Northwest

[old dirt]

When I first broke out after getting out of the Marine Corp in 1968, I broke out on a scraper with (OJT)--no apprenticeship program yet in Local 18 District 2. After that job I was sent out to oil on a 95 Northwest dragline. We were digging sand and stockpiling for later use on I475. This was my first crane experience and I was rather green and it was during the winter. Well, my operator got really sick, but he was an old hand and a good man, and had given me a lot of seat time so I figured that I was ready to be a dragline operator. They came out and watched me dig and the next morning they sent an oiler out to me. I thought all cranes had the right hand swing (I said I was green); but I can remember starting up that big old Murphy diesel in the morning. I thought I was in "high cotton". I dug out there for about six months. They then sent me back down to I 475 and they had a 95 Northwest Cable machine with a hydraulic bucket. I was digging sewer for 72" pipe and with the hydraulic bucket, it made such a sweet job. I know there were hydraulic backhoes out there but never had a chance to run one. All this work was for Complete General out of Columbus, Ohio. I ran a Model 6 and an 80 D all with drag buckets or cable hold fronts. They also had a 180 D and a 190 D but I never got a chance to run them. When I first started digging the sand pit, they had 5 gallon pails of grease and you had to build a fire every morning to heat the grease. I finally found out that Northwest had the swing in the wrong hand. It took a while to get used to the other makes and models of rigs, but I loved those Northwest Machines. My career was just starting, so I thought I was on top of the world. Those were the days.
Thank you,
old dirt

 

[qball]

i worked for a large contractor in chicago, lindahl bros. for a few years. i would beg to run their #6 and #25 balling concrete at their crusher.this was a few years ago but those old rigs still start and run every day. i am addicted to the sound of a lugging murphy.

 

[65Jetstar]

In 1979, I oiled on a 799 American dragline with a naturally aspirated Cat. D-342 engine (same engine as what the older D-8 dozers had in them). It had the gas pony starter and the whole bit. I liked the sound of the NW 6 they had with the Model 20 Murphy, but it was nothing like the sound of that Cat. in the 799. I have never seen a 700 American set up like that since. It was a good machine! Of course I could service the both the 799 and the 7250 Americans in the same time it took me to take care of everything on that NW 6.
No apprenticeship here either and one of my first real operating gigs on a dragline was walking a NW 41 down 1/4 mile of 15% grade with a steady curve before I could even start digging. I would not let my son (if I had one) try a stunt like that on a new job in an unfamiliar machine. Even with no mistakes, a propel chain could have broke among other things.

 

[hd16b]

Hello, my name is Doug Farmer and i farm in eastern NC. I am 35 years old now and I bought a bucryus 22b in 2006 to dig a new pond so i could irrigate my tobacco.Boy what a learning experince.I was wondering if there were any more dragline operators my age?

 

[old dirt]

hd16b Im a little older then you, but remeber running a few 22B's some with dragline some with hoe fronts. A great machine to learn on.
old dirt

 

[bobb]

i worked at a place in the 80s once where they bought an old northwest. i wish i had pics of it. we drove it about a half mile to our yard. that thing was a beast, with worn out frictions. as old as it was, it wouldnt die. then they bought another one for parts. it was sitting in a scrap yard for who knows how long. we dug it out and drove it on the trailer. that one had a bucket like the old steam shovels they used to have on old cartoons. all cables and clutches. those were the days.

 

[jeff 31]

Hey old dirt. My dad who passed away back in december (dam cancer got him) had his own business back in the 80's started out with a 25 northwest with a cat motor in it. I beleive it was a 318. Later on he ended up buying a 41 with a good ole murphy in it. I was just a real young lad then but I sure miss the sound of them old girls running. My dad would give me a little seat time on the 41 because it was air control and a little easier to operate than the 25 since was all manual clutches. When he went out of business he sold the 41 to a gravel pit in the Niagara Falls area. I remember him saying that he would probably never run a nicer machine than that one as it left on the float. Until the day he died he still said that. Up until he got sick back in May of last year, he was bailing gravel for a local gravel pit on an 80 D Northwest. The old 25 is still here not far from here sitting in a pasture waiting to get fired up again but the owner for some reason won't sell it. It hasn't moved for about 15 years or so. Heartbreaking. Just thought I would share that little tid bit with you. My dad and his dad both were Northwest operators until the day they passed. Thanks.

 

[bigjohn4300]

im down in south Louisiana and still run a #6 dredgind sand, sure wish i could find someone around that really knows friction adjusting on the 6

 

[tractordaddy]

friction model 6

im down in south Louisiana and still run a #6 dredgind sand, sure wish i could find someone around that really knows friction adjusting on the 6

host or rehaul adjust by the adjustmend at band on the inside of host drum same on rehaul BECAREFUL it will double knuckle. i ran a 80d in a rock quarry in columbia sc for about 6 years what a machine.............

 

[gostr8r]

We have something in common OD!

I also did my oiler time on a Northwest 95, with a 2.5 yard bucket, stripping muck on matts. I remember the Murphy very well since it nearly cut my right hand off when I got it caught in the unguarded radiator fan blade while the operator was working and I was cleaning. It was before daybreak on my first day as an oiler.. I came back a few weeks later and stayed with him learning the ropes; frictions, brakes, clutches, the carbody mounted digging dogs and the kick back of the brake pedals after a long wet down time. It never really broke down any mechanically tho, it only went thru wire rope resocketing and replacements, while I was oiling for the ole' man that sent me back there to get hurt in the dark that morning. I later saw some time on a 25T clam, and a 190 D dragline [loading a rock crusher] that had a right hand swing, but the drums and clutches were still backwards. The previous operator had moved the swing valve over to the left side, but didn't change the other levers. So the foot brakes were not the same as their respective levers on the dash.:Banghead:Banghead

When I first broke out after getting out of the Marine Corp in 1968, I broke out on a scraper with (OJT)--no apprenticeship program yet in Local 18 District 2. After that job I was sent out to oil on a 95 Northwest dragline. We were digging sand and stockpiling for later use on I475. This was my first crane experience and I was rather green and it was during the winter. Well, my operator got really sick, but he was an old hand and a good man, and had given me a lot of seat time so I figured that I was ready to be a dragline operator. They came out and watched me dig and the next morning they sent an oiler out to me. I thought all cranes had the right hand swing (I said I was green); but I can remember starting up that big old Murphy diesel in the morning. I thought I was in "high cotton". I dug out there for about six months. They then sent me back down to I 475 and they had a 95 Northwest Cable machine with a hydraulic bucket. I was digging sewer for 72" pipe and with the hydraulic bucket, it made such a sweet job. I know there were hydraulic backhoes out there but never had a chance to run one. All this work was for Complete General out of Columbus, Ohio. I ran a Model 6 and an 80 D all with drag buckets or cable hold fronts. They also had a 180 D and a 190 D but I never got a chance to run them. When I first started digging the sand pit, they had 5 gallon pails of grease and you had to build a fire every morning to heat the grease. I finally found out that Northwest had the swing in the wrong hand. It took a while to get used to the other makes and models of rigs, but I loved those Northwest Machines. My career was just starting, so I thought I was on top of the world. Those were the days.
Thank you,
old dirt

 

[Donns]

I ran a couple of 95s but never got that right hand swing down. In 1992 I was project manager on the erection of two Marion model 8200s in South Africa. We had gone to a joystick swing from the older foot pedals and don't you just know they put the swing on the right lever. I had to train the South African operators so I spent a lot of time by myself getting used to it so I would not look like a total idiot in front to the new guys. I ran a lot of them over the years, 20 Ton Quik-Way in 1962, 22B (Drag, Hoe and Clam) in 1963, 98 and 108 Linkbelts, 405 Koerings and the Ransom Rapier version in England. 4100s and a barge mounted 4600 ringer. You name it I seem to have been stuck on them at one time or another. (not to mention the Derricks - S-40 and S-70 Americans, a Timberland and a couple of Clydes)Gave up operating for years to fly airfreight, went back to it, bought a Bar, went back to it, went to work for marion for years, still operate a Crane once in a while when the Union is short handed (local 925, Tampa)

 

[gostr8r]

Donns, was the 4600 barge mounted ringer a 3 sided boom?

There was one in the central Florida area that is a old converted dragline and has a 3 chorded main boom, and a 700 or 750 ton rating, on the barge. It was in the Tampa area the last time I saw it, if I'm not mistaken. It was likely the same one, small world!

 

[Donns]

Gostr8r

That's the one. It was owned by Florida Crushed Stone Inc. I was not actually the regular operator, I was Project manager but did operate her time to time. I used it to move a lot of equipment from the old LaFarge cement plant over to a vacant field at Pendola Point. Later I was mad GM of their Shipyard in Charleston, SC and move the Crane up there to use for heavy lift service in the port of Charleston. Sent her to Jacksonville to load a Transformer and the tug operator violated his contract and took her through a really bad storm. She wasn't lashed down properly and the Boom came loose and swung, dumped 700 000 lbs of counterweight over the side and destroyed the mast and boom. We sold her to a contractor who was going to get a new Boom built in New Orleans and use her on a lock job somewhere up the river, that would have been in 1999. The biggest problem with her was the width of the barge. (80 ft and the ring was 60) I always want to connect sponsons to the sides but the owners wouldn't spend the bucks. Swing her with no load was a real experience.

 

[gostr8r]

That too bad they tore it up!

Being in the tub machine consulting game I bet you know another long friend of mine form the phoshate mines near Ft. Meade. He ran and moved the big walkers down there for several years, A wirey little old guy Rodney W. In the late '80's he was a Combustion Enginneering mechanic for some years, then ran a 4100W S-3 on a barge in the Virgin Islands for Titan Maritime, before I helped him get a job at the Hess refinery. He ultimately took over my Ringer at HB Zachry in '94 and stayed on, traveling with them for quite a while too. Last we spoke tho he was back in the tub machine game again.

That's the one. It was owned by Florida Crushed Stone Inc. I was not actually the regular operator, I was Project manager but did operate her time to time. I used it to move a lot of equipment from the old LaFarge cement plant over to a vacant field at Pendola Point. Later I was mad GM of their Shipyard in Charleston, SC and move the Crane up there to use for heavy lift service in the port of Charleston. Sent her to Jacksonville to load a Transformer and the tug operator violated his contract and took her through a really bad storm. She wasn't lashed down properly and the Boom came loose and swung, dumped 700 000 lbs of counterweight over the side and destroyed the mast and boom. We sold her to a contractor who was going to get a new Boom built in New Orleans and use her on a lock job somewhere up the river, that would have been in 1999. The biggest problem with her was the width of the barge. (80 ft and the ring was 60) I always want to connect sponsons to the sides but the owners wouldn't spend the bucks. Swing her with no load was a real experience.

 

[Donns]

gostr8r

I'm pretty sure I know who you are talking about. I live in the middle of the mines as well. I worked for Marion for over 20 years but 18 of that was overseas. I quit them once in 1989 and went to work for Page, actually P&H had just bought them so P&H signed the paycheck. I stayed with them only a short time until Marion got a new president and my problems with them went away. The new president asked me to come back. During my time with P&H I think I met your friend down here, I seem to remember him around the old Mobile Oil Phosphate operation once. I also know who Titan is, I only worked in the Islans a bit but for a while I flew for a development corporation down that way.

 

[gostr8r]

How About the 'Lady Of the Lake' Donns?

It was a 25 yard Page walker that came down on 2 barges from Alberta Canada to Lehigh, Florida. In or around 2001 or '02 we unloaded and moved it 25 miles, and then a guy from P&H put it back together in only 6 months and it looked and ran like new. I was quite impressed, because they literally used torches to cut the machine all apart, instead of unbolting everything. I seem to remember they had some laser and GPS tricks up their sleeves to reassemble it so well and so precisely. QUOTE=Donns;305888]I'm pretty sure I know who you are talking about. I live in the middle of the mines as well. I worked for Marion for over 20 years but 18 of that was overseas. I quit them once in 1989 and went to work for Page, actually P&H had just bought them so P&H signed the paycheck. I stayed with them only a short time until Marion got a new president and my problems with them went away. The new president asked me to come back. During my time with P&H I think I met your friend down here, I seem to remember him around the old Mobile Oil Phosphate operation once. I also know who Titan is, I only worked in the Islans a bit but for a while I flew for a development corporation down that way.[/QUOTE]

 

[Donns]

I remember that old Page. It came from Luscar I think, over around Hinton, Alberta. Went into a gravel pit operation somewhere around Leigh. I think your friend is the guy a P&H service man, friend of mine, told me about when I was looking for operators to go to Jordan a couple of years ago. The P&H (previously Page) service guy was from Lake Wales but moved out to Wyoming a few years ago, guy named Richard. Didn't your friend also work for either Minserco (now wholly incorporated with Bucyrus) over at Ft. Meade, or F&E (now fully incorporated with CCC) around central Florida?

 

[Donns]

I remember hearing of a Dragline called the Lady of the Lakes but can't remember where it is or what model. I put in one called "Maid Marion" in New Brunswick, an 8200, in 1978-79.

 

[Jim Hilgartner]

It's nice to hear you talk about the old N/W .I was a Murphy service rep for a dealer at Baltimore. I just bought a murphy model 11 out of a M/W 25. It sat in the woods on a mountain side on the NY line at PA. it was covered with a tarp sat there for 15 years. I got it home on 11-7 and worked every spare minute . I got her to fire off on Thanksgiving day. I hope to get it to show quality and take it around next summer. I placed some videos of it running on you tube. They are at gravelyjim on you tube and another one of some old hit & miss engines running. also the company I worked for sold BE When they went out I ran a 30B supper with crane boom. It has been 30 yrs since I worked on Murphys , Brought back lots of good old memories. In the 20 some years I worked on thease engines I don't remember ever leaving a job with bad feelings for the equipment.

 

[gostr8r]

The Murphy's still have a special place in my heart since I started on them. They weren't loud or problem plagued either. I did eventually run a bunch of BE's and they all were great rigs too. Louder and faster tho, but super reliable. I ultimately ran the new air operated versions of both brands later in my career and saw that they each stepped into the 20th century with their designs. Don't see much of them around the lift crane projects anymore but if the money was right [and my knees were like the youngin' I used to be] I would go back to dragline work and run the old stuff again. No riggers, flagmen, screamin' iron workers and framers fighting over who gets the hook. Good luck with the restoration project and take extreme care in moving her around so she stays pristine for all the shows and exhibitions. I wouldn't be surprised if you get a serious offer from another old tired iron lover to buy it. Post some pics when it's all finished.