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Skagit Iron and Steel Works, Sedro Wooley, Washington
- Thread starter Contract Logger
- Start date
Jim D
Senior Member
Thank you, everyone, for an excellent thread!
May I ask an 'beginner' question? Back about the 300th post, there was mention of "screwy hooks" and "cutoff situations" in the talk about guy line rigging. What are they? Or what do they refer to?
Thank you, Jim D
May I ask an 'beginner' question? Back about the 300th post, there was mention of "screwy hooks" and "cutoff situations" in the talk about guy line rigging. What are they? Or what do they refer to?
Thank you, Jim D
Redwood Climber
Well-Known Member
BU 199 in a Rock Pit Somewhere in BC?
Do any of you north of the border boys know which rock pit in BC the Mike Graves 199 ended up at? Mr. Contract Logger reported that when Mike Graves finished up in Alaska with the 199 it went into a BC rock pit to dragline. I believe this is the same yarder that LP bought new and logged with in Big Lagoon California. Feel free to correct me if you have any other info. I'd still like to hear anything anyone knows about the very few that might remain of the 13 BU 199's that were built. Thanks.
Do any of you north of the border boys know which rock pit in BC the Mike Graves 199 ended up at? Mr. Contract Logger reported that when Mike Graves finished up in Alaska with the 199 it went into a BC rock pit to dragline. I believe this is the same yarder that LP bought new and logged with in Big Lagoon California. Feel free to correct me if you have any other info. I'd still like to hear anything anyone knows about the very few that might remain of the 13 BU 199's that were built. Thanks.
Redwood Climber
Well-Known Member
Screwy Hooks and Cutoff situations
Howdy Jim D. I will see if I can explain "screwy hooks and cuttoff situations." Sorrry if I yap too much trying to explain..... Screwy hooks or screwy bells as we always called them are much like a choker bell on a choker except that you can insert the knob into the bell, and because of the way it was manufactured give it a slight twist and wa lah! you now have a choker. These were very useful for the big yarders as the screwy bells were used on guyline stubs, the extention that was wrapped, (or choked) around a stump. The guylines being the lines which keep the towers vertical. On the big towers that used guylines with knobs you could pack the screwy bell separate from the guyline extention. This helps as everything is big and heavy on these large towers. Also the bell has a tendency to hang up on everything in the brush. The down side is they are easily lost, toss them down the hill enough times and you'll lose one sooner or later. So basically they are just a removable choker bell.
Now "cuttoff situations".....a cuttoff situation is when the cable which makes up a choker (it can also be a guyline) passes through the bell at a severe angle. On a light pull, no big deal, on a harder pull you just put a kink in the choker (or guyline). On a real hard pull POW!!! You just cut that choker (or again it can be a guyline) in two. Breaking a choker usually no so big a deal. But the purpose of a guyline is to keep the yarder on it's wheels or tracks. When one guyline fails it puts tremendous stress on the other guys. Many times it causes other guylines (or the stumps) to fail. THUD!!! the tower hits the ground. If no one is hurt it is just a really really bad day. When the tower is up and ready to log it is always a good Idea to check for cuttoff situations on all your guylines.
Hope that helps you understand........
Howdy Jim D. I will see if I can explain "screwy hooks and cuttoff situations." Sorrry if I yap too much trying to explain..... Screwy hooks or screwy bells as we always called them are much like a choker bell on a choker except that you can insert the knob into the bell, and because of the way it was manufactured give it a slight twist and wa lah! you now have a choker. These were very useful for the big yarders as the screwy bells were used on guyline stubs, the extention that was wrapped, (or choked) around a stump. The guylines being the lines which keep the towers vertical. On the big towers that used guylines with knobs you could pack the screwy bell separate from the guyline extention. This helps as everything is big and heavy on these large towers. Also the bell has a tendency to hang up on everything in the brush. The down side is they are easily lost, toss them down the hill enough times and you'll lose one sooner or later. So basically they are just a removable choker bell.
Now "cuttoff situations".....a cuttoff situation is when the cable which makes up a choker (it can also be a guyline) passes through the bell at a severe angle. On a light pull, no big deal, on a harder pull you just put a kink in the choker (or guyline). On a real hard pull POW!!! You just cut that choker (or again it can be a guyline) in two. Breaking a choker usually no so big a deal. But the purpose of a guyline is to keep the yarder on it's wheels or tracks. When one guyline fails it puts tremendous stress on the other guys. Many times it causes other guylines (or the stumps) to fail. THUD!!! the tower hits the ground. If no one is hurt it is just a really really bad day. When the tower is up and ready to log it is always a good Idea to check for cuttoff situations on all your guylines.
Hope that helps you understand........
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Jim D
Senior Member
Redwood Climber,
Thank you for the explanation! It isn't a "yap too much" thing at all; everything that you guys are writing about yarders and logging is interesting to me.
The twist-to-lock choker bell makes sense now that you explained it; I was imagining some sort of lag-screw hook screwed into a stump. Duh!
The cut-off situation make sense now, too. That you want the tensioned line thru the bell to be closer-to-straight, not pulled back against it self at a sharp angle.
Thanks again!
Thank you for the explanation! It isn't a "yap too much" thing at all; everything that you guys are writing about yarders and logging is interesting to me.
The twist-to-lock choker bell makes sense now that you explained it; I was imagining some sort of lag-screw hook screwed into a stump. Duh!
The cut-off situation make sense now, too. That you want the tensioned line thru the bell to be closer-to-straight, not pulled back against it self at a sharp angle.
Thanks again!
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Scott S
Well-Known Member
Just thought I'd add a picture of a screwy bell or screwy hook so everyone can see what they look like.
What do you want for the rigging hook?
Scott S
Jim D
Senior Member
Just thought I'd add a picture of a screwy bell or screwy hook so everyone can see what they look like.
lg junior, the picture is worth a thousand words. Push the knob thru the hole and twist the bell, and the line lays into the saddle part of the bell, "...and wa lah! you now have a choker." as Redwood Climber said. Thanks!
Scott S
Well-Known Member
I was thinking of using it for a watch fob..
Scott
Scott
crisco6255
Well-Known Member
have one like that on my drop line at wheeler logging. under a 6255
SPMiller
Senior Member
[video=youtube;DyHcldfv_Dw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyHcldfv_Dw[/video]
Only cost 1400 new!
Only cost 1400 new!
furpo
Senior Member
adbombphoto
Member
BU99 June 2012
Here are a few shots of Wayne Stone's BU99 from June 2012.
Here are a few shots of Wayne Stone's BU99 from June 2012.
adbombphoto
Member
Redwood Climber
Well-Known Member
A Fine Looking Girl in Her 50's
Thanks for the great shots of a BEAUTIFUL machine! She's somewhere around 50 years old and she looks so good! You have to look twice at her or you'd be thinking your looking a much newer machine. I wonder how many millions of board feet this yarder has brought in. How many thousands or tens of thousands of houses were built from logs she pulled. She is truly magnificent!
Thanks for the great shots of a BEAUTIFUL machine! She's somewhere around 50 years old and she looks so good! You have to look twice at her or you'd be thinking your looking a much newer machine. I wonder how many millions of board feet this yarder has brought in. How many thousands or tens of thousands of houses were built from logs she pulled. She is truly magnificent!
Factory Kid
Member
Interesting details in factory photos.
The photo showing the 555 with a bohemian boom in the snorkel as an interesting detail. Behind the machine to the right is Skagit's then new nondestructive testing laboratory. Because they had naval contracts or shipboard material handling systems they were required to test castings using nondestructive methods such as x-ray and ultrasonic testing. The main lab had walls 9 foot thick and in the middle was a Cobalt 60 radiation source. The radiation source and a tube running out of it and you could crank out and thereby expose a cobalt. This presented intense radiation that was in fact lethal if you ever saw it. You put the source in the middle of the casting or any other convenient place and put photographic sensitive materials on the other side of the casting you are x-ray. Void or cracks or other structural defects in the casting were immediately visible even though they might be 10 inches under the surface of the casting. If the casting at a defect I was close to the surface, it could be repaired by the fabrication shop. If the casting was not repairable it was recycled and replaced by another.
Okay very interesting, but what does this have to do with me as a logger. Well, since they had facility in place to do naval contracts was a small step to putting drums, sheaves, and other highly loaded components to be tested. Suddenly, Skagit had a method of making components that were stronger than could be produced by anyone not having this capability. I know for a fact having been there at the time that the foundry and the nondestructive testing laboratory work very closely at this time to improve the product particularly mobile loggers and loaders. Ray Bowby, the foreman of the equipment test site was particularly pleased at the increase in equipment performance after these components were installed. The salesman at the time were talking about the best logging machines in the world without the slightest doubt in their minds. It's funny, but the weakest point in the big yarders w became the shafts h that held the drums and drove them.
The people who listened to John Goodall and his marketing department and understood what he was saying tended to maximize production by taking advantage of this. Those days in the mid-to-late 60s, were the halcyon days of the big Skagit shows.
Not everything my recollection was a raging success, I've particularly remember some discussions about varying successes with the big interlock yarders like the IJ-90 for example. Some of those machines ended their life operating as conventional yarders.
The photo showing the 555 with a bohemian boom in the snorkel as an interesting detail. Behind the machine to the right is Skagit's then new nondestructive testing laboratory. Because they had naval contracts or shipboard material handling systems they were required to test castings using nondestructive methods such as x-ray and ultrasonic testing. The main lab had walls 9 foot thick and in the middle was a Cobalt 60 radiation source. The radiation source and a tube running out of it and you could crank out and thereby expose a cobalt. This presented intense radiation that was in fact lethal if you ever saw it. You put the source in the middle of the casting or any other convenient place and put photographic sensitive materials on the other side of the casting you are x-ray. Void or cracks or other structural defects in the casting were immediately visible even though they might be 10 inches under the surface of the casting. If the casting at a defect I was close to the surface, it could be repaired by the fabrication shop. If the casting was not repairable it was recycled and replaced by another.
Okay very interesting, but what does this have to do with me as a logger. Well, since they had facility in place to do naval contracts was a small step to putting drums, sheaves, and other highly loaded components to be tested. Suddenly, Skagit had a method of making components that were stronger than could be produced by anyone not having this capability. I know for a fact having been there at the time that the foundry and the nondestructive testing laboratory work very closely at this time to improve the product particularly mobile loggers and loaders. Ray Bowby, the foreman of the equipment test site was particularly pleased at the increase in equipment performance after these components were installed. The salesman at the time were talking about the best logging machines in the world without the slightest doubt in their minds. It's funny, but the weakest point in the big yarders w became the shafts h that held the drums and drove them.
The people who listened to John Goodall and his marketing department and understood what he was saying tended to maximize production by taking advantage of this. Those days in the mid-to-late 60s, were the halcyon days of the big Skagit shows.
Not everything my recollection was a raging success, I've particularly remember some discussions about varying successes with the big interlock yarders like the IJ-90 for example. Some of those machines ended their life operating as conventional yarders.
TorkelH
Senior Member
Bu-199
I have tried to find some more information about the BU-199's, and have found some.
With help from Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), Sophie Frye Bass Library and their Skagit collection I will first bring some pictures from october 1973 of BU-199 A101 (property of pictures is MOHAI):
I have tried to find some more information about the BU-199's, and have found some.
With help from Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), Sophie Frye Bass Library and their Skagit collection I will first bring some pictures from october 1973 of BU-199 A101 (property of pictures is MOHAI):
Attachments
TorkelH
Senior Member
Redwood Climber
Well-Known Member
TorkelH..............Salute!!
Thank you Sir! These pictures are just magnificent! She is amazing...the serial number is 101, I'm guessing this is the first BU 199? It looks like it has the same Big Cat D398? I believe it was as the two I worked on had. I can't tell about the transmission, the ones I worked on had a big Allison tranny. I don't recall the different looking drive chain box, it has been 23 years since I last saw the two old girls. I did notice the hex shaped guard over the haulback clutch is raised, the two I knew were just flat bar with the screen welded right to it....the haulback drum is closest to the engine. After looking at it numerous times, the drive chain box only looks different from my memory in the assembly picture, the photo of her ready to sell looks exactly as I remember it. Arcata Redwood bought their first 199 in 1974 I believe I don't remember what the serial number was even though I remember looking at the ID tags hundreds of times over the years. I don't know who got the first one, it is possible that this is it. Someone out there knows, time will tell. I will say that nothing on the machine looks out of place, from the air tank to the downdrive to the guards and hoses for the Wichita brakes. The utility haywire drum, and even the forked guard for the exhaust pipe on top of the hood.....wow! Man what I would give to hear that BIG Cat roar again.....I can still smell the unburnt diesel when Hooter threw the skyline clutch in and pulled the throttle back!!! ROAR !!!! Still can't believe I wasn't smart enough to TAKE PICTURES!!! It is safe to say that I sure do miss those days....Thank You again, my friend these pictures are just awesome....I will spend many hours in the next however many years I am given to live viewing them...
Thank you Sir! These pictures are just magnificent! She is amazing...the serial number is 101, I'm guessing this is the first BU 199? It looks like it has the same Big Cat D398? I believe it was as the two I worked on had. I can't tell about the transmission, the ones I worked on had a big Allison tranny. I don't recall the different looking drive chain box, it has been 23 years since I last saw the two old girls. I did notice the hex shaped guard over the haulback clutch is raised, the two I knew were just flat bar with the screen welded right to it....the haulback drum is closest to the engine. After looking at it numerous times, the drive chain box only looks different from my memory in the assembly picture, the photo of her ready to sell looks exactly as I remember it. Arcata Redwood bought their first 199 in 1974 I believe I don't remember what the serial number was even though I remember looking at the ID tags hundreds of times over the years. I don't know who got the first one, it is possible that this is it. Someone out there knows, time will tell. I will say that nothing on the machine looks out of place, from the air tank to the downdrive to the guards and hoses for the Wichita brakes. The utility haywire drum, and even the forked guard for the exhaust pipe on top of the hood.....wow! Man what I would give to hear that BIG Cat roar again.....I can still smell the unburnt diesel when Hooter threw the skyline clutch in and pulled the throttle back!!! ROAR !!!! Still can't believe I wasn't smart enough to TAKE PICTURES!!! It is safe to say that I sure do miss those days....Thank You again, my friend these pictures are just awesome....I will spend many hours in the next however many years I am given to live viewing them...