Weyerhaeuser Company Logging Operations

[Contract Logger]

Yeah, I think this canopy was probably built right in the Camp Baker shop- lots of cool stuff got built in there!

This Cat was nicknamed 'Odie' after the hooktender on this side.

 

[Contract Logger]

Tailhold Cat D8K at Longview- Cat #547.

The mast is laying down over the blade for highway transport. Pictures taken at Headquarters Camp, 2007.

 

[Contract Logger]

Fire Trucks!

When you have hundreds of thousands of acres of timberland being harvested, you need fire trucks- brush-type outfits that can hold, pump, and store water in remote locations. Weyerhaeuser also needed to comply with State Law requiring specific amounts of water be stored in functional fire trucks at every phase of the logging operation. Falling, yarding, and roadbuilding operations all require firefighting capabilities to be on-site from May through October in some places. Rain, shine, or snow- the fire trucks have got to be there and must start and function whenever an inspector shows up. Weyerhaeuser has or had fire trucks by the hundreds just for this purpose.

Also- even in non-operation areas in the higher country fire trucks would often be placed in strategic locations just in case a fire got started somehow. Protection of your assets is key, and all the contractors knew where the fire trucks were out in the brush- just in case. Contractors are also required to have thier own fire trucks on their sides as well.

Here are some Weyerhaeuser fire trucks on the ready:

 

[Contract Logger]

Fire trucks.

 

[Contract Logger]

More.

 

[Vigilant]

I spent a LOT of time in the woods with my father when he was Superintendent at Vail from '68 to '72. One of my favorite pastimes when he had a meeting was to hang around with his Fire Warden, Ken Jones. I thought the world of Mr. Jones, as did my father. To this day, Dad still speaks highly of him. One of our pastimes when I rode with Mr. Jones was to go from setting to setting, and crank the fire trucks to keep the cobwebs out.

I'll never forget his instructions the first time I cranked one of those old beasts. I can still recall those words almost verbatim:

"Alllllllllright... I'll give 'er a shot o' ether while you climb on up in the cab there. It's OK, go ahead..... now, take one o' them sticks outta gear, it don't matter which one... that's right.... now turn that switch on right there.... push that button........ FIRE THE b*****d UP!"

That Pete at the top was typical of the fire truck fleet at Vail back then, only with the KW nameplate.

Great photos. Thanks.


My dad told me more than once since then that one of the things he admired about Ken Jones was that when he came to work, you were GONNA get an honest day's work from him, and then some, and you didn't need to ride herd over him. That's a quality that I have carried with me down through the years, in memory of a first class gentleman.

 

[Vigilant]

That fifth photo looks an awful lot like the line at Vail.

 

[Contract Logger]

That fifth photo looks an awful lot like the line at Vail.

That 5th photo was taken by me in the Vail yard in 1993! And that off-road Pete was at Vail too- they had a fleet of those old Pete's- I think they held close to 6,000 gallons!

Snoqualmie had a whole fleet of Mack's for fire trucks (green/yellow with red tanks) but I can't find the pics just now....
They'll turn up at some point.

 

[Contract Logger]

Downrigging a 208 Washington at Vail, 1993.

 

[Vigilant]

I wasn't real sharp on trucks back then. I could be wrong, and probably am. I thought all he had back then was KW and Mack. They had a bunch of OLD late Fourties/early Fifties fire trucks like the first one on that fifth photo, with the open sides on the hood.

I took my dad back out to Twin Harbors and Vail in 1995, and that was about how the fire truck line looked then. I got to see that beautiful old shop building one more time, before the bastards leveled all but one small portion in later years.

Bought my first chain saw at Vail too, at age 12. Ford Bentley, the Cutting Crew Supervisor, sold me a surplus Weyco saw, an ancient Homelite 5-30N, for 5 bucks.

 

[Contract Logger]

That is awesome! Have you got any pics from those days? We'd all love to see them!

 

[Vigilant]

That 208 was looking pretty sad. It could have been one that my dad bought during his time there.

He had an ancient B Model Mack line truck back then.

I know you've been to Weikswood, or at least heard of it. It was named after Carl Weiks' father. Carl Weiks had retired as Super at Vail right before my dad took over.

 

[Vigilant]

I wish with all my heart that I had spent my rather modest life savings back then taking photos at Vail, but I don't have a one, other than a few that I took when we went back in '95. They're pretty much the same as what you have posted.

 

[Contract Logger]

Weyerhaeuser Longview Yarder #248 (currently at Ramsey in Chehalis) and Shovel #119 (one of the Cat 235B's) working on the N. Toutle River in the late 1980's.

 

[JeremyM70]

Weyerhaeuser Cascade Operations (Snoqualmie and Enumclaw) in 2001 /2002 was being closed down and sold off. Here are a few pics taken around the yard there in those days as machinery was being moved into the yard to be sold off. The 70' Madill 171 was a popular yarder with Weyerhaeuser and both Snoqualmie and Enumclaw used them.

Check out the mural inside the shop. For only 4.25 million you too can own a piece of Weyco History!
http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/pdfs/businesses/surplusproperties/WhiteRiverMill.pdf
http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/Businesses/SurplusProperties/Washington

 

[Contract Logger]

I remember when they were painting that and wondered if it would ever last. Apparently it is still lasting- Here are some detail pics.

Just for perspective that painting is about 24 feet tall!

 

[Contract Logger]

Four yarders parked at Weyerhaeuser Snoqualmie in 1999. 1 Thunderbird TTY-70 (#211), Washington 118 (#207), and 2 Washington 208's (#202 and #203).

 

[JeremyM70]

I remember when they were painting that and wondered if it would ever last. Apparently it is still lasting- Here are some detail pics.

Just for perspective that painting is about 24 feet tall!

I want one of those in my garage, too bad I don't have 24 feet! Maybe we could all pool our money and buy the place

 

[Vigilant]

What ever became of the Washington Iron Works TL5H hydraulic shovel? My dad tested the prototype at Vail in about 1970, but I can't find anything on that machine now. I assume they scrapped the project. IIRC, it ran off a 6-71 Detroit. There were hoses everywhere, and it seemed there was always something that needed fixing. I'll ask him what he remembers about it next time we talk.

 

[isx525]

one that I know of belonged to bill bremmeyer (ravensdale,wa) I remember riding with my dad ,the tl5h was loading. seemed it was nicknamed "the pelican" I think it got scrapped, but maybe not. bremmeyer was still loading with it in the 80's. Timber Traders also had one at their yard I think. that is many years back,I was very young, but I listened to a lot of conversations between local loggers and truckers.
brent