Anyone have pictures or stories from the hay day of Willamette Industries, Inc and Wimer Logging
Great outfit Willamette was... Worked for them after the after they bought out Cavenham in NW Oregon and SW Washington. They started to peel the Spruce off of the tree farm, took it to Springfield, Foster mills, small Hemlock and fir went to Coburg. It was devestating when Weyco bought them out, a few years later they sold off the tree farm to the Campbell Group. The only constant now seems to be change. To bad we cant change back!!!
What did you do for them rockhaul?
Hauled logs and rocked road
cool have any pictures from back in the day
Have a few, Couple pictures of some oversize the went to Bauman, and Export yard in Longview.. Did you work for them also? Lots of Willamette ground up Valsetz and Black Rock mainline close to you.
No I did not work for them I am a logging/forestry history fan; Just to discuss the history of the company and loggers who worked for them.
I don't think anybody won when Weyco bought Willamette. Weyco's downward spiral began when they started hiring stinking MBAs from the street, instead of promoting good people from within and investing in them, as they used to. Weyco is a pitiful shadow of the great company it once was.
Also, I will give you three guesses as to where the stinking MBAs at Weyco can shove their business models.
I can agree on the sentiment concerning Weyco. They are the prime example of the mess the corporations of this country have made of most things. Common sense has been gone from that company for along time.
Years ago, for the very most part, Weyco promoted from within. As I said in another thread here, my dad had a friend at Twin Harbors named Emil Knutz who went on to retire as a VP, with an eighth grade education. Not a lot of book learnin', but a top notch man with good business savvy. There is such a pitiful contrast between the good people who built Weyco years ago, and turds who are flushing it down the tube. Now, they're slowly jerking the rug out from under my aging parents, after my dad spent 39 years counting on decent retirement benefits. He doesn't want to be pampered; he just wants the bastards to live up to their promises. Fat chance. Dad caused a huge flap years ago at Vail as Camp Super in about 1972 when some of those turds at Federal Way got wind that he was getting right to log a stand of premium old-growth timber up the Deschutes. They ordered him to have every last log bucked at 14 feet, thinking they would make out on the scale. Not only did it cause huge headaches yarding, loading and hauling; those logs also sat out in the bay for several years because they would not sell, and they finally ended up liquidating them all. Jackasses.
Such a same about your farther and the true old growth! What was some of your highlights from Willamette? Do you know of any loggers who may share a story or two?
My dad was with Weyco. He got fed up, and retired after 39 years of it. Now, he and my mother are having to fight those bastards over their latest escapade in Humana's administration of their medical benefits. Dad started with Potlatch in the early Fifties at Headquarters. He lived right beside Red McCollister, who was a true legend. He went with Weyco Twin Harbors as a surveyor in the early Fifites as well, after Potlatch, moved up the ladder, went to Vail as Camp Super, and was transferred to North Carolina in 1972. I hope we can get back to doing some things the old fashioned way, but I suspect we will have to suffer a lot until that finally comes about.
that all bad news but what about some stories from WI, there is a Weyco post that you may want to look at
Willamette Industries ancestor was a company called Clark and Wilson. It was four brothers, two named Clark and two named Wilson. They hailed from the midwest just like Weyco, buying timberland from JJ Hill and the Northern Pacific RR. Clark and Wilson logged over 50 sq. miles of Columbia Co. Oregon before moving elsewhere. Towards the end, they used ledgerwood yarders in addition to wooden spars. The buckers first cut was an 84 foot butt log normally.
I have an old photo somewhere of a Clark-Wilson Lidgerwood being moved on the tracks.... with at least three lokies.
thanks that be great if you have some pics