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Alaskan Logging Equipment, Left to Rust

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Bagswa51

Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
9
Location
Washington
Occupation
Ag.
ak, good to hear..........always liked Snooks.........hope his life went well.
As for experiences; my first side at Thorne Bay was atop a mtn............took 1/2 hr to hike up the hill to the landing...at the time a sled donkey was used (diesel powered) and a spar tree..........what a sight to a green kid!!! Moving that sled was something, winching from one stump to another, man that thing as huge...there was an Irish guy, Rooney, who got is leg caught between two logs, luckily didn't crush it, but put him in rocking chair for some time.....he was one of those scrappers, a not so big a guy, but one you knew, would be hell to tangle with............
...speaking of tangling.....working with these guys taught me a lifelong lesson, that people now, don't know.........Keep your damn mouth shut and work, and if you have a problem w/someone, your have two choices, keep it to yourself or have it out......of course now, having it out means getting a lawyer........but not back then, as you all know!
Have a good day all, keep the rubber on the road!
 
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akroadrunner

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
173
Location
Alaska
Occupation
Gravel Pit/ Trucking/Owner
Bagswa51 said:
ak, good to hear..........always liked Snooks.........hope his life went well.
As for experiences; my first side at Thorne Bay was atop a mtn............took 1/2 hr to hike up the hill to the landing...at the time a sled donkey was used (diesel powered) and a spar tree..........what a sight to a green kid!!! Moving that sled was something, winching from one stump to another, man that thing as huge...there was an Irish guy, Rooney, who got is leg caught between two logs, luckily didn't crush it, but put him in rocking chair for some time.....he was one of those scrappers, a not so big a guy, but one you knew, would be hell to tangle with............
...speaking of tangling.....working with these guys taught me a lifelong lesson, that people now, don't know.........Keep your damn mouth shut and work, and if you have a problem w/someone, your have two choices, keep it to yourself or have it out......of course now, having it out means getting a lawyer........but not back then, as you all know!
Have a good day all, keep the rubber on the road!
Click to expand...
My Dad ran a spar tree and sled donkey until he bought a Tillman tower in 1967. Tallest spar we rigged was 235' to where we hung the mainline block. Al Smith from Taholah was our tree topper. Got it on home movies. Broke that spar several times on that setting. Was under 100' when we finished up. It was a spruce. The cedars just never got that tall. They were all school marmed out, with lots of widow makers. My uncle John Starks was killed by one of those widow makers falling for Aloha Lumber Co.
Thanks for the great posts, Bagswa51, and keep yardin' 'em in. Brings back lots of memories. Mostly good. But, sometimes at night when the rain is pounding on the roof, I have dreams (nightmares) of laying in the mud, reaching for a choker knob with a numb hand and rain running down my crack. LOL.
 
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Bagswa51

Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
9
Location
Washington
Occupation
Ag.
My cousin, Azel Pellam, was faller in the Snohomish/King Counties areas of WA. for years........originally from Missouri. He was put in the hospital w/severre injurries from an Alder tree barber chairing............damn near took his head off!!!

Speaking of dreams; LOL.......when my wife and I were first married, I was driving Ag cat in the Palouse.....farm all day.......drive cat all night....damned if I could ever figure out how to get that rig our of the bedroom at night.....let alone how I got it in........but there is was........running and ready to pull......

In Thorne Bay, I had flying chokers ea. and every night........nubbins getting closer and closer.......funny what tension/stress can do to you!!!
 
B

Bagswa51

Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
9
Location
Washington
Occupation
Ag.
"Akroadrunner"; a quick story about Snooks.....first time I saw him was in the float plane shack in Ketchikan, waiting for the ride out to Thorne Bay. Keeping in mind I was totally green......I walk in and there sits this guy, very dark sunglasses, spikey beard, flat top. starring straight ahead and not moving....I said Hi, he grunted!!! Back in that day Snooks was one well built guy, not someone you'd want to press for conversation..so there we sat.
The rest of the story; He had been in a bar fight, gotten hit across the jaw w/a pool cue and broke his jaw, which had to be wired. Talking was painful and eating was mostly soup...after a few weeks, he finally got in talking mode and told be all about this...we both laughed when he heard what I thought when first seeing him; one mean SOB, to leave alone.........we had a good season, well up until a trip to town for him left him pretty much shot....didn't sober up for a week....have a good day!
 
Cletus

Cletus

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2008
Messages
78
Location
Moose Crossing, AK
Occupation
Operator of Older Equipment, Old Equipment Operato
Tender Loving Care

I am insulted that Contract Logger would mistake part of my fleet as left to rust!LOL
See page 10, post 143
Hey, the moldboard is even shiny! Also a new perfectly straight cutting edge!
Here it is doing a fine job in Oct 2011. It steers easier than my 14E.:beatsme
Serial#70D
 

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Newman

Active Member
Joined
May 4, 2010
Messages
37
Location
AZ
Thats is a lot of history thats is being lost. What a shame!

Thanks for posting pics guys. Keep them coming
 
truckdoctor

truckdoctor

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2010
Messages
152
Location
reno nevada
Occupation
mechanic
I am one of the members who was drawn to this site because of this thread. I have family in Sitka who went up there in the 70's when things were booming. The father in law of one of my cousins from up there logged the islands in that area after he left the military. I showed him this thread and he recognized many of the places and the companys that were pictured. He said he loved working the camps but had to quit because of family needs at home. That is as close as I'll probably get to working an Alaskan logging camp. I am too young to havegone up there in the hey day, but as an equipment mechanic I can't stand the fact that all that equipment is up there not running. I was one of the victims of the bad economy for a while, and I know every time I see equipment abandoned it means empty houses and no paychecks. Believe me if I could I would love to take my service truck up there with a barge load of supplies and make that equipment move again. It's just too bad that people and governments believe that something comes from nothing, otherwise myself and many others would not be daydreaming about working logging camps we would be doing it.
 
Rusty Grapple

Rusty Grapple

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
117
Location
Alaska
truckdoctor said:
I am one of the members who was drawn to this site because of this thread. I have family in Sitka who went up there in the 70's when things were booming. The father in law of one of my cousins from up there logged the islands in that area after he left the military. I showed him this thread and he recognized many of the places and the companys that were pictured. He said he loved working the camps but had to quit because of family needs at home. That is as close as I'll probably get to working an Alaskan logging camp. I am too young to havegone up there in the hey day, but as an equipment mechanic I can't stand the fact that all that equipment is up there not running. I was one of the victims of the bad economy for a while, and I know every time I see equipment abandoned it means empty houses and no paychecks. Believe me if I could I would love to take my service truck up there with a barge load of supplies and make that equipment move again. It's just too bad that people and governments believe that something comes from nothing, otherwise myself and many others would not be daydreaming about working logging camps we would be doing it.
Click to expand...

I live here in Alaska even today and logging is completely over. One USFS sale is currently active (but nearly finished now). The equipment leftover from the heyday is stashed all over the place, but is inaccessible mostly, ot it would have been cleaned up and hauled off. There's also a little Tribal logging going on but very very little. I have a photo gallery/site up that I'm adding to constantly, with one gallery completely dedicated to the leftover Alaskan logging gear - www.pbase.com/rustygrapple/rainforestrust - if you want to follow it.

Every yarder parked and rusting represents 15 to 20 jobs if you include the cutters and the booming/sorting men- to say nothing of the road builders, mill workers and retailers, equiment suppliers/salesmen/mechanics, camp cooks/crew, pilots, etc that it takes to log up here.....

I call it the 'Heartbreak Gallery' because it is nothing less than that!
I appreciate all the interest in this thread, and Cletus- I meant no disrespect regarding your Classic and Collectible machinery my friend!
 
A

Auctioneerhere

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2009
Messages
138
Location
USA
Wow! what a thread.

Would like to have some of the CAT stuff & KW trucks.

I guess parts in AK are nearly worthless.
 
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Logdog1200

New Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
2
Location
Washington
Occupation
Heavy Equipment Operator/ Logger
hey all. I have been reading and trying to figure out whjo some of you are. i am sure that some of you knew my hard a** dad. Lou Johnson. i saw where some one mentioned tree rigs.
I am looking forward to getting to know who you are and seeing more pics of the old machines. i recognize a few of them
 
S

~slick~

New Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
1
Location
fairbanks ak
i live in fairbanks, and i was wondering where is the closest abandoned equipment there, i would love to take some pics of it. if someone was interested in some of the equipment how would they go about getting it?
 
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Logdog1200

New Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
2
Location
Washington
Occupation
Heavy Equipment Operator/ Logger
~slick~ said:
i live in fairbanks, and i was wondering where is the closest abandoned equipment there, i would love to take some pics of it. if someone was interested in some of the equipment how would they go about getting it?
Click to expand...

Not sure where to look in that area. You could check with the Forest service or the Dept. of Natural Resources. As far as getting the equipment, most of it has been sitting so long it will cost a small fortune to get it working againand expensive to move. Not to mention, as soon as you take posession of it, you are responsible for the environmental clean up if there is any to be done.
That is, the fuel and or oil that leaked on the ground.
 
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DR Oliver

New Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2012
Messages
4
Location
Wrangell Alaska
Not all of the equipment in your pictures are still in place. I've been cleaning up scrap around S.E. let me know whats still out there and I could possibly clean it up.
 
Contract Logger

Contract Logger

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
1,321
Location
SW Washington, SE Alaska
Occupation
Equipment Broker
DR Oliver said:
Not all of the equipment in your pictures are still in place. I've been cleaning up scrap around S.E. let me know whats still out there and I could possibly clean it up.
Click to expand...

You're actually one of the reasons I stopped posting pictures. Fortunately most of it you guys can't get to so it will be safe for awhile anyway....

There are 2 other fellows who have nailed a few peices as well.
 
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