S. Madill, Blacksmith, Founded in 1911 in Nanaimo BC

[donkey doctor]

Was that the auction when they shut 'er down a few years back?

Thats the one .The machines in the yard went to auction or most of them anyway. d.d.

 

[donkey doctor]

Last of the auction pics. d.d.

 

[lever twister]

The 60's were the time for big in logging equipment. Madill's big tower alternative was what they called the '052 Tension Skidder'. Basically a big running skyline setup with a Madill-built slackpulling (mechanical) carriage. You could yard uphill, downhill, or sideways, with lots of dropline. Trouble again was it was just huge. Couldnt move it around anywhere, and only 12 were built. The self-propelled version was on 6 axles! Anderson and Middleton at Aberdeen WA had one. Munns at Darrington had one, and Reece Bros at Darrington wound up with 3 of them along the way. Heard there was another up at Forks, but not sure.

Attached are some pics from the sales literature.

Ran one in early 70's without carriage. We highleaded with it. Hard to move. Almost took two people to pull the levers to turn the beast. Wasn't there but when they put it together after delivery and loaded it on a lobed, lobed's tires went flat immiediatly. Final drives a constant problem.

 

[Kiwi Logger]

Has someone got a copy or a decent photo of the Madill Logo from the early 80s for our new 046 that is in the shop getting painted, I just want to get the correct one before it goes to work.

 

[TorkelH]

Your new 046?

 

[donkeydoc]

052

Your new 046?

my first experiance with arc airing was gouging off every other grouser on a brand new set of tracks at Madills for a 052 skidder Marvin and i did it, i was just a kid

 

[TorkelH]

052

That sounds like a funny work. I talked to several loggers at MB Franklin that meant the tension skidder was the only real thing. Probably they forgot about moving them around...
Since they're based on doing heavy downhill and straight valley logging with big timber and without stretching out a separate haulback they have very limited usage today with swing yarders capable of doing at least the shorter spans and the versatility of gravity/skycar systems in the US westcoast.

I haven't found any on tracks, but at last some of these machines still excists! Former Pollite Bros of Aberdeen, WA, now owned by one of the great loggers of all times!

 

[TorkelH]

052 s/n 48023

As you see just no ordinary 009... Forgot to mention this is S/N 48023, one of the 19 052's built and one of only four on the 6 axle 068 carrier. Built in september 1971.

 

[TorkelH]

052 s/n 48032 Reese Brothers Darrington, WA

This machine was also produced in 1971, in october, and was owned and used by Reese Brothers in Darrington. Originally mtd on an M10 carrier but moved by Madill to an 069 carrier. Also the tower was replaced in 1974. This carrier is similar to the carrier of the 046 (originally from the only built 062 yarder) in post #7 of this thread and it was only built 2 of them from what I can find out. Though most of the carrier is removed at these pictures. Last picture of what probably is this yarder before changing carrier and tower... (from Rusty Grapple)

 

[TorkelH]

052 s/n 48032 Reese Brothers Darrington, WA continued

No simple interlock...

 

[TorkelH]

052's continued

Here one last pictured of S/N 48032 and remains of another 052 hoist. And the legendary gentleman I mentioned earlier that made his effort to drive around a good part of Washington state to show me this.

Anyone btw recognize the paint scheme white with blue ribbon?

Also pictures of the 052 running skyline 3-section drum carriage, 2 on top of each other. Middle section holds dropline. Top of carriage to the left. Skid goes in on top right side making drop line go in and slackpuller/tag line goes in on left down corner making dropline to go out.

 

[donkey doctor]

my first experiance with arc airing was gouging off every other grouser on a brand new set of tracks at Madills for a 052 skidder Marvin and i did it, i was just a kid

I also arc aired a set of grousers off a set of 052 or 046 tracks in the Nanaimo plant. We then took them down to the Neah Bay area of Washington state to exchange on 046 or 052 belonging to I think Weyerhaeuser Corp. They were terrible to work on because when the pads got hot they must have off gassed from between the rubber inner face of the pad and steel outer and would go off with an awful bang right under your nose. The grousers were taken off to try to get the machines to turn without tearing up final drives as they were so heavy and had so much track on the ground.d.d.

 

[TorkelH]

Has someone got a copy or a decent photo of the Madill Logo from the early 80s for our new 046 that is in the shop getting painted, I just want to get the correct one before it goes to work.

Do you mean the white plastic Madill INC, etc used on the Kalama machines? Best I have seen is on the former H&W on NZ. I've been looking on a lot of pictures of machines built around 1980 and Madill seem not to have spent many thoughts about branding at that time. Even not on the tower (maybe they meant the space to be used by the customers). If you really plan to go original 1980 style it seems to be as little as possible, maybe your company name in black or "SAFETY FIRST" on the spar. I also have a picture of a very nice Madill Ltd logo, used on Canadian built machines, but I'm not sure of the time it was used.
I attach the picture of the "SWING YARDER 084" that was on the black Don Whitaker 084 (built in 1980), I think that machine was delivered like that but I don't know for sure.

 

[TorkelH]

I also arc aired a set of grousers off a set of 052 or 046 tracks in the Nanaimo plant. We then took them down to the Neah Bay area of Washington state to exchange on 046 or 052 belonging to I think Weyerhaeuser Corp. They were terrible to work on because when the pads got hot they must have off gassed from between the rubber inner face of the pad and steel outer and would go off with an awful bang right under your nose. The grousers were taken off to try to get the machines to turn without tearing up final drives as they were so heavy and had so much track on the ground.d.d.

 

[TorkelH]

Here is one without grousers, is that one where the grousers was arc aired away or were those plates welded on originally?

 

[log frog]

Has someone got a copy or a decent photo of the Madill Logo from the early 80s for our new 046 that is in the shop getting painted, I just want to get the correct one before it goes to work.

I have a full set of 071 decals including the Madill 'M', that are of no use to me. They are yours if you want them.
Will be in Gisborne in the next few days and can bring them with me.

 

[donkeydoc]

052

thanks for explaining the reason for grouser removal on the big skidder DD i did it on the floor in your bay . Did a guy named Hamilton have a 052 in cypree river for a while ? my dad may have run it

 

[donkey doctor]

thanks for explaining the reason for grouser removal on the big skidder DD i did it on the floor in your bay . Did a guy named Hamilton have a 052 in cypree river for a while ? my dad may have run it

Hi JT. Good to see you on here again. I don't know if Hamilton had an 052. I didn't really do a lot of work on them. Field service was just a once in a while thing until the 071s came along. Swapped out a few winches like you and I did at Holburg. One I did alone at Sointula and one with LG up Harrison Lake that I can remember. Lots and lots of 044 final drives, wc brakes, 009 haulback gears and other odds and ends. Think I did a spotting brake on an 052 down Nitnat way but it may have been an 046 not sure. Also did something to a chain coupling I think between the carrier trans and the diff. on what I'm pretty sure was an 052 on tracks down Sooke way one horrible wet night. BT started that job then got offered a jammyer one and I ended up finishing it. Good times ea. I kind of miss them. d.d.

 

[donkey doctor]

Here is one without grousers, is that one where the grousers was arc aired away or were those plates welded on originally?

Hi Torkel. I don't remember us ever plating over the pads after the grousers were arced off. I certanly never did any. Those ones in the first pic sure look like they've been capped tho. I guess they could have been done by the customer or they or we got a set a of street pads for it. Don't know if there was such a thing but I'm pretty sure we put a few on the 071s although they arn't interchangable. Could be wrong about that tho. Or they could have been done in our plant. I certainly didn't know everything that was happening from one end of the shop to the other. d.d.

 

[TorkelH]

thanks for explaining the reason for grouser removal on the big skidder DD i did it on the floor in your bay . Did a guy named Hamilton have a 052 in cypree river for a while ? my dad may have run it

A company named Greenwood Contr in Tofino had an 052, may that be the Hamilton one? MMB had 5 on Vancouver Island, all mtd on M10 carriers. They were sold out/scrapped around 1990, they also had at least 4 046's on rubber in Franklin/Sarita and bunches of 009's that very effectively disapeared (probably was sold for scrap) when Weyerhaeuser took over.