Alaskan Logging Equipment, Left to Rust

Setting the Record Straight

Contract Logger said:

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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First off let me state that I am currently in the business of “Commercial Recycling.” I have spent the last four years cleaning up scrap metal in Wrangell as well as the surrounding areas. I’ve done this on my dime with no cost to any individual or the City and Borough of Wrangell. Ninety Five percent of the vehicles and or equipment that I’ve picked up have been contaminating the ground it was parked on by leaking oil and fuel into the soil. In your reply to me you stated “You're actually one of the reasons I stopped posting pictures,” I’m the reason you stopped posting pictures? You need to be carful what group you lump me into. I don’t use the title Contract Logger as some handle or usser name. I am a “Contract Logger.” I’ve contract Logged for Mitkof Lumber Co., Metlakatla Indian Timber Enterprises, Alaska Pulp Corporation and for myself. At one time I had over 25 mmbf of timber under contract with the US Forest Service on Wrangell Island alone. I’ve logged, built road and installed bridges all over Southeast Alaska. I’m not trying to scrap history. There are tools and equipment that are part of our history that should never be scrapped. I’m just trying to cleanup the mess that has been left behind by a bunch of trash loggers! I have personally donated hundreds of tools and equipment to various collectors and museums. I have just found a home for and I’m in the process of making ready to ship, a 12' steam driven lathe that in to days scrap market would yield $ 1500.00 to $2000.00. It was built in the late 1800's and is still in working order. It’s a piece of history that I believe should be preserved. One of the pictures you posted was of my GT5 Skagit Swing Yarder that was sitting on Mental Health Trust Land at Pat’s Creek Log Transfer Facility. The Mental Health Trust Land office wanted it off there land. I tried selling it, I even tried giving it away but in the end I was forced to scrap it. If your so concerned about the old iron sitting around rusting, I suggest you collect it and start your own museum.

DR Oliver said:

First off let me state that I am currently in the business of “Commercial Recycling.” I have spent the last four years cleaning up scrap metal in Wrangell as well as the surrounding areas. I’ve done this on my dime with no cost to any individual or the City and Borough of Wrangell. Ninety Five percent of the vehicles and or equipment that I’ve picked up have been contaminating the ground it was parked on by leaking oil and fuel into the soil. In your reply to me you stated “You're actually one of the reasons I stopped posting pictures,” I’m the reason you stopped posting pictures? You need to be carful what group you lump me into. I don’t use the title Contract Logger as some handle or usser name. I am a “Contract Logger.” I’ve contract Logged for Mitkof Lumber Co., Metlakatla Indian Timber Enterprises, Alaska Pulp Corporation and for myself. At one time I had over 25 mmbf of timber under contract with the US Forest Service on Wrangell Island alone. I’ve logged, built road and installed bridges all over Southeast Alaska. I’m not trying to scrap history. There are tools and equipment that are part of our history that should never be scrapped. I’m just trying to cleanup the mess that has been left behind by a bunch of trash loggers! I have personally donated hundreds of tools and equipment to various collectors and museums. I have just found a home for and I’m in the process of making ready to ship, a 12' steam driven lathe that in to days scrap market would yield $ 1500.00 to $2000.00. It was built in the late 1800's and is still in working order. It’s a piece of history that I believe should be preserved. One of the pictures you posted was of my GT5 Skagit Swing Yarder that was sitting on Mental Health Trust Land at Pat’s Creek Log Transfer Facility. The Mental Health Trust Land office wanted it off there land. I tried selling it, I even tried giving it away but in the end I was forced to scrap it. If your so concerned about the old iron sitting around rusting, I suggest you collect it and start your own museum.

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Well, I think we are all pretty much speechless at the immensity of your 'woodsman credentials'. You want to crack on Contract Logger? He has contributed a great deal to this site, and maintains another site of his own, also dedicated to the preservation of this important part of history. I seriously doubt that you would amount to so much as a pimple on his posterior in comparison. He's not hiding behind a wannabee screen name; He IS who he says he is, and I suggest that you refrain from the wisecracks about him.

Guys, let's keep this thread on track please. I'd hate to see it closed due to the emotions involved with the old iron.

It's all good you guys lets just enjoy the pictures together and leave it at that. We're all adults here and while our interests are different (or maybe not that different) I think we're all better than to descend into a scrappping match via our computers and morning coffee. I don't get my feelings hurt over much of anything and I've heard everything you can imagine said about me- some true and alot not true. In the end none of it matters anyway. I don't feel slighted at all here.

There's alot of different directions this thread could go from here and mostly they're not good at all.

Mr Oliver kind of stumbled into a hornet's nest here and it's mostly not his fault. I called a few friends in Wrangell who told me that his efforts have mostly been directed at old dump sites, wrecking yards and not that much machinery, rather mostly cars and loose iron. If he owns the GT5 and wants to scrap it, it's a bummer but it is his to scrap after all. It doesn't sound like he's an outlaw scrapper and I stopped posting due to outlaw scrappers, not the fellow who is trying to better his community and lessen the landfill content of washers, dryers, and Ford Pintos.

I'll hold the equipment close and I'll help with the cleanup as it relates to cars, washing machines, and etc- they are not in the areas where the machines are at anyway.

Lets just act like the adults we all are and maybe Mr Oliver would even be willing to share his old logging pictures with us eventually.
Life's too short to spend fighting over things that happened last week anyway.

Thank You for the Clarification DR Oliver

It is always best to know the whole (real) story before posting, and it not easy to know what is real and what is not over the computer. We are separated by miles or thousands of miles for some of us. I apologize for the thread DR Oliver, personal attacks really have no place here. We should only be sharing about the machinery and the stories associated with them. I hope it does not come to the point where we will not be able to share pictures, I really enjoy them. I personally have a real love and respect for the big logging iron. I hate to see it cut up, melted and sent to china, they are in no way to be mistaken for friends. When someone steals a machine and cuts it up it makes me mad (as in the alledged case of the old trucks in a previous post). But if an owner chooses or is forced to because of lack of a buyer, that is another deal altogether. I may not like it, but I figure I have 2 choices, 1, I could offer to buy the machine, or 2 learn to live with it. In the case of the GT5, I am sorry, but I must just live with it. I thank you DR Oliver for your clarification, and I applaud you for trying to find a home for the machine, it is not easy in the timber industry of today. I also thank you for donating the tools and collectibles to worthy collectors and museums.

Hopefully we can let all of this go an get back to the BIG IRON!!

Contract Logger said:

It's all good you guys lets just enjoy the pictures together and leave it at that. We're all adults here and while our interests are different (or maybe not that different) I think we're all better than to descend into a scrappping match via our computers and morning coffee. I don't get my feelings hurt over much of anything and I've heard everything you can imagine said about me- some true and alot not true. In the end none of it matters anyway. I don't feel slighted at all here.

There's alot of different directions this thread could go from here and mostly they're not good at all.

Mr Oliver kind of stumbled into a hornet's nest here and it's mostly not his fault. I called a few friends in Wrangell who told me that his efforts have mostly been directed at old dump sites, wrecking yards and not that much machinery, rather mostly cars and loose iron. If he owns the GT5 and wants to scrap it, it's a bummer but it is his to scrap after all. It doesn't sound like he's an outlaw scrapper and I stopped posting due to outlaw scrappers, not the fellow who is trying to better his community and lessen the landfill content of washers, dryers, and Ford Pintos.

I'll hold the equipment close and I'll help with the cleanup as it relates to cars, washing machines, and etc- they are not in the areas where the machines are at anyway.

Lets just act like the adults we all are and maybe Mr Oliver would even be willing to share his old logging pictures with us eventually.
Life's too short to spend fighting over things that happened last week anyway.

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I have a private message I would like to send too you if you could clear some room in your private message box. Thanks

I get the distinct feeling that I got the wrong impression of you, Mr. Oliver. I hope you will accept my sincere apology. As Redwood Climber said above,

"Hopefully we can let all of this go an get back to the BIG IRON!!"

I was out in the brush up Fall Creek outta Springfield Oregon in 1975 and a new guy who had been in Alaska said that Barney Huddleston had died in a hotel in Grays Harbor when he found that he had cancer...I knew Barney as did most everyone that worked in the Thorne Bay area...a tougher and kinder man never lived...

RIP

see my post 03 Feb, I'm new around here...I knew Barney Huddleston and his story...

I gotta say nice pics of the old machines...I only remember the old Madill and Skagit yarders and the Linkbelt, Washington and etc shovels on the landing when I was a chaser in 1976...I got handy with a D7 clearing brush when the landing got clogged...remembering packing around them blocks and straps out in the brush to change roads and cut off a section on the haulback to string for the next road...

anyone heard of Clarence 'Whitey' Elmore that useta live in Petersburg around 1974? he had his old mother and two down syndrome kids to look after...must be dead now, he was in his 50s then...my first hooktender; 'LOOK OUT FER THEM FCUKIN' LINES YE DUMB PIECE OB ****E!...'

I loved him...and sure enough the lifting haulback knocked me on me arse when changin' roads once...stood too close...

DR Oliver thanks for the job offer. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm working at a Caterpillar dealer , I would take you up on the offer. Since I have been at the dealership I've learned to think about heavy equipment recycling in a new way. Caterpillar offers a certified rebuild program for their equipment. Basically they take an older piece of iron replace all the components,wiring,hoses,etc. The hard components like the cab and frame are repaired and updated to current specs. It is also done at the fraction of the cost of new. It would be nice to take some of those machines up there and certify them to five them a second chance. I know the frustration of dealig with theives. A few years ago I was asked to go into an old placer mine in the California foothills and survey the damage from the tweakers going in there looking for scrap or the overlooked piece of machinery. The grandson of the mine owner was trying to restart the mine after ten years of dormancy. The mine was set up well with a really nice trommel and a set of sand screws. There were also three excavators, a 3512 cat generator, and other support equipment. The sad part was theae jerks went in and litterally ripped the radiators and oil coolers out of these machines. The generator was the worst. These butt cracks had cut all the windings out of the generator and removed the radiator. This guy is asking me I the equipment is repairable and how much it's going to cost. I couldn't give an optimistic answer. I told him flat out that the yellow iron would be possible to get running but the quarter million dollar heart of the operation was a loss. It would take more to repair the generator than it was worth. It sucks that a few selfish stinky orfices of the human anatomy can't keep their hands off someones livelyhood. Just because it is sitting does't mean it is free to a new owner. Please understand I am not trying to create more anamocity, I just realize that unfortunately there are people out there who only care about their immediate gain at someone elses expense. I will try to do my part tosave these machines on my end but I know I won't save them all.

As others have said, wow it's just sad looking at all this iron. Thanks for sharing. I also think the loss of jobs and the benefit for our economy is huge. The other thing is with all the new rules there is never a chance any of this will ever work again. What is wrong with our country?

i know it's an older thread but wow... what a shame. Why not scrap the machines where they sit and make a land train hauling out the pieces? I guess it's hard to imagine the distance to the nearest recycle yard.. but what a waste of iron. I was amazed there was still air in some of the old truck's tires.

Put the politicians on a train.........

Yellowdog said:

i know it's an older thread but wow... what a shame. Why not scrap the machines where they sit and make a land train hauling out the pieces? I guess it's hard to imagine the distance to the nearest recycle yard.. but what a waste of iron. I was amazed there was still air in some of the old truck's tires.

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We don't need to put the old iron on a train.......we need to put the politicians who slit the throat of the working man on a train..........to the gallows. It is way beyond a shame what has happened here.

Many of the pieces of "junk" iron you see here are still in working order, it just doesn't have any work available. Some is beyond repair, much of it would need some work, but if the timber were available, and the markets were there, you'd be amazed at how much of it would be fired up and headed out.

For every large tower scrapped, it's gone, no one builds them anymore. We will kick ourselves if we scrap it all.
The Chinese cannot supply us with wood. We grow it like crazy here..........let us log.

Yes, put the environmental whackos in the recycle bin with any junk that can't be used.

Yellowdog said:

Yes, put the environmental whackos in the recycle bin with any junk that can't be used.

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If the environmentalist found themselves short of toilet paper, they would put a gun to your head and tell you to start cutting trees down.

I doubt that runner. I don't think they use toilet paper, have you ever smelled a big group of them?:crying
Their stink will bring tears to yer eyes!!!

I used old iron for a playground when I was a kid in the logging camp. My Dad had a 2 axle dump truck behind the house, on the south side. I would sit in that thing and read books when it was chilly outside. The sun shining in the windows warmed it up nice. I would do my reading in the passenger seat. My books were stored in the glove box. When I got bored with reading, I jumped in the drivers seat and 'ran it through the gears'. I remember asking my Dad why I couldn't get it into every gear. He did something. Can't remember if he moved the truck a little or rolled the engine over, but I had all the gears then. He showed me how to double clutch. I was 6 to 9 years old when we lived in that camp. I was sad when he sold the truck.
Guess what I do now. I drive a Kenworth end dump. Haha.

akroadrunner said:

I used old iron for a playground when I was a kid in the logging camp. My Dad had a 2 axle dump truck behind the house, on the south side. I would sit in that thing and read books when it was chilly outside. The sun shining in the windows warmed it up nice. I would do my reading in the passenger seat. My books were stored in the glove box. When I got bored with reading, I jumped in the drivers seat and 'ran it through the gears'. I remember asking my Dad why I couldn't get it into every gear. He did something. Can't remember if he moved the truck a little or rolled the engine over, but I had all the gears then. He showed me how to double clutch. I was 6 to 9 years old when we lived in that camp. I was sad when he sold the truck.
Guess what I do now. I drive a Kenworth end dump. Haha.

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its a shame, most kids now cant even get an auto tranny to move. LOL my uncle had an old dump in his yard when we were kids, we put many make believe miles on that truck every summer.

yellow dog, i agree what ashame. lotsa money out therre in old equip.