I know there are lots of log trucks out there other than the usual Peterbuilt and KW's. Here's a thread for you folks with International's, Fords, GMC's, Dodge, White, Diamond Rio, etc. Here's an International that hauled for GP out of its Big Lagoon operation in northern Calif. From the William Boyle collection.
GMC Logger Here's a GMC logging truck getting ready to be loaded at a Hammond Lumber Co. landing. This is from the Boyle collection. It says "truck logging before WWII using a hayrack boom to unload the trailer". That looks more like a '50's or so GMC to me. I had a friend in high school who's dad had a GMC just like it. It had a 6V71 in it with dual stacks on it. He had it tweaked to get as much power as he could out of it. Man did she ever put out the black smoke! If you were following him, you better have your headlights on.....it got dark real quick.
Early Log Truck This one is dated 1935. From the Boyle collection, Hammond Lumber Co. It looks to be a single drive truck judging from the location of the front bunk. I don't know when tandem drive axles came into play. Air conditioned cab, some sort of gear shift outside the door, or maybe a parking brake? The power steering unit is most likely located in that fellers arms. He looks pretty stout. Pic says his name is Leonard Wartz. I can't read the make of the truck there on the hood. She looks like loads of fun to drive. Nice rig, she'd be worth a pretty penny today.
One More... Here's another picture of the same truck and load, with a man on top. The pic says there may be confusion on who it is. Have a look at the custom upholstery on the air ride seat! And yep, it is obviously a single drive truck. I found this photo after already posting the first one.
White Logging Trucks These two were mistakenly posted in the Vintage Mack Thread so I'll post them here. No, we are not talking about the color of the trucks, the manufacturer was White. The pic is from the Palmquist/Yale collection, dated 1935. Hammond Lumber Co.....nice loads. These are true narrow nose trucks!
"Other" Brands of Trucks Nice to see some of the "other" brands of trucks here, great posts! I've been looking for pix of "off road" Internationals used at Union Lumber of Ft Bragg, California. I saw some outside their shops back in 1968 but couldn't get close enough to photograph them. I was riding the "Super Skunk" train at the time.
old girl tucked away and looking good.
Diamond T Duncan Antique Truck Show - 2013
Hey. I love that truck. It looks very beautiful. :drinkup
This 1941 Ford was Norm Simmons first logging truck. When time came to get 2 new trucks Norm went to all the truck dealers in Prince George and the IH dealer was a lot cheaper, so he bought 2. Norm said that was the best deal he ever made............:drinkup:drinkup 3 days after he bought the truck his wife left town with the sales man. He claims he won big time.
I can not delete this .
Jerry Harker logging 1953 GMC 6 cyclinder gas motor. Princeton B.C. Unloading the old way with a fork lift. If this log rolls off there will not be much dust left in the roof liner in the cab?? Oct 2012 truck is just about to enter the shop to be returned to its former glory total rebuild. truck is still in shop should be done late this year.
I think the GMC in post #2 is a 1954 model as it appears to have the one piece curved windshield that replaced the two piece w/s that year. Definitely is not pre-war even though they are loading with a hay rack boom which was pretty old school by the mid fifties.
My brother in law and co worker unloading a load, KB-8 IH near 100 Mile House in B.C. Work safe B.C. would have a kitten if they seen someone doing this now a days.
Found one more picture of Brother in laws 1947 KB-8 IH.
This is Taylor Sawmills Ford, with Bert Taylor on top of load. Looks like poor mans air conditioner no doors, note Red Cross decal on windshield this helps one know that the driver has first knowledge. This is above our golf course in Princeton.
Farther in Laws truck John Ganton, 1947 KB-10 IH, 360 cu. in. 126 hp. Louis Creek B.C. John Ganton, stopped for a smoke break A corner bind let go and almost lost the load there.
R.A. Lind Logging Princeton, 1952 Reo with 10 ft bunks, truck and trailer chained up.
This old Army truck was hauling logs in Coalmont 15 miles from Princeton. This Dodge was from Coalmont also.
A Federal for July 1 parade in Princeton years ago.
1954 White WC-20 Coalmont B/C. Lind Brothers Logging Princeton, B.C.
In post 21, photo number 2 - how in the world did they get that load to stay in place without wrappers. The third log up is hanging out over the stake and gravity has not changed since I have been alive?
If you look close you can see where it is chained in place a chain with a pick like end is pounded into the log and the other end is wrapped around a log on the bottom on the other side. Front and Back they are unloading in Coalmont and the forklift is making sure that when the man on top takes the wrapper off the logs go the right way.
Looks like a disaster waiting to happen . Some day's it better to be lucky than good. Great pictures , if I didn't see it I wouldn't believe it.
Thanks, I saw that end hook and chain, but just had trouble believing that someone would try to use it to load a truck like that. Then again, loggers are an inventive breed although that seems to be living a bit on the edge.
This is my father in laws truck and you can see in the first picture as how the whole mess of chains work he explained it to me many times but me I can not explaine it but the weight of the logs holds them on. They just hit a pin on the one side and it all falls apart. If it was safe they would still do it that way.. Not to many careless old loggers left.
We have a 1956 Ford with a load the goes against the law of gravity. R. A. Lind and sons Mac and Jim on cab guard.
1956 Ford stuck might have to go to plan B Plan B not so good D-6 Cat pilling on front truck is moving but trailer is not logs starting to come off.
B-61 Mack and a Mercury Big Job 800 together hauling a load of bridge stringers that were 80 ft. long. Mack drove forward and Mercury backed up, from where the trees were cut to the bridge was being built 28 miles. Summer 1959 Tulameen B.C. Bill Taylor owned the Mack and Joe Libel ( L + L Logging) Mercury.
I wonder what the 4x4 blocking under the bunks on both trucks was for?
They had to leave the trucks parked until the government scalers could come and scale the logs so the Government would get paid for the logs. The trucks sat for 2 days and the plan was it would take some of the weight off the trucks. David Brown was the scaler man that came out.
Thanks for the info Hank
Very interesting post - I never realized that Mercury put their name on Ford trucks and can't recall ever seeing one. When I lived in Cherry Grove, Oregon, a friend of my dads had a Ford of about this vintage that he used to haul lumber from the local mill to the RR siding about six miles away. That would have been in 1952 to 1954.
Ford and Mercury cars and trucks were only sold in Canada, Ford and Mercury was like GMC and Chevy trucks. Kind of different but not much. If I remember correctly it was in the 1960 that Mercury came to a end.
Maybe the end in the big end of things, but I do remember seeing F-250's with the Mercury nameplate on them in the late '60s. My uncle had a '67.
I learned something from this thread, because I searched the Internet and found this site, http://fordofwestmemphis.blogspot.com/2008/12/mercury-truck-history.html Apparently Ford built a plant on the Canadian side of the border in 1904, because of tariff costs. The site talks about 1948 being the year that Mercury started appearing on what were basically Ford vehicles (trucks?), but I know Mercury existed in the states before that because a friend had a 1940 Mercury coupe (with a 1957 Pontiac engine). In any case the Mercury trucks were labeled M1, M2, M68 instead of F1, F2, etc, where the number indicated the GVW, so M68 was 6,800 lbs. This all ended in 1968 when a cross border tariff agreement was signed and the Mercury brand faded away.
I ment to say the 1960's, but did not prof read and hade a coffee or two and my hr. to edit was up so thanks Sidney and jacked for the correction on my error.
Here is a 1958 Mercury.
Correct...Mercury cars were sold in the states but there was never a Mercury truck south of the border.They were as stated M series not F-series.My dad drove the big Mercs (M-800,M-850)all through the 60's till the new Louisville came out...I believe GM had the "Mapleleaf" truck that never went south either..Another company my dad drove for only had FARGO trucks.....no Dodges... Lots of cars built in the US in the 60's that were not available to us,and we had cars not available to them ...It was a interesting time...Cory
I learned something too - the designations were not 'F' but 'M' for these trucks. I still see some old Mercurys abandoned on peoples properties as I head around the rural areas of the Island - it warms my heart.... On the other hand. My Uncle also had a brand new '75 Chevrolet 3/4 ton 4 x 4 long box truck - he drove it for months before he realized that it had a tail gate from a GMC. Every badge said Chevrolet except the big letters on the back tail gate. The dealer ordered him the correct tail gate and a swap was made.
Not to get carried away with details, but some of what I posted this morning is questionable. I read a bit on Wikipedia and am posting an excerpt with appropriate accreditation if that is OK with site admins. From Wikipedia.. "Between 1948 and 1968 Ford of Canada used the "F" prefix for Ford and "M" for Mercury. From 1948-1950 nominal tonnage ratings were replaced by a series designation in which the numbers indicate the GVWR when equipped with tires of appropriate capacity. Each code number is arrived at by dividing the GVWR of the series by 100. Thus an F-47 (M-47) indicates a GVWR of 4700 lbs. per axle or 9400 lbs. total for front and rear axles combined, F-135 (M-135) indicates 13500 lbs., etc. Each truck series is rated to its GVWR. In 1951-52 Ford of Canada got back in step with Ford USA with F-1 (M-1), F-2 (M-2) etc. (GVWR = Gross Vehicle Weight Rating - weight of chassis, cab and body, plus payload)" Apparently Mercury lived on in the States for some time, but we are only discussing trucks and logging trucks specifically, because all the rest is of little interest. I tried to make out the badging on the Ford logging truck and think it is 6,800, which would have been per axle. so 6,800x3 = 20,800 which seems about right for a three axle logging truck of that era not made by one of the specialty mfg like Corbett who made real trucks.
Here in the interior of B.C. in the 1950's old trucks were converted into Forklifts. Some times they fall over.
Looks like a Ford here , with some of the logging, loading crew.
Looks like a IH V-liner here, just not sure what the man beside the truck towards the back was up or down to??
Guys. Since Mercury trucks have been mentioned I could use some help. I'm the very proud owner of a 1964 Mercury M-250 4x4 pick-up that started it's life on Vancouver Island. It was originally sold new to the Qualicum Beach Garage in 1964. I'm the third owner, and I had in transported across the US to North Carolina. It looked like it started life as either a tow truck or brush fire truck. The bed was replaced with diamond plate,and it had an inventor. I'm looking for any information on truck, if anybody can help. john
Here we have a Autocar, 1964 250 hp. Parade ready the 1965, A-Car.
Just out side of Princeton, I guess some one thought this was a good plan, the old timers here have told me they only tried to haul logs this way for a very short time.
1962 Autocar. 1965 Autocar loading it trailer in Princeton.
A few more Autocars. Moving a D 6 no problem in the bush. Some days it is not all well, at least the truck stayed on its wheels.
Here are a couple of Cornfield Cadillac's.
I drove a '63 A-Car for a year or so. 220 Cummins and a 10-speed with cable splitter. Tenth gear empty, ninth loaded. Nice old truck, but awfully slow by today's standards.
R.A. Lind picked these two Autocars up in Montreal and drove them back to B.C. Ran into a snow storm on the Rodgers Pass. One of his other Autocars.
Here are two IH trucks from New Zealand. Looks like they had a coil spring shock system to keep the rad from shaking apart, my guess.
A couple more IH trucks from New Zealand.
A load getting pushed off with a 966 loader, in the mill yard in Princeton.
Here some pictures of Brian Blank's truck when it was new.
Cat logger from New Zealand.
Hank...you absolutely rule!! Awesome pics. I would have never thought of Mercury loggers, lol. I can't even pic a favourite truck out of all these.
old International DF model, don't know what year but rusting quietly
Have not seen many of this style of IH trucks. only remember 1 other as a logger, near 100 mile on the road to Williams Lake. Great catch on the Boot Cab DF
Here is one for the Mack fans.
1919 White This old White had carbide head lights, was an ex-telephone company truck, then used by McNair Shingle to haul supplies between 2nd and 3rd lakes in Powell River. photo from Ted Lloyd collection
Hank R; I saw 2 retired(same model with long nose) in Campbell River this year.
Here is a 1950's Chev with a self loading log trailer.
Hi Hank R - do you know where you got this photo? Bert Taylor was my grandfather, and my mother, Carolyn (Taylor) Belicic, was curious to know. Cheers, Mike
I got this from Don Taylor and Bert is his father. Don is your moms brother.
Bert Taylor Hi Hank, thanks. Carolyn figured that is where it came from - when I showed it to her, she thought that you were a friend of Don's. Cheers, Mike
In the Hayes trucks page 110 post 1640 are a couple pictures of your uncle Don's truck.
Hank, thanks for the link. I remember being in that truck as a child with Don about 35 years ago in the hills above Princeton