Butler Brothers logging trucks

[Dualie]

Kind of looks like the middle east...

 

[Born2clearcut]

These pictures were taken June 1962 i'm assuming the place is Port Renfrew . The family moved from Port Renfrew to Caycuse in 1962 , not sure what month the move took place so pictures maybe Caycuse but most likey Renfrew.I love the rig they made up to help push the load off .If anyone recognizes the sort please let me know so i can name my slides right . Enjoy

 

[Hardscratch]

I have now digitized the origional drawings of # 70. they were done by Barny Oldfield and Initialed by Claude Butler 1960. The 8mm movie film has allso been digitized and is now on a CD. The movies are af the frame and axles runninig up on blocks with no tires on the axles. The bogies are turning and the drums are turning. Some footage of the truck hauling at Sooke.

 

[Hardscratch]

#70 drawings 1960 need e-mail address to send them?? Gary

need e-mail address to send drawings

Butler Brothers Logging of Sooke/Victoria B.C. built some unique trucks in the 60's and 70's. Claude and Wally Butler wanted to maximize load capacity and went with a cab-under-load design. The evolution of the design began in 1960 and culminated with the Mark 5 in 1974. I've been researching these trucks and its been both interesting and puzzling at times since little remains of either the trucks or their history. What I have gathered together are a few photos, some fading memories and some attempts to decipher where and when and how many of these rigs actually existed. My original intent was to gather information for building a model of the Mark 5. That model has yet to happen but in the process of finding details and plans of that truck I found that precious little was preserved of the others. Now it has become a bit of a personal quest to put the history of the Butler Brothers logging trucks down in some form of permanent record, a cradle to grave story of each of them. So, I will relay what I have learned to date and share some of the photos I have discovered. I am still researching and will be trying to get some first hand memories from those who worked around them but for now most of what I present is an outline of the history. If you have further information please add it. If you find errors in my accounts, please correct them. I am not a trucker or an equipment operator so some of my information or references to parts etc. will not be entirely accurate.
OK, here's the starting point: 1960. Claude Butler wanted something radically different from the logging trucks of the day. He and good friend Basil (Barney) Oldfield designed and built the first of four unique trucks. As best i can tell from photos, this truck (the first of 3 #70 trucks) used Mack axles and rear ends, and ran on dual 1200 tires on all wheels. It had a rigid log bunk frame with an articulated tandem axle power bogie under each end. This was effectively an articulated 8x8. The cab sat beside the engine, both of which hung out over the front power bogie. The engine was a Jimmy - not sure what size - and it drove a shaft back to a central gearbox midships under the rigid log bunk frame. This then distributed power to the front and rear power bogies. This was a small truck compared to the Mark 5 but was the beginning. Roll-out appears to have been in 1960-61 but little has come to light about this truck and what happened to it. My best guess at this point was that it ran until the #36 and second #70 came on line, both of which were substantially larger and approached the load capacity of 100 tons that Claude and Wally were shooting for.

I'll post some shots of the first truck as soon as i figure out how to do it.

More to follow,

Cheers.

 

[dunwurken]

deleted

 

[Doug1966]

Waiting.

Hi Garry. Can't wait to see the movie. Thanks Doug.

I have now digitized the origional drawings of # 70. they were done by Barny Oldfield and Initialed by Claude Butler 1960. The 8mm movie film has allso been digitized and is now on a CD. The movies are af the frame and axles runninig up on blocks with no tires on the axles. The bogies are turning and the drums are turning. Some footage of the truck hauling at Sooke.

 

[RCP57]

These pictures were taken June 1962 i'm assuming the place is Port Renfrew . The family moved from Port Renfrew to Caycuse in 1962 , not sure what month the move took place so pictures maybe Caycuse but most likey Renfrew.I love the rig they made up to help push the load off .If anyone recognizes the sort please let me know so i can name my slides right . Enjoy

My Dad brought this to my attention that these pictures were actually taken at Muir creek just prior to Malloch & Moseley's operation there. If you look closely in the back ground you can see Muir Creek bridge. Also if you compare these two pictures you can see a couple of the same unique tree's in both photo's(Just above the cat in the first picture and above 115's hood in the second).


Reg

 

[Born2clearcut]

Your dad has a damn good eye RCP57 picking out the trees . That is great info to know the name of the sort ,I now have a couple more pictures with a name and a face .Thank your Dad for me

 

[RCP57]

Haha, My Dad picked out the bridge and I picked out the trees... He also said that he knew it was Muir Creek because of the white box on the power pole. Appearently thats where the switch to turn the lights on in the dryland was back in the day.

 

[skadill]

.

Shared photo of the mighty Butler truck,with its trailer behind.

 

[ap40rocktruck]

I have really enjoyed following this thread.

While browsing the web the other day, I came accross this picture and thought it shared a lot in common with the Butler trucks. Does anyone here know which came first, Butlers trucks, or the Foremost predecessors to what is seen here?
View attachment 90553

Butler came long before the Foremost Magnum 4 pipe transporter. I believe these were designed & built for the trans Alaska pipeline.
Ap40

 

[camptramp]

To say you guy have and are doing a great job of keeping a unique and unusual piece of B.C. history alive is an under statement, thank you. If I may I would like to put my two bits in . I remember stopping at Butlers yard at Sooke to look at the first #70 I also recall a tale of how the first time they tried it out they had grief in the corners . When you apprpch a corner with a regular logging truck you back off the throatle , when they backed off the throatle with the #70 it didnt steer not enough hydrualic pressure , the driver had to gear down to keep the RPM up. Butlers also had a camp up Esperanza Inlet on the west coast of Vancouver Island , I heard one of Butlers trucks got wrecked up there. Ben Perice was the last driver of the Roller Skate at Sooke Div. Dave Farris who had a hauling contract with Mallach+Mosley at Nitinat bought one of the Roller Skates (he may have driven one at one time earlier for Butlers) he traded it to someone in Powell River for an 848 Kenworth . The Mark 5 was put to work at BCFP Renfrew Div. in 1979 it was used to haul scaled wood from Renfrew DLS to Caycuse DLS to supplement Caycuses log supply for Youbou . It pulled double loads two trips a day was very successful , When they tried using it in the woods the loaders found dealing with the exstra trailers a nucense so that didnt work at Renfrew . A nother short coming for the Mark 5 on a busy road was if you lined up the front bumper of an HDX Hayes or P16 Pacific they lined right up with the Mark 5s cab a lot of drivers stated they would not drive it for that reason. Don Caider was the last driver to drive the Mark 5 at Renfrew hes the reason it worked there I have pictures Ill post at a later date of the Mark 5 being partly disasemble to move it out of Renfrew .R.I.P. Don Calder and Dave Farris

 

[MutsMachines]

very cool old trucks!!! seen one of those in some magazine at some point in time. these pictures are great!

 

[glenlunberg]

Very nice old pictures of logging trucks here! Trucks are really good on lots of jobs especially in this kind of field.

 

[Greatwestcam]

Mark v bones

pics from this summer, I thought it had a heavier frame for some reason.

 

[camptramp]

Greatwestcam Thanks for the pic. Kinda sad to see someones dreams rusting away like that, when Butlers had their operation at Sooke they could direct their loaders to make the Roller Skate work . And they had a couple loaders in Ernie and Larry Jay and Timmy Goudie who were out standing at what they did with a log loaders . But when you take something like that truck some place else and hand it over to the crew ,sometimes change is hard to except . The Roller Skate had great posabilities , but is a bit of an odd ball that was never excepted anywheres else. And Butlers never got a chance to try it in a nother application.

 

[camptramp]

Butler truck parked at Renfrew Div. 1980 1981 Truck being disasembered to be moved out of Renfrew Div. 1981 .

 

[camptramp]

 

[RCP57]

Great pictures!

 

[camptramp]

Thanks RCP57 its my first pictures posted I'm haveing some size isuess I'm working on it . thats the last pictures of the Mark 5 in the early 1980s at Port Renfrew , I think it went from there to Powell River.