock drill on the end of the 235 so that it could drill out into the shore of the lake.
Rock drills The first one was an old dinosaur that drilled about 5 holes before it blew the engine. the little one is an Ingersol Rand LM100 air-track. That little Guy saved our Bacon After the old Dinosaur Puked, because it was all we had until we could get the Newer Ingy Rand that was Pictured next to the Berger. We made alot of holes with That little LM100, but what a pain in the Butt, couldn't drill more than About 2 Holes before you had to reset the whole machine.:Banghead But at least it kept us Busy.
CMI in Juneau has 4 IR LM100's in the rental fleet today- they use them all over Southeast in remote locations- they are great because Temsco Helicopters (Ktn, Juneau, and Skagway operations) can fly them anywhere under a 214. Perfect for this type of work.
Lakeside These are some pics of the trench we had to blast in order to place the pipe for the Intake below Shore level. then we built a dam to hold back the water after the last bit of land was blasted out.
Awesome. We kinda hijacked the logging thread, shoud start a new one titled 'Alaska Projects' or something. These are great pics!
Lakeside That's me on the finished dam. the last picture is just a cool picture of the lake standing on the shore.that would make a cool postcard, the reflection in the water looks clearer than the sky. it took us several passes over that trench with the LM100 to get it down to the depth we needed. and the rock was so broke up that we would have to load the holes right after drilling them, because if we waited until we were all done drilling they would all be sluffed in. we would get about two holes distance away from the drill then load it. needless to say it was a little bit sketchy drilling so close to a live hole. it took us a few days to drill the pattern as well and since you can't leave a live pattern unattended, i stayed all night on the jobsite to keep an eye on it. kinda weird being out there all by yourself so far from civilization. i spent most of the night in the cab of the Hitachi just in case any bears came sniffing around. and at least it had a radio in it, i was able to pick up an am talk radio station. i got plenty of overtime during that pay period.
Just one more !!! This is the guy that taught me how to drill rock. and thanks to him I have all of these Photos as it was his camera that took all of these pictures. I wish that i had doubles of his entire collection (he carried his camera everywhere). these are just a handful that he gave to me,for which i am extremely thankful.
Great pictures. --- Get your heavy equipment at municibid.com http://www.municibid.com
sorry Sorry.... i didn't mean to hijack this thread. Most all of these photos were taken above the Berger Tower where the hillside was not too steep for the hoes to get around. It was the rock drillers camera that took all of these pics. As for the logging side of the operation i wish i had some photos of that. (i didn't carry a camera) ointhead But i was one of the first guys on the hillside. Me and the cutter spent a few days falling all the trees along the right of way. He carried the saw and did all the felling, while i carried everything else, the gas, bar oil, axe, wedge, lunch, spare chain, and files. all this in snow up to my waist in spots. I wore an orange vest so the surveyors could spot me through the transit nearly a mile away. then they would tell me when i was on center-line so that we could look around to figure out which trees needed to come down. I stayed pretty close to him after he pointed out all the trees that were marked up by the bears just coming out hibernation. (he was carrying the saw that was theoretically going to scare one off) this was all before our helicopter arrived on the job, and we were at least a half days hike away from any sort of help. After the Berger tower and the Skagit BU98 was in place i got to work with the logging crew setting chokers. this to me was alot of fun. We worked from top to bottom so the treading was easy and by this time all the snow was gone. I'm not sure exactly how much line we had but there must have been over 2 miles of haulback line on order to make it all the way up to the Berger and Back down to the Landing at full Slack. (the landing was down by the river and the BU98 was placed in one of the turnouts along the Highway) in fact a few of the guy wires were anchored to the hillside on the opposite side of the road. After all the trees were gone i mostly worked on the drilling and Blasting Crew (now Talk About Fun!!!) I found no greater pleasure than to spend a week to drill a pattern, A day to load the holes, And Seven seconds to blow it to Kingdom Come !!! All in all the job was a once in a lifetime experience that i will never forget. Thanks for letting me share !!! You Have Brought back Some wonderful memories !!! :notworthy
Those pictures are fantastic. I did a job in Skagway last fall. Went over to Whitehorse and saw the pipe coming down off the mountain. I had to pull over and check it out. Took me a while to figure out what it was for. I was probably pulled over where the yarder was sitting. That whole area fascinates me what with the Railroad built in 1898 then the Klondike highway in 1975. Thanks for sharing those pictures. Makes me wish I would have taken more pictures of projects I've done through the years. Thanks again.
Great story line and great pics.This stuff never gets old or boring to me.Thanks for sharing.Ron G
Ben2helinback, Neat bunch of pictures, and quite a project, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it. I guess I got it bad. We need to start a thread on Helicopter logging and other helicopter applications. I got some pictures of the Sky cranes doing a logging job here in Washington just need to scan them . Thanks, Fred
Contract Logger I thought of you when I seen this page: http://www.dhsdiecast.com/shop/search_results.cfm?maker_id=94 I remember one of your posts inquiring about models and thought of it when I seen the Hayes HD400 log truck and dump truck listed.
Logging Equipment Pics- OR Models and Miniatures? When I was a kid I liked the AMT plastic kits in 1/25 scale. It got carried away until in the 70's and 80's I was scratch building yarders and shovels and everything in between- all in 1/25 scale plastic. Anyway fast forward now I have enough to run about 18 little tiny sides, all told I suppose. Dad worked for Weyerhaeuser so that was a popular subject for my models. Here are a few pics from those days. Still have all this stuff.
Couple more. Built a bunch of yarders, dont have any good pics of them here.
Thats quite the spread there. I am officially impressed. I see a lot of time spent on custom work in these pictures. Feel free to share more. Maybe a new thread in the models and miniatures forum? I have a few forestry versions, but mostly dirt and mining gear in 1:50 scale
Wow!! nice bunch of models, I thought for a moment that I was visiting Camp Baker and the So Toutle . Nice collection. Fred
LOL, Thanks guys. My mother was much less impressed then, and my old woman now is still not impressed. My current collection includes some 350 of these pieces, plastic and diecast, but mostly 1/25. Wish I had more pics. We have lots that arent pictured here. The toys are in Washington, I am in Alaska.
Few more pics for you guys.
Heck, we have sort yard bunks, trailer loaders, wrapper racks, just about everything a logger would need to get after it. Lot of hours spent on that stuff, but not lately, LOL.
Well I hijacked the thread for a minute, so here are some pics of the real thing to make up for it- so Steve doesnt throw us off the site. Maybe on my next trip down home I'll take pics of all the models. For now, back to logging equipment pics.
There were over 150 off-road log trucks parked at Wrangell, Alaska in 2006, so I took about 600 pictures. This is all left over from the Silver Bay operation. I should start an 'Alaskan and Abandoned' thread to post all those in. I'll put that on my to-do list.
Most of these trucks were ex-Weyerhauser. In the mid-80's Weyco shut their logging camps down and moved everything to Maytown to be sold off. Most of it came to Alaska, and is still here in the bushes rusting away. Bunks are only 10' wide on these rigs, not like BC where they go 14' to 16' wide.
Abandoned logging gear in Alaska........Continued.
More.
Alaska.
That really tugs at the heartstrings to see that equipment rusting away when it was so majestic in its day and it does not seem that many years ago to me. I have a lot of miles in those DM 800 Macks.Thanks again for posting them.Ron G
contract logger if you ever want to run tours up there of all this abandon gear and sites ,sign me up that would be a great holiday.
What he said!!
Nice pics. I have done some logging nothing like that though mostly just saw work and track loaders
I was bored outta my mind last Saturday, so I grabbed a box of 'soda', and my camera and went out looking for some logging jobs. There isnt much going on around here, kinda like everywhere else, but its down to nothing now because of spring break-up and load limits being on all the roads. The State, Forest Circus, and the mills have even closed all the gates on their roads so they dont get tore up. What a crazy winter this has been here in North Idaho. No snow and above average temps! Anyway heres a few of a local contractors machines that they walked down the hill 4 miles, just to park them next to a county road that they cant haul on because of load limits.:beatsme
Now this picture was sent to me by a friend of mine that lives in Coos Bay, Oregon. Its kinda crappy because it came on the cell phone, but I think that it shows what a bad day they had!
That will ruin your day! Any story to go with it?
I texted him back and asked what happend. He just said the tube fell over. DUH! I tried calling him last night but he never answerd. Sorry guys, thats all I know.
That would suck hopefully the teleboom isnt bent.
Looks like a TMY-70 Tube. Who's machine was it? If Myrmo & Sons is still going down there they should be able to fix any damage to the yarder/tower/base and mounts.
heres a couple to keep the thread alive our old tree farmer... still in use 668 line skidder, used it the last 2 months on some bug attack near vernon... :drinkup
Thanks Hotwheels-Love the Garrett Treefarmers.Not much use for me,but have always wanter a 15!
If I was going up to Alaska, any chance I could see some of this equipment
More Pictures!
Hurn Shingle and Hoh river, --for Humptulips--! Oh, I have thousands of these.
Humptulips, round 2.
More. From the Harbor.
Quinalt country.
Mayr Brothers, yarding with a Washinton 208 (I owned this yarder once) and loading with a Prentice 810. Pics taken at Donkey Creek, 1991-ish? Took me a bit to find these for you Humptulips!
Modern Grays Harbor Pics, 20 years after Mayr Bros.......... Now names like Rabey, Swanson, and Dahlgren dominate the landscapes.
Modern Logging.
Olympic Peninsula loads from yesteryear. Big timber that was.............
Old Postcard Loads.
Alaskan 80's.
Alaska 1990's.
Some pics from our little operation [/IMG] [/IMG] [/IMG] [/IMG] [/IMG]
Great looking TMY50! And you got one of Madill's 1238B's (its a 290 Hyundai) I see. Where in Oregon are you? Trying to figure out whose gear this is. Also- We have a Thunderbird yarder thread going too- take a few pics of that yarder and post em' over there if you have time, helps keep the thred alive. Nice, nice wood too by the way. These really are great pics! Thank you for posting them.
Thanks Our company is called Ridgeway Logging and we are based out of Sweet Home, OR, but have been logging on the Warm Springs Indian Res the last couple of years.
What a goldmine of terrific pictures.Wow!
Right on! Nice country over there. They used to have 2 Madill 3800 log loaders there in the yard at Warm Springs. Are they still there? I actually sold them the newer one of the pair, not sure where the older one came from. That was in about 2003 I guess. I think the yard foremans name was Dan.....
Prentice 810, the largest in thier loader lineup. Scanned from a brochure, 1983.
Here are a few Link-Belt logging machines. 1st pic was taken in 1980 and is a brand-new LS5800TL Log Loader
A few pics from the early 1970's featuring Koehring log loaders at Forks Washington. Machines belonged to Olympic Timber, and Olympic Ariel- a balloon logging contractor.
Pictures from the Donkey Cr road area, Grays Harbor Here's a few pictures from the West Fork of the Humptulips NorthWest Log contracting for Mayr Bros. 1st photo a big spruce I'm the guy on the left, second the second cut of the same tree, third photo is loading a spruce with the yarder a Washington 127 and I think an American shovel and fourth a load parked at the old site of Anderson Middletons camp.
Great pics! Great thread. My logging operation is a tad smaller, nothing compared to these. Thanks for sharing the pics and info!
Cypress 7280 grapple yarder was being moved yesterday, managed to snap a picture.
Great pictures sure is interesting to see all the different equipment that is used around North America.
You got that right! A big thank you to all who contribute to these logging threads. Ed
Here is a small operation in Texas
Great collection Contract Logger pics 84-90:thumbsup here's mine a little help from Tonka but the rest from scratch, yellow & red cedar, spruce and teak from the core of a line spool. Gotta have hobbies over the winter layoffs
A few more
I have built 4, about 40 hrs.into each
Some cool wood models from the JM Browning office.
Sure are some talented people around. Few pics of gear on the job.
Pics from last post
All good for this time.:Banghead
Is the madill Hyundai relationship like the Thunderbird hyundai relationship? Where they would buy the carriers and retro fit them for forestry use?
I HAVE ACTUAL SIZED REAL U S currency for A TOWER!!!! [email protected] . I will pay then you send or love to swaap pics of my 25th scale loggin show
hey C.L. i've seen a yarder just like the one in picture #6 with the square tube.it's in fortuna ca. was that a very common machine?
hey there lash i know this is a old post but i was logging on afognak just before whitestone sold out.probably worked together.
I some how missed this post. I've been down in Seattle setting up another barge for a job we have in Old Harbor and ran across this machine on one of Boyers Barges in their yard. I believe they were getting ready to rebush the grapples. This thing is a beast. Boyer never sold out to Northland Services.. We use them and their Barges all the time. As I type this we have 5 of their Barges and 4 of their Tugs on charter. I hadn't been on Afognak for quite a while when they sold out. Did you know Dave Wright? I think he was there then.
not sure,if he worked in the sort yard i probably didn't know him.i roomed with Rocky.i left that year in june i think.
i've seen that shovel or it's twin when we were moving alaska pacific out of yakutat in 04 or 05 i think.very cool to climb around on made the 370 link-belt look like a mini ex.
Cat V Deere My friend in the BC interior finally got to operate his 1st Cat. After years driving Deere, he says he can't believe the difference, and is keen to turn the whole fleet yellow.
yes i think you will find it is a valmet 965 head
Taken today Deere 1050 he's stuck
how old are those yarders?? are they difficult to operate?
For once id take a cat over a deere log frog... 950 and 1050's are a pretty weak comparison to a 7 or an 8. 850's are a nice snowplowing dozer tho ha ha.
I was really just pulling my friends chain! If he cut himself he would bleed green. He comes down to NZ for a couple of months a year and we put him to work in a Cat. He sent me a picture of their new Cat, and I just couldn't help myself.
Is there still work down in NZ for a skilled operator? Say if he wanted to go down there when it's slow up here and vice versa.
1050's not a bad dozer I suppose and everyone claims they're great, but I've run 8 R,N's and T's they work harder.., 850's seems just as good to me as it's Cat's competition. The big deere's just suck because they're liebherrs
330Dfm The company I was working for the last 10 years bought this very machine in 2010. I put about 1000hrs on it. He paid about $50,000 less than that because the dealer really wanted to move it. Sweet machine, we set it up with a Jewell powerclam and it weighed about 107,000lbs.
^^ That's just plain sexy. Those buckets are great, are you putting in fish logs there?
Nice machine. It looks sexy. And it looks like this machine done lots of good work.
Stuff from this year 890-3 430 with 22 inch waratah (engine dropped a valve about an hour after this photo)
more 450 approx 600 hrs old has 24 inch waratah
Out of my back yard...
Winter....... brrrrr
If I am not mistaken, the chokerman in the second photo (short guy on the left) is Steve Bartosh-Aberdeen H.S. Class of 1973.
Sorry, my reply about Steve Bartosh was in regards to the photos on post #130. This was my first posting and I guess I do not understand the structure of the forum.
I would have been in the Class of '75 if our family had stayed in the Aberdeen area. I left Central Park School after the 6th Grade. Never heard of Steve; he obviously went to another Aberdeen school.
The photo with the two rigging men standing on the left side of the second cut of the log-I am pretty sure the shorter guy in the back is Steve Bartosh, Aberdeen graduating class of 1973.
Last I heard, my father's name is still on a LOT of Weyco's survey maps at Twin Harbors.. He did a lot of the original Company surveys in place of the BLM surveys, which he said were pretty sketchy. He spent quite a few years beating the bushes there before he went to Vail as Supe when Carl Weiks retired in 1969. Carl's father was the one that the Weikswood camp was named after.
Hey Rob. Ever go skating at the Harborena and put a penny in the shocker machine? Remember the 10-cent movies at the D&R? I still have a pill box in mint condition from the old Rexall drug store..... with a lock of my baby hair inside. And yes, I was a faithful fan of J. P. Patches. Almost got in a fight at the Brooklyn Tavern back in 2002 when I was in the area....... I thought Crazy Donkey was one of JP's characters, and almost got handed my ass by multiple assailants because I forgot Crazy Donkey was on Brakeman Bill. So, I bought a round of beer for the crowd, and everyone was happy. I thought that was a good note to leave on....
My Great Grandfather was C.H. Clemons. The first tree farm in the U.S. is located at Weikswood and named after him.
Yes, and saw Merrille Rush and the Turnabouts play at the Harborena. Watched the Beatles Help movie in 1965 at the D&R, or was that the Aberdeen Theatre? Ever wonder about Gertrude?
Did you attend the 25th anniversary of the Clemons Tree farm that they had in 1966? My dad took me there. Had a blast. Remember the guy named Flowers who Weyco paid to trap bears? He had a demo trap set up there. Found out later that Finley Hays was there as well, but I did not know him back then. http://foresthistory.org/ATFS/
There is not enough beer in the entire world to make Gertrude look even remotely attractive. ROFL! http://www.jppatches.com/ I believe I still have a couple of emails from JP that we exchanged back while he was still alive. My favorite episode was one time when Leroy Frump had been particularly obnoxious, and after he went back down his "manhole" in the floor, JP picked the "manhole up, amid Leroy's muffled protests and snickering, folded it up, stuffed it into a brown manila envelope, and mailed it to Alaska. I remember all the 3-log loads, seeing the log trucks everywhere, all up and down the road during the day, and then at the end of the day, a lot of them would be cruising around Aberdeen with the trailer bunked, stopping at the parts shop, liquor store, house of ill repute.... And then there were all the straddle lumber carriers tooling around all day.... and the wigwam sawdust burners...... I thought the whole world was dark, rainy, foggy and smoky. Found out differently when we moved to Oly in '69. My dad built the first Bay City dock for Weyco, the smaller one upstream. Went on a tour of a Jap log ship, the Spruce Maru once at the dock. Dad became good friends with the Captain, and he and my mother had supper with him several times when he was at port. Dad was good friends with Don Friend and the late Sam Rikalo.
I do not recall attending the 25th anniversary- although I did attend many of the Montesano Tree Farm Festivals. I suspect that part of the reason my father did not take me was the falling out between Great Grandfather and Weyco. I have a nice photo of a high lead operation at Clemons Tree Farm that my great uncle gave me.
You probably heard the story of when Shaeffer Bros. sold out. In case you did not, my late father (retired from Weyco) was quite amused. As the story goes, the Shaeffer Bros. hated Weyco with a passion, and refused their offer to buy them out. So, they sold out to Simpson. Simpson then flipped it to Weyco and made a tidy profit. I went on a Boy Scout camp-out once to Shaeffer's Cabin, which I believe was the family's original homestead, and where those young lads got their start in logging. Any idea if that cabin is still standing, and where it is, or was, located? As a kid, I went to Swinging Bridge State Park with my family many times. It is my understand that it was originally a Shaeffer camp, and the swinging bridge went to the other side of the claim where to crews worked. Used to bring the cascara bark I peeled to a farm store in Monte. Estes Farm Supply, I believe. One of my favorite places back then was Milton Benedict's yard full of used cable shovels on the left, going out of Monte toward Elma. Last time I was there, in 2002, one building was still standing on the empty lot.
Skagit tower This Skagit Tower was a high lead Weyco yarder in North River, WA, circa 1975. I worked under this tower for 9 months but left for another job several months prior to this accident. The tower had broke a guy-line when pulling in a large turn of second growth logs. Weyco sent it into the shop for a new set of cables which were equipped with screwy hooks and pressed knobs. After they set up the tower, they hooked onto the turn that had had originally broke the guy-line (a friend was watching on the adjacent hillside and told his crew to watch the tower) and the tower immediately fell over. A review of the accident revealed that the shop had not pressed the knobs at a very high pressure and they slid off the guy-lines once the turn was sent the landing. D'oh! The Hook-Tender was Ken Walzak (one hell of a good logger) and the side-rod was the famous speed climber, Kelley Stanley (of 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair fame). Any idea what the model number of this yarder is?
Cute lil side here.
Just getting started? Ed
Yes, 118 acres in total.
That Barko photo brings back haunting memories of the 270B!
Hey Mike, Whats you thoughts on the Eltec?
I like the eltec. Volvo originally built it and then decided to go into paving equipment and sold it to a guy named Patrick element who has logging operations in Quebec. They took it and improved it greatly. It started out with 130? Wires going into the cab and now it has 13? The side opens up and you can walk completely around the engine and pumps. The harness’ Have breakouts every few feet so if you have an electrical issue it’s easy to find it. Very operator and mechanic friendly.
Always good to hear what a mechanic thinks about a piece of gear. Thanks for that and the pics!
New here but here’s a few shots of our new 1270G
How do you like it?
Love it especially on steep ground, after coming off a 653E with a fabtek it’s nice to run and fuel economy is a nice change. My only complaint is height for moving it, out lowboy deck height is 24” so we’re right at 14’5” to 14’7” nothing like the tethering machines out here though.
How are the 240’s holding up with the skidmore heads? We were back there almost two years ago looking into them.
Skeans, Where are you from?
Skeans, Where are you from?
Rainier, OR down by Longview, Wa other side of the river.
I used to do a lot down there. You work for C&C? They are the only big thinning guys left that I can think of.
I used to work then cut for Ramco mechanical cutting in the 90's.
No we have been thinning for fibre and now Weyerhaeuser since the late 80’s, Ramco use to have the site with the 608 that worked over here on Longview Fibre along with us. C&C is hard to beat for size that’s for sure most of us thinning have a side each, it’s easier when you’re one of the owners being on the ground for quality control.
I agree, that's why I am on the project & logging daily.
I agree, that's why I am on the project & logging daily.
Don’t have any experience with the skidmore heads. Mostly quadco hot saws or ponsse dangle heads
New shoes!
West coast Falcon, Link belt 4040/623C, New Kobelco SK300, Boman MarkV & John Deere 3756G feeding the skyline.
Here is our new LS855E felling machine.
Nice looking machine! It looks like top and side doors for access. That seems a little different than the Tigers I've seen in the past. What are you using for a felling head?
Thanks John. It has the tigercat 5195 felling head. It has a 43 inch bar saw on it and a 52 inch grapple.
That is big! Sounds like you will using the hand fallers a lot less. Congrats on the new machine!
Looks sweet, any plans to tether it?
Yes, my plan is to cut out hand cutting all together. I will run on slopes to 70% untethered and plan to tether up to 100%. I am heading to the Tigercat factory next month to demo the new 890 shovel logger and plan on adding a Tigercat skidder to tether to also.
I had no idea that they would operate on that steep of a slope without being tethered. How far can the cab be tilted to some what level it up?
I am unsure on the actual degree of tilt but I will get a photo of it tomorrow in Full Tilt.
who's hitch did you have welded on
Tigercat has built their own hitches now. It is really a well built piece.
Does this count? My oldest boy built it today. When I realized what he was building I figured this was the thread to stick it on!
He wasn't far off.
Nice build! Nice countertops too!!
Thanks. He’s pretty good with stuff. Some is completely from scratch. I’ve been able to teach him a little about structure etc. He’s probably hopelessly following in my footsteps....
Who’s system are going to go with?
Not 100% sure yet but so far Tractionline is the preferred choice.
Have you looked at the Rob system?
I have but only at a glance. I like the idea of a swing machine better as it could double as another function in a pinch. (Yoder, hoe, ect)
I can't find pics, but I remember seeing a Summit Attachments tether machine with a second winch and a haywire drum. I'm not sure how effective it would be as a yoder, but it's an interesting concept.
It never took off & was parted out.
Cut, swing, deck.
I guess you already know the differences between the excavator and dozer tether. The dozer ROB is supposed to allow the harvester on the rope to work over a larger angle than an excavator tether. ROB is (500metres) 1600 feet on the rope length. Some slopes are more than this. Probably put a grapple (and heel) on a large excavator tether to unload log trailers with etc. Probably need to tell ems/ tractionline that you would want the yoder/ retrieval capability built in initially as Harvestline(yoder/ excavator hauler) and tractionline(excavator tether) do have differences.
We have a linkbelt 290 with the ems tractionline and seems to be working out good for us, the reports from the guys who have seen the ROB system working say it does not look quite as nice, needs a wide trail to set up on because you have to be able to bury the blade. With the EMS as long as the bucket is buried it can plant anywhere, even on trails too narrow to swing into lead.
Are you talking about the goofy tower they replaced the stick with? I can't find what I remember seeing, but this looks interesting.
That machine has since been redesigned, that Tower tube is now owned by Wyss logging and they are making a grapple yarder on a link belt 460 with it.
They had an interesting idea outside of the shop today a shovel setup as the winch machine with a flat plate instead of the heel like pictured.
You must be talking about the Doosan 300 shovel. I would want a lower center of gravity if it were me.
Here is my new to me 240/622b. Weyco Cosi.
Live heel and tilt base gets me most places
I like the idea of having a live heel for mobility & decking but they do not like the loss of lift they give or the added weight out on the nose. How close can you bring that into the machine before it is dragging ground? Is that an FL-95 head?
The head might be a Satco 630E (association with cat) (there is the recent tigercat video two LS855E working together one with 5195 and the other with live heel T-Mar heavy duty grapple. ) I be interested in seeing a big bar saw felling head comparison/ competition - Tigercat vs Waratah vs South Star vs Satco vs Woodsmanpro vs Duxson etc Timberpro with satco 630 E on heel (not very good quality video) bit light on the tracks side on TL765C with woodsmanpro Any videos of the Eltec tilter around?
It’s a satco 630e felling head and it’s set up really well with the heel. I still have full range of movement and would struggle going back to a felling machine without one. I think it adds enormously to the machine. The machine I ran before this one had a woodsman fh1350 felling head with a live heel and I don’t have a lot of positive comments about the head and wouldn’t recommend one. That said though everyone has their own preference.
How long of reach do you have? The tigercat has 32 foot of reach.
It’s about 30’ without the heel and about 35’ with.
Doesn't it feel nose-heavy with the heel on it or is that a pretty light duty head? I know my tigercat head is very heavy.
The head weighs 2 ton and the heel about the same. Stability can be an issue if you’re not careful however it’s in the workshop right now getting that addressed with a bit of counterweight being added
What area are you guys located in? I see that you don't have grouser extensions on so you must have fairly good soil?
Around the Oberon region of New South Wales in Australia and the ground varies from soft soil, hard packed red clay with a lot of rock and quartz ( great for starting bush fires) through to solid basalt and granite boulders and I completely wear track gear out really quickly ( about 5000hrs) so extensions would be a bit of a waste of money.
In international location description terms - Oberon is west of Sydney? Australia across the Blue Mountains?? How much emergency water do you carry with you in case you start a bushfire? Pierce - steep slope live heels - 36 feet, how do these go with the big south star bar felling head on the end? http://piercepacific.com/products/forestry/steep-slope/#steep-slope-live-heel
Yeah you’ve got the right location, roughly 2.5hrs west of Sydney. During the summer months we have a 500litre tank and pump on-site with each crew.As we get so much experience with fires everyone is quick to get small fires out using fire extinguishers, shovels, rakes or whatever is at hand. Personally I just use the live heel to put out any fires I start..... no point getting all worked up I say.... then call in a fire truck to wet the area down afterward.
Bio of a B.C. Logger Gordon Barney was born in Vancouver in 1947 and moved to Ladysmith on Vancouver Island at a very young age. His father George Barney was a faller for McMillan, Bloedel at Copper Canyon near Chemainus for 31 years. Gord went to work at an early age in the woods as did most young men around Ladysmith at that time. The jobs were many, pulp mills, saw mills, but he chose to work in woods. He started work in the woods "punkin" whistles and then worked on the Riggin' and moved upward until he was a machine operator a few years later. He operated one of the first Grapple Yarder's built by Madill machinery in Nanaimo when it came to the camp he was in, near Kelsey bay in 1968. He logged up and down the West Coast of British Columbia and the Queen Charlotte Islands in many of the small logging camps for many years, where he collected many of his stories. He always drew cartoons as a young man and then put them to use, drawing caricatures of his logging buddies and making fun of some of the woods bosses as he improved his technique. He wrote down stories that he heard in the bunkhouse on scraps of paper and then in later years copied them on to a computer disk, to write into a book he knew he would write one day. He is now retired from the forest industry and his book Camp Inspector and Haywire are now written and published by Fir Grove Publishing. He lives in Ladysmith which is near his two sons Clay and Martin. Gord has drawn many logging cartoons and submits written material to the Green Gold Logger's Newspaper regularly. He is well known as a Logger, Poet, Cartoonist and Writer in the Vancouver Island area. Bill Owens , Editor, I.W.A. (Local 1-71) Now USW Green Gold Newspaper
Oh man Gord did the best comics. Whatever you messed up yesterday, would be on the wall of the cookhouse in the morning. The wall of shame. My Favorite was Ray the Rat (Rest in Peace Ray)
Probably a long shot but has anyone ever heard of an outfit called Rossland Highlead Logging?
Hallback, whose is that?
Oh to be that riggin rat pulling strawline in the snow or "why I became a mechanic" d.d.
Are you guys able to keep logging with all the snow up there this year?
That is our little tower. We walked everything off of the hill this week. They have seven more miles to go to get the yarder off of the hill where we can move the side out to the coast at 400 FT elevation.
Is that the one that had the wrong injectors? Is it happy now?
It is. It runs a lot better now with the smaller injectors in it but the dampener in the bellhousing is getting a little loose and trying to find one is like a needle in a haystack.
It took a few months of fighting kinky 1 1/8 " chokers on a ground lead show and some no see ums to drive me into the shop as welder at a young age. All good experience though.
I was wondering how you were doing. I've been seeing quite a few parked logging trucks that last couple of weeks.
We are moving that side to the coast today. 400' elevation instead of 2400'.
Did I see that Link Belt headed north out of Raymond yesterday afternoon on the lowbed?
We moved it today & yes, north out of Raymond. Damn cab tilt wiring fried on it so I had to walk it off the low bed with the cab still tilted as I sat on the windshield and work the travel pedals by hand. Haven't had to do that in a while!
The 155 side pulling turns in the sun!
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A fast way to make a guy tear his hair out dog hair and vine maple.
Waiting for the strike to be over
Strike?
In British Columbia their has been 3000 loggers on strike since July. I seen on the news this morning that talks have broke off again. Going to be a tough winter.
Hate to hear that, as folks need to work. I don't think anyone ever wins when there is a strike. They are not going to make up all those lost wages with a small pay raise.
XCMG 21-ton excavator modified for forestry work in Canada
Limmit or ProPac?
Pro pac. That’s about all there is here in the northeast. Once in a while I see something oddball but it’s usually behind someone’s shop in the boneyard.
that looked stinky!
The "Smoke" you see is actually steam . Most Off Highway Logging Trucks are equipped to apply a small stream of water on to the outside brake drums to keep the brakes cool when traveling down hills that require braking . You will notice there is more steam coming off the trailer brakes than the truck brakes . The driver sets the trailer brake hand valve to keep a set amount of braking on trailer and uses the engine brake and / or retarter to do most of the braking on tractor , using enough braking on truck to keep the brake drums warm and holding . By using more trailer brakes it keeps the shop crew happy , as its usually easier to reline trailer brakes than truck brakes . In Winter weather the same truck would travel down that hill loaded a lot slower without using water , as the water would cause the road surface to ice up .
I did not see the first chain or binder on that rig while on the road. I may be guilty of using too many chains but I never move anything unless it's been bound down to the carrier, tightly. I suppose life is different in the bush on private land.
Out in the bush here you generally dont want the machine to drag the truck and the lowbed down a mountain side when things go wrong. Those things will never move on road where there could be other people traveling.
Came around a corner on a wide bush road on Northern Vancouver Island with the truck and camper and a there was a low bed and log loader coming towards us. The lighting on that old very large log truck had all be updated to LED light bars and even in the bright sun........that was a small road. One has to see up close and personnel to get the full measure of the size of the off-road trucks. Cam
In the following pictures are of an Off Highway HDX Hayes pulling an Off Highway lowbed with an American 7220 Log Loader on board . Which was tied to the lowbed with a heavy duty turn buckle connected to center of track frame on loader to a tail hold welded to the goose neck on lowbed just above deck of lowbed . The driver hit the corner to fast , the loader "laid over" as it got to the point of no return , the "King Pin" pulled out of the "5th wheel table" on the truck . The HDX Hayes remained up right , but the log loader ended up in the ditch on its side , still tied to the lowbed . When I first seen it the lowbed was standing up on its side still tied to the loader . By the time I got back with a camera , they had used the Washington TL 6 to secure the lowbed while a welder cut the turn buckle.
My old by todays standards that I’m running everyday
I grew up on this old 955 my dad put together and after my dad passed I was able to buy it from his estate, haven’t used it much other than digging stumps out of my backyard and remembering the good old days when I was a kid riding on it.
First machine I ever got to run was a very old 977. Hand clutch and a pony motor. That was probably 35 years ago. Damn if it didn't get me hooked. Now I went and did it to my kids. Vicious cycle